Rolling Stones official 50th anniversary

Today (Thursday July 12th) is the big day. It is the official 50th anniversary of the first gig performed by the world's greatest rock n' roll band, as The Rolling Stones. Technically they called themselves the Rollin Stones for that very first gig at London's Marquee Club. Founding member Brian Jones who considered himself the nascent band's self-appointed leader at the time, reportedly named the band on the spur of the moment, when the club's promoter said he needed a name. According to Keith Richard's recollection, while Jones was on the phone talking to the promoter, his eye caught a Muddy Waters album and he pulled the band name from one of Muddy's songs.

You won't get this info anywhere else. Mainstream newsrooms are too lazy to look it up, but us Stones fans know who played that first show, even if Mick Jagger claims he can't remember who the bass player was.

Here it is. The original line-up featured 3 of the 5 charter members who would later launch the band to fame and fortune with their first record deal, roughly 6 months later, when the finished band was in place.

Basically guitarist Brian Jones formed the band with fellow guitarist Richards, singer Jagger and piano player Ian Stewart. Dick Taylor was the bass player. Jagger actually would remember this because he and Richards and Taylor were already playing together as Little Boy Blue and Blue Boys before they came to London and met Jones and Stewart. Jagger is just mugging for reporters, feigning a failure to remember such arcane details. However he might not remember who the band's first drummer was, as the band did not initially have a full-time drummer, but it was indeed Mick Avory who sat-in for that first show. This is fact. Avory played several gigs with the newbie Stones, before giving way to Tony Chapman, the first full-time drummer, who was fired in short order for Jones and Richard's drummer of choice, Charlie Watts, whom they basically begged to join them, as Chapman really sucked, according to Richards.

So that's your original line-up.

Mick Jagger: vocals

Keith Richards and Brian Jones: guitar

Dick Taylor:bass

Mick Avory: drums

Ian Stewart: piano

While neither Taylor nor Avory would stay with the band, both to ultimately be replaced, by bassist Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts -- Wyman within a matter of months and Watts, the final piece, 6 months later--both Taylor and Avory would go on to form other big British Invasion bands. Avory was a founding member of the Kinks and played with them for over 20 years while Taylor was a charter founding-member of The Pretty Things, another blues-based rock band like the Stones

Jagger and Richards obviously would supplant Jones as co-band-leaders in very short order. Of the original formative debut line-up, 4 of 6 are very much alive. Jagger and Richards who along with Watts and Ron Wood (37 years on guitar and counting) hold the Stones together (although they haven't played together in 5 years) while Avory and Taylor are actually still active and performing with the current iterations of the bands they helped to make famous.

Jones died tragically in his swimming pool in 1969, while Stewart who was demoted to sideman and roadie by the Band's original Manager, played with the Stones in this reduced capacity until his death in the mid 80's and was always considered to be an unofficial band member by the rest of the group.

The original 5 band members circa maybe 1963 wearing uniforms, but that didn't last very long.



The original maestros no longer quite so clean-cut wallowing in the late 60's decadence that was Beggar's Banquet.



And Mick and Keith, post Brian Jones, in their classic era hey-day.

Anyone else think Exile on Main St. was their best album?

Control wrote:

Anyone else think Exile on Main St. was their best album?

I won't argue with that. That's probably consensus opinion. The case can be made for 5 or 6 albums I think.

My two favourites are Some Girls and Sticky Fingers.

It's LET IT BLEED that does it for me. Fucking incredible stuff.



Great cover art by Robert Brownjohn (FRWL and GF) too.

Craig Bond's theme song. Hell it's even got a bit of the Bond theme in it.

Interesting that, that Bond stalwart Brownjohn also did the Let It Bleed cover.

Monkey Man - Craig theme song. Jagger does a great crazed ape impression on that song. Richards plays like he's possessed.

I think it would be a real battle between both Let It Bleed and Exile for all-time greatest Stones album among both core Stones fans and general rock music fans.

While Let It Bleed is rife with Stones standards that have been played to death over the years, eg the big 3, Gimme Shelter, You Can't Always Get What You Want and Midnight Rambler, plus other gems such as Monkey Man, Let It Bleed, Live With Me, and Love In Vain.........Exile is such an electic mix of styles,musicianship and attitudes that as a body of work it seems to be the Stones epic achievement.

tiffanywint wrote:

While Let It Bleed is rife with Stones standards that have been played to death over the years, eg the big 3, Gimme Shelter, You Can't Always Get What You Want and Midnight Rambler, plus other gems such as Monkey Man, Let It Bleed, Live With Me, and Love In Vain.........Exile is such an electic mix of styles,musicianship and attitudes that as a body of work it seems to be the Stones epic achievement.

Well, it helps that EXILE's so damn long.

That said, while I like a good deal of the tracks, because of its length there's a great deal more filler IMO. It's not particularly focused, more like a collage representing a time and place. I prefer BLEED's brevity. Ya know, less is more. But what there is, oh man....

I tend to agree, Let it Bleed, is probably the most impactful of the Stones albums. The Stones throughout the years have regularly recycled 7 of the 9 tracks as worthy of live play ( the seven I mentioned above) and even, You Got the Silver is a Keith Richards vocal, which Keith dusts off occasionally, most recently for the Martin Scorsese IMAX film.

The reamaining track, Country Honk, of course is a more countrified version of Honky Tonk Women, which is a Stones warhorse.

New Rolling Stones, 50th anniversary documentary, Crossfire Hurricane, coming to cinemas in October.

"The Rolling Stones are to be chronicled in a kaleidoscopic new film called Crossfire Hurricane, that documents key periods of their career and their incredible adventures. The film will be broadcast live by satellite to cinemas from the London Film Festival on Thursday 18 October and include live coverage from the red carpet before the film screening begins."



British cinema sked. We may not get a cinema release over here.

http://www.rollingstones.com/crossfire-hurricane/

Also new 50th anniversary three-cd all-time greatest hits collection, called GRRR! including a whole 2, brand new songs, recorded in Paris in August.

http://www.rollingstones.com/release/grrr/

I might go ape for this album

Am liking Doom And Gloom, the new single ... the title's misleading, it's a swaggering slice of riff-tastic rock 'n' roll (unsurprisingly, hehehe).

There's life in the old dogs yet.

Control wrote:

Anyone else think Exile on Main St. was their best album?

Dunno. I haven't listened to many of their studio albums (I'm familiar with most of their famous singles, obviously), but was pleasantly surprised the other day when I listened to Their Satanic Majesties Request - very underrated stuff. Granted, there's a certain sense of Spinal Tap about it, although that's nowadays one of the album's rather endearing qualities, and there are at least three or four really good songs here. I can imagine this album being an influence on "alternative" British bands of my youth such as Primal Scream and Ride.

Another reason that I like Request is that I'm generally more interested in "psychedelia" than "rock", which to my mind tends to be one-note, meat-and-potatoes fare (there are exceptions, naturally). Similarly, "Planet Caravan" is the one Black Sabbath song that has ever really made me sit up and pay attention.

I enjoyed the BBC's broadcast of the Stones at the Glastonbury. Astoundingly, these guys have still got it (and I never before realised how good a guitarist Mick Taylor is). I rather regret not going to see them in Hyde Park.