Rolling Stones Biography
The following biography
is from
Wikipedia.org
“The
Free Encyclopedia.”
The Rolling Stones are a British
rock and roll band who rose to prominence during the mid-1960s. The Rolling
Stones were original in weaving together various strands of American composition
into a new form of popular music. Early in their career they played covers of
blues, rhythm and blues, country, and rock and roll music. Their first
recordings were covers of Chuck Berry, Robert Johnson, Screamin' Jay Hawkins,
Muddy Waters, and Hank Williams songs, among others. Although founding members
Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are regarded as one of the greatest
songwriting teams in the history of popular music, the band never stopped being
inspired by other genres. Reggae, Punk, and Dance have leaked into their
recordings. They are the longest surviving rock & roll band in history.
Guitarist (and original frontman)
Brian Jones, although popular and charismatic, was forced out of the band in
1969 and died an enigmatic death later that year, presumed accidental at the
time, although accusations have surfaced that he was murdered. Jagger and
Richards took over songwriting and performance leadership. Jones had favored
sticking close to the blues base, although he had also experimented with the
sitar, but Jagger and Richards broadened their approach.
* * * *
Early history: 1961-1967
The band came into being in 1961
when former school friends Jagger and Richards met Jones, who named the band
after a Muddy Waters song; at least two other bands (and one circus tumbling
act) are believed to have called themselves The Rolling Stones before the Jagger/Richards/Jones
band was formed. The original lineup included Jagger (vocals), Jones (guitar),
Richards (guitar), Ian Stewart (piano), Charlie Watts (drums) and Dick Taylor
(bass). Taylor left shortly after to form The Pretty Things, and was replaced by
Bill Wyman. By the time of their first album release Stewart was, at their
manager's insistence, "officially" not part of the band, though he continued to
record and perform with them. United by their shared interest in rhythm and
blues music, the group rehearsed extensively, playing in public only
occasionally at Crawdaddy Club in London, where Alexis Korner's blues band was
resident. At first, Jones, a guitarist who also toyed with numerous other
instruments, was their creative leader. The band rapidly gained a reputation in
London for their frantic, highly energetic covers of the rhythm and blues songs
of their idols and, through manager Andrew Loog Oldham, were signed to Decca
Records (who had passed when offered The Beatles). At this time their music was
fairly primitive: Richards had learned much of his guitar playing from the
recordings of Chuck Berry, and had not yet developed a style of his own, and
Jagger was not as in control of the idioms as he would soon become. By this
time, however, the rhythmic interplay between Watts and Richards was clearly the
heart of their music.
The choice of material on their
first record, a self-titled EP, reflected their live shows. Similarly, the album
The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hitmakers) which appeared in April 1964
featured versions of such classics as "Route 66" (originally recorded by Nat
King Cole), "Mona" (Bo Diddley) and "Carol" (Chuck Berry). The performances were
pivotal in introducing a generation of white British youth to rhythm and blues
music, and helped to fuel the "British Invasion". More importantly perhaps,
while The Beatles were still suited, clean-cut boys with mop-top haircuts, The
Stones cultivated the opposite image: decidedly unkempt, and posing for
publicity photographs like a gang sulking at cameras because they were afraid of
showing bad dentistry if they smiled. This made many girls go crazy for their
bad boy image, and soon made them a teen idol group. The follow-up album, The
Rolling Stones #2 (Now in the U.S), was also composed mainly of cover tunes,
only now augmented by a couple of songs written by the fledgling partnership of
Jagger and Richards having been locked in a room by their manager who refused to
let them out until they had produced something they could release that was
self-written. Encouraged by Oldham, the band toured Europe and America
continuously in their support, playing to packed crowds of screaming teenagers
in scenes reminiscent of the height of Beatlemania. While on tour they took time
to visit important locations in the history of the music that inspired them,
recording the EP Twelve By Five at the studios of Chess Records in Chicago.
Back at home these early years of
success represented a rare period of stability in the personal relationship
between the band members. Jagger, Richards and Jones shared a house throughout
much of 1963 and two years later Jones had begun to see Anita Pallenberg, an
actress and model who introduced them to the circle of society in which she
moved: a group of young artists, musicians and filmmakers. Prompted by Oldham,
who possessed sufficient business acumen to see where money was to be made,
Jagger and Richards became more prolific songwriters and 1965's Out Of Our Heads
contained much self-penned material, including the classic "(I Can't Get No)
Satisfaction," and saw the dynamic of the band begin to change, with Jagger and
Richards starting to emerge as the perceived leaders of the band. Jones, not
unaware of his reduced importance, retreated into drug abuse, alienating both
Richards and Pallenberg, who began a liaison that would last over ten years.
