Rock's greatest living legend.
The Rolling Stones

The legendary long-lived group The Rolling Stones today in a single person represent the past, present and future of rock music; not a single modern performer or group can compare with the Rolling Stones either in the number of concerts given, or in hit singles, or according to “gold” and “platinum” albums Like The Beatles, this quintet became a living rock legend back in the 70s, and in the 90s The Rolling Stones remain, perhaps, the only active legendary group, every tour of The Rolling Stones becomes an event global scale, the group has not left the touring orbit for several years, each new album invariably has record copies in all countries of the world. In the late 60s, the Rolling Stones were the first to call themselves “the greatest rock and roll group in the world,” and with them no one argued It was then, in the late 60s, that the style of The Rolling Stones, Chicago blues with a rhythmic “lining” of rhythm and blues, was finally defined for the first time

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met at Dartford Primary School, where they had studied together since 1960. Both were passionate fans of American music, particularly blues and rhythm and blues. Later, when Jagger and Richards were already studying at colleges (Mick in London Economics, and Keith in Arts), a third appeared in their company, guitarist Dick Taylor, with whom Jagger played together in the band Little Boy Blue And The Blue Boys. Soon Richards became the second guitarist of this group.

Their future colleague in The Rolling Stones, Brian Jones, meanwhile, skipped school, preferring lessons in playing the alto saxophone and clarinet. By the age of sixteen, Jones was already the father of two illegitimate children, from whom he fled to Scandinavia, where he began to master the electric guitar. Returning to England, he joined the band The Ramrods, then moved with his next girlfriend and yet another child to London. There he met the strongest blues musician Alexis Korner and soon became the guitarist of his group Alexis Korner's Blues Inc. After several weeks of working with Korner, he decided to organize his own group and placed an ad in the weekly Melody Maker, to which pianist Ian Stewart responded.

Soon Brian Jones got a job at the Ealing blues club, where he performed under the pseudonym Elmo Lewis; At that time, he performed mainly his own arrangements of compositions from the repertoire of the Alexis Korner group, which already included a new drummer, Charlie Watts. Jagger and Richards were also among the musicians of Blues Inc., from time to time they played jam sessions in which Brian Jones took part; At the same time, Mick Jagger became the lead vocalist of Blues Inc. Soon the company rented a small apartment for three in south London, and with the participation of Tony Chapman, the musicians recorded a demo tape - the tape was sent to EMI headquarters, but the producers did not like the songs. Dick Taylor went to the Royal College of Art and later formed the band The Pretty Things. Ian Stewart's work at a large chemical company helped the musicians stay afloat and not die of hunger. By the time Dick Taylor left them, Jagger, Richards and Stewart began calling their group The Rolling Stones after the famous Muddy Waters song of the same name.

On July 12, 1962, The Rolling Stones, which then included Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, as well as Dick Taylor who returned briefly on bass and Mick Avory (who would later become a member of The Kinks) on drums, gave their first concert : It took place at the "Marki" club. Soon Taylor's place was taken by bass guitarist Bill Wyman, and Tony Chapman became the drummer - both of them played in the band The Cliftons. Chapman turned out to be a lousy musician, and The Rolling Stones spent several months seducing Charlie Watts, who had by then quit Blues Inc. and worked in an advertising agency. In January 1963, Charlie Watts agreed to become a member of The Rolling Stones.

London entrepreneur Giorgio Gomelski signed the band to an eight-month contract to perform at his club Crowdaddy - in fact, all this time he was the unofficial manager of The Rolling Stones, until Andrew Loog Oldham took over the post. At that time, The Beatles were already booming in England, and Oldham decided to make The Rolling Stones the antipodes of the Beatles. The first thing he did was remove the decorous and well-mannered Ian Stewart from the team; Subsequently, this pianist became, in fact, the sixth “Rolling” and one of the arrangers of the group’s compositions.

In June 1963, The Rolling Stones recorded their first single - it was the author's version of the Chuck Berry song "Come On". After the band performed on the Thank Your Lucky Stars TV show, the show's host advised Oldham to "get rid of that brutal-looking vocalist with the lips like car tires" - immediately after the broadcast the single rose to number 21 in the English charts. At the same time, The Rolling Stones performed at the first National Jazz And Blues Festival in Richmond, which has been held annually since then. And in September 1963, together with American stars Bo Diddley, The Everly Brothers and Little Richard, they took part in a tour of London clubs. In December 1963, the Stones' second single (it was the Lennon-McCartney song "I Wanna Be Your Man") entered the English Top 15, and in January 1964 the group went on tour for the first time as a "highlight"; preceded their program The Ronettes. It was then that The Rolling Stones first performed and then released as a single their version of Buddy Holly's song "Not Fade Away", the single reached 3rd place in the national charts (in the USA the composition entered the charts at 48th place).

By this time, The Rolling Stones were already another “new sensation in England” - the press ironically informed readers that “The Rolling Stones musicians are in the habit of doing their little shit in public.” In April 1964, The Rolling Stones' first album was released, and two months later the group went on a tour of the United States. At the same time, their cover version of Bobby Womack's song "It's All Over Now" became the first English hit No. 1. The American tour was also a complete success: in Chicago, in the studio of the legendary Chess Records, the Rollings recorded the studio hit "Five By" in one evening Five", and during the press conference, journalists and a small audience almost threw a real hysteria. Meanwhile, at home, another song by The Rolling Stones - the blues standard "Little Red Rooster" - topped the chart, but in the USA it was banned circulation and broadcast on the radio "due to provocative text of a sexual nature." Jagger and Richards came to the conclusion that it made sense to write songs on their own and finally decided on original compositions (for some time they worked under the collective pseudonym "Nanker Phelge" - "Nanker Phelge ").

