Rolling Stones, The

Rolling Stones, The , bad boys of rock and roll, and one of the longest-lived (and financially successful) pop groups of all time. Membership: Michael “Mick” Jagger, lead voc, har. (b. Dartford, Kent, England, July 26, 1943); Keith Richards, rhythm gtr. (b. Dartford, Kent, England, Dec. 18, 1943); Brian Jones, gtr., sitar, dulcimer, voc. (b. Lewis Brian Hopkin-Jones, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, Feb. 28, 1942; d. Sussex, England, July 3, 1969); Bill Wyman, bs. (b. William Perks, Plum-stead, London, England, Oct. 24, 1936); Charlie Watts, drm. (b. Islington, London, June 2, 1941); Ian Stewart, pno. (b. Pittenweem, Fife, Scotland, July 18, 1938; d. London, England, Dec. 12, 1985). Stewart was phased out of the band in 1963, although he continued to tour and record with the group, becoming known as the “sixth Rolling Stone.” Brian Jones left the group in June 1969, to be replaced by guitarist Michael “Mick” Taylor (b. Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, Jan. 17, 1949). Taylor left in 1974 and was replaced by guitarist Ron Wood (b. Hillingdon, Middlesex, England, June 1, 1947). Bill Wyman left the group in 1992.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards first met in primary school and encountered each other again in 1960. Jagger, a student at the London School of Economics, was playing with mutual friend Dick Taylor in Little Blues and The Blue Boys, who subsequently added Richards. Brian Jones had been playing as a jazz saxophonist before briefly joining Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, which included Charlie Watts. Wanting to form his own rhythm-and-blues band, Jones recruited pianist Ian Stewart and guitarist Jeff Bradford, among others. Jones first met Jagger, Richards, and Taylor at the Ealing Jazz club, where Blues Incorporated held residency. Jagger and Richards were soon jamming there with Charlie Watts and harmonica player Cyril Davies. By 1961, Jagger was rehearsing with Jones, Bradford, and Stewart, to soon be joined by Richards and Taylor, as Bradford became the first departure. Jagger began singing with Blues Incorporated in late 1961, joining as permanent singer in early 1962, by which time the band had graduated to the Marquee club in London. Jagger, Jones, and Richards began sharing an apartment and recorded a demonstration tape that was rejected by EMI Records. Taylor became the next departure, later to form The Pretty Things.

After debuting at the Marquee club in July 1962 as Brian Jones and Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones, the group added bassist Bill Wyman through auditions in December 1962 and attempted to persuade drummer Charlie Watts also to join. He did join in January 1963 and the group (Jagger, Richards, Jones, Stewart, Watts, and Wyman) subsequently played the rhythm-and-blues club circuit and secured a residency at the Craw-daddy Club in Richmond, where they attracted a burgeoning following. In May, Andrew “Loog” Oldham became their manager and signed the group with Decca Records (London in the U.S.). He began cultivating a rebellious image for the group and demoted Ian Stewart, who continued to record and play with the band, eventually becoming their tour manager.

The Rolling Stones’ first single, Chuck Berry’s “Come On,” became a minor British hit in June 1963. They conducted their first British tour in support of The Everly Brothers and Little Richard in September, scoring their first major British hit in December with “I Wanna Be Your Man,” provided by Beatles songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Gene Pitney managed a minor American hit with Jagger and Richards “That Girl Belongs to Yesterday” at the beginning of 1964 and The Rolling Stones soon achieved a smash British hit with Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” the group’s first moderate American hit. Their debut American album was pervaded with American rhythm-and-blues songs such as “Walking the Dog,” “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” “Can I Get a Witness,” and “Tell Me” (their first major American hit). The group first toured the U.S. in June, returning in October. The Rolling Stones’ 12 X 5 included the top British and major American hit “It’s All Over Now” (originally recorded by Bobby Womack’s Valentinos) and the smash American hit “Time Is on My Side” (previously recorded by Irma Thomas). By year’s end, Marianne Faithfull had scored a major American and near-smash British hit with Jagger and Richards’s “As Tears Go By.”

