I recently saw a list of top bands and where was listed the Rolling Stones was, “No more information about this artist”, (Whaaa?!?) so that lead me to write a little about Rolling Stones band members and music.
The Stones are one of those bands who have made it through a lot of changes. When you look and listen to very early photos and music one pretty much just wants to say “awwww , they’re soo young and innocent” ;) I often forget that they’re basically peers to the Beatles (somehow in my mind that just doesn’t “fit”, but is true nevertheless).
The Rolling Stones photos are a good place to start. More on the band’s history and music below the images.
I’m paying more attention visually to early Rolling Stones photos mainly because I often forget how damn clean cut they were when they started (b/c after all everyone was). You have the Stones and the Beatles wearing ties and jackets, smiling like good Brit youngsters. Little did we know what was to come. A giant mouth with big lips and a tongue becoming one of the most recognized band logos, or any logo, of all time.
Rolling Stones Music
It’s hard to say which Stones song we like most. For me personally, it seems to shift and change around depending on mood and time of the year, even. There are clearly classics: Sympathy for the Devil, Angie, Gimme Shelter (who WAS that woman?!? Story is she was paid by contract, so one of the most memorable vocal performances didn’t get ay royalties), Wild Horses, Satisfaction, Brown Sugar, etc. etc. Sympathy for the Devil seems to be a song that always returns into view
An after that in the 60’s we now have Mick Jagger performing at the white house. Not bad spanning a handful of decades, eh?
Rolling Stones Band Members
Where it all started was with Mick Jagger and keith Richards (makes sense). In the 50’s they knew each other as kids, but then the families moved apart – multi-tracks were just coming into their own, right? In 1960, Jagger was studying economics “ran into” Richards in a train station and their music started with Mick joining in on Keith’s band at the time… “Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys” … no wonder the first shots they’re all wearing ties. Times were simpler back then ;)
What surprises sometimes, however, is that the actual “The Rolling Stones” was not Mick or Keith’s to start, it was Brian Jones who was early on playing with Blues Incorporated. Quoting Keith Richards, “Brian was really fantastic, the first person I ever heard playing slide electric guitar,” Richards said in Stone Alone: The Story of a Rock ’n’ Roll Band, by bassist Bill Wyman. “Mick and I both thought he was incredible. He mentioned he was forming a band. He could have easily joined another group, but he wanted to form his own. The Rolling Stones was Brian’s baby.”
The band has also added and subtracted from its lineup a little more than my memory tends to grasp. We always know the key four guys: Mick, Ronnie, Charlie, and Keith (the pirate that Keith Richards is). But any Rolling Stones fan should also nod their heads to:
Brian Jones : (1962 – 1969) Guitars, sitar, keyboards, accordion, trumpet, saxophone, backing vocals
Ian Stewart: (1962 – 1985) Piano, organ, marimbas and percussion
Mick Taylor: (1969 – 1974) Electric, acoustic, and slide guitar, backing vocals
and of course,
Bill Wyman: (1962 – 1992) Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals, Keyboards
While Mick Jagger pranced his way into permanent rock stardom, Keith Richards seemed to drink and drug his way there (in my opinion he has to be one of the strongest dudes on the planet to survive the rock ‘n roll lifestyle that might as well be patented with his name on it).
From the Rock n/ Roll Hall of Fame Website:
That was over 20 years ago, and they still are kickin’ ass. Told you Keith should patent whatever it is he’s taken to keep himself running full blast all these years.