In January 1965, the song "The Last Time" again reached number one in the UK charts, and in the USA it was their first Top 10. The second album of The Rolling Stones (in England it was called "The Rolling Stones 2", and in the USA - "12X5") for the first time shook the position of The Beattes, and the single "Satisfaction" topped the charts in both England and America. Several more Jagger-Richards songs became hit singles: "Get Off My Clouds" (1st place), "Time Is On My Side" (1st place), "As Tears Go By" (6th place) and "Tell Me" (24th place). Then in 1965, the group successfully performed on Ed Sullivan's television show and released a live mini-album, "Got Live If You Want It."

"Aftermath", 1966, was the first disc of The Rolling Stones, which included exclusively original compositions by Jagger-Richards, but the disc was a very moderate success, since at the same time it appeared the epoch-making works of The Beatles (disc "Revolver") and Bob Dylan ( "Blonde on Blonde"). However, in 1966 and 1967, two Stones ballads, “Paint It Black” and “Ruby Tuesday,” reached number one on the American charts. A new series of compositions followed, which became international hit singles: “Mother’s Little Helper” (8th place), “19th Nervous Breakdown” (2nd place), “Have You Ever Seen Your Mother, Baby (Standing In The Shadow)" (9th place) and "Lady Jane" (24th place).

In January 1967, The Rolling Stones caused the first censorship scandal: during the next program of "The Ed Sullivan Show" the group performed a new song "Let's Spend The Night Together" - due to the threat of cancellation of the American tour, Jagger had to replace the title phrase with unintelligible mooing. And in February, the English police arrested Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones on charges of drug possession. The musicians were facing a significant prison term, but the court met them halfway and replaced the prison sentence with a suspended sentence. The Stones decided that it would be nice to time to disappear from the sight of both the police and the public, and they went their separate ways: Mick and his then girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithfull, went with the Beatles for science to the Maharishi in India, Brian Jones went for inspiration in Morocco (in Tangier he worked with with the most interesting ensemble of local Bedouin musicians Joujouka and mastered the sitar, marimba and several other “exotic” musical instruments, which later, at his insistence, were included in the group’s instrumentation), and Keith was simply quietly drinking in the provinces. And upon their return, The Rolling Stones recorded the album “Their Satanic Majesties Request”, which became their “psychedelic response” to the “Beatles” “Sgt. Pepper”s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and followed it with the single “We Love You”, backing parts -vocals on which Lennon and McCartney sang (it must immediately be noted that, despite the common misconception, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles were never at odds - moreover, the musicians of both groups often collaborated, as in the above example, and if one could say about any kind of confrontation, it’s only about a creative one.) Soon the song “She’s A Rainbow” from the album “Their Satanic Majesties Request” became a hit single; The song "Dandelion" also entered the hit parade.

In May 1968, the group's new single "Jumping Jack Flash" climbed to third place on the American charts, and six months later the next Rolling Stones album "Beggar's Banquet" appeared - its release was delayed due to complications with distributors who refused to buy record in the original design (in the end, in England the disc was released in the envelope that the musicians had planned - with a toilet depicted against the backdrop of a painted wall, and in the USA part of the circulation was sold in a wrapper made of thick gray paper, and part was released simply in white sleeve, somewhat reminiscent of the famous "White Album" of The Beatles). Critics unanimously recognized "Beggar's Banquet" as the best album of The Rolling Stones. On June 9, 1969, the most restless and unpredictable member of The Rolling Stones, guitarist Brian Jones, suddenly left the group, explaining his decision by saying that “he was tired of making records without seeing his bandmates.” A week later, a replacement was found for him in the form of Mick Taylor, the former guitarist of the John Mayall group, to which Jones stated that in a few days he would already be performing as part of his new group, but on the morning of July 3, 1969, the guitarist’s body was found in a swimming pool in his own mansion. The police concluded that "death was due to an accident." A few days later, The Rolling Stones gave a concert in memory of Brian Jones in Hyde Park, during which Mick Jagger read very appropriate lines from Mary Shelley, and at the end of the program the group released several thousand butterflies into the wild. On July 11, 1969, the day after Jones' funeral, The Rolling Stones released the single "Honky Tonk Women."

By this time, each new album by The Rolling Stones had invariably won gold status, and “Let It Bleed” - a caustic response to the Beatles’ “Let It Be” - was no exception, and the composition “Gimme Shelter” became the highlight of the radio season in England (later the Americans Grand Funk Railroad successfully included it in their repertoire). Most of the tracks still featured Brian Jones' guitar, but Mick Taylor also played on a few tracks.

Returning from filming the Australian film Ned Kelly, Mick Jaeger took The Rolling Stones on another tour of the United States - the 1969 tour turned out to be one of the most successful in the history of the Stones. However, the band's "satanic image" played its own insidious - and tragic - joke: during a free concert in Altamont, California, the "Hells Angels" of The Rolling Stones, on the advice of Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. invited as guards of public order, right next to the stage, in front of the musicians, they stabbed a black fan of the band (his name was Meredith Hunter) with knives. Today everyone can see what it was like in the documentary film "Gimme Shelter", available in VMS format. The US public was convinced that songs such as "Sympathy For The Devil" did not pass without a trace for either the performers or their audience - several public organizations accused the group of promoting violence, and The Rolling Stones for six years removed this song from their concert repertoire (in fact, the unfortunate spectator was killed during an entirely different song, and Mick Jagger repeatedly threatened to interrupt the concert if the audience did not calm down).