with Now! Jagger and Richards began ’ s for the group. The album produced a major American hit with their “Heart of Stone” in early 1965. Out of Our Heads, recorded primarily in Chicago, finally established The Rolling Stones in the U.S. The album yielded a near-smash with Jagger and Richards’s “The Last Time” (backed with “Play with Fire”) and a top hit with their classic “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (both top British hits). The album also included “The Spider and the Fly” and the satirical “Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man.” The Rolling Stones toured the U.S. twice in 1965, achieving a top British and American hit with “Get Off My Cloud” and a smash American hit with their version of “As Tears Go By” from December’s Children. The psychedelic “19th Nervous Breakdown” became a smash British and American hit and the group conducted their last tour of America for three years in 1966. Otis Redding scored a moderate pop and smash rhythm-and-blues hit with “Satisfaction” in early 1966 and Chris Farlowe scored a top British hit with Jagger and Richards’s “Out of Time” that summer.

Aftermath, the first Rolling Stones’ album consisting entirely of Jagger-Richards compositions, established the group as an album band. While including the top British and American hit “Paint It Black” (on which Brian Jones played sitar), the album contained the major American hit “Lady Jane” (Jones on dulcimer), the chauvinistic “Stupid Girl” and “Under My Thumb,” and the 11-minute “Goin’ Home.” During July, “Mother’s Little Helper,” backed by “Lady Jane,” became a near-smash American hit, while “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadows,” one of their most ambitious productions to date, proved a smash British and American hit in November.

After the live album Got Live, If You Want It, The Rolling Stones issued Between the Buttons, Andrew Old-ham’s final production for the group. It included the top American and smash British hit “Ruby Tuesday”/”Let’s Spend the Night Together,” as well as the overlooked “Yesterday’s Papers,” “Amanda Jones,” and “Something Happened to Me Yesterday.” Appearing on CBS-television’s Ed Sullivan Show in January 1967, the group performed “Let’s Spend the Night Together” as “Let’s Spend Some Time Together.” Later Jagger and Richards, then Jones, were charged in the first big drug arrests in British rock, in response to which the stately London Times came to their defense. Their next album, Flowers, featured a number of their recent hits plus “Out of Time” and the country-styled “Back Street Girl” and “Sittin’ on a Fence.”

The Rolling Stones next attempted to capitalize on psychedelia and the success of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”Dandelion”/”We Love You” became a major British and American hit, but the self-produced Their Satanic Majesties Request was not well received critically, yet yielded a major American hit with “She’s a Rainbow.” During 1967, Brian Jones had ostensibly played very little on the recordings of The Rolling Stones, becoming estranged from the rest of the group and even requiring hospitalization in December. He was arrested again in May 1968, shortly before the release of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” often regarded as the group’s most potent single since “Satisfaction” and their first top British and American hit in two years.

The much-delayed Beggar’s Banquet, undoubtedly The Rolling Stones’ finest and most coherent album, included the classic “Sympathy for the Devil,” the anthemic “Salt of the Earth,” the country-styled “No Expectations,” and “Stray Cat Blues” and “Jigsaw Puzzle,” as well as “Street Fighting Man,” oddly only a minor hit as a single. After participating in the legendary never-to-be-seen (until 1996) television special “Rock and Roll Circus,” Brian Jones quit the group in early July 1969, to be replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor from John Mayall’s band. On July 3, Jones was found dead in the swimming pool of his Sussex home at the age of 25, leading to later speculation that he was murdered. Two days later, Taylor debuted with The Rolling Stones at a free concert at London’s Hyde Park, attended by 250, 000 fans. Mick Jagger soon left for Australia to perform the title role in the movie Ned Kelly, released in 1970.

