The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones, better known in the Spanish-speaking world as the Rolling Stones, is a British rock group from London. The band was formed in April 1962 by Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ian Stewart, along with various bassists and drummers who were never permanent until the arrival of Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts a few months later, who would complete the first band. formation of the band. Ian Stewart ceased to be an official member of the group in mid-1963, although he remained in it until his death in 1985. Brian Jones was fired in June 1969 due to his drug addiction (but would die three weeks later), and was replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor, who would leave the group in 1975 and would be, in turn, replaced by Ronnie Wood. With Bill Wyman's retirement in 1993, bassist Darryl Jones was included who, although he has played with the band since the recording of the album Voodoo Lounge in 1994, is not an official member.
His early productions included covers and songs from North American blues, rock and roll and R&B. However, in the course of their career they added stylistic touches from other genres to adapt to each era, receiving influences from psychedelic music, country, punk, music disco, soul, reggae or electronic music. Despite leading the "British Invasion" in the early 1960s with The Beatles (with whom they had always rivaled in popularity), it was not until the release of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" in 1965 when they rose to international stardom and established themselves as one of the most popular bands on the music scene. To date, the band has released twenty-five studio albums and placed thirty-two singles within the top ten. most popular in the United Kingdom and the United States. The total sales of The Rolling Stones are estimated between 200 and 250 million records, they became one of the most successful artists of all time.
They are considered one of the largest and most influential bands in the entire history of rock, it is one of the groups that laid the foundations of contemporary rock. Counting on the favor of critics since its inception, some of its material is considered among the best of all time; among them Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971) and perhaps his best work, Exile on Main St. (1972). In 1989 they were included inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 the American magazine Rolling Stone ranked them No. 4 on its list of The 50 Greatest Artists of All Time .
No rock group to date has sustained such a lasting and still world-renowned career as The Rolling Stones; with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (and Charlie Watts until his death in August 2021) as active founding members, they remain the longest-running band in rock history. a collection of stamps commemorating the 60th anniversary of the group's founding.
History
1962: Foundation
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were classmates at Wentworth Grammar School, Dartford; however, after Richards's family moved, they lost contact. They were eventually reunited at Dartford railway station in 1961. Richards was then attending Sidcup Art College, while Jagger was enrolled at the London School of Economics. In spare time, Jagger sang with Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, an amateur group that included bassist Dick Taylor, also a friend of Richards and a student at Sidcup Art College. Shortly after Richards joined the group.
In early 1961, Brian Jones, a former member of The Ramrods, a band from his native Cheltenham, arrived in the English capital. After his arrival he participated occasionally with Alexis Korner's group, Blues Incorporated, an important group on the London R&B circuit. Jones wanted to start an R&B band. and placed an ad in the weekly Jazz News, to which pianist Ian Stewart and guitarist Geoff Bradford responded.
One night in early 1962, Brian Jones, then known as "Elmo Lewis", and his band performed at the Ealing Jazz Club. The show made a great impression on Keith Richards, and after a brief conversation with Mick Jagger and Dick Taylor, they decided that they would team up with Brian Jones, Ian Stewart and Geoff Bradford to form a new group all together. weeks later, already in spring, Bradford left the group, and they hired the drummer of The Cliftons Tony Chapman. Taylor also left the group for a few days, although some time later he would return, albeit only for a brief period. Soon after, Brian Jones baptized the group as "The Rolling Stones" after listening to the song "Rollin' Stone" by American blues musician Muddy Waters.
In the middle of the year, Blues Incorporated canceled their show at the Club Marquee, a situation that was taken advantage of by the new band. On July 12, 1962, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Dick Taylor and Tony Chapman (others cite Mick Avory), gave their first official concert as "The Rolling Stones";. After this first presentation, they embarked on a tour of different London bars, without the company of Chapman and Taylor, who decided to leave the group permanently. Chapman recommended the band to his friend in The Cliftons William Perks, known as Bill Wyman, who auditioned with the group on December 7 and instantly became The Rolling Stones' new bassist. «I put on my best suit and showed up at the club, looking for Mick Jagger or Brian Jones. I was surprised to see that they were dressed very differently, with T-shirts and jeans (noting that Jagger was dressed in beige). Another thing that I did not like was realizing that more than me, they wanted my amplifier. Carlo Little agreed to cover drums while a replacement was found, and after a brief stint he left the band; however, before his departure, he recommended they hire Charlie Watts, whom everyone knew and had just left Blues Incorporated. Watts abhorred rock and roll and blues and was reluctant to quit his job, but after several months of persuasion he joined the Stones in January 1963, "I thought they were really crazy. They worked for free and weren't interested either, but I liked their spirit and the R&B, so I accepted."