Soon the live album "Ger Yer Ya-Ya"s Out" was released, which, like the previous ones, went gold. In 1970, the group founded their own record company, Rolling Stones Records, which operated as a subsidiary of the American company Atlantic Records. "Sticky Fingers "became the first album of The Rolling Stones, which was released on their own label: for the first time, the group's now world-famous logo - a red tongue cheekily protruding from its mouth, which was designed by the great American artist Andy Warhol - was displayed here. Two compositions from this disc hit the charts: "Brown Sugar" topped the English and American charts, and "Wild Horses" reached number 28 in the English charts.In 1971, Mick Jagger married Nicaraguan fashion model Bianca Perez Morenza de Macias, and ill-wishers accused Jagger of he is trying to break into high society (Bianca was from an aristocratic family), which, in turn, from the point of view of ill-wishers, testified to the decline of The Rolling Stones. However, the release of the double album "Exile On Main Street" refuted such assumptions: the record was already certified platinum two weeks after it appeared on the shelves, and two compositions from it again became hit singles - "Tumbling Dice" (7th place) and "Happy" (22nd place). Since then, The Rotting Stones have toured the United States only once every three years, but each time - in 1972, 1975, 1978 and 1981 - the group's American concerts were sold out several months before the start of the tour.

Critics called the disc "Goat's Head Soup" the most unsuccessful of all that The Rolling Stones had previously recorded, but two compositions from it again turned out to be hits ("Angle" - 1st place, and "Heartbreaker" - 15th place ), and the disc itself, as always, became “gold.” The next album, “It”s Only Rock”N”Roll” again had two hit singles, the title track and a cover version of the song “Ain”t Too Proud To Beg” from repertoire of The Temptations. After this record, Mick Taylor left the group. The Stones for some time resorted to the services of sessionmen, many of whom played on the album "Black And Blue", and eventually settled on Ron Wood, who was actively collaborating at that time with both Rod Stewart and the band of his youth, The Faces (in 1979, Richards, Wood, Meters drummer Ziggy Moudelist and jazz-rock bassist Stanley Clarke toured as The New Barbarians).

The album "Black And Blue" sold as successfully as its predecessors, again two songs hit the charts - "Hot Stuff" and "Fool To Cry" (both in 10th place). In 1976, bass guitarist Bill Wyman released his second solo album, Stone Alone (his first solo album, Monkey Grip, was released in 1974), and Mick Jagger performed "I Can Feel The Fire" on Ron Wood's debut solo album. "I"ve Got My Own Album To Do", 1974, and also participated in two of his other solo records, "Now Look", 1975, and "Gimme Some Neck", 1979. In 1977, Richards and his faithful girlfriend Anita Pallenberg was arrested in Canada on the usual drug possession charge for the Rolling Stones, but Richards swore an oath to the court to get rid of “this vile habit,” and has kept his word ever since.

The album "Some Girls" became the group's best-seller in the 70s (the album went eight times platinum), in which two songs hit the charts - one of them topped it again: "Miss You" (1st place) and "Shaterred" (31st place). Perhaps for the first time, listeners felt that The Rolling Stones also knew how to pay tribute to fashion: the composition “Miss You” was clearly written under the influence of disco rhythms, and the title track anticipated the era of passion for “ethnicity.”

In 1981, the new album of The Rolling Stones "Tattoo You" collected ten platinums and outsold "Some Girls" - as usual, two compositions became hits: "Start Me Up" (this time "only" 2nd place) and "Waiting On A Friend" (13th place); Most music observers noted the participation of the great jazz musician Sonny Rollins in the project. One of the most unsuccessful live albums of The Rolling Stones, the extremely uneven and rough “Still Life”, also received excellent reviews (although, in fairness, it should be noted that the composition “Let” sounds more interesting on this disc than on any other). s Spend The Night Together"). And yet, the most interesting disc of The Rolling Stones in the 80s turned out to be “Steel Wheels”, which caused polar responses - the disc visited all the major charts in the world, such different magazines as mainstream mouthpieces “Musician” and “Rolling Stone”, jazz "Down Beat" and the metallic "Kerrang!" They named this disc one of the “albums of the year.”

In the 90s, The Rolling Stones somewhat slowed down the pace of their studio work, which, however, did not in any way affect their concerts: a world tour timed to coincide with the release of their next studio disc, “Voodoo Lounge” - the first after “Steel Wheels” - brought the group astronomical income in the form of almost one hundred and fifty million dollars of net profit. The "Voodoo Lounge" record turned out to be the first since the founding of the group on which bass guitarist Bill Wyman did not play: tired of endless touring, the musician "resigned", from which, however, he returned several times to "big rock" with a very interesting solo albums (Bill Wyman's last solo disc was released in the fall of 1997, this is the Rhythm Kings project and the album "Struttin' Our Stuff" in the recording of which legendary English and American musicians took part - Eric Clapton, George Fame, Peter Frampton, Martin Taylor, Albert Lee, Gary Brooker and others). The new 1997 studio album by The Rolling Stones, “Bridges To Babylon,” deserves special attention; just a week after its release, it found itself in the Top 10 in both England and the USA.

