Originally billed as the Rollin' Stones, the first line-up of
this immemorial English 60s group was a nucleus of
Mick Jagger
(b. Michael Philip Jagger, 26 July 1943,
Dartford, Kent, England; vocals), Keith Richard
(b.
Keith Richards, 18 December 1943, Dartford, Kent,
England; guitar), Brian Jones
(b. Lewis Brian Hopkin-
Jones, 28 February 1942, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,
England, d. 3 July 1969; rhythm guitar) and Ian Stewart

(b. 1938, d. 12 December 1985; piano). Jagger and
Richard were primary school friends who resumed their
camaraderie in their closing teenage years after finding
they had a mutual love for R&B and particularly the music
of Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley. Initially,
they were teamed with bassist Dick Taylor
(later of the
Pretty Things ) and before long their ranks extended to
include Jones, Stewart and occasional drummer Tony
Chapman. Their patron at this point was the renowned
musician Alexis Korner, who had arranged their debut
gig at London's Marquee club on 21 July 1962. In their
first few months the group met some opposition from
jazz and blues aficionados for their alleged lack of
musical 'purity' and the line-up remained unsettled for
several months.

In late 1962 bassist Bill Wyman
(b. William Perks, 24
October 1936, Plumstead, London, England) replaced
Dick Taylor while drummers came and went including
Carlo Little
(from Screaming Lord Sutch 's Savages)
and Mick Avory
(later of the Kinks, who was billed as
appearing at their debut gig, but didn't play). It was not
until as late as January 1963 that drummer Charlie
Watts
(b. 2 June 1941, London, England) reluctantly
surrendered his day job and committed himself to the
group. After securing a residency at Giorgio Gomelsky 's
Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, the Stones' live reputation s
pread rapidly through London's hip cognoscenti. One
evening, the flamboyant Andrew Loog Oldham appeared
at the club and was so entranced by the commercial
prospects of Jagger's sexuality that he wrested them
away from Gomelsky and, backed by the financial and
business clout of agent Eric Easton, became their
manager. Within weeks, Oldham had produced their
first couple of official recordings at IBC Studios. By
this time, record company scouts were on the prowl
with Decca 's Dick Rowe leading the march and
successfully signing the group. After re-purchasing the
IBC demos, Oldham selected Chuck Berry's 'Come On'
as their debut. The record was promoted on the prestigious
UK television pop programme Thank Your Lucky Stars
and the Stones were featured sporting matching hounds-
tooth jackets with velvet collars. This was to be one of
Oldham's few concessions to propriety for he would soon
be pushing the boys as unregenerate rebels. Unfortunately,
pianist Ian Stewart was not deemed sufficiently pop star-
like for Oldham's purpose and was unceremoniously
removed from the line-up, although he remained road
manager and occasional pianist. After supporting the
Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Gene Vincent and Bo
Diddley on a Don Arden UK package tour, the Stones
released their second single, a gift from John Lennon and
Paul McCartney entitled 'I Wanna Be Your Man'. The disc
fared better than its predecessor climbing into the Top 10
in January 1964. That same month the group enjoyed
their first bill-topping tour supported by the Ronettes.

The early months of 1964 saw the Stones catapulted to
fame amid outrage and controversy about the surliness
of their demeanour and the length of their hair. This was
still a world in which the older members of the community
were barely coming to terms with the Beatles neatly-
groomed mop tops. While newspapers asked 'Would you
let your daughter marry a Rolling Stone?', the quintet
engaged in a flurry of recording activity which saw the
release of an EP and an album both titled The Rolling
Stones. The discs consisted almost exclusively of
extraneous material and captured the group at their most
derivative stage. Already, however, there were strong
signs of an ability to combine different styles. The third
single, 'Not Fade Away', saw them fuse Buddy Holly 's
quaint original with a chunky Bo Diddley beat that
highlighted Jagger's vocal to considerable effect. The
presence of Phil Spector and Gene Pitney at these
sessions underlined how hip the Stones had already
become in the music business after such a short time.
With the momentum increasing by the month, Oldham
characteristically over-reached himself by organizing a
US tour which proved premature and disappointing.
After returning to the UK, the Stones released a decisive
cover of the Valentinos' 'It's All Over Now', which gave
them their first number 1. A best-selling EP, Five By Five ,
cemented their growing reputation, while a national tour
escalated into a series of near riots with scenes of hysteria
wherever they played. There was an ugly strain to the
Stones' appeal which easily translated into violence. At
the Winter Gardens Blackpool the group hosted the
most astonishing rock riot yet witnessed on British soil.
Frenzied fans displayed their feelings for the group by
smashing chandeliers and demolishing a Steinway grand
piano. By the end of the evening over 50 people were
escorted to hospital for treatment. Other concerts
terminated within minutes of the group appearing on-stage
and the hysteria continued throughout Europe. A return to
the USA saw them disrupt the stagey Ed Sullivan Show
prompting the presenter to ban rock 'n' roll groups in
temporary retaliation. In spite of all the chaos at home
and abroad, America remained resistant to their appeal,
although that situation would change dramatically
in the New Year.