During this period Pallenberg's opinions about the music, as one of the few
people the band trusted, should not be underestimated. With the main songwriters
maintaining their rate of production, Aftermath (1966) continued the
progression, consisting entirely of Jagger/Richards compositions including
"Mother's Little Helper," about pill abuse, and the misogynistic "Under My
Thumb," whereas on Between The Buttons (1967) they wore the influences of their
many contemporaries, including The Who and The Kinks.
Sex, Drugs, Death and Rock & Roll: 1967-1971
By now the band had become almost
synonymous with part of the rebellious spirit of the 1960s, and in particular a
more relaxed attitude towards drug use. As a reaction the police obtained
warrants to search Richards' country home, Redlands. The February 1967 raid, now
legendary in the band's mythology, occurred during one of the regular parties,
where police discovered a moderate quantity of cannabis. The raid also served as
a source of apocryphal stories, mainly concerning the appearance and demeanor of
their friend Marianne Faithfull, which only served to augment their reputation
for debauchery. Richards was charged and a few months later stood trial for
allowing drug use in his home. Jagger was charged with possessing amphetamine
tablets without a prescription. Amidst intense press interest they were
convicted. Richards was sentenced to a year's imprisonment, Jagger to four
months, prompting The Times newspaper to run an editorial criticising the
verdict. Beneath the title "Who Breaks A Butterfly On A Wheel" editor William
Rees-Mogg wrote:
"If we are going to make any case a
symbol of the conflict between the sound traditional values of Britain and the
new hedonism, then we must be sure that the sound traditional values include
those of tolerance and equity."
During the furor, Decca shrewdly
released Flowers in the United States. Despite being a quickly cobbled-together
collection of hits and studio outtakes, it was nevertheless a hit.
With Richards and Jagger out on
bail within a day, and shortly to be acquitted on appeal, work commenced on a
new "psychedelic" album, which Jagger envisioned as the group's response to the
Beatles' Sgt. Pepper. The record, which would eventually be released as Their
Satanic Majesties' Request, received lukewarm reviews —the songs and
arrangements did not lend themselves to their natural style and the
increasingly-strung-out Jones contributed little—but, despite Richards later
pronouncing it "crap", still produced a small number of songs which showcased
the improving songwriting of Jagger and Richards. Within the band the dynamic
was changing with the two principal writers steadily assuming power from the
former leader, Jones.
After the excesses of Satanic
Majesties, and with personal relations between Jones and Richards increasingly
frayed, the band returned to the black music that had originally inspired them
on 1968's Beggars Banquet. Despite the tension, and aided by an excellent sound
from an up-and-coming producer named Jimmy Miller, Jagger and Richards produced
some of their most memorable work —including the distorted acoustic
guitar-driven "Street Fighting Man" and the anthemic "Sympathy for the
Devil"—and the Stones entered the phase that would see them billed as "The
World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The songs themselves were firmly rooted in
the blues, but tempered by the changes that occurred in 1960s music and
assimilating the imagery of Dylan and the emergent heavy rock of Cream and Jimi
Hendrix. In contrast to its predecessor, however, it was a clear rejection of
the hippie ethos, replacing the platitudes of "free love" with a layer of
sleaze. Two other events contributed to the change in The Stones' sound.
Firstly, Richards played extensively with Ry Cooder, and was taught his open-G
guitar tuning (as used by John Lee Hooker), later admitting "I took Ry Cooder
for all I could get." Secondly, both Jagger and Richards befriended Gram
Parsons, who helped educate them about the country music with which he had grown
up. Music was not all the Stones and the independently wealthy Parsons had in
common: "We liked drugs," Richards said later, "and we liked the finest
quality."
Drugs were, however, making Jones
increasingly unreliable; he was either absent from recording sessions by choice,
or locked out of them. After his minimal contribution to Beggar's Banquet he
found himself forced out in May 1969, replaced by the young, jazz-influenced
guitarist, Mick Taylor, then of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Within two months,
and a matter of days before the new-look band were due to play a free concert in
London's Hyde Park, Jones was found dead in his swimming pool. His cause of
death remains a mystery to this day (all of the reports collected from the many
people there at the time contradicted each other), but drowning seems to be the
most feasible. Despite this, the concert went ahead, with an audience of
hundreds of thousands of fans, with Jagger reading from Shelley's "Adonais" and
releasing a flock of butterflies by way of tribute to the late guitarist. The
band's performance, under-rehearsed and suffering from the remaining members
narcotic intake, was somewhat shambolic. Shortly after, the band released their
highly successful single, "Honky Tonk Women," which was recorded with Jones but
had his guitar part edited out and Taylor's part dubbed in at the last minute
before its release in the UK on July 3, 1969. Their studio work was another
matter. Let It Bleed (1969) followed a short time later and was rapidly hailed
as another classic, featuring the slow and brooding "Gimme Shelter," "You Can't
Always Get What You Want" (featuring a boys choir) and a further nod to their
roots with a cover of Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain". Immediately, the band set
off on another US tour, characterised by the hedonism that their position in
rock's aristocracy afforded them.