Since 1963, every new Stones disc has certainly become a phenomenon of cultural life. The value of "Bridges To Babylon" - in addition to purely musical merits - is also that the record makes you look differently at the musical discoveries of recent years. Because Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, as usual, accumulate the most progressive and advanced ideas of the current period, resulting in a certain amount of musical thought - in this case, the musical thought of the second half of the 90s. At the end of the last decade of the 20th century, The Rolling Stones clearly traced the fascination with techno and industrial (“Might As Well Get Juiced”), noting that both of these styles are rooted in blues and rhythm and blues. In addition, The Rolling Stones saw the return of reggae ("You Don't Have To Mean It"), as they emphasized the emerging mutual connection between rap and mainstream rock ("Anybody Seen My Baby?"), placing all the necessary accents and noting all the most important trends in the music of recent years, The Rolling Stones simultaneously solved the important problem of combining elements of very different styles within one record. The three most beautiful songs on the disc are sung by Richards (“You Don’t Have To Mean It”, “Thief In The Night” and “ How Can I Stop"), but the pearls of the album are still "Already Over Me" and "Anybody Seen My Baby?" - as usual, they are performed by Jagger. The production work of Don Was, who collaborated on some items with the strongest production team of the 90s, The Dust Brothers, looks very convincing. In creating the central "Anybody Seen My Baby?" Canadian star k.d. took part. lang - this single turned out to be the most commercially successful; just a month after the release of the album, its circulation exceeded one and a half million. As for the musicians, officially The Rolling Stones still play without a bass player, whose functions during the recording of "Bridges To Babylon" were alternately performed by Darryl Jones, who had already worked with the Stones, as well as Jamie Machoberak, Blondie Chaplin, Danny Saber and Doug Wimbish. Special mention deserves the excellent work on keyboards by Don Was himself and the legendary Billy Preston, as well as the participation in the project of the honored drummer Jim Keltner. Connoisseurs of The Rolling Stones' work may think that stylistically "Bridges To Babylon" is located somewhere between "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile On Main Street", that is, it could well have been recorded in 1971-1972. In these feelings, experts are apparently right: if all of the above is true and The Rolling Stones really summed up the 90s, then the interest of today's public in such groups as Kula Shaker, Oasis and Prodigy, reflected in their music, is just evidence about what is in fashion now. This means that "Bridges To Babylon" could truly be called "the lost Stones album from the early 70s."

It's quite possible that you listened to the Rolling Stones while you were still in the womb. What are you talking about - these guys were cutting up rock and roll with all their might when your parents weren’t around yet! Try asking your grandfather who he liked better - the Beatles or the Stones? It seems they were written about in the Old Testament!

The group's birthday is considered to be their stage debut. The concert took place in London on July 12, one thousand eight hundred... oh! 1962. The name of the group first appeared in the newspaper announcement of this concert. It was invented by guitarist Brian Jones. More precisely, I borrowed it - the American bluesman Muddy Waters had such a song - “Rollin' Stones”.

Three (3) tickets were sold for one of the first Rolling Stones concerts. Forty years later, the Stones easily attracted half a million spectators (albeit in the company of AC/DC and Rush). And in 2005, in Brazil, one and a half million people gathered for the Rolling Stones and freebies!

Half a century ago, the Rolling Stones looked a little younger and much more numerous than they do today. There were six of them. One of them, Ian Stewart, was fired a year later. The Rolling Stones manager felt that the guy didn’t fit into the team... purely outwardly! But where is he from show business? And Stewart, until his death in '85, continued to work with the group as a session keyboardist and tour manager.

There were also those who looked askance, for example, at Mick Jagger himself! In the summer of ’63, while filming on television, the director took the Rolling Stones manager aside and whispered in his ear: “Listen to a professional: if you want to achieve something, first of all, go after that big-lipped guy!”

In January 1962, Decca’s artistic council sent home the unknown Beatles, citing the refusal as “guitar groups are already going out of fashion.” A year later, the same man, without hesitation, signed a contract with another up-and-coming and, characteristically, “guitar group”, the Rolling Stones. Well done. He washed away the shame, atoned for the mistake, and did not damage the company’s prestige.

In the spring of 1963, The Beatles invited the Stones to their concert. At the service entrance, Brian Jones was mistaken for one of the Beatles. They tore out half of my hair, tore all my clothes and simply deafened me with a squeal. As then-Rolling Stones manager Giorgio Gomelsky recalls, on the way home Jones just repeated: “This, Giorgio, is what I want to do in life!” Well, in the sense of being a Beatle. More precisely, “rolling”.

By the way, a few words about the first manager of the Rolling Stones. Giorgio Gomelski is Georgian! True, he remained a citizen of the USSR for only four years - in 1938, fleeing repression, his family fled to Switzerland. There he became interested in music and played drums in a jazz trio. In 1955 he moved to England, where he opened a jazz club. Actually, it was on this basis that I met Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones.

Following Beatlemania, Rolling Stones hysteria began. After the riots during the group's performance on America's highest-rated program, The Ed Sullivan Show, the famous host said that he would now not allow them even to enter the studio. But six months later, the Rolling Stones performed at Sullivan's again. And, by the way, not the last time.

However, for the older generation, the Rolling Stones remained hooligans who set a bad example for young people, dragging them into the abyss of moral decay. In 1967, the police found a noisy company and marijuana at Keith Richards' apartment. The musicians were put behind bars, but thanks to the Times article, the case was almost hushed up. Jagger's sentence was changed to a year's probation, and the charges against Richards were completely dropped. But a residue remained...

Keith Richards claims that the Rolling Stones' most famous song was invented in a dream. While on tour in America, he woke up in a hotel in the middle of the night with an obsessive melody in his head and the phrase “I can't get no satisfaction” on his tongue. There was a guitar at hand, a tape recorder under the other hand... In the morning, Keith listened to the tape: 30 seconds of playing music and then – 45 minutes – of juicy snoring.

