The Rolling Stones

Little did the Rolling Stones know how apt their name - inspired by the title of a Muddy Waters song, “Rollin’ Stone” - would turn out to be. Formed in 1962, they are the longest-lived continuously active group in rock and roll history. They are also, according to a slogan that is supported by critical and popular consensus, “the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band.” Throughout four decades of shifting tastes in the arena of popular music, the Stones have kept rolling, adapting to the latest sounds and styles without straying too far from their origins as a blues-loving, guitar-based rock and roll band. In all aspects, theirs has been a remarkable career - and one with no apparent end in sight.
The Rolling Stones’ earliest origins date back to the boyhood friendship of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, forged in 1951. Their acquaintance was interrupted when both families moved in the mid-Fifties but got rekindled in October 1960, when the two ran into each other at a train station. (Richards noticed the imported R&B albums Jagger was carrying under his arm.) Jagger, a student at the London School of Economics, was a hardcore blues aficionado, while Richards’ interest leaned more toward Chuck Berry-style rock and roll. Richards soon joined Jagger’s group, Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys.
While making the rounds of London blues clubs, Jagger and Richards met guitarist Brian Jones, a member of Blues Incorporated (fronted by Alexis Korner, a key figure in the early London blues-rock scene). Jagger and Richards had been knocked out by Jones’ slide-guitar work on his solo reading of Elmore James’ “Dust My Broom.” Soon, the trio of Jagger, Richards and Jones became roommates and musical collaborators.
Keith Richards is clear about whose band it was in the beginning: “Brian was really fantastic, the first person I ever heard playing slide electric guitar,” Richards said in Stone Alone: The Story of a Rock ’n’ Roll Band, by Bill Wyman. “Mick and I both thought he was incredible. He mentioned he was forming a band. He could have easily joined another group, but he wanted to form his own. The Rolling Stones was Brian’s baby.”
When Alexis Korner skipped one of his regular Marquee gigs to appear on a BBC radio show, Jagger, Jones and Richards seized the opportunity to debut their new group. And so it came to pass that the earliest version of the Rolling Stones – which also included bassist Dick Taylor (later a founding member and guitarist for the Pretty Things), drummer Mick Avory (a future member of the Kinks) and keyboardist Ian Stewart (the Stones’ lifelong road manager and adjunct member) - made their first public appearance on July 12th, 1962.

The Rolling Stones have released 22 studio albums in the UK (24 in the US), eight concert albums (nine in the US) and numerous compilations; they have had 32 UK & US top-10 singles, and have sold more than 200 million albums worldwide. 1971's Sticky Fingers began a string of eight consecutive studio albums at number one in the United States. In 1989 the Rolling Stones were inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 they were ranked number 4 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. They are also ranked as the number 2 artists of all time on Acclaimedmusic.net. Their latest album, A Bigger Bang, was released in 2005 and accompanied by the highest-grossing tour in history, which lasted into late summer 2007.

The Eighties yielded both the group’s best-selling album (Tattoo You, #1 for nine weeks in 1981) and the longest period ever between Stones tours (eight years). A growing estrangement between Jagger and Richards culminated in a three-year lull after the release of Dirty Work (1986). Happily, the standoff ended when Jagger and Richards successfully resumed their working relationship during a ten-day songwriting retreat in Barbados. The Stones regrouped for an energetic, well-received world tour following the recording of strong, creatively resurgent Steel Wheels. (Wanting to exit on a high note, bassist Wyman announced his retirement from the band in 1992). In the Nineties, the Rolling Stones have found a way to accommodate the solo careers of its two principals, Jagger and Richards, while leaving time for band projects. In fact, the group is seemingly more active now than it’s been since the Seventies, having released studio albums (including the Stones’ first Best Rock Album Grammy-winner, Voodoo Lounge) and the live No Security, and kicked off lengthy tours in 1994 (Voodoo Lounge) and 1997 (Bridges to Babylon).

The Rolling were inducted in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and continue to rock the world with frequent tour dates.

Check out this great video from the Ed Sullivan Show in 1966. Brian Jones classic riffs on the Sitar are unforgettable.

Official Website: www.rollingstones.com

Chuck Berry Tribute

If you think about Rock N Roll in it's early stages, the "developing years", if you will, then no single artist was more important and more influential than Chuck Berry. Everyone knows that Elvis is referred to as the "King of Rock N Roll", but the truth is that, as great as Elvis was, the real true "King of Rock" is Chuck Berry. As Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stated, "While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together." Chuck was so important in the development of rock n roll that John Lennon said, "If you try to give Rock N Roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry". Chuck is also noted as being one the best guitarists in Rock N Roll history.

In 1986, Chuck Berry became the very first inductee into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Chuck Berry gave rock and roll an archetypal character in “Johnny B. Goode” and was responsible for one of its most recognizable stage moves, his “duckwalk.” All the while, his repertoire—not only the hits, but lesser-known songs like “Little Queenie” and “Let It Rock”—were being mastered by eager apprentices on the other side of the ocean, such as Keith Richards and John Lennon. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and many other British Invasion acts covered Chuck Berry at a time when the master himself was serving two years in prison on what now appear to be trumped-up charges. Released in 1964, Berry proved he still had some rock and roll classics left in him ("No Particular Place to Go,” “You Never Can Tell,” “Promised Land"). All the while, even groups like the Beach Boys plundered Berry for inspiration. Their 1963 hit “Surfin’ U.S.A.” so blatantly appropriated the melody and rhythm of Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” that he sued and won a songwriting credit. Ironically, this venerable rock and roll pioneer achieved his one and only Number 1 hit, “My Ding-a-Ling”—a risque novelty song he’d long been performing in adult nightclub settings—in 1972. By this time, his music had grown so entrenched that he didn’t even tour with a band, preferring to recruit pickup musicians in each new town. In those days, if you knew how to play rock and roll, it was a given that you’d cut your teeth on the songs of Chuck Berry.”

I thought I would share this video that I found. It's amazing! Proving just how great this man is. The video below was shot in March, 2008. Chuck Berry is 81 years old and still performs as great as always... and those licks flowing from his Gibson ES-335 are just as smokin' as they used to be. Go Chuck Go!!

Enjoy!!

The Box Tops

Everyone remember The Box Tops? I'm sure we all do, especially when you think of great songs like "The Letter", "Soul Deep" and "Cry Like A Baby". The Box Tops was a very talented group of guys from Memphis.

Formed officially as The Box Tops in 1967, the band featured Danny Smythe on drums, John Evans on guitar and keyboards, Bill Cunningham on bass and keyboards, Gary Talley on lead guitar, sitar and bass and 17 year old vocalist sensation and guitarist Alex Chilton.

Though only one number one hit (The Letter) came out of their career, they did indeed provide us with some very good music. In 2001 they played at the World Trade Center... and were a huge hit with the crowd, returning for 2 encores. To this date, they are still rockin'!

The Doors - Jim Morrison

In 1965 Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger formed one of the most advanced, unpredictable and controversial bands of all time: The Doors.

The Doors were led by the highly charismatic Jim Morrison. Jim was widely known for his unorthodox stage manner and brilliant vocal skills. He was also the lead songwriter for the band. Morrison, also noted for his scandalous and mysterious stage persona, has had many followers and has influenced many rock frontmen, including Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots and Velevet Revolver, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Scott Stapp of Creed. While many have adopted his style, there will always be only one Jim Morrison. The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Sadly, Jim's life came to an abrupt end on July 3rd, 1971. The world mourned as they faced the fact that rock music's most influential, most charismatic and most memorable frontman was gone. He was just 27 years old. RIP Jim... you'll forever be missed.