In an attempt to recreate the
atmosphere of Hyde Park, and as a reaction to the Woodstock festival, the tour
culminated in a free concert given at Altamont, a disused racetrack located
about 40 miles east of San Francisco. Poorly organised, and with on-site
security provided by the Hells Angels (at the suggestion of the Grateful Dead),
the concert was a disaster, featuring running battles between fans and security
which reached a head when Meredith Hunter, a young black fan who had unwisely
brought a pistol (and a white girlfriend) to the show, was stabbed and beaten to
death by the Angels during the band's performance of "Under My Thumb". (The
concert would be documented in Albert and David Maysles' film Gimme Shelter). A
recurring, morbid urban legend states that "Sympathy for the Devil" was playing
during the killing, though this is not the case. This was originally reported in
Rolling Stone magazine, considered by some to be the "journal of record" for
1960s music. The aptness of this legend has ensured that no amount of subsequent
corrections (in that publication and elsewhere) has been able to correct this
impression. In fact, the murder occurred during "Under My Thumb".
The murder, coming so soon after
the death of Jones, had a harrowing effect on Richards, and his reaction to the
events was to increase his usage of heroin. He would spend the best part of next
decade as an addict, taking occasional cures in private clinics but always
returning to the drug, and each subsequent tour would become a logistical
nightmare to ensure a regular supply in the face of trouble from the police and
customs officers. Richards has always maintained that the one facet of his life
that was unaffected was his live performance. (Concert tapes, including the time
in 1976 when he fell asleep on stage, do not bear this out.) Sticky Fingers
(1971), the band's first record under their own Rolling Stones Records label,
continued where Let It Bleed had left off, featuring the rocking "Brown Sugar"
(another big hit), the country-styled "Wild Horses" (which caused a disagreement
between Parsons and Jagger over songwriting credits, although the faq on
www.gramparsons.com denies he contributed to the song), the moody "Moonlight
Mile" (featuring Paul Buckmaster's evocative string arrangement), and a version
of Faithfull's "Sister Morphine," about her own ambiguous relationship with
heroin. Mick Taylor collaborated heavily on this album with Jagger, most
probably because Richards could not contribute as constructively as usual due to
his drug problems, and the sprawling "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" attests to
Taylor's influence. However, all the songs were credited as usual to 'Jagger/Richards'
which certainly frustrated Taylor.
Letting it bleed: 1972-1981
As Richards removed himself from
society, Jagger began to move in more elevated social circles. He married the
pregnant Nicaraguan model Bianca Peacuterez Mora Maciacuteas, and the couple's
jet-set lifestyle put further distance between himself and Richards. Pressured
by the UK Inland Revenue service about several years of unpaid income tax, the
band left for the South of France, where Richards rented a chateau and sublet
rooms to the band members and assorted hangers-on. Using the recently completed
mobile studio, they set about recording the double album Exile on Main Street
(1972) in the basement of their new home. Dismissed by some on its release as
sprawling and self-indulgent, the record is now considered among the band's
greatest. The film Cocksucker Blues (never officially released) documents the
subsequent tour.
It would also be one of the last on
which the band still functioned as a unit. By the time Exile on Main Street had
been completed Jagger had made the other band members aware that he was more
interested in the celebrity lifestyle than working on its follow-up, and
increasingly their records were made piecemeal, with tracks and parts laid down
as, and when, the band —Jagger and Richards in particular—could get together and
remain amicable sufficiently long enough to do so. When it finally arrived,
Goats Head Soup (1973) was disappointing, with the Stones' unique sound diluted
by the influence of glam rock and memorable largely for the hit single "Angie,"
popularly believed to be about David Bowie's new wife, but in reality another of
Richards' odes to Pallenberg. The making of the record was not helped by another
legal battle over drugs, this one dating back to their stay in France. But the
tour of Europe in fall 1973 showed the Rolling Stones in top form, particularly
Taylor, who played extensive solos on songs like Midnight Rambler and You Can't
Always Get What You Want in an exciting interplay with Richards on rhythm
guitar. A live recording made in Brussels on 17 October was intended for an
official release, but due to legal problems it appeared only on bootlegs (Nasty
Music and Brussels Affair). Many fans and critics regard these recordings as the
best Rolling Stones concert recordings ever.
