The Birth of a legend: The Rolling Stones

The birth of a legend: The Rolling Stones

Who hasn’t heard about the Rolling Stones? I am sure you have seen the famous black t-shirt with a red tongue.

The British rock band “The Rolling Stones” was formed in 1962 in London, England. It was named after the Muddy Waters song “Rollin’ Stone”, and the band included the vocalist Mick Jagger, the guitarists Keith Richards and Brian Jones, the bassist Bill Wyman, the drummer Charlie Watts, and the pianist Ian Stewart. In 1962, the group played in a residency at a London club which caught the attention of their first label.

In 1963, its first single called “Come on” came up, and it was a cover version of a song from Chuck Berry. Besides, a single called “I wanna be your man” came up, which was a famous cover version of “The Beatles”. The same year, they made their first tour through the United Kingdom.

Their first album “The Rolling Stones” was published in 1964 and it only included one song created by themselves. The rest of the songs were the cover versions of other artists. The strong rhythm of their songs and the aggression of their instruments transmitted their own style. The same year, the experts started to call them “bad boys” because of their rudeness and the fact that they never really avoided the rock and roll lifestyle “sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll”. On the other hand, the Beatles were more like the young boy bands of today.

In 1965, their second successful album entitled “The Rolling Stones 2” came out. It was influenced by the soul music, because if they wanted to stay in the top, they had to be creative, and so they did. This album included many more original compositions than their previous work. Their most popular single “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” was the band’s first international hit. By the time, the Rolling Stones began to call themselves “the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band”.

In 1966, they launched onto the market “Aftermath”, and it was the Rolling Stones first album to contain songs only written by Jagger and Richards. The most notable tracks were “Have You Seen Your Mother Baby Standing in the Shadow” and “Paint It Black”.

In 1967, the band released the album “Between the Buttons”, which spawned the tunes “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Ruby Tuesday”. The same year a newspaper targeted the Rolling Stones in an article that sparked the interest of the authorities to their drug use.

Afterwards, in 1968, there was the release of the single “Jumpin Jack Flash” and the album called “Beggars Banquet”. This more bluesy record produced the single “Sympathy for the Devil”.

 The next year Brian Jones left the band because of the drugs problems he had, and he was replaced by Mick Taylor. Less than a month later, on July of 1969, Jones was found drowned in his swimming pool. Just a couple of days later the Stones performed at London’s Hyde Park, where they debuted the single “Honky Tonk Women”. That December, the album “Let it Bleed” featuring the song “Gimme Shelter” was released.

In 1971, “Sticky Fingers” came up as their first record on their own label “Rolling Stones records”. It marked Taylor’s first release with the band and triggered the creation of the hits “Wild Horses” and “Brown Sugar”.

The next year, the record “Exile on Main Street” hit the number one on the charts. It was followed by the “Goat’s Head Soup”, that had had a less successful track, but it still had a hit with the song “Angie”.

The Rolling Stones are one of the best “rock ‘n’ roll bands” of all times. They are old, arrogant, millionaire and they don’t mind about behaving like clowns. When I think about legendary people, I think about them, about the Rolling Stones. From my point of view, they are the best and I recommend their music to everyone! And if you have already listened to them, leave us down a comment about them!

Kiryl Yahorau

EPD 11

Group 4

Revised by José Antonio Poderoso Miranda