1963-1964: Britain's Newest Hitmakers
Building the band to play every Sunday at Richmond's Crawdaddy Club, businessman Giorgio Gomelsky earned the band a huge fan base, including The Beatles. The growing attendance at Crawdaddy caught the attention of journalist Peter Jones, who recommended the group to Andrew Loog Oldham, The Beatles' publicist. After observing them in Richmond, he signed them and Eric Easton to his agency Impact Sound on May 6, 1963. To market the band as "youth hooligans", Oldham removed Ian Stewart from the lineup, although he stayed on as a tour handyman and as the band's session and touring pianist. Richards to cut out the "S" from his last name to match the last name of Cliff Richard and Little Richard, British-American rock stars of the day. In the middle of that month they were signed by Dick Rowe to Decca Records following the recommendation of beatle George Harrison. After signing, they began recording their first songs at Olympic Studios in London. With Oldham as producer, the Stones recorded the song "Come On" by Chuck Berry and released it accompanied by the Muddy Waters song "I Want to Be Loved" as their first single on June 7. To publicize it, they made their first appearance on British television, on the program Thank Your Lucky Stars, and undertook their first official tour of England, opening for Bo Diddley, Little Richard and The Everly Brothers. Despite this, the song did not have the desired impact and only climbed to number 21 on the UK chart. In order to boost the group's career, Oldham asked John Lennon and Paul McCartney to The Beatles to compose a song for the Stones. The songwriting couple delivered "I Wanna Be Your Man" to them in five minutes, a song released as a single in November backed on the B-side of the album by "Stoned" (attributed to Nanker Phelge), the band's first original composition. They finally achieved the attention of the public (ranking within the British Top-10) and the media, who focused more on their unkempt appearance and long hair than on their musical proposal.
London Evening News (March 1964) "But would you let your daughter marry one?" |
On January 17, 1964, while they were still touring England, they released their first EP, The Rolling Stones. Taking advantage of the commercial momentum of "I Wanna Be Your Man", the aforementioned cover album reached the top of the list of best-selling EPs in the United Kingdom and remained on the billboard for 11 weeks. Five weeks later they released "Not Fade". Away", original by Buddy Holly, as his new cut that soon became his first great commercial success in Great Britain, reaching third position in the UK Singles Chart, contrasting with its modest number 48 in the US. The enormous popularity they had obtained brought with it constant criticism from British society and the press, who complained about their "unkempt" appearance and the "obscene" manner of their performances. From the above arose comparisons with The Beatles, a situation that Oldham wanted because he devised The Rolling Stones as the antithesis of the Liverpool band. The Rolling Stones' debut album appeared on April 17, under the production of Oldham and Eric Easton. Titled simply The Rolling Stones, the LP was essentially a reproduction of a Stones concert, recorded in one take at London's Regent Studios, and contained a collection of rock >, R&B and blues in which drums, harmonica and guitars stood out. In addition to numerous covers, it included Jagger and Richards' first composition, an acoustic ballad titled "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)", and numbers attributed to Phelge and Phil Spector. The critics responded with pleasure and it was well received in England, staying 12 weeks in first place in sales and another 40 on the billboard. They then undertook a national tour and the Netherlands, accompanied by The Ronettes, and after its completion they embarked on their first tour of the United States on the eve of the release of the LP in that country, renamed for the occasion England's Newest Hitmakers.
The performances did not appeal to American audiences, which had recently been euphoric in welcoming The Beatles. This was partly due to their unfortunate appearances on American television. At The Hollywood Palace their appearance was mocked by Dean Martin and at The Ed Sullivan Show the great pandemonium they caused forced the host to ban them from the show, although he never fulfilled it. In the United States they took time to record at the Chess Records studios in Chicago and RCA Records in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, they released "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)", which reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. With the tour in full swing, they released their version of The Valentinos' "It's All Over Now", with which they achieved their first UK number one. followed by the release of the Five by Five EP in England and the 12 x 5 LP in North America, derived from recordings at Chess and RCA Records studios. Both achieved high positions on the billboards of their respective markets. Specifically, Five By Five brought them another number one on the EP charts, while 12 X 5 climbed to third position on Billboard's Top LPs. then the English magazine Melody Maker named the Rolling Stones as the Band of the Year and designated their cut "Not Fade Away" as Song of the Year. Willie Dixon's blues theme "Little Red Rooster" returned to the top of the UK charts for the second time in a row in December; in contrast, its broadcast was boycotted by American radio stations due to the explicitly sexual content of the lyrics.
1965-1968: Worldwide success of The Rolling Stones
Their second record production, The Rolling Stones No.2, was released on January 15, 1965 in Great Britain, quickly seizing the top of the British charts for 13 weeks. Repeating the formula of his previous work, Oldham put together an album of covers, except for the previously unreleased "Off the Hook", "What a Shame" and "Grown Up Wrong". In Rolling Stones No.2 an evolution of the band can be observed towards the field of R&B and blues, made up of songs slower than their predecessor and which have drums as their rhythmic base; In addition, the more constant inclusion of slide guitar and harmonica is appreciated. The publication in the United States took place the following month and, as in their previous LP, it would be released under another name, The Rolling Stones, Now!. Unlike its British version, this album was accompanied by the success of "Heart of Stone", a song that replaced "Grown Up Wrong" on the American album, being the band's first single in which they appeared as composers.
The next single, "The Last Time", was released in both the US and England, being their first original cut in Britain. With this song they returned for the third time in a row to the top of the local popularity charts, while in North America it earned them their first Top 10 hit. They later released the song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", theme that would take them to international superstardom. This would start a new stage in the band, in which their music would be the new form of provocation. Jagger began to compose songs where he expressed criticism of society, politics and the female sex, a notable situation in the songs that were destined for the pop market. His new single, inspired by American consumerism, portrayed a teenager tormented by frustration. general, which, added to its references to sexual relations and its anti-capitalist overtones, was seen as an attack on the status quo. However, the cut was an immense commercial success both in his country and in the United States, where it reached the mainstream for the first time. top of the charts and topped the charts for four consecutive weeks. Its popularity spread throughout the world, topping the charts in all of Europe, Canada, and Australia; giving the Stones their first number one worldwide.