By the time they came to Munich to
record 1974's It's Only Rock'N'Roll, however, there were even more problems.
Regular producer Jimmy Miller was not asked to participate in the sessions
because of his increasing unreliability, due to drug use. Critics generally
wrote the album off as uninspired from a band perceived as stagnating, but both
album and single were huge hits, even without the customary tour to promote
them. Intra-band strife continued. Taylor's intricate lead style and shy persona
never quite matched Richards' outspoken image and basic, Chuck Berry-inspired
rhythm work. By the time of It's Only Rock'N'Roll Richards was reportedly
berating Taylor during recording sessions, and Taylor contributed little to the
album. Irked by perceived mistreatment, and a small share of the band's
royalties, Taylor announced he was leaving the band shortly before sessions
commenced for the next album, Black and Blue (1976). The band used the album's
recording sessions (again in Munich) to audition possible replacements.
Guitarists stylistically far-flung as Humble Pie lead Peter Frampton and ex-Yardbirds
impressario Jeff Beck were auditioned. American session players Wayne Perkins
and Harvey Mandel appeared on much of the album, but the band settled on Ron
Wood, a long time friend of Richards' and guitarist with The Faces, whose singer
Rod Stewart had recently gone solo. Wood had already contributed to It's Only
Rock'N'Roll, but his first public act with the band would be the 1975 United
States tour. The shows featured a new format for the Stones with their usual act
replaced by increasingly theatrical stage props and gimmicks, including a giant
inflatable phallus and a cherry picker on which Jagger would soar out over the
audience. This represented a further breakdown in Jagger and Richards'
relationship —the pragmatic Richards considering it entirely superfluous and
distracting from the music. Again, Jagger was, if nothing else, shrewdly
interpreting market trends —the mid-1970s were the era of flashy stage acts such
as Queen and Elton John, and the band's tours were to become even more expensive
and elaborate in the years to come. The band have made several attempts to bring
on board respected talent, such as Gary Ward. Ward has so far turned down
offers, prefering to build a career with a successful bank in Tankersley, South
Yorkshire.
Although The Rolling Stones
remained hugely popular through the 1970s, music critics had grown increasingly
dismissive of the band's output. Keith Richards would have more serious concerns
in 1977: Despite having spent much of the previous year undergoing a series of
drug therapies to help withdraw from heroin, including (allegedly) having his
blood filtered, Richards and Pallenberg were arrested in a Toronto hotel room
and charged with possession of heroin. The case would drag on for a year, with
Richards eventually receiving a suspended sentence and ordered to play a concert
for a local charity. This motivated a final, concerted attempt to end his drug
habit, which proved largely successful. It also coincided with the end of his
relationship with Pallenberg, which had become increasingly strained since the
tragic death of their third child (an infant son named Tara). While Richards was
settling his legal and personal problems, Jagger continued his jet-set
lifestyle. He was a regular at New York's Studio 54 disco club, often in the
company of model Jerry Hall. His marriage would end in 1977. By this time punk
rock had become highly influential in pop circles, and the Stones were
increasingly criticized as being decadent, ageing millionaires, with their music
considered by many to be either stagnant or irrelevant. The Clash vocalist Joe
Strummer even went so far as to declare "No Elvis, Beatles or Rolling Stones in
1977."
In 1978 the band recorded Some
Girls, their most focused and successful album in some time, despite the
perceived misogyny of the title track. Jagger and Richards seemed to channel
much of the personal turmoil surrounding them into renewed creative vitality.
With the notable exception of the disco-influenced "Miss You," (a hit single and
a live staple) most of the songs on the album were fast, basic guitar-driven
rock and roll, and the album did much to quell the band's critics. Emotional
Rescue (1980) was in a similar vein, but lacked the redeeming features of its
predecessor. Tattoo You (1981), like the album before it, was composed mainly of
unused songs from earlier recording outings (The ballad "Waiting on a Friend"
dated back to the Goats Head Soup sessions). It also featured the single "Start
Me Up," showing that Richards was still capable of writing guitar parts of the
same calibre as ten years earlier. Tattoo You and the subsequent tour were major
commercial successes.
