The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger - harmonica/vocals (born July 26th 1943, Dartford)
Keith Richards - guitar (born December 18th 1943, Dartford)
Brian Jones - guitar (born February 28th 1942, Cheltenham, died July 3rd 1969, Hartfield)
Bill Wyman - bass guitar (born William Perks, October 24th 1936, London)
Charlie Watts - drums (born June 2nd 1941, London)
The Stones were formed in the middle of 1962 and took their name from a Muddy Waters song. With a line-up of Jagger (harmonica), Richards (guitar), Dick Taylor (bass), Ian Stewart (piano) and using numerous drummers, they were the first of the London R&B groups to break through in the wake of Merseybeat.
To begin with their output was largely old R&B, blues and rock 'n' roll songs, which they performed well, if not spectacularly. Much of their early success was down to their visual and attitudinal impact as any musical innovation. Their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, promoted them as the group the middle-aged loved to hate. Their anti-establishment stance was on the whole a genuine one, though they were guilty of some notable cop-outs.
Mick and Keith first met at primary school in Dartford. When they met again ten years later, they were both avid fans of blues and American R&B, and they found they had a mutual friend in guitarist Dick Taylor. Meanwhile, Brian Jones had left his hometown of Cheltenham and moved to London. He met Mick and Keith in a Soho pub, by this time they were occasionally sitting in with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated - whose drummer was Charlie Watts.
The embryonic Stones got their first break deputising for Korner's group in July 1962 at the Marquee Club in London. Shortly afterwards, Taylor left the fledgling group, soon to form The Pretty Things, and was replaced by Bill Wyman. Wyman brought with him the drummer from his old band The Cliftons, Tony Chapman, but he soon left allowing Charlie Watts to join.
By the spring of 1963, the Stones had built up a large cult following after playing an eight-month residency at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond. It was at the Crawdaddy that they were seen by Oldham, who took over the management of the band, ousted pianist Ian Stewart, and negotiated a recording contract with Decca.
The first single was released in June 1963. A cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On", it sold well for a debut but not in sufficient quantities to make the top twenty. They followed this record with Lennon/McCartney's "I Wanna Be Your Man" but their big breakthrough year was 1964 when they had two No. 1 records. At the same time, they were becoming the subject of numerous sensationalistic articles in the British press, culminating with a story about them urinating on a garage forecourt.
Jagger & Richards did not emerge as major songwriters until 1965 when they wrote "The Last Time", but from that point until the early 70's the band became one of the most important forces in shaping the development of rock music.
Although they no longer sell records in vast quantities (but at least they are still making them!), the Stones still perform all over the world to sell-out crowds in huge stadiums.
Singles
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Jun '63 |
Come On/I Want To Be Loved |
Decca F 11675 |
UK#21 |
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Nov '63 |
I Wanna Be Your Man/Stoned |
Decca F 11764 |
UK#12 |
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Feb '64 |
Not Fade Away/Little By Little |
Decca F 11845 |
UK#3 |
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Jul '64 |
It's All Over Now/Good Times, Bad Times |
Decca F 11934 |
UK#1 |
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Nov '64 |
Little Red Rooster/Off The Hook |
Decca F 12014 |
UK#1 |
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Feb '65 |
The Last Time/Play With Fire |
Decca F 12104 |
UK#1 |
|
Aug '65 |
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/The Spider And The Fly |
Decca F 12220 |
UK#1 |
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Oct '65 |
Get Off Of My Cloud/The Singer Not The Song |
Decca F 12263 |
UK#1 |
|
Feb '66 |
19th Nervous Breakdown/As Tears Go By |
Decca F 12331 |
UK#2 |
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May '66 |
Paint It Black/Long Long While |
Decca F 12395 |
UK#1 |
|
Sep '66 |
Have You Seen Your Mother Baby Standing In The Shadow?/Who's Driving Your Plane? |
Decca F 12497 |
UK#5 |
E.P.s
|
Jan '64 |
The Rolling Stones - Bye Bye Johnny/Money/You Better Move On/Poison Ivy Decca DFE 8560 |
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Aug '64 |
Five By Five - If You Ever Need Me/Empty Heart/2120 South Michigan Avenue/Confessin' The Blues/Around And Around Decca DFE 8590 |
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Jun '65 |
Got Live If You Want It - We Want The Stones/Everybody Needs Somebody/Pain In My Heart/Route 66/I'm Moving On/I'm Alright Decca DFE 8620 |
L.P.s
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Apr '64 |
The Rolling Stones - Route 66/I Just Wanna Make Love To You/Honest I Do/Mona/Now I've Got A Witness/Little By Little/I'm A King Bee/Carol/Can I Get A Witness?/You Can Make It If You Try/Walkin' The Dog Decca LK 4605 |
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Jan '65 |
The Rolling Stones No. 2 - Everybody Needs Somebody To Love/Down Home Girl/You Can't Catch Me/Time Is On My Side/What A Shame/Grown Up Wrong/Down The Road Apiece/Under The Boardwalk/I Can't Be Satisfied/Pain In My Heart/Off The Hook/Suzie Q Decca LK 4661 |
|
Oct '65 |
Out Of Our Heads - She Said Yeah/Mercy, Mercy/Hitch Hike/That's How Strong My Love Is/Good Times/Got To Get Away/Talkin' 'Bout You/Cry To Me/We Got A Good Thing Going/Heart Of Stone/Under Assistant West Coats Promotion Man/I'm Free Decca LK 4733 |
|
Apr '66 |
Aftermath - Mother's Little Helper/Stupid Girl/Lady Jane/Under My Thumb/Doncha Bother Me/Goin' Home/Flight 505/High And Dry/Out Of Time/It's Not Easy/I Am Waiting/Take It Or Leave It/Think/What To Do Decca LK 4786 |
|
Nov '66 |
Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass) - Have You Seen Your Mother Baby Standing In The Shadow?/Paint It Black/It's All Over Now/The Last Time/Heart Of Stone/Not Fade Away/Come On/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/Get Off Of My Cloud/As Tears Go By/Lady Jane/Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown/Time Is On My Side/Little Red Rooster Decca LK 5019 |
Selected Re-issues
|
1989 |
Singles Collection: The London Years - Disc 1 - Come On/I Want To Be Loved/I Wanna Be Your Man/Stoned/Not Fade Away/Little By Little/It's All Over Now/Good Times, Bad Times/Tell Me/I Just Want To Make Love To You/Time Is On My Side/Congratulations/Little Red Rooster/Off The Hook/Heart Of Stone/What A Shame/The Last Time/Play With Fire/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man/The Spider And The Fly/Get Off Of My Cloud/I'm Free/The Singer Not The Song/As Tears Go By |
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Disc 2 - Gotta Get Away/19th Nervous Breakdown/Sad Day/Paint It Black/Stupid Girl/Long, Long While/Mother's Little Helper/Lady Jane/Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing In The Shadow?/Who's Driving Your Plane?/Let's Spend The Night Together/Ruby Tuesday/We Love You/Dandelion/She's A Rainbow/2000 Light Years From Home/In Another Land/The Lantern/Jumpin' Jack Flash/Child Of The Moon |
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Disc 3 - Street Fighting Man/No Expectations/Surprise, Surprise/Honky Tonk Women/You Can't Always Get What You Want/Memo From Turner/Brown Sugar/Wild Horses/I Don't Know Why/Try A Little Harder/Out Of Time/Jiving Sister Fanny/Sympathy For The Devil |
