THE ROLLING STONES:
By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest
Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive
claim on the title. The Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based
rock & roll that came to define hard rock. With his preening machismo and
latent maliciousness, Mick Jagger became the prototypical rock frontman, tempering
his macho showmanship with a detached, campy irony while Keith Richards and Brian
Jones wrote the blueprint for sinewy, interlocking rhythm guitars. Backed by
the strong yet subtly swinging rhythm section of bassist Bill Wyman and drummer
Charlie Watts, the Stones became the breakout band of the British blues scene.
The Rolling Stones gave their first performance at the Marquee Club in London
on July 12, 1962. From that point forward they were the Stones were the bad-boy
opposition to the clean-cut Beatles. The Rolling Stones signed with Decca Records,
and that June, they released their debut single, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come
On." The single became a minor hit, reaching number 21, and the group supported
it with appearances on festivals and package tours. In June of 1964, the group
released their first original single, "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)," which
became their first American Top 40 hit. Shortly afterward, a version of Irma
Thomas' "Time Is on My Side" became their first U.S. Top Ten. It was
followed by "The Last Time" in early 1965, a number one U.K. and Top
Ten U.S. hit that began a virtually uninterrupted string of Jagger-Richards hit
singles. Still, it wasn't until the group released "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" in
the summer of 1965 that they were elevated to superstars.
In the fall of 1970 they formed Rolling Stones Records, which became a subsidiary
of Atlantic Records. 1971's Sticky Fingers was the first album the Stones released
though their new label. Following its release, the band retreated to France on
tax exile, where they shared a house and recorded a double album, Exile on Main
St. Upon its May 1972 release, “Exile on Main St.” was widely panned,
but over time it came to be considered one of the group's defining moments.
Following Exile, the Stones began to splinter in two, as Jagger concentrated
on being a celebrity and Richards sank into drug addiction. The band remained
popular throughout the '70s, but their critical support waned. The band reconvened
in 1978 to record “Some Girls,” an energetic response to punk, new
wave, and disco. The record and its first single, the thumping disco-rocker "Miss
You," both reached number one, and the album restored the group's image. “Tattoo
You”, released in 1981, also fared well both critically and commercially,
as the singles "Start Me Up" and "Waiting on a Friend" helped
the album spend nine weeks at number one. The Stones supported “Tattoo
You” with an extensive stadium tour captured in Hal Ashby's movie Let's
Spend the Night Together and the 1982 live album Still Life.
“
Tattoo You” proved to be the last time the Stones completely dominated
the charts although the group continues to sell out concerts and stadiums. |