In November 1964, 'Little Red Rooster' was released
and entered the New Musical Express chart at number 1,
a feat more usually associated with the Beatles and,
previously, Elvis Presley. The Stones now had a formidable
fan base and their records were becoming more
accomplished and ambitious with each successive release.
Jagger's accentuated phrasing and posturing stage persona
made 'Little Red Rooster' sound surprisingly fresh while
Brian Jones's use of slide guitar was imperative to the
single's success. Up until this point, the group had recorded
cover versions as a-sides, but manager Andrew Oldham
was determined that they should emulate the example of
Lennon/McCartney and locked them in a room until they
emerged with satisfactory material. Their early efforts, 'It
Should Have Been You' and 'Will You Be My Lover
Tonight?'
(both recorded by the late George Bean) were
bland, but Gene Pitney scored a hit with the emphatic 'That
Girl Belongs To Yesterday' and Jagger's girlfriend Marianne
Faithfull became a teenage recording star with the moving
'As Tears Go By'. 1965 proved the year of the international
breakthrough and three extraordinary self-penned number 1
singles. 'The Last Time' saw them emerge with their own
distinctive rhythmic style and underlined an ability to fuse
R&B and pop in an enticing fashion. America finally
succumbed to their spell with '
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction',
a quintessential pop lyric with the still youthful Jagger sounding
like a jaundiced roué. Released in the UK during the 'summer
of protest songs', the single encapsulated the restless
weariness of a group already old before its time. The distinctive
riff, which Keith Richard invented with almost casual dismissal,
became one of the most famous hook lines in the entire glossary
of pop and was picked up and imitated by a generation of
garage groups thereafter. The 1965 trilogy of hits was
completed with the engagingly surreal 'Get Off Of My Cloud'
in which Jagger's surly persona seemed at its most pronounced
to date. As well as the number 1 hits of 1965, there was also a
celebrated live EP, Got Live If You Want It which reached the
Top 10 and, The Rolling Stones No. 2 that continued the
innovative idea of not including the group's name on the front of
the sleeve. There was also some well documented bad boy
controversy when Jagger, Jones and Wyman were arrested and
charged with urinating on the wall of an East London petrol
station. Such scandalous behaviour merely reinforced the
public's already ingrained view of the Stones as juvenile
degenerates.

