The Rolling Stones were, at first, a pure blues group. Over the years, they may have expanded their interests slightly, but they never forgot their blues roots. Its two key members, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, first found rock through American Rockabilly. At the time, the music of Buddy Holly was the order of the day: "Buddy Holly was in England as solid as Elvis," said Richards. "Everything that came out was a record smash number one. By about '58 it was either Elvis or Buddy Holly." Rockabilly was hard to come by at first in England, because the radio and television programs were censored by the BBC. Like the Beatles, the Stones found their albums of choice through the seaports and the freighters that came over from the States, full with Little Richard, Holl, Elvis, and Jerry Lee Lewis records. As they (seperately) performed this music, they became interested in its blues roots. Jagger was performing in a group called Little Boy Blue and the Blues brothers at the time (1960), and Richards was also discovering the blues. Their first encounter was on a train, when Richards saw Jagger, who he knew from school, with an armful of blues records. In 1962, they joined with their friend Dick Taylor two form the Glimmer Twins, two guitarists and a vocalists, recording the music they loved: Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, etc. When the Ealing Blues Club opened in 1962, Richards and Jagger became regulars. Interestingly enough, the drummer for the house band, Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, was Charlie Watts, who would later on become the Stones' drummer. At the club, Jagger and Richards met Brian Jones, who occasionally played with Korner. He joined the Glimmer Twins, and, in 1963, formed the Rolling Stones along with drummer Tony Chapman.Their first performance was July 12th at the Marquee Club in London. It was there that their 30 year line-up took form, with Champan being replaced by Watts and Taylor quitting, giving room for bassist Bill Wyman.
At first, the Stones played nothing but pure blues. Their first single in March of '63, was "Come On" by Chuck Berry, and "I Wanna Be Loved", by Muddy Waters. Their first American album, England's Newest Hitmakers, was nearly all blues, as were the rest of their releases for that year. According to the Record Mirror, they were "genuine R & B." At the time, they were managed by Andrew Oldham, the Beatles publicist. It was his idea for them adopt an image that would be the opposite of the clean-cut and lovable Beatles. This came about because of their failure at being like all the other Invasion artists. Their first American tour, in June of '64, drew few people. They played to 600 people in Omaha, Nebraska, and had to endure a cruel ribbing by Dean Martin after their performance on his show. They began to promote a "long-haired, dirty image" that "was pushed on us here in the States." The promotion for their records was all comments on their rebelliousness, with News of the World even getting into the act. It called them the "symbols of rebellion... against the boss, the clock, and the clean-shirt-a-day routine." Melody Maker called them the "ugliest group in the world," and the New Musical Express saw them as "the caveman-like quintet." But it worked. Teens bought into it, ad their records started to really sell. Their second tour, in the fall 0f '64, was huge. Ed Sullivan was devastated, promising "they'll never be back on our show... I was shocked when I saw them. It took me seventeen years to build this show; I'm not going to have it destroyed in a matter of weeks." He, along with most parents, was virulently opposed to them. This intolerance of them by the establishment led even more teens into their camp, and they became the only real alternative for teens to the Beatles. Riots broke out at their performances. Ballrooms were destroyed, and most concerts had to end after three or four songs. As their careers progressed, the covers of R & B classics disappeared, and a new, hard-edged rock was the word of the day. Their first three albums were R & B covers, but by 1965, they started to use their own creations, such as "Satisfaction." By 1966, when they released Aftermath, it was nearly all them, and they had grown out of their R & B roots. The cost of their public image and lifestyles soon became too much, and they spiralled downward, Richards becoming an addict along with Jagger's girlfriend, Marianne Faithful. The harshest blow was when Jones ended up dead in a swimming pool in 1969. The Stones continued on without him, and are still today touring and releasing albums, the most recent being Bridges to Babylon.
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