Meanwhile, their first live production came out in England, the EP Got Live If You Want It!, a record of their performances in Manchester and Liverpool in March of that year. At the same time, in the US they released their album Out of Our Heads, the only edition that included the two previous singles. With the inclusion of four original songs, it marked a breakthrough in their career, proving to themselves that they were capable of writing their own songs, while maintaining their R&B/blues base. it was published until September 24 accompanied simultaneously by "Get Off of My Cloud", the follow-up to "Satisfaction". Like the previous song, it reached number one both in England and in the US and in various parts of the globe, obtaining another international number one for the second consecutive time. It served as a prelude to the release in North America. from December's Children, a compilation featuring many original tracks taken from the UK pressings of their albums and B-sides, plus previously unreleased "Get Off of My Cloud", "Blue Turns to Gray », «The Singer Not the Song» and «As Tears Go By»; the latter, number 6 on the Billboard chart.
In February 1966 the band returned to the market with "19th Nervous Breakdown", a great success despite not reaching number two in America and Great Britain. Months later they released a song that broke with the R&B standards embodied by the Stones on their past promotional albums, "Paint It, Black". Brian Jones's exotic sitar riff gave "Paint It Black" that eerie, shadowy vibe that would catapult the Stones to number one on both sides of the Atlantic and put the band back at the top of the global charts. Building on this commercial coup, Decca Records released Aftermath on April 15 in Great Britain. For the first time, the group delivered an original work, composed mostly of songs rescued from the Could You Walk on the Water? project. Contrasting with their previous productions, they offered a product far from the R&B and blues influence, and lyrics that bordered on misogyny, such as "Stupid Girl" or "Under My Thumb". Musically, it represented a change in the direction of the band, a consequence of the leadership and experimentation of its then leader Brian Jones, who in his capacity as a multi-instrumentalist incorporated marimbas, dulcimer, sitar, pianos and vibraphones; giving the work an impressive and sophisticated sound. Despite this, Jones, a victim of severe depressions that sometimes led to hospitalizations, began to feel excluded from the group by Jagger and Richards.
They then went on a North American tour mid-year to promote the US release of Aftermath. This was accompanied by "Mother's Little Helper", replacing "Paint It Black" in the English edition, a scathing portrait of the British family that led to them receiving insults from a House of Commons deputy. At the same time, it peaked at number 8 on the Billboard, seconded by its B-side "Lady Jane" at number 24. Back in September, they embarked on a national tour with Ike & Tina Turner and The Yardbirds who was supported for the song "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?". This global top 10 hit would also promote his first compilation album Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) , which sold over two million copies.
On January 20, 1967, they released Between the Buttons in the United Kingdom, which was their last album under the direction of Andrew Loog Oldham. The album was ambitious work: the band brought together the most mature compositions written by the Bob Dylan-influenced Jagger to date, and complemented them with Jones' music and fine arrangements, similar to those appreciated on The Beach Boys, to offer a production with shades and textures of baroque pop and psychedelic music. However, critics did not receive it with the same enthusiasm as Aftermath, pointing out that the band had lost their orientation by trying to follow in the footsteps of The Beatles, Kinks and Bob Dylan. "Let's Spend The Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday" accompanied the production, released for the occasion as a double single. "Ruby Tuesday" became a worldwide number one, while "Let's Spend The Night Together" was relegated to lower positions mainly because in countries like the United States it was censored for its explicit way in which it addresses the For example, Ed Sullivan threatened Jagger into changing the chorus ("Let's Spend Some Time Together") for his performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Just a month after the release of his new album, Mick Jagger was accused by the British newspaper The News of the World of using LSD, which would later lead to his arrest, along with Keith Richards, a few weeks later. Shortly thereafter Brian Jones was arrested for possession of cocaine and methamphetamine. At the trials, Jagger was sentenced to three months in prison, Richards to one year, and Jones to nine months; However, the latter was released on bail and released on probation due to the intervention of his psychiatrist, with the obligation to attend rehabilitation clinics. After the constant protests of his fans, they were released by the Court of Appeal of the Court Supreme Court in London on July 31. Upon their departure, they record the single "We Love You" as a token of appreciation to their loyal fans. John Lennon and Paul McCartney collaborated on the choirs. Although officially aimed at fans, it was also taken as an attack on The News of the World newspaper, the police and some members of the British judiciary.
Under these circumstances they recorded Their Satanic Majesties Request, an album produced by themselves with which they tried to respond to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. For promotional purposes they released the singles "In Another Land", and "She's a Rainbow"; the first, a composition signed and performed by bassist Bill Wyman, featured Steve Marriott on backing vocals, while the second had string arrangements by John Paul Jones and delicate piano by Nicky Hopkins. Unfortunately for the group, only "She's a Rainbow" made a place on the charts. At the same time, the album did not reach the high sales figures of his previous recordings either. The first 25,000 copies had a hologram, which further increased the price of the album and made it difficult to sell. In addition, specialized critics received Their Satanic Majesties Request coldly and gave it harsh comments. This moment, after poor sales and harsh reviews, represented the biggest failure of his career.