During the summer of 1969, another classic Rolling Stones single, “Honky Tonk Women,” recorded with Mick Taylor, became a top British and American hit. The group subsequently embarked on an American tour in November. Concluding the tour, the group announced plans for a free concert in northern Calif., but the concert site was changed several times and eventually took place at Altamont Speedway. Held on Dec. 6, the concert was a highly publicized tragedy. With the Hells Angels providing security in exchange for beer, the show was staged without adequate food services and health facilities and The Stones, demonstrating their aloofness from the audience, delayed more than an hour before appearing on the stage. Once they took the stage, the group worked the crowd into hysteria with unfortunate results. During “Under My Thumb,” a fan near the front was stabbed to death (as graphically captured in the film Gimme Shelter) and the concert devolved into ugly chaos. Charges and counter charges by participants were later aired, and the leftist press denounced the event as the “death” of rock ’n’ roll and the “Woodstock spirit.”

Also in late 1969, The Rolling Stones released Let It Bleed, which contained Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vain,” “Gimme Shelter” (ironic in the light of Altamont), the classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” and the menacing “Midnight Rambler,” as well as the title song. A period of inactivity ensued for the group, as Jagger appeared as the ambisexual star of Nicholas Roeg’s Performance film. The soundtrack album included a memorable Jagger solo single, “Memo from Turner.” In March 1971, The Rolling Stones announced they were leaving England for tax purposes, yet they conducted their first British tour in five years, augmented by keyboardist Nicky Hopkins and saxophonist Bobby Keys. In April, they issued the sexist and racist “Brown Sugar” (a top American and smash British hit) on their newly formed record label, Rolling Stones Records, distributed by Atlantic in the U.S. Their debut album for the label, Sticky Fingers, contained “Brown Sugar,” the countrified “Wild Horses” (a major hit), “Dead Flowers,” the jam-style “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” and “Sister Morphine,” the latter coauthored (without credit) by Marianne Faithfull.

By the early 1970s, concerts by The Rolling Stones were attended more as cultural events than as musical performances. Mick Jagger, in particular, was adopted by the so-called “jet set,” especially after his much-publicized marriage to Bianca de Macias in May 1971.

The double-record set Exile on Main Street was released to coincide with their massive 1972 tour accompanied by Nicky Hopkins and Bobby Keys. The album included “Rocks Off/’ “Rip This Joint,” and “Sweet Virginia,” and produced a near-smash British and American hit with “Tumbling Dice” and a major American hit with “Happy.”

Conducting immensely successful tours of America and Europe in 1973, The Rolling Stones’ next two albums, Goat’s Head Soup, recorded in Jamaica, and It’s Only Rock& Roll, were considered minor works compared to previous albums, yet each contained several exceptional songs. Goat’s Head Soup yielded a top American and smash British hit with the ballad “Angie” and a minor hit with “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heart-breaker),” while containing the notorious “Star Star,” perhaps better known as “Starfucker.” It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll, the first Stones album produced by Jagger and Richards as “The Glimmer Twins,” featured the major international hits “It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” (originally a hit for The Temptations), while including “Dance Little Sister” and “Time Waits for No One.” In 1974, the in-concert film Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, filmed in Tex. during the 1972 tour, was released.

During 1975, The Rolling Stones again mounted a huge, lavishly staged, and lucrative American tour, augmented by Billy Preston. Mick Taylor had quit the group the previous December, to be replaced by “guest artist” Ron Wood, guitarist for The Faces, for the grandiose tour. Their next album, Black and Blue, eventually appeared in 1976 to critical disapproval. The album’s sexist promotional campaign later inspired a boycott by Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW) against the entire organization responsible for distribution of Rolling Stones Records, Warner Communications. The album yielded only one major hit, “Fool to Cry.” Ron Wood finally became an official member of the group in June 1977. In the meantime, Bill Wyman had recorded two solo albums, and Mick Taylor had worked with The Jack Bruce Band and Gong before recording a solo album for Columbia Records in 1979 and touring and recording with Bob Dylan in the early 1980s.