In the mid-70s, John Lennon tried to lure the Rolling Stones rhythm section into his new team. The details of the failed agreement were never disclosed, but Bill Wyman still regrets that the supergroup did not work out. Moreover, he later left the Rolling Stones. By the way, as Jagger and Richards like to joke darkly, “Bill is so far the first person to leave the group voluntarily and alive.”

Mick Jagger wrote the song “Sympathy for the Devil” under the impression of Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita”! The book was presented by singer Marianne Faithfull, Jagger's then-girlfriend. The song was a success. Who didn’t replay it later! U2, Pearl Jam, Guns N'Roses, Jon Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne are just the most famous musicians who also sympathize with the Devil. And the Rolling Stones.

Well-known in rocker circles, the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio really belongs to the Rolling Stones. But they themselves worked in it literally a couple of times. But everyone rented it - Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Bob Marley, Status Quo, Iron Maiden... And in 1979 the studio even visited the USSR! The ballet “Gayane” was recorded in Riga.

But the group itself first visited our area only in 1998. Although attempts to break through the “Iron Curtain” have repeatedly taken place. It was possible only once - in 1967 the Rolling Stones performed in Poland. And Mick Jagger still remembers the name of the USSR Minister of Culture in the 70s, although the conversation couldn’t have been shorter: “Madame Furtseva said: “Never!”

In 1994, before you knew what a computer looked like, the Rolling Stones tried to broadcast a concert over the Internet. The online broadcast lasted 20 minutes, the picture produced 10 frames per second at best, it’s better to tactfully keep silent about the sound quality, but for those times it was a revolution! Plus, the negotiations were short and specific: “No one has done this before. Agree! And if you refuse, we’ll offer it to Aerosmith.”

The Rolling Stones tours are among the most profitable in the world. Moreover, the organizers, as a rule, work practically for free, or even at a loss - the musicians take all the money from ticket sales. The approach is extremely strict: “the organizer should not make money at a Rolling Stones concert, because such a concert, if it took place, is the coolest resume for any promoter that can be!”

Once upon a time, a young Mick Jagger declared that he would rather shoot himself than sing “Satisfaction” after forty-five. Now he retracts his words - he says that he doesn’t remember this, he probably blurted out from a hangover. “Can you imagine what will happen if we don’t play this thing at a concert? This will be the end!

Now do you understand where the death of rock and roll Kashchei the Immortal is kept?

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones(English: “rolling stones” or “tumbleweed”) is a British rock band that formed on July 12, 1962 and for many years competed in popularity with. The Rolling Stones, an important part of the British Invasion, are considered one of the most influential and successful bands in rock history. The Rolling Stones, who manager Andrew Loog Oldham envisioned as a "rebellious" alternative to The Beatles, were touted as "the greatest band in the world" on their American tour in 1969 and (according to Allmusic) have maintained that status to this day. .

The musical style of The Rolling Stones, influenced by Robert Johnson, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters, acquired individual characteristics over time; the author duo Jagger-Richards ultimately received worldwide recognition.

Facts about The Rolling Stones

1. The Rolling Stones have the most powerful Electro-Voice live equipment in the world.
2. The image of bright red lips and a brazenly protruding tongue, which became the signature emblem of The Rolling Stones, was not invented by Andy Warhol, as many mistakenly believe due to the first appearance of this logo on the cover of the 1971 album “Sticky Fingers”, designed by Warhol (and very unconventionally: the record sleeve featured jeans from the waist down to the knees with a real zipper, under which the buyer found that same tongue sticking out), and by a lesser-known designer John Pash in 1970.
3. It is widely believed that Mick Jagger is the author of the world famous phrase “Sex, drugs and”, but in fact it belongs to Ian Dury.
4. The song “Sympathy for the Devil” was written under the impression of Mikhail Bulgakov’s book “The Master and Margarita”. Before writing the song in 1966, Mick Jagger imagined himself as none other than Woland, but the book was only translated into English (Marianne Faithfull gave Mick this book).
5. On the cover of the album “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" group is depicted, including a rag doll with the inscription: "Welcome the Rolling Stones".
6. In the video for the Rolling Stones song “Anybody Seen My Baby,” Angelina Jolie had one of the first roles in her acting career.
7. The world's first Rolling Stones museum has been built in Germany.
8. Already at the age of nine, Keith Richards sang for the first time in front of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain - as part of a children's choir that performed at her coronation ceremony in 1953.
9. One day, Jones, Jagger and Bill Wyman publicly urinated on the wall of a gas station, for which they were arrested; During photo sessions, the musicians dressed up in provocative women's dresses.
10. In 1968, Mick Jagger tried his hand at cinema, starring in the cult film “Performance” directed by Nicholas Reg, which was released only in 1970.
11. The concert in Hyde Park two days after the death of Stones guitarist Brian Jones in 1969 attracted more than 250,000 spectators. During the show, Jagger released several thousand white butterflies into the sky.
12. Mick Jagger's portrait appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine a record 15 times. The first time was on August 10, 1968, in issue 50.
13. The Rolling Stones earned the most money from an advertising campaign: Microsoft paid the group $8 million to perform the hit "Start Me Up" in an ad for the Windows 95 operating system.
14. In their 42nd year of existence, The Rolling Stones, the record holders for longevity in rock music, embarked on one of the longest tours of their career, the Bigger Bang Tour, which lasted 14 months. The group donated one million dollars from their royalties to the Hurricane Katrina relief fund.
15. The Rolling Stones top the list of the highest paid artists and groups in the world for private performances.
16. Keith Richards has about 3,000 guitars in his collection, but now plays only ten. He plans to open a museum of his guitars.
17. The 1994 album “Voodoo Lounge” brought The Rolling Stones their first (and so far last) Grammy awards. It was named Best Rock Album, and the video for the song "Love Is Strong" was named Best Short Form Video.
18. Guitarist Keith Richards, who celebrated his 60th birthday in 2003, was named by VH1 viewers as the biggest rowdy in the history of rock music. As a consistent proponent of the "sex, drugs, rock and roll" principle, he is ahead of such competitors as Ozzy Ozbourne, Tommy Lee and the Gallagher brothers.
19. Records by many famous rock bands ( , ) were recorded in the group's mobile studio, known as the Rolling Stones Mobile.
20. The Rolling Stones performed in Russia twice: on August 11, 1998 in Moscow, just before the default, and on July 28, 2007 in St. Petersburg.
21. When playing the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the films of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Johnny Depp tried to imitate the gait and manner of speaking of Keith Richards, who is one of his favorite musicians. In the film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, at Depp's request, the musician played Jack Sparrow's father, Captain Teague.
22. The song "She"s a Rainbow" was used in advertising for Sony products.
23. In 2005, the song "Angie" was used by the Democratic Union of Germany in the election campaign of Angela Merkel. Interestingly, without permission from The Rolling Stones or their agents. However, the party’s legal issues were resolved with the German copyright management agency.