With the notorious Allen Klein replacing Eric Easton as Oldham's
co-manager, the Stones consolidated their success by renegotiating
their Decca contract. Their single output in the USA simultaneously
increased with the release of a couple of tracks unavailable in single
form in the UK. The sardonic put-down of suburban valium abuse,
'Mother's Little Helper' and the Elizabethan-styled 'Lady Jane',
complete with atmospheric dulcimer, displayed their contrasting styles
to considerable effect. Both these songs were included on their fourth
album, Aftermath. A breakthrough work in a crucial year, the
recording revealed the Stones as accomplished rockers and balladeers,
while their writing potential was emphasized by Chris Farlowe 's
chart-topping cover of 'Out Of Time'. There were also signs of the
Stones' inveterate misogyny particularly on the cocky 'Under My Thumb'
and an acerbic 'Stupid Girl'. Back in the singles chart, the group's
triumphant run continued with the startlingly chaotic '19th Nervous
Breakdown' in which frustration, impatience and chauvinism were
brilliantly mixed with scale-sliding descending guitar lines. 'Paint It Black'
was even stronger, a raga-influenced piece with a lyric so doom-laden
and defeatist in its imagery that it is a wonder that the angry performance
sounded so passionate and urgent. The Stones' nihilism reached its peak
on the extraordinary 'Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing In
The Shadow?', a scabrous-sounding solicitation taken at breathtaking
pace with Jagger spitting out a diatribe of barely coherent abuse. It was
probably the group's most adventurous production to date, but its
acerbic sound, lengthy title and obscure theme contributed to rob the
song of sufficient commercial potential to continue the chart-topping run.
Ever outrageous, the group promoted the record with a photo session in
which they appeared in drag, thereby adding a clever, sexual ambivalence
to their already iconoclastic public image. 1967 saw the Stones' anti-
climactic escapades confront an establishment crackdown. The year
began with an accomplished double a-sided single, 'Let's Spend The
Night Together'/'Ruby Tuesday' which, like the Beatles' 'Penny Lane'/'
Strawberry Fields Forever', narrowly failed to reach number 1 in their
home country. The accompanying album, Between The Buttons, trod
water and also represented Oldham's final production. Increasingly
alienated by the Stones' bohemianism, he would move further away from
them in the ensuing months and surrender the management reins to his
partner Klein later in the year. On 12 February, Jagger and Richard were
arrested at the latter's West Wittering home 'Redlands' and charged with
drugs offences. Three months later, increasingly unstable Brian Jones was
raided and charged with similar offences. The Jagger/Richard trial in June
was a cause célèbre which culminated in the notorious duo receiving heavy
fines and a salutary prison sentence. Judicial outrage was tempered by
public clemency, most effectively voiced by The Times' editor William
Rees-Mogg who, borrowing a phrase from Pope, offered an eloquent plea
in their defence under the leader title, 'Who Breaks A Butterfly On A
Wheel?' Another unexpected ally was rival group the Who, who rallied
to the Stones' cause by releasing a single coupling 'Under My Thumb' and
'The Last Time'. The sentences were duly quashed on appeal in July, with
Jagger receiving a conditional discharge for possession of amphetamines.
Three months later, Brian Jones tasted judicial wrath with a nine-month
sentence and suffered a nervous breakdown before seeing his
imprisonment rescinded at the end of the year.

The flurry of drug busts, court cases, appeals and constant media attention
had a marked effect on the Stones' recording career which was severely
curtailed. During their summer of impending imprisonment, they released
the fey 'We Love You', complete with slamming prison cell doors in the
background. It was a weak, flaccid statement rather than a rebellious
rallying cry. The image of the cultural anarchists cowering in defeat was
not particularly palatable to their fans and even with all the publicity, the
single barely scraped into the Top 10. The eventful year ended with the
Stones' apparent answer to Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - the
extravagantly-titled Their Satanic Majesties Request. Beneath the exotic
3-D cover was an album of psychedelic/cosmic experimentation bereft of
the R&B grit that had previously been synonymous with the Stones'
sound. Although the album had some strong moments, it had the same
inexplicably placid inertia of 'We Love You', minus notable melodies or a
convincing direction. The overall impression conveyed was that in trying
to compete with the Beatles' experimentation, the Stones had somehow
lost the plot. Their drug use had channelled them into laudable
experimentation but simultaneously left them open to accusations of having
'gone soft'. The revitalization of the Stones was demonstrated in the early
summer of 1968 with 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', a single that rivalled the best
of their previous output. The succeeding album, Beggars Banquet,
produced by Jimmy Miller, was also a return to strength and included the
socio-political 'Street Fighting Man' and the brilliantly macabre 'Sympathy
For The Devil', in which Jagger's seductive vocal was backed by hypnotic
Afro-rhythms and dervish yelps.

While the Stones were re-establishing themselves, Brian Jones was falling
deeper into drug abuse. A conviction in late 1968 prompted doubts about
his availability for US tours and in the succeeding months he contributed
less and less to recordings and became increasingly jealous of Jagger's
leading role in the group. Richard's wooing and impregnation of Jones'
girlfriend Anita Pallenberg merely increased the tension. Matters reached
a crisis point in June 1969 when Jones officially left the group. The
following month he was found dead in the swimming pool of the Sussex
house that had once belonged to writer A.A. Milne. The official verdict
was 'death by misadventure'. A free concert at London's Hyde Park two
days after his death was attended by a crowd of 250,000 and became a
symbolic wake for the tragic youth. Jagger released thousands of
butterfly's and narrated a poem by Shelley for Brian. Three days later,
Jagger's former love Marianne Faithfull attempted suicide. This was truly
the end of the first era of the Rolling Stones.

