The Rolling Stones Music – Rock Legends
One of the legends of rock and roll are the Rolling Stones. The band was formed in April 1962 in England. Its founding members include Mick Jagger (vocals), Keith Richards (guitar), Ian Stewart (piano), and Brian Jones (guitar and harmonica). They started out by playing rhythm and blues music and just playing cover songs of other more famous bands. However, they later gained fame when they started to write their own songs, primarily because of the songwriting collaboration between Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. This launched the true Rolling Stones music that fans around the world would later learn to love.
The group’s early history.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were friends way back in the 1950s and they shared the same passion for rock music especially for Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters music. They soon met with Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, and Charlie Watts. The group then decided to play blues music together and would practice with the intention of starting their own rhythm and blues band.
Muddy Waters had a clear influence on the band, not only with the Rolling Stones music, but most especially with their names. As claimed by Keith Richards, it was Brian Jones who thought of the band’s name. Jones was on the phone placing an advertisement for the band on a magazine. When he was asked what was the name of the band, Jones noticed the Muddy Waters LP near him and picked the song “Rolling Stone”.
The Rolling Stones made some very important changes that led to their eventual success. One of these was when Andrew Loog Oldham became the band manager as well as producer in 1963. When the Beatles gained fame with their good boy looks and persona, it was Oldham who insisted on the Rolling Stones sporting the opposite, a bad boy image. It was also to support the flamboyant and exciting stage performance of Mick Jagger.
Oldham was also able to get Decca Records to sign the band for their first record deal. They got a lot of favorable terms as a result of Decca’s guilt for passing up on the Beatles when the latter auditioned to them. As a result of this, the Rolling Stones was able to get better royalty rates and the most important of all, more artistic freedom in their songs and albums. It was also around this time that they started writing their own songs, again a major change for the band. It was also around this time that Rolling Stones merch started to appear because of the band’s growing fame.
The other major force that happened to the band was when Keith Richards and Mick Jagger started to write songs together. Oldham insisted on the band writing their own songs, in a way to duplicate what the Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership had achieved.
Through the years there have also been changes to their line up. However, the most controversial would be the departure of Brian Jones who was considered by many as the one who really founded the band. Brian Jones died because of drowning in the pool of his house.
While more significant things happened to the band, it is often the early years that are considered the most important in every legend’s history. Because it was the time when their music and personalities were formed.
Fans have been continuously support them through their music albums, band merch and concerts. These show that the Rolling Stones are here to stay forever.
Rolling Stones Albums- Four Decades of Rock
Not every musician can remain ingrained in the collective consciousness of society forever. Nearly five decades of Rolling Stones merch and albums are an indication that this group has taken a permanent place in the history of past and present generations. In the years they have been around, they have made about 200 million album sales and received numerous awards and recognitions.
Like most success stories, this group had humble beginnings. They started out in 1962 as a bar band. The now famous friends Mick Jagger and Keith Richards played as the Rolling Stones along with other members Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Mick Taylor and Tony Chapman. They were joined at a later period by Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman. At this point in their careers, it was Jones who was regarded as the leader of the band. He was also the one who suggested the band’s name. Clearly though, avid fans of Rolling Stones CDs would now most likely know Jagger and Richards better than Jones.
From their initial stint as a club act, the group signed a deal with Decca records in 1963. Because Decca made the mistake of turning down the Beatles, the deal set before the group was said to have been more generous than usual, giving them high royalty rates, artistic control and choice of material for recording. The band’s first single was released in the same year but this was to be the start of brief tough times for the boys. The quality of songs produced from this point on had little originality and appeal and even the members’ appearances had been openly criticized.
By 1964, the group’s status started to pick up more steam as their renditions of popular classics like Little Red Rooster and It’s All Over Now started to climb the charts. This was an early indication that a wider acceptance for original material in Rolling Stones albums would be favorably met in every band store across the world. The group went on to perform chart topping hits The Last Time, Satsifaction, Paint it Black, Mother’s Little Helper, Ruby Tuesday and Midnight Rambler.
At the beginning of the 70s the band had already established a solid foothold in the music scene. They were so entrenched in popular culture that by the time their contract with Decca expired, they were able to stay solid under their own record label. This was not the only major shift in this decade. The group eventually left England and set up base in France.
By the 1980s the group had reached its career peak. Although previous years had been peppered by band members leaving, member deaths, personal rifts and drug use charges, it was in the 80s when more significant conflict began. Key members Jagger and Richards began to clash head to head. It was only in 1989 after the group’s induction into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that the two reconciled for a new album.
In the 90s the members stuck together but each member started to build projects of their own. It was then that they entered a seven year phase of not producing new songs for albums. This empty spell was only broken in 2005 with a Bigger Bang.
Despite the band’s age and dated musical age, there is simply no killing the sales of Rolling Stones CDs. The group is the only one to date that can still claim a top chart position for classic re issues.