An Illustrated History of Rock Music by Pascal Jeremy

Rolling Stones - the more disgusting the better

Compare the deep and favorable impression left by the Beatles at the Palladium in 1963 with the impression they made Rolling Stones there in 1967. According to a long-standing tradition, at the finale of this show all the participants climbed onto the carousel, made idiotic faces and waved their hands in front of the TV cameras. The Beatles have already ridden this carousel. And the Rolling Stones... Here's what the Daily Mirror wrote on January 23, 1967: “Yesterday evening there was a scandal at the London Palladium when the Rolling Stones refused to ride on the traditional carousel at the end of the Sunday TV show. The scandal began 2 hours before the start of the show, during rehearsals. “They are insulting me and everyone,” shouted the show’s director, Mr. Albert Locke. Mick Jagger said after the show: "The carousel is not an altar, it's bullshit."

Could this gloomy young man be as popular as Paul McCartney? And his group is the second after the Beatles? And could they achieve such popularity by irritating adults, insulting authorities and generally not giving a damn about everyone and everything? They could and did achieve this.

Rolling Stones were the second head of the two-headed pop creation of the 60s. Compare two clippings from the same Daily Mirror newspaper, which has the largest circulation in England. When the prim, right-wing Daily Telegraph sternly condemned Beatlemania, the Mirror rushed to defend the shaggy foursome: “You’d have to be a really stupid retrograde not to love the crazy, noisy, funny, beautiful Beatles.” A year later, in August 1964, the same Mirror itself acted as a stupid retrograde, trashing the Rolling Stones: “British parents are now unanimous in their dislike of these shaggy personalities. They symbolize rebellion against parents." The Stones and the Beatles stood at opposite ends of the spectrum, and the press did everything to contrast them, trying to downplay and gloss over any misdeeds by the Beatles and exaggerating the slightest deviation of the Stones from accepted norms. They were probably unpleasantly surprised to learn that the Stones and the Beatles were good friends, and that the Beatles even helped their "rivals" early in their careers by giving them the song "I Wanna Be Your Man."

And yet, from the very beginning, there was a serious stylistic difference between the two groups. While the Beatles drew their inspiration from rock and roll and sleek black music, the Stones looked to an earlier, rawer tradition - the blues and, especially, rhythm and blues.

Both bands followed similar paths early on, playing small clubs to a clique of fans and gradually expanding their following. But the Beatles started earlier and learned faster. They were reluctant, but still made a compromise - if not in music, then in clothing, squeezing into stylish suits, although they felt uncomfortable in them. As John said: “We were ashamed that we were in suits and so clean. We were afraid that our friends would consider us traitors, however, this was partly the case.”

When the Stones' manager Andrew Oldham suggested they change into neat, clean suits for their first TV appearance on the highly prestigious Thank You Lucky Star program to promote their debut CD Come On, he was met with furious resistance. The Stones simply couldn't imagine themselves wearing the same neat suits. Oldham pleaded: “We have to compromise. They're not used to people like you on TV. If you come in the same clothes that you wear in clubs, you won’t even be allowed into the building.”

He managed to persuade them. But that didn't help either. A letter from one TV viewer appeared in the newspaper: “I’ve been watching TV for a long time, but I’ve never seen such a vile spectacle as the Rolling Stones.” Then Oldham decided: seven troubles - one answer, abandoned attempts to remake the Stones and began to build their public image precisely on their “infamy.” When a reporter later asked what it was that attracted him to the Stones, he replied: “The music. Sex. The fact that in a few months the public would get fed up with the Beatles and demand something different. I felt that a certain part of the public was yearning for the antithesis of the Beatles. The Stones were such an antipode... In those years, the media inspired the public: you could invite the Beatles to your tea, but the Stones could not.”

Based on this cunning message, Oldham, with the active help of his charges, did everything to present them in as bad a light as possible. Long before Johnny Rotten and his fellow Sex Pistols challenged public morality, Jagger, Bill Wyman and Brian Jones were tried and fined for provocative behavior, namely urinating on the wall of a gas station.