1968-1972: The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band
In early 1968 they introduced Allen Klein, the group's former accountant, as their new manager. His new position was assigned to him as a thank you after getting them large monetary advances and a higher percentage of sales with Decca Records. After the failure of Their Satanic Majesties Request relations within the band they deteriorated, especially between Jones and Richards, largely due to the latter becoming paired with Anita Pallenberg, then Jones's girlfriend. Under pressure to overcome the previous album's misstep, Jagger enlisted the services of American producer Jimmy Miller, who had recently produced Traffic. From the first sessions "Jumpin'" was derived. Jack Flash”, a cut with which they returned to the international scene and returned to the top of the UK singles chart after two years.[citation needed] Strangely, this track was not included on the album because the band wanted to create an atmosphere of expectation for their next material.
The new production had a release date of July 26, coinciding with Jagger's birthday, although its release was postponed by Decca due to the controversial album cover, which featured a dirty public toilet with multiple inscriptions on it. the walls. After months of negotiation, they reached an agreement and replaced the original cover with a completely white one with only the name of the album printed in gold letters, which at first generated criticism when compared to the minimalist cover of The White Album by The Beatles, released at that time. would initiate a series of four studio albums that are usually considered the "top of the Stones' work". co on Billboard's best-seller list in the United States. With Beggars Banquet the band returned to their musical roots: the work was essentially a selection of rock, blues and R& B, where a few songs with appreciable influence of country music were also included. Despite the great reaction from critics and the public, the album was not without controversy. One of the first negative reactions towards the LP was the inclusion of "Sympathy for the Devil", a song with tribal overtones whose lyrics expose the Devil as a member of humanity, and references are made to the most violent passages of history, such as World War II or the murder of the Romanov family. The mention of the Devil in the lyrics caused fear and repudiation in various religious sectors, accusing them of worshiping Satan and describing them as a bad influence on youth. single "Street Fighting Man" also caused annoyance in the authorities. It only reached inconspicuous places among the most popular singles in the US because it was prevented from airplay and soon after also from sale due to the cut cover, a photograph of police officers beating protesters, and the political content of the letter, which the US authorities considered "destabilizing" on the eve of the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Between December 11 and 12, the television special The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus was recorded at the Roundhouse in London, although it was never broadcast as such. 1996, after being stored for almost 30 years in a barn in England. Created at the idea of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the show was produced as a circus show that had attractions from circus artists as well as performances by some famous artists of that time: Jethro Tull, The Who, John Lennon, Yōko Ono, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull and the Stones themselves. Among these performances, the interpretation of "Yer Blues" by the supergroup The Dirty Mac, made up of Lennon and Clapton on guitars, Keith Richards on bass, stood out. and Mitch Mitchell on drums.
For the realization of the album Brian Jones had contributed sporadically, although Mick Jagger went so far as to say of his partner that: "He is not psychologically fit for this type of life." As time went by, his addiction problems worsened and the gang's confidence in him was waning. His drug abuse had become an obstacle to getting his US visa. On June 8, 1969 Jagger, Richards and Watts met at Jones' country house, Cotchford Farm, in the village of Hartfield, Sussex; He "admitted that he couldn't go on" and at the end of the meeting, the three agreed to fire him. Following a financial settlement, he left The Rolling Stones on June 10, issuing a press release that same day:
We don't communicate musically anymore. The music of the Stones is not my taste. I want to make my own music before I play the music of others. The only solution is to take separate paths, even if we remain friends.
Three days later the young guitarist Mick Taylor was introduced as a new member of the band, who had been a member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Jones retired to his country house and planned his return to the world of music with a local blues band. However, on July 3, 1969, a month after his departure and two days before the band was to give a concert in Hyde Park, he was found dead at the bottom of his pool.Janet Lawson, the nurse at he stated:
About 10:30 at night Brian wanted to take a bath in the pool. He'd been drinking, and he was a little creepy. I wasn't able to swim, but he didn't listen to me.
The news published at the time that the musician died of an asthma attack, a disease he had suffered for a long time, and that it occurred while he was swimming, although this version is still highly disputed. Despite Due to Jones' sudden death, the concert was not cancelled, during which Jagger recited Percy Shelley's Adonais and hundreds of butterflies were released as a tribute. The concert, Taylor's presentation as a new guitarist, was recorded by Granada Television to be later shown as Stones in the Park on British television.
On July 4 they released "Honky Tonk Women", accompanied by "You Can't Always Get What You Want" on the B-side, which quickly shot to the top of the charts around the world for weeks, scoring another worldwide hit. This was followed by the album Let It Bleed, released on November 28, which features both late member Brian Jones and new guitarist Mick. Taylor, with two themes each. The production was highly acclaimed by critics ("his great masterpiece", in the words of music critic Stephen Davis) and reached number three on the US charts and number one on the UK charts, spending 19 and 29 weeks between the charts. best-selling albums, respectively. The material included as the first track "Gimme Shelter", one of their most recognized compositions, inspired by the Vietnam War and described by Jagger himself as "an apocalyptic song". That month they began a tour across the United States, in which they proclaimed themselves "The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band", a nickname credited to their tour manager Sam Cutler. The tour ended tragically with the death of four fans, three accidentally, at the free Altamont concert. The show ended when a young black man charged onto the stage with a gun in his hand and was immediately intercepted by the Hells Angels, in charge of concert security, and stabbed to death in the midst of the confusion and brawl as the group performed "Under My Thumb". This fact was recorded in the documentary by Albert and David Maysles, Gimme Shelter .