The Rolling Stones again toured the U.S. in 1978, this time without the elaborate staging and massive props of the 1975 tour, accompanied by keyboardists Ian McLa-gan (formerly of The Faces) and Ian Stewart. Performing at small and medium-sized halls as well as at huge outdoor concerts, the group broke the rock concert attendance record in July at the New Orleans Super-dome, where more than 80, 000 fans were present. Some Girls became the group’s best-selling nonanthology album on the strength of the top American and smash British disco-style hit single “Miss You,” the near-smash American hit “Beast of Burden,” and the moderate American hit “Shattered.” The album also contained “When the Whip Comes Down,” “Far Away Eyes,” and Richards’s “Before They Make Me Run.”

In February 1977, Keith Richards was arrested in Toronto on charges of possession of heroin for sale, yet he got off lightly in October 1978, being required to continue drug rehabilitation and perform a benefit concert. For the concert, performed in April 1979, Richards and Ron Wood assembled The New Barbarians with keyboardist Ian McLagan, saxophonist Bobby Keys, jazz bassist Stanley Clarke, and Meters drummer Joe Modeliste. The concert and subsequent American tour neatly coincided with the release of Wood’s third solo album, Gimme Some Neck, which included eight originals by Wood and Bob Dylan’s “Seven Days.” During 1979, The Rolling Stones were the subject of controversy as the result of former associate Tony Sanchez’s ghastly and lurid account of his eight-year tenure with The Rolling Stones, Up and Down with The Rolling Stones. Their reputation had also been tarnished by a film made by Robert Franks during the group’s

1972 tour, Cocksucker Blues. The movie, completed in 1973 and shown several times during 1975 and 1976, was legally suppressed by the group and ultimately withdrawn from public viewing in 1988.

Finally, in 1980, another much-delayed Rolling Stones album was issued, Emotional Rescue, but it did little to dispel the allegation that the group was no longer the “world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band.” The album produced a smash British and American hit with the title song and a major American hit with “She’s So Cold.” In 1981, The Rolling Stones redeemed themselves with the unaffected Tattoo You album, the smash international hit “Start Me Up” and the major American hits “Waiting on a Friend” and “Hang Fire,” and a massively successful tour conducted in the final four months of the year. However, despite signing a new distribution deal with Columbia Records in August 1983, the group recorded only two studio albums, 1983’s Undercover and 1986’s Dirty Work, over the next seven years. During that time, they scored a mere five hits, highlighted by the smash American and major British hits “Undercover of the Night” and “Harlem Shuffle,” the latter a cover version of Bob and Earl’s 1964 hit.

Much of the 1980s was taken up by individual efforts by the members of The Rolling Stones, as Jagger and Richards became estranged from each other. In 1983, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts toured as part of Ronnie Lane’s brief benefit tour for Appeal for Actions Research into Multiple Sclerosis. Mick Jagger shared lead vocals with Michael Jackson on The Jacksons’ smash 1984 pop and R&B and major British hit “State of Shock.” He recorded two lackluster solo albums, She’s the Boss and Primitive Cool, managing major hits with “Just Another Night” and “Dancing in the Street” (recorded with David Bowie). In 1988, he became the first member of The Rolling Stones to tour solo and to tour Japan. Longtime associate Ian Stewart, who had recorded an album with his blues band Rocket 88 in 1980, died in London of a heart attack on Dec. 12, 1985, at the age of 47. Charlie Watts began performing with large bands in late 1985 and assembled the British jazz band The Charlie Watts Orch. for one 1987 American album, Live at Fulham Town Hall, and two brief American tours. Ron Wood toured with Bo Diddley as The Gunslingers in 1987 and 1988.