The group played out the last months of the 60s with a mixture of vinyl
triumph and further tragedy. The sublime 'Honky Tonk Women' kept them
at number 1 for most of the summer and few would have guessed that this
was to be their last UK chart topper. The new album, Let It Bleed
(a
parody of the Beatles' Let It Be ) was an exceptional work spearheaded
by the anthemic 'Gimme Shelter' and revealing strong country influences

('Country Honk'), startling orchestration
('You Can't Always Get What
You Want') and menacing blues
('Midnight Rambler'). It was a promising
debut from John Mayall 's former guitarist Mick Taylor
(b. 17 January
1948, Hertfordshire, England) who had replaced Jones only a matter of
weeks before his death. Even while Let It Bleed was heading for the top
of the album charts, however, the Stones were singing out the 60s to the
backdrop of a Hells Angels' killing of a black man at the Altamont Festival
in California. The tragedy was captured on film in the grisly Gimme
Shelter movie released the following year. After the events of 1969, it was
not surprising that the group had a relatively quiet 1970. Jagger's
contrasting thespian outings reached the screen in the form of Performance
and Ned Kelly while Jean-Luc Goddard's tedious portrait of the group in
the studio was delivered on One Plus One. For a group who had once
claimed to make more challenging and gripping films than the Beatles and
yet combine artistic credibility with mass appeal, it all seemed a long time
coming.

After concluding their Decca contract with a bootleg-deterring live album,
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out, the Stones established their own self-titled label.
The first release was a three track single, 'Brown Sugar'/'Bitch'/'Let It Rock',
which contained some of their best work, but narrowly failed to reach number
1 in the UK. The lead track contained a quintessential Stones riff: insistent,
undemonstrative and stunning, with the emphatic brass work of Bobby Keyes
embellishing Jagger's vocal power. The new album, Sticky Fingers was as
consistent as it was accomplished, encompassing the bluesy 'You Gotta Move',
the thrilling 'Moonlight Mile', the wistful 'Wild Horses' and the chilling 'Sister
Morphine', one the most despairing drug songs ever written. The entire album
was permeated by images of sex and death, yet the tone of the work was
neither self-indulgent nor maudlin. The group's playful fascination with sex
was further demonstrated on the elaborately designed Andy Warhol sleeve
which featured a waist-view shot of a figure clad in denim, with a real zip
fastener which opened to display the lips and tongue motif that was shortly
to become their corporate image. Within a year of Sticky Fingers, the group
returned with a double album, Exile On Main Street. With Keith Richard
firmly in control, the group were rocking-out on a series of quick-fire songs.
The album was severely criticized at the time of its release for its uneven
quality but was subsequently re-evaluated favourably, particularly in
contrast to their later work.

The Stones' soporific slide into the 70s mainstream probably began during
1973 when their jet-setting was threatening to upstage their musical
endeavours. Jagger's marriage and Richard's confrontations with the law
took centre stage while increasingly average albums came and went. Goat's
Head Soup was decidedly patchy but offered some strong moments and
brought a deserved US number 1 with the imploring 'Angie'. 1974's 'It's
Only Rock 'n' Roll' proved a better song title than a single, while the
undistinguished album of the same name saw the group reverting to Tamla/
Motown for the Temptations' 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg'.

The departure of Mick Taylor at the end of 1974 was followed by a
protracted period in which the group sought a suitable replacement. By the
time of their next release, Black And Blue, former Faces guitarist Ron
Wood
(b. 1 June 1947, London, England) was confirmed as Taylor's
successor. The album showed the group seeking a possible new direction
playing variants on white reggae, but the results were less than impressive.

By the second half of the 70s the gaps in the Stones' recording and touring
schedules were becoming wider. The days when they specially recorded for
the singles market were long past and considerable impetus had been lost.
Even big rallying points, such as the celebrated concert at Knebworth in
1976, lacked a major album to promote the show and served mainly as a
greatest hits package.

By 1977, the British music press had taken punk to its heart and the Stones
were dismissed as champagne-swilling old men, who had completely lost
touch with their audience. The Clash effectively summed up the mood of the
time with their slogan 'No Elvis, Beatles, Stones' in '1977'.