The band grew stronger with the arrival of Taylor. Despite the Altamont tragedy, the tour was a huge success and led to the release of the live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert in 1970, recorded during performances at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This live record, like their previous two studio albums, earned them widespread critical acclaim. Lester Bangs called it "The best concert ever put on a record". At the end of the year, the Stones also concluded their contractual relationship with Decca Records, and despite the fact that with " Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!" and "Honky Tonk Women" had met their album and single quotas for this label, they were required to turn in new musical material. To dissolve their union, they gave the record company "Cocksucker Blues", a song that the company considered unfit to be included on any album or to be released as a single, calling it "grotesque". The composition recounts the life of a teenager who comes to London in search of his fortune and in the end has to prostitute himself to survive. However, Allen Klein, their legal and financial representative, refused to let them go. independent group. Subsequently, they set out to found their own label, called Rolling Stones Records, and decided to make new studio material.
In the early 1970s, the band went into the recording studio to work on the production of their new studio album. They finished it at the end of the summer and decided to go on a European tour visiting Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, France, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Mick Jagger tried his hand at filmmaking as an actor in Nicolas Roeg's Performance, despite being filmed in 1968, and Tony Richardson's Ned Kelly. In September, Jagger meets Nicaraguan model Bianca Pérez-Mora Macías at a party after the group's performance, impressing him so much that they were married soon after in a Catholic ceremony on May 12, 1971 in Saint-Tropez, France. While Jagger began a life full of luxury due to his recent marriage to the Latina model, Richards preferred to frequent other social circles, for which he became friends with country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. This change in their lifestyles was a distancing in the relationship between the vocalist and the guitarist of the group.
On April 23, 1971, they released Sticky Fingers, their first album under their own label, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. On May 7, the single "Brown Sugar" made its world premiere. cut of the group that included "Bitch" and "Let It Rock", original by Chuck Berry, as a B-side for North America and the United Kingdom respectively. The cut reached the top of the popularity charts in both countries for two consecutive weeks. The album received very good reviews (as its predecessor), highlighting its arrangements, its disconcerting atmosphere and the dark background of the lyrics, which made reference to the use and abuse of drugs, slavery and interracial relations. The cover was designed by the leader of the pop art movement Andy Warhol, focusing on a marked penis to the right in a pair of jeans and the zipper that opened them. The material also included for the first time the logo of the record company (it was on the inner sleeve of the disc), which reproduces a red mouth sticking out its tongue, which became the symbol of the band, being included in many merchandising objects. of the Stones thereafter. It was designed by John Pasche (although misattributed for years to Warhol) while he was studying graphic design at the Royal College of Art. This was created Created at Jagger's request, inspired by a Hindu calendar showing the disembodied goddess Kali. The design was censored in Spain by General Franco's regime and was replaced by an image of fingers sticking out of a molasses can. Likewise, the song "Sister Morphine" was replaced by "Let It Rock". Mick Taylor collaborated on several songs with Jagger, partly due to the excessive drug dealings and increasing unreliability that Richards displayed towards Jagger. However, all the songs were credited as usual to "Jagger/Richards", which frustrated Taylor and subsequently contributed to his departure.
A brief two-week English tour in March marked their farewell as British residents and the start of a years-long tax exile. In the second half of December, Allen Klein released the compilation Hot Rocks 1964-1971, under his own record label ABKCO Records. The compilation brought together the band's hits from the '60s in a double LP format. To date, he has achieved twelve platinum albums (note that it is a double disc and in the United States it is certified for each disc distributed, so it is actually six million units), and in 2002 he received the Diamond Award for part of the Recording Industry Association of the United States in recognition of more than 10 million copies sold. As Klein is the legal owner of these songs, the Stones did not receive the corresponding rights.
Constant pressure from the British tax authorities made the group decide to leave their country and go into "financial exile" on the advice of their financial adviser Rupert Lowenstein, a 'socialyte' friend of theirs. de Jagger descendant of the Rothschild family, in order to avoid bankruptcy caused by the high tax rates (90% of their income) of the Labor government of British Prime Minister Harold Wilson (1964-1970). Eventually they decided to go live to the south of France and once there, Richards rented a château—for himself, Anita Pallenberg, and their son—called Villa Nellcôte that was used as a Nazi headquarters during World War II. Not finding a suitable place to record, they decided to start the sessions in the basement of the château, using their mobile studio that was powered by electricity from the nearby railway tracks.