During 1963, as the Beatles soared higher and higher, the Stones attracted attention not with their music or even Jagger's exciting stage presence, but with their “Neanderthal” appearance and antisocial behavior. Their first single was a solid, very raw version of the little-known Chuck Berry song “Come On.” They didn't know what to choose for the next single. The fact is that they needed a hit that would allow them to gain a foothold in the top twenty and gain wider recognition. There was nothing suitable in their rhythm and blues repertoire. And then they gratefully accepted the song “I Wanna Be Your Man” from the Beatles, despite Jagger’s caustic remarks that if the Beatles had “sold out,” then they themselves were not going to “subserve to the aristocrats who dream of dressing us in terry suits and cutting our hair.” hair for us."

"I Wanna Be Your Man" is a song from the album "WITH THE BEATLES", where it was performed by Ringo. This is fast, but rather artificial and sugary rock. For the Stones, it was, in essence, a compromise - the kind they swore they would never make. The song turned out to be successful, rose to the top twenty, and the Stones began their long, controversial, sometimes tragic, but always exciting career. They reached the highest echelons of fame.

In February 1964, the Stones released their third single, which finally established their star status. "Not Fade Away" was the flip-side song to Buddy Holly's famous single "Oh Boy". Holly performed it in his usual bubbling, hiccupping style, but the Stones gave it their own spin, breaking the melody up into staccato chords, adding howling blues harmonica (despite critics' criticism, it was still popular!) and adding to the roughness of Jagger's sloppy, slurred voice. .

The sound attracted attention, but it was not the novelty of the sound that attracted the Stones, but Jagger’s unusual stage style: his fluid body movements and overtly sexual poses. This annoyed many, but most of the public was delighted. Actually, these were the attempts of a third-rate comedian trying to stir up the audience. The press and other media poured down streams of abuse on Jagger. It seemed that all adult England was gripped by anti-Stone fever. Journalist Maureen Cleave, a chronicler of many pop events of the 60s, once very correctly described Jagger: “His wild appearance, long hair, huge mouth, slender hips, caricatured girlish face - all this was perceived differently by different people. He was uncommunicative, impudent, no one knew anything about him, he just stood there, leaving everyone to build their own theories about him.”

The image was obvious: aggressiveness, unfriendlyness, ugliness. But teenagers liked it. Hits followed one after another: in 1964 “It`s All Over Now” and “Little Red Rooster” were released - both were remakes of American rhythm and blues numbers. The only thing the Stones were behind the Beatles in was that they didn't write their own material. But in 1965, Jagger and Richard Keats corrected the situation by writing “The Last Time”, and then the magnificently caustic and caustic “(I Can`t Get No) Satisfaction” - “(I Can't Get) Satisfaction.” (There are few satirical lines in the history of the priest as compact and sharp as the following: “This man says to me: “Your shirt could be whiter!” This is not my man - he smokes a different brand of cigarettes.”) by Stone Skip

The Rolling Stones Since 1964, the Rolling Stones have been considered the best party music. Their infectious tunes got everyone up and dancing. The lack of modern hits of the group in no way affected their popularity. As long as Mick, Keith and Charlie can stand,

A steam locomotive is good, but reindeer are better. It all started with the question whether it is true that illustrations created or processed using a computer are “second-rate” or somehow worse than those made by hand. It so happens that everything a professional needs

Fact No. 2923

Mick Jagger's characteristic slurred diction is explained by the fact that while still at school, during gymnastics classes, Mick accidentally bit off a piece of his tongue. After this he could not speak for several days.

According to the biographer, Mick liked the way his diction suffered: now his voice sounded more like the voice of a black man.

Source: Mick Jagger: Everybody's Lucifer - book by Anthony Scaduto

Fact No. 4157

On December 11, 1968, after a short break in concert activity, the Rolling Stones decided to solemnly return to the stage. For a fabulous at that time 50 thousand pounds, a grand show was organized at the circus arena "The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus" with jugglers, fire eaters, midgets, tightrope walkers, as well as with the elite of rock: Jethro Tull, The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, Yoko Ono and the supergroup The Dirty Mac, which included John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell and Keith Richards. Due to the huge number of filming takes, the show lasted for 15 hours, the audience and artists were completely exhausted. The Rolling Stones were scheduled to appear on stage at the very end, after a brilliant performance by The Who, who had just returned from tour and were in excellent shape. The Rolling Stones, on the other hand, had not played together for a long time and were poorly played. The triumphant return did not work out, and the film by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, planned based on the footage of this show, was released only in 1996 and is now perceived, if not as a musical gem, then as a stunning cultural excursion into that era.

Source: Article by John Black, Classic Rock magazine, March 2012

Fact No. 4275

Mick Jagger was knighted when he turned 60. The title of knight is the second highest honor that the queen can bestow after a peerage. The list of candidates is drawn up by the government, and the Queen expresses doubts only in exceptional cases. Mick Jagger was just such an exception: for five whole years his ardent admirer Tony Blair persistently included him in the list of candidates, and each time Elizabeth II declared that he was “unworthy.” The Queen had a personal dislike for Jagger and everything he represented. Two convictions for drugs, a promiscuous sex life, a deliberate challenge to the social order, ridicule of the royal family and calls for revolution, and even Jagger’s too close relationship with Elizabeth II’s sister, Princess Margaret, as well as the constant need to hush up another scandal involving this couple - everything This could not please the crowned lady. It was also unpleasant for her that Mick, despite the outward pose of a rebel, deep down in his soul dreamed of becoming an aristocracy, as evidenced by his friends. It is not surprising that when he finally achieved his goal, the queen decided to save her nerves and urgently chose this very day for a minor operation on her left knee, which the doctor had been advising her for a year. She told one of the doctors: “I would rather stay here than go to Buckingham Palace for this dedication.” Prince Charles replaced her at the ceremony.

