Arrival of the Rolling Stones

Last lecture we covered early-1960s London blues revivalists and the club scene where Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and others hung out—serious blues fans. The Rolling Stones were born in that world: young mates trying to imitate the elders they followed.

The band’s first leader was Brian Jones. We tend to think Mick and Keith led the Stones, but Brian was the leader—a true blues fanatic. So when Keith and Mick wanted to cover Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, Brian resisted; he was so blues-purist that even those covers felt like selling out to commercialism—much like Greenwich Village folk purists in 1960s America.

Blues fanatics then did not want to be seen as playing blues for fame or money. If you were a British blues fanatic at that time, you were in it for the music itself. There is a story about Eric Clapton: he quit the Yardbirds while recording their first single because the band could not really own the record; Eric treated that pop as trash and said forget it—he would live in a woodshed and become a better blues player. That is the attitude: put fame aside. If fame mattered to you, you were disloyal to the blues. Brian Jones was that kind of person. The name Rolling Stones also came from blues tradition. They then played regularly at the Crawdaddy Club near a central London station, run by Giorgio Gomelsky. Giorgio thought of himself as the Stones’ manager from every angle; he had no signed contract, but we understand the situation: regular club gigs, he promoted them—that was how it was.

Then Andrew Loog Oldham appeared—formerly working for Brian Epstein—and became the Stones’ manager; the band dropped old friend Giorgio Gomelsky. After the Stones succeeded, Giorgio put another band, the Yardbirds, into his club—and this time he made sure of a contract.

Around the time the Stones played Crawdaddy, you may recall Dick Rowe. He was at Decca; in January 1962 he auditioned the Beatles and turned them down. Brian Epstein hawked that demo around London with no takers until Parlophone’s George Martin auditioned and signed them. Dick Rowe had sat as a guest judge on talent-show–type events; after the Beatles hit, George Harrison also guest-judged one. There is a widely told story—true or not—I think George rather liked it. George was chatting with Dick; Dick said how sorry he was to have missed the Beatles, and George could hardly imagine the trouble that had caused him—he had the reputation as “the man who missed the Beatles.” Dick said the Beatles’ huge success made him look a fool—did George know any promising singer or band he might sign? George told him to try the Rolling Stones, playing at the Crawdaddy next to the London station. In the version George loves to tell, he turned to look at someone else; when he looked back, Dick’s chair was still spinning and Dick was gone. In fact Dick did go to the Crawdaddy, did see the Stones, and did sign them—Giorgio Gomelsky was largely out of that deal; Andrew Loog Oldham made it happen.

Interestingly, because the Beatles had some connection with Phil Spector, Andrew Loog Oldham got a tip from Spector and told the Stones always to own their masters and only license use to the label—and they did. British labels then did not think it special; no other artist had done it. Usually within a few years most pop was off the charts—who cared who owned the masters? For the Stones it proved lucky: holding the masters, over the following decades they moved those recordings from label to label.

At first the Stones did not score huge U.S. success like the Beatles. Early records were covers; Keith and Mick had not started writing yet. Covers were rock and R&B; some important, interesting covers charted only in Britain, not America. In 1963 their cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On” reached No. 21 in Britain. In 1964 Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” hit No. 3.

They even sang a Lennon–McCartney song. As I said, John and Paul had wanted to be a songwriting team; once successful they began selling songs to other artists. They sold the Stones “I Wanna Be Your Man,” which reached No. 12 in Britain in 1963. If you can hear both the Stones’ and Beatles’ versions, study the difference: the Stones lean blues; the Beatles sound more Motown or Atlantic—more vocal, more polished.

Soon Jagger and Richards began writing. Their first important song was 1965’s “The Last Time”—No. 1 Britain, No. 9 U.S.—and of course 1965’s “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” is theirs too. They even sold a song to Marianne Faithfull, Mick’s girlfriend for a stretch in the 1960s—“As Tears Go By,” a 1964 success at No. 9 in Britain. You may know the Stones’ version, but it first hit with Marianne Faithfull.

That roughly covers the Stones in Britain; next lecture: their U.S. success and how they got it.