Recording began in mid-July 1971 and was largely problematic and conditioned by Richards' heroin addiction. During most of the sessions, the band was incomplete: Jagger frequently slipped away to visit his pregnant wife (who lived in Paris), Richards was almost all the time in "inappropriate" conditions and Bill Wyman preferred not to attend because the atmosphere at home made him uncomfortable (he only collaborated on eight songs on the album). After to endure the constant stalking of the police (the British were suspected of having links to drug trafficking), they chose to move to Los Angeles, California, where they finished the album at the end of March 1972. In April the single "Tumbling" began to be heard. Dice", which would occupy the #7 and #5 positions on the US and UK charts respectively. It served as a prelude to the first double LP of the band Exile on Main St., which invaded the stores on May 12, 1972. Although it was well received by the public (it debuted in first place among the best-selling albums), the specialized critics of the time received it coldly, arguing a "poor production, lack of organization (due to the conditions in which it was recorded) and self-indulgence". revalued so favorably, that today many consider it the masterpiece of The Rolling Stones and one of the most important records of contemporary music.
Composed mostly of discarded songs, it is characterized by its rustic melodies with poor production, sustained by its classic rock & roll, mixed with sounds rooted in traditional American music blues, soul, country and gospel). The specialists highlighted its dense and dark atmosphere, and the riffs and solos of Taylor and Richards. Capitalizing on their success, they decided to undertake a tour of North America and Canada in the middle of the year under the name S.T.P. Tour (initials of Stones Touring Party, although officially called North American Tour 1972). It lasted for about a month, during which they released "Happy", which peaked at number 22 on the US charts, and was surrounded by great controversy for their rampant behavior and multiple incidents that occurred at their performances, resulting in multiple arrests. From this journey came the documentary Cocksucker Blues, directed by the photographer Robert Frank, the same one who had been in charge of the album cover. The film was never officially released as it was banned by British courts as "very obscene", but the cinematographer secured the rights to screen it once a year. After a months-long investigation, on December 2 the gang appeared before a court in Nice to face charges of possession and use of drugs. In later days, Richards and his wife Anita were arrested on charges of heroin possession, but were later released.
1973-1977: Musical stagnation
At the beginning of 1973 they performed a series of concerts (a small tour called Pacific Tour 1973) through Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Hawaii. They had difficulties entering Oceania (although they were able to make all the planned presentations), due to their criminal record and the bad reputation that the S.T.P. Tour. Instead, their concert in Japan was banned, despite all the tickets being sold. excesses: Keith Richards and his addiction to drugs; and Mick Jagger and his concern to stand out in show business. At the end of August "Angie" begins to climb to the top of the popularity charts. This song, inspired by Anita Pallenberg, placed them again at the top of the charts throughout America, Europe and Asia, giving them another international success. On August 31, 1973 they put Goats on sale. Head Soup, which was the result of stormy recording sessions on the island of Jamaica in the middle of that year. The album, fueled by the success of its singles "Angie" and later "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)", climbed to number one in North America and Great Britain. It was accompanied by a subsequent promotional tour of Europe, which began in September in Vienna, Austria and ended in Berlin, Germany at the end of the following month.
After the conclusion of their tour of Europe, the group immersed themselves in the recording of their next album. To do this, they moved to the Musicland studios in Munich, Germany in mid-November. The production was carried out by Jagger and Richards (under the pseudonym "The Glimmer Twins"), although it was Jagger who was responsible for the creative direction of the material, due to Richards' physical condition, and due to the drug addiction problems of his Producer Jimmy Miller. His new work called It's Only Rock'n'Roll was released on October 18, 1974 accompanied by "Ain't Too Proud to Beg". The album featured the participation of Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood on the title track. This song, "It's Only Rock 'N Roll (but I Like It)", had come out as a single a few months before the album's appearance, climbing to number 16 in the United States and number 10 in the United States. United Kingdom.
Despite the band's commercial success, Mick Taylor remained professionally frustrated and dissatisfied with constant friction with Richards and lack of song credits, despite helping Jagger with songwriting and recording for the band's songs. previous disc. Near the end of this year, he was impatient due to the lack of tours (since they had not left since October of the previous year) and the stagnation of the band. After all this, on December 12, 1974, he announced that he was leaving The Rolling Stone:
I saw that the group wasn't going anywhere, we didn't go on tour and I was bored, and I had my personal problems. One of the things that bothered me most was that Stones They were invariably surrounded by a cohort that told them how great they were. Drugs weren't the problem, it's not a secret that Keith Richards was a heroin addict and I was becoming one too, but my problems became worse later.
The group, and especially Mick Jagger, did not receive the news well: they were about to start recording a new album. Some time later, the group's press office issued a bulletin informing that the break with the now ex-guitarist had passed on "good terms".
After Taylor's departure, they took their time thinking about who would be his replacement. The natural candidate was Wood, but they didn't want him to leave Faces (their group of his at the time) and he also refused to leave them. Between December 1974 and early 1975 they dedicated themselves to recording their new production in Munich. During the course of the sessions they auditioned various guitarists, including Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins, Peter Frampton, Chris Spedding, Mick Ronson, Rory Gallagher, Shuggie Otis and Jeff Beck. Mendel and Perkins were Turned down as his style was similar to Taylor's, Frampton declined the offer and Beck withdrew from the recordings. Wood was also invited and asked to join them for their North American tour, which he accepted. On May 1, 1975, they called a press conference in Manhattan to announce the start of their new tour, but the band had a surprise in store: they appeared playing "Brown Sugar" in the back of an open-top truck along Fifth Avenue. Avenue. The Tour of the Americas began on June 3 in Louisiana. They had planned to perform in Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela, but this tour was canceled at the last minute due to currency and security issues. That is why they added four more dates to the United States, thus concluding the tour in August. With the recordings not yet complete and with the tour underway, they released Made in the Shade, a compilation that contained songs from their last four albums. In turn, Allen Klein's ABKCO released Metamorphosis, an album with outtakes and alternative tracks from his best-known songs from the past decade. When Faces announced its disintegration in December 1975, Ronnie Wood became part of the group, although he was not officially introduced to the press until February 1976.