Against the odds, the Stones responded to the challenge of their younger critics
with a comeback album of remarkable power. Some Girls was their most consistent
work in years, with some exceptional high-energy workouts, not least the
breathtaking 'Shattered'. The disco groove of 'Miss You' brought them another
US number 1 and showed that they could invigorate their repertoire with new ideas
that worked. Jagger's wonderful pastiche of an American preacher on the mock
country 'Far Away Eyes' was another unexpected highlight. There was even an
attendant controversy thanks to some multi-racist chauvinism on the title track, not
to mention 'When The Whip Comes Down' and 'Beast Of Burden'. Even the cover
jacket had to be re-shot because it featured unauthorized photos of the famous,
most notably actresses Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett and Raquel Welch. To conclude
a remarkable year, Keith Richard escaped what seemed an almost certain jail
sentence in Toronto for drugs offences and was merely fined and ordered to play
a couple of charity concerts. As if in celebration of his release and reconciliation with
his father, he reverted to his original family name Richards. In the wake of Richards'
reformation and Jagger's much-publicized and extremely expensive divorce from his
model wife Bianca, the Stones reconvened in 1980 for Emotional Rescue, a rather
lightweight album dominated by Jagger's falsetto and over-use of disco rhythms.
Nevertheless, the album gave the Stones their first UK number 1 since 1973 and the
title track was a Top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Early the following year a
major US tour
(highlights of which were included on Still Life ) garnered enthusiastic
reviews, while a host of repackaged albums reinforced the group's legacy. 1981's
Tattoo You was essentially a crop of old outtakes but the material was anything but
stale. On the contrary, the album was surprisingly strong and the concomitant single
'Start Me Up' was a reminder of the Stones at their 60s best, a time when they were
capable of producing classic singles at will. One of the Stones' cleverest devices
throughout the 80s was their ability to compensate for average work by occasional
flashes of excellence. The workmanlike Undercover, for example, not only boasted
a brilliantly menacing title track
('Undercover Of The Night') but one of the best
promotional videos of the period. While critics continually questioned the group's
relevance, the Stones were still releasing worthwhile work, albeit in smaller doses.

A three-year silence on record was broken by Dirty Work in 1986, which saw the
Stones sign to CBS Records and team up with producer Steve Lillywhite. Surprisingly,
it was not a Stones original that produced the expected offshoot single hit, but a cover
of Bob And Earl 's 'Harlem Shuffle'. A major record label signing often coincides with
a flurry of new work, but the Stones were clearly moving away from each other
creatively and concentrating more and more on individual projects. Wyman had
already tasted some chart success in 1983 with the biggest solo success from a
Stones' number, 'Je Suis Un Rock Star' and it came as little surprise when Jagger
issued his own solo album, She's The Boss, in 1985. A much publicized-feud with
Keith Richards led to speculation that the Rolling Stones story had come to an anti-
climactic end, a view reinforced by the appearance of a second Jagger album,
Primitive Cool, in 1987. When Richards himself released the first solo work of his
career in 1988, the Stones' obituary had virtually been written. As if to confound
the obituarists, however, the Stones reconvened in 1989 and announced that they
would be working on a new album and commencing a world tour. Later that year
the hastily-recorded Steel Wheels appeared and the critical reception was generally
good. 'Mixed Emotions' and 'Rock And A Hard Place' were radio hits while
'Continental Drift' included contributions from the master musicians of Joujouka,
previously immortalized on vinyl by the late Brian Jones. After nearly 30 years in
existence, the Rolling Stones began the 90s with the biggest grossing international
tour of all time, and ended speculation about their future by reiterating their intention
of playing on indefinitely. Voodoo Lounge in 1994 was one of their finest recordings,
it was both lyrically daring and musically fresh. They sounded charged up and raring
to go for the 1995 USA tour. Monies taken at each gig could almost finance the
national debt and confirmation
(as if it were needed) that they are still the world's
greatest rock band, a title that is likely to stick, even though Bill Wyman officially
resigned in 1993. Riding a crest after an extraordinarily active 1995 Stripped was a
dynamic semi-plugged album. Fresh sounding and energetic acoustic versions of 'Street
Fighting Man', 'Wild Horses' and 'Let It Bleed' among others, emphasized just how
great the Jagger/Richards songwriting team is. The year was marred however by some
outspoken comments by Keith Richards on R.E.M. and Nirvana. These clumsy
comments are unlikely to endear the grand old man of rock to a younger audience.
This was all the more surprising as the Stones had so far appeared in touch with
today's rock music. Citing R.E.M. as 'wimpy cult stuff' and Kurt Cobain as 'some
prissy little spoiled kid' were, at best, ill-chosen. Bridges To Babylon was a particularly
fresh-sounding album, with Charlie Watts anchoring the whole album like never
before. His drumming was not only exceptional, but it was mixed to the foreground,
giving the record a much cleaner and funkier result.