In 1986, Keith Richards served as music director for the Chuck Berry concert film Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll and produced Aretha Franklin’s version of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” a major pop and R&B hit from the movie of the same name. Two years later, he assembled a group that came to be known as The X-Pensive Winos, with drummer and songwriring partner Steve Jordan, guitarist Waddy Wachtel, keyboardist Ivan Neville, and bassist Charlie Drayton. They recorded Talk Comes Cheap, which featured the bitter indictment of Jagger, “You Don’t Move Me Anymore,” and toured America in late 1988, with their Dec. 15 show eventually being released as Live at the Hollywood Palladium. In May 1989, Bill Wyman opened the restaurant Sticky Fingers Cafe in the fashionable Kensington district of London.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, The Rolling Stones finally assembled that year to record the diverse Steel Wheels album and conduct a world tour, their first tour in eight years. The album sold more than two million copies, producing American hits with “Mixed Emotions” (a smash) and “Rock and a Hard Place,” and the tour was the highest- grossing rock tour to date. In 1990, they toured about a dozen European cities with their “Urban Jungle” tour. “Highwire,” which castigated international arms dealers, became a minor hit and was one of two studio cuts from the otherwise live Flashpoint album. In late 1991, The Rolling Stones signed a new record deal with Virgin Records that was to commence in 1993, but Bill Wyman soon quit the group.

Mick Jagger appeared in the 1992 science fiction thriller Freejack and later recorded his third solo album Wandering Spirit. In 1992, Ron Wood issued his solo album, Slide on This, and Keith Richards recorded a second solo album, Main Offender, and toured with The X-Pensive Winos into 1993. Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts recorded solo albums, released in Japan and Great Britain, respectively.

The Rolling Stones’ debut album on Virgin Records, Voodoo Lounge, was issued shortly before the group conducted a three-month tour of American stadiums. Recorded with bassist Darryl Jones, the album produced only minor hits with “Love Is Strong” and “Out of Tears,” yet it sold more than two million copies and seemed to reestablish the group after a five-year lapse. The well-received American tour grossed more than $120 million and continued in Central and South America and Australia in 1995. The tour ultimately grossed more than $300 million and appeared to confirm the group’s reputation as the “world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band,” at least in live performance.

The Rolling Stones’ 1995 live acoustic album Stripped yielded a major British hit with Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” In September 1997, the group launched a year-long world tour in support of Bridges to Babylon, which featured “Anybody Seen My Baby?” and “Already Over Me.” This tour produced 1998’s live set No Security, used as the name of their 1999 world tour.

Discography

studio albums by the rolling stones:The Rolling Stones (1964); 12 X 5 (1964); Now! (1965); Out of Our Heads (1965); December’s Children (and Everybody’s) (1965); Aftermath (1966); Between the Buttons (1967); Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967); Beggar’s Banquet (1968); Let It Bleed (1969); Sticky Fingers (1971); Exile on Main Street (1972); Goat’s Head Soup (1973); It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll (1974); Black and Blue (1976); Some Girls (1978); Emotional Rescue (1980); Tattoo You (1981); Undercover (1983); Dirty Work (1986); Steel Wheels (1989); Voodoo Lounge (1994); Bridges to Babylon (1997). ”Live” albums by the rolling stones: Got Live If You Want It (1966); Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out (ree. November 1969; rei. 1970); Love You Live (ree. 1975–77; rei. 1977); Still Life (American concert 1981; rei. 1982); Flashpoint (ree. 1989–90; rei. 1991); Stripped (1995); Rock and Roll Circus (filmed and recorded December 1968; rei. 1996); No Security (1998). Brian jones: Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan atjoujouka (1971). Wyman, watts, jagger, ry cooder, and nicky hopkins: Jammin’ with Edward (1972). Bill wyman: Monfey Grip (1974); Stone Alone (1976); Drinkin’ TNT ’n’ Smokin’ Dynamite (1982). Mick taylor: Mick Taylor (1979/1992); Coas-tin’Home (1996). Mick taylor and carla olson: Too Hot for Snakes (1991). RON WOOD: I’ve Got My Own Album to Do (1974); Now Look (1975); Gimme Some Neck (1979); 2234 (1981); Slide on This (1992); Slide on Live (1998). Ron wood and ronnie lane: Mahoney’s Last Chance (soundtrack; 1976). Rocket 88 (With ian stewart): Rocket 88 (1981). Mick jagger: Performance (soundtrack; 1970); Ned Kelly (soundtrack; 1970); She’s the Boss (1985); Primitive Cool (1987); Wandering Spirit (1993). Keith richards: Talk Is Cheap (1988); Keith Richards and The X-Pensive Winos at the Hollywood Palladium (ree. December 1988; rei. 1991); Main Offender (1992). Charlie watts: Long Ago and Far Away (1996).