On April 23, 1976, they released Black and Blue, his first work with Wood in the band. Pianist Billy Preston and guitarists Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel also collaborated on this album, who at the time auditioned to replace Mick Taylor. The material was promoted by means of a poster in which the model Anita Russell appeared beaten and subdued, accompanied by the phrase I'm black and blue —Black and Blue is a popular way of referring to bruises— because of the Rolling Stones, but I love it!. The event sparked protests from feminist groups and Billboard withdrew the ad. However, this did not stop the single "Fool To Cry" reached the top-10 in the United States and the band received its first platinum record from the RIAA. The violent propaganda contrasted with the content of the album, an album with danceable themes and strong influences from black music, specifically reggae, funk and jazz. >. Their newest collection of songs polarized scholars, with critic Lester Bangs calling it "the last Stones album to matter", critic Bud Scoppa describing it as "forty-something". a minute of super-strict, absolutely dry, rock and soul of excellent quality". Shortly after they embarked on a tour that included performances in Germany, Belgium, Scotland, England, Netherlands, France, Spain, Yugoslavia, Switzerland and Austria. In the middle of the tour, Keith Richards' third child dies of respiratory problems, just under three months after his birth.
For 1977 Jagger had plans to record a live album, so the band moved to Toronto, Canada, but Richards delayed his arrival on Canadian soil. In February, Richards and his family were flying to Canada on BOAC airlines and were detained at customs after drugs were found among their belongings, prompting the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. On February 27, police arrived with an arrest warrant for Anita Pallenberg and Keith Richards after discovering "22 grams of heroin" in his room. The guitarist was accused of importing narcotics, which could cost him a minimum of seven years in prison, although in the end the Crown prosecutor acknowledged that the drug was acquired after his arrival in the country, therefore who was released on bail. After this incident, the group appeared at the El Mocambo club on March 3 and 5, in sessions that caused great controversy when Margaret Trudeau, wife of the Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, was seen at the party with the band, for which the press began to speculate about an affair between her and Ronnie Wood, which she denied. To hide these presentations from the public, the club was reserved by all that week by the group April Wine, who took advantage of the venue to record their album Live at the El Mocambo, opening for the Stones. In September they released Love You Live with live songs taken from their tours of the United States in 1975 and Europe in 1976, as well as four songs recorded at El Mocambo.
Richards' drug possession scandal dragged on for more than a year until the artist had his sentence suspended and was ordered to give two free concerts for the CNIB (an institute for assisting the blind) in Oshawa, Ontario. This sparked the creation of one of his first musical projects outside of the band (projects that would become more common for Jagger in the 1980s). He and Wood formed a new band, The New Barbarians, to play shows on April 22, 1979. This motivated him to break his drug addiction, which he eventually did. This stage coincides with the end of his relationship with model Anita Pallenberg. Although Richards was embroiled in personal and legal problems, Jagger continued his opulent lifestyle, being regularly seen at Studio 54 and 21 Club in the company of model Jerry Hall.. This situation influenced his separation from Bianca Jagger.
1978-1982: Second Wind
Towards the end of the 70s they began to receive criticism for the quality of their work because they did not reach the acceptance that their productions from the beginning of the decade had. They were considered an "obsolete" band in full swing of punk music. In the midst of criticism, they released their next full-length, Some Girls, on June 9, 1978, climbing directly to the top of the world charts and becoming the date on their best-selling album in the United States and the rest of the world, having surpassed 10 million units. Inspired by punk and disco music, this recording contained fast songs with cynical lyrics and strong social criticism., although his usual dose of misogyny and racism were also appreciated, which sparked strong confrontations with various sectors of color in North America. Recorded between October 1977 and March 1978 at the Pathé Marconi studios in Paris, the album was extracted with the singles "Miss You", "Beast of Burden", "Respectable" (in the UK) and "Shattered" (in the US), which charted in the top 40 on British and US radio. However, "Miss You", a funk/blues song written by Jagger for the model Jerry Hall that ended up sounding like a disco song, was established as the greatest success of the production as it was the only single, and to date the last of his career, to reach the top of the Billboard chart and unseat Andy Gibb's "Shadow Dancing" from the top spot. Reviews from specialized critics were remarkably favorable. They highlighted its agile, simple compositions with good handling of guitars, and its intention to adapt to the new fashionable genres, disco and punk. Critic Robert Christgau labeled it "his best album from Exile on Main St.". In the middle of the year they embark on a tour of America, which included a presentation on the television program Saturday Night Live , where Jagger licked the Wood's lips in front of the audience. In late August they returned to RCA studios in Los Angeles to record some demos for their next album.