Source: Christopher Andersen's book "Mick Jagger. The Great and Powerful"

Fact No. 4415

Says Ian McLagan, a former member of Faces: “Mick Jagger is a purely business man. Do you think Keith [Richards] knows where he’s going to play in two days? Nothing like that. But Mick knows the name of the hall, the names of the organizers ", how many tickets have been sold. This is all his responsibility."

Fact No. 4916

Rock and roll legend Chuck Berry once gave Keith Richards a black eye.

This was witnessed by Ronnie Wood, who later joined The Rolling Stones and was Chuck Berry's guitarist at the time.

The thing, according to Wood, was this: Chuck Berry always demanded money in cash before a performance, put it in a guitar case, and then left the stage with the case full of banknotes straight into a taxi. And one time Richards was in the audience, who saw Berry leaving the stage, ran up to him from behind and patted him on the shoulder. Berry turned around and immediately hit. According to Wood, Richards was proud of this.

Keith Richards himself, in an interview with Planet Rock, told a completely different story: allegedly Berry left his guitar in the dressing room, Richards picked it up, for which he received punishment from Chuck Berry, who flew into the dressing room and, not realizing who was in front of him, hit him with the words “No one dares touch my guitar!”. Berry later offered something of an apology, to which Richards replied, "Okay, that's okay. I don't let anyone touch my guitar either."

Fact No. 5304

Johnny Depp, playing the role of Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, borrowed the gait and manner of speech from his childhood idol and longtime friend Keith Richards. Depp says that he simply thought then: “Who is the coolest rebel in the world? Who is charismatic and interesting to people? The answer came by itself.” Keith laughs when Depp called him before the film was released: "Before you read about it in the papers, I have to say that I licked most of my character off of you." Well, Johnny, thank you, what he said. Otherwise, I would have sued you to hell!"

And in the film's sequels, Keith Richards played Jack Sparrow's father, so the similarities between their characters came in handy. Depp says Keith is a wonderful actor and the cameraman never had to do more than two takes per scene.

Source: David Wild interview with Keith and Johnny, Rolling Stone, June 2007

Source: “In rock” magazine, No. 5 2001

Fact No. 5487

When Mick Jagger was knighted, his bandmate Keith Richards was quick to call the ceremony ridiculous and even pointless. In response, Jagger just grinned: “It’s like the whining of a child who didn’t get any ice cream.” Richards then threatened that he might completely refuse to perform on the same stage with “some kind of knight in an ermine robe and a crown.”

Source: “In rock” magazine, No. 1 2004

Fact No. 5563

In the diaries of Rolling Stones guitarist Bill Wyman, there is a story about how in the mid-80s, Mick Jagger, drunk, called Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones drummer) at night at the hotel room and shouted “Where is my drummer?!”

Charlie Watts got up, took a shower, put on a shirt and tie, a suit and shoes, and came to Jagger's room only to punch him in the face with the words: "Never call me your drummer again, my singer."

Source: Bill Wyman, Stone Alone

Fact No. 5745

Keith Richards, in an interview with NME magazine, said that he once snorted his father’s ashes along with cocaine: “He was cremated and I couldn’t resist mixing it with snuff. My father wouldn’t have minded, he didn’t care. went well and I'm still alive."

Source: NME magazine

Facts about Rolling Stones songs. Ten popular

About the song Satisfaction

On June 5, 1965, the Stones played to three thousand people at a stadium in Clearwater, Florida. This was the band's third American tour. According to the newspaper St. Petersburg Times, published the next day, 200 young fans got into a fight with police officers guarding the concert. By that time, the group had only played four songs.

That night, Keith Richards woke up with a guitar riff in his head and the line "Can"t get no satisfaction." He recorded it on a portable tape recorder and went to bed. That same week, he brought the recording to the studio. On the tape there was a guitar riff, followed by followed by the sound of snoring.

About the song You Can't Always Get What You Want

Fact No. 1218

This song has become one of the most quoted in the TV series "Doctor House". She is mentioned in the very first (“pilot”) episode, where House utters the famous phrase: “according to the philosopher Jagger, you can’t always get what you want” in response to the boss’s attempts Cuddy put him to work seeing patients.

Later, Cuddy mentions that "I looked up the works of the philosopher you mentioned" and quotes the last line of the verse.

The song is also heard at the end of the last episodes of the 1st and 4th seasons.

In the 15th episode of the 5th season, actor Hugh Laurie in the role of House improvises on the piano, interweaving Jewish motifs (this is related to the plot), and then weaves the melody You Can't Always Get What You Want into the improvisation.

About the song Satisfaction

About the song Angie

Fact No. 1467

There are a lot of rumors going around about who this "Angie" is. The most popular theory is based on rumors of Mick Jagger having a secret affair with Angela Bowie, David Bowie's first wife. Others, studying the lyrics, claim that the song is dedicated to the relationship between Jagger and singer Marianne Faithfull that had collapsed by that time. The boldest claim that the song is dedicated not even to Angela Bowie, but... to David Bowie himself. The same Angela once stated on Joanna Rivers' talk show that she caught Jagger and Bowie in bed. Both, however, deny this.

The most plausible story of the origin of the text is the one set out by the authors themselves: the idea of ​​​​the song belongs not to Mick Jagger, but to Keith Richards, who brought the chords and sketches to the text. And "Angie" is the name of Richards' daughter, Angela, who was born shortly before the song was written. The name of the newborn was often heard in his house, so it is not surprising that of all the words that fit the rhythm, he wrote this one.