Bibliography

P. Goodman, Our Own Story by The R. S. (N.Y., 1965); D. Dalton, R. S.: An Unauthorized Biography in Words, Pictures and Music (N.Y., 1972); M. L. Dimmick, The R. S.: An Annotated Bibliography (Pittsburgh, Pa., 1972, 1979); R. M. Elman, Uptight with The Stones: A Novelist’s Report (N.Y., 1973); J. Marks-Highwater, Mick Jagger: The Singer, Not the Song (NX, 1973); R. Greenfield, A Journey Through America with The R. S. (N.Y., 1974); A. Scaduto, Mick Jagger: Everybody’s Lucifer (N.Y., 1974); G. Tremlett, The R. S. (N.Y., 1974); Rolling Stone, The R. S. (San Francisco, Calif., 1975); R. Carr, R. S.: An Illustrated Record (N.Y., 1976); T. Jasper, The R. S. (London, 1976); J. J. Pascali, The R. S. (London, N.Y., 1977); B. Charone, Keith Richards: Life As a Rolling Stone (London, 1979); T. Sanchez, Up and Down with The R. S.: The Inside Story (N.Y., 1979); D. Dalton, R. S. (N.Y., 1979); D. Dalton, The R. S.: The First Twenty Years (N.Y., 1981); M. Aftel, Death of a Rolling Stone: The Brian Jones Story (N.Y., 1982); T. Dowley, The R. S. (N.Y., 1983); R. Palmer, The R. S. (Garden City, N.Y., 1983); S. Weiner and L. Howard, The R. S. A to Z (N.Y., 1983); S. Booth, Dance with the Devil: The R. S. and Their Time (N.Y., 1984); P. Norman, Symphony for the Devil: The Rolling Stone Story (N.Y., 1984); S. Booth, The True Adventures of The R. S. (London, 1985); F. Aeppli, Heart of Stone: The Definitive R. S. Discography, 1962–83 (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1985); N. Fitzgerald, Brian Jones: The Inside Story of the Original Rolling Stone (N.Y., 1985); C. Flippo, On the Road with The R. S.: 20 Years of Lipstick, Handcuffs, and Chemicals (Garden City, N.Y., 1985). H. W. McPhail, Yesterday’s Paper: The R. S. in Print, 1963–84 (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1986); M. Elliott, The R. S.: Complete Recording Sessions 1963–89 (N.Y., 1989); P. Norman, The Life and Good Times of The R. S. (N.Y., 1989); M. Bonanno, The R. S. Chronicle: The First Thirty Years (N.Y., 1990); A. E. Hotchner, Blown Away: The R. S. and the Death of the Sixties (N.Y., 1990); B. Wyman and R. Coleman, Stone Alone: The Story of a Rock ’n’ Roll Band (N.Y., 1990); V. Bockriss, Keith Richards: The Biography (N.Y., 1992); C. Andersen, Jagger Unauthorized (N.Y., 1993); G. Giuliano, The R. S. Album: Thirty Years of Music and Memorabilia (N.Y., 1993); L. Jackson, Golden Stone: The Untold Life and Tragic Death of Brian Jones (N.Y., 1993); D. Seay, Mickjagger: The Story Behind The R. S. (Secaucus, N.J., 1993); C. Sandford, Mick Jagger: Primitive Cool (N.Y., 1994); S. Booth, Keith (N.Y., 1995); J. Karnbach and C. Bernson, It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll: The Ultimate Guide to The R. S. (N.Y., 1997); D. Loewenstein, ed., The R. S.: A Life on the Road (N.Y., 1998).

—Brock Helander