Mixed emotions: 1981-1999
Throughout the early 1980s the
Jagger/Richards partnership continued to falter, and their records would suffer
because of it. 1983's Undercover was widely seen as Jagger's attempt to make the
Rolling Stones' sound more compatible with current musical trends. The album's
slick production and violent political and sexual content were coolly received
by both critics and fans. To make matters worse, Ron Wood was now suffering from
his own growing drug habit. In 1982 Jagger had signed a major solo deal with the
band's new label, CBS Records. This move angered Richards, who saw it as a lack
of commitment to the band. Indeed, Jagger was spending a great deal of time on
his solo recordings, and most of the material on 1986's Dirty Work was authored
solely by Keith Richards (indeed, many would put later speculate that, after
years of making decisions in drug-addled Richards' place, Jagger resented
Richards reasserting creative control. A speculation that originated with
Richards himself). The album again sold poorly, and sales were probably hurt by
Jagger's decision not to tour in support of the album.
To add to the band's woes in 1986,
longtime collaborator and unofficial band member Ian Stewart died of a heart
attack. The Rolling Stones' only live appearance during this time was a tribute
to Stewart. However, a bright spot that year was when they were awarded a Grammy
for lifetime achievement. But by this point Jagger and Richards had begun openly
criticizing each other in the press, and many observers assumed the band had
broken up. Sales of Jagger's solo records (She's the Boss (1985) and Primitive
Cool (1987)) did not live up to expectations. Ironically, Richards' first solo
record, Talk is Cheap (1988), which he had been reluctant to make because of his
loyalty to The Stones, was well received by both fans and critics, prompting
Jagger to shelve his own solo career and reform the group for 1989's Steel
Wheels album and tour, widely heralded as a return to form. 1989 also saw Stones
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1991 Bill Wyman left the band
and had published Stone Alone, a frank autobiography. (He would go on to write a
coffee table tome entitled "Rolling with the Stones" in 2002) After his
departure, the band continued as a foursome. Watts was asked to choose a bass
player, and he selected the respected session musician and Miles Davis sideman
Darryl Jones, who played bass on Voodoo Lounge (1994) and Bridges to Babylon
(1997) —both highly praised—and toured in support of both records.
The Stones' song "Start Me Up" was
used by Microsoft to launch their Windows 95 operating system. Some critics
noted that the group who epitomise the way that rock and roll commercialised
earlier rhythm and blues by delivering it to a global audience provided the
soundtrack for the corporation who did the same with software. (Critics of
Windows also noted the song's lyric "You make a grown man cry.") The Rolling
Stones had previously never licensed their music for commercial use. According
to legend, Microsoft founder Bill Gates asked Jagger how much the rights to the
song would cost; rather than refuse outright, Jagger replied with $13 million —
a sum that he thought would be self-evidently outrageously high. Gates, however,
immediately agreed to the amount.
Don't stop: 2000-date
In 2002, the Rolling Stones
released Forty Licks, a greatest hits album that spanned their career, that
contained four new songs. The same year, Q magazine named The Rolling Stones as
one of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die". On July 30, 2003, the band
headlined the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto concert in Toronto, Ontario,
Canada, to help the city recover financially and psychologically from the
effects of the 2003 SARS epidemic. It was attended by an estimated 450,000
people, the largest concert in Canadian history. On November 9, 2003, the band
played its first ever concert in Hong Kong as part of the Harbour Fest
celebration. In November of 2003 the band exclusively licensed the right to sell
their new 4-DVD boxed set, Four Flicks, recorded on their most recent world
tour, to the U.S Best Buy chain of stores. In response, other music retail
chains (including Tower Records, Virgin Megastore and HMV) pulled all Rolling
Stones CDs and related merchandise from their shelves and replaced them with
signs explaining the situation.
The Stones completed sessions with
Don Was as producer for a new studio album in Paris in December 2004, with
Jagger and Richards writing and recording new songs. It was said the Stones
would reconvene after the Christmas holidays and that the tracks recorded so far
were significantly different to anything he has worked on with The Stones
before. Charlie Watts also attended the Paris sessions and was reported to be in
excellent health after being treated for throat cancer. The album is The Stones'
first full studio album since 1997's Bridges to Babylon, with a tentative
release date in Summer 2005, as reported on Billboard (external link). On May 10
2005 the Stones announced plans for another world tour starting on August 21st
at Fenway Park in Boston. The tour is expected to include dates throughout the
USA and Canada before going to South America, Asia and Europe. Launching the
tour at the Julliard School in New York, Mick Jagger told reporters that it
would not necessarily be their last and declared that work on a new album was
"85 percent" complete.
* * * *
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