In 1962 Brian Jones placed an ad in Jazz News seeking musicians for a new rhythm & blues band he was forming. Pianist Ian Stewart answered that ad and the formation of the Rolling Stones had begun. In April, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards bumped into Jones and joined his band as well. By January of 1963 bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts had entered the fold and the classic Rolling Stones line-up was complete.
The Rolling Stones played live for the first time on Feb. 4, 1963 to a packed house of 66 people. They were a raw, primitive, rhythm & blues band. These leanings made them different from the hundreds of other British bands who relied on a rock and pop sound.
August of 1964 found the Rolling Stones issuing their first album in the United States. This same album, except for one song, was a massive hit in England topping the charts for 12 weeks.
The Rolling Stones (England’s Newest Hitmakers) is basically a cover album. Nine of the twelve tracks are American rhythm & blues songs which reflected their live act at the time.
The album blasts off with “Not Fade Away.” Here the Stones play Bo Diddley meeting Buddy Holly. Keith Richards’ guitar is intertwined with Brian Jones harmonica. This sound would set the foundation for many of the Stones early songs.
The Rolling Stones would hit their stride with “Route 66” and the Willie Dixon tune “I Want To Make You Cry.” Many times the Stones would speed up the beat of their R & B covers threatening to remove them from the rhythm & blues idiom. Yet, at the last minute they would pull the songs back to their roots through Mick Jagger’s vocals and Brian Jones virtuosity on just about every instrument known to man.
Article comments
1 - JC Mosquito
Yep, a competent fist album. I assume you'll be going through their catalog in the next few days - I'm not much into their first few albums - much more of a Mick Taylor era fan. Other than Now!, I'm pretty happy with compilations when it comes to their early work.
2 - Glen Boyd
Next few days? I mean when you throw in all of the compilations, live albums, etc. don't the Stones have something like a billion albums out there?
With the "Discographer's" usual rate of cranking out about a review a day, this project could still us through the summer.
-Glen
3 - Glen Boyd
still TAKE us through the summer (meant to say above).
-Glen
4 - Rob
This review does catch the spirit of the album/ early Stones; altho the author strikes out on his takes of "Little By Little" and "Walking the Dog": Mick is no Rufus Thomas? Ha! Why are people so afraid to admit that a white man can be more soulful than a black man?
Can't wait to find that Willie Dixon tune "I Want To Make You Cry."