They spent much of the next year recording their new album, moving to Nassau, Bahamas at the end of January 1979. They then returned to Paris in June, ending up in New York City by the end of the year. The production of The Glimmer Twins was plagued with snags and friction between the songwriters. The recordings were interrupted by concerts by The New Barbarians. These made their debut on April 22, 1979 in a free concert to benefit the CNIB, on the occasion of the sanction imposed on Richards by the Canadian justice for his problems with drug trafficking. The lineup included guitarists Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and Ian McLagan, bassist Stanley Clarke, saxophonist Bobby Keys (who also worked regularly with Rolling) and drummer Joseph Modeliste. toured across America between April and May, and opened for Led Zeppelin at the Knebworth Festival in August.
Entering a new decade, they publish Emotional Rescue on June 20, 1980. The same day it was released, "Emotional Rescue" came out as a single, which quickly became one of the most listened to radio stations. It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was well received by the public and debuted at the top of the charts, entering number eight on Billboard's Hot 200, moving to number one the following week, where it remained for seven weeks, as well as in the United Kingdom. United, where it was their first number one since Goats Head Soup in 1973. Since the departure of Sticky Fingers, all their albums had reached number one in the United States. Despite this, the new album was poorly received by music critics, calling it "mediocre" and "inconsistent". With the release of "She's So Cold" on September 19 ending the promotional tracks of the disk. It had moderate success on the radio. In early 1981 they released Sucking in the Seventies, their fourth official compilation album (which served as a successor to 1975's Made in the Shade), covering material from It& #39;s Only Rock'n Roll (1974) to Emotional Rescue (1980).
In early 1981 they decided to record again, but to their surprise producer Chris Kimsey chose to collect the discards from their last five albums, due to the bad period Jagger and Richards were going through. They release "Start Me Up", the song reggae from Black and Blue and dropped for Some Girls, followed by Tattoo You on August 24. The single quickly rose to the top of the charts, reaching number one in Australia, number two in the United States, number seven in Britain, and topped Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for thirteen consecutive weeks. on a Friend" (outtake from Goats Head Soup) and "Hang Fire" (outtake from Some Girls) both entered the US top twenty. The critics welcomed the production, highlighting in its first part solid and effective rock numbers such as "Hang Fire", which contrasted with the soft blues themes with personal lyrics of the second half, like "Waiting on a Friend". Debra Rae Cohen of Rolling Stone noted, "they seem mean and sad". United States and Great Britain respectively.
Richards and Wood persuaded Jagger to tour North America, which ended up grossing them over $50 million after more than 50 performances between September and December. They featured Iggy Pop, Carlos Santana, Bobby Womack, ZZ Top, Van Halen, Heart and Prince as opening acts, and with their ex-guitarist Mick Taylor, Tina Turner (singing "Honky Tonk Women"), Lee Allen, Chuck Leavell and Sugar Blue as special guests. Early the following year they began a tour of Europe, the first in six years, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its founding. This time they were backed by Chuck Leavell, ex-Allman Brothers Band pianist, on keyboards. By June, while they were beginning their journey, they released Still Life (American Concert 1981) accompanied by the song "Going to a Go-Go", a recording from their last tour in America.
1983-1988: Crisis period
While they were in Paris with Chris Kimsey recording their new material, the film Let's Spend the Night Together, a documentary by Hal Ashby, filmed during the group's performances, was released in May 1983. at the Sun Devil Stadium of the Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona and the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey during their last American Tour 1981. Months before the release of their album they sign a contract for the realization of four studio albums with CBS Records. On November 7 they publish Undercover, promoted days before by the single "Undercover of the Night". The album was considered an attempt by Jagger to achieve a sound compatible with new musical trends, but despite the initial enthusiasm of critics, the production with abundant sexual and politically violent content, was coldly received by his audience. Meanwhile Ronnie Wood was going through a health crisis due to his drug addiction. At the end of the year, Jagger signs a solo contract in parallel with CBS Records. Richards interpreted the gesture as a lack of commitment to the band.
Most of 1985 was devoted to solo projects, alternating with occasional recordings for new material. The absence of Mick Jagger, who was promoting his solo album She & # 39; s The Boss , forced Richards to record with the rest of the group and incorporate Jagger's voice later. Their feud came to the public eye when Jagger performed a solo number at Live Aid on July 13, while Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood backed Bob Dylan for the final part of the concert. On December 12, 1985, co-founder, keyboardist, road manager and longtime friend Ian Stewart dies suddenly at the age of 47 of a heart attack while attending the West London Clinic for an appointment. According to Richards, the death de Stewart left the band without a "moderating force" that could help them during their time of conflict with Jagger.
In 1986 they were awarded, together with the Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia and the jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman, by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States with a Grammy Award for the achievements of his entire career, coinciding with the release of "Harlem Shuffle", original by the R&B duo Bob & Earl, as the first single from Dirty Work, released on March 24. The album was the product of mostly solo work by Richards and Wood, and featured collaborations with Tom Waits, Jimmy Page, Patti Scialfa, and Bobby Womack. Producer Steve Lillywhite gave the album an aggressive and metallic character, highlighting the sound of the drums, which did not please critics and generated negative reviews. Jon Pareles of Rolling Stone commented: “It's solid, nothing spectacular. Each side feels incomplete, sounds like it was hastily recorded." In September 1987 Jagger released his second solo effort, Primitive Cool, while Richards followed in October 1988 with Talk is Cheap, with more critical favour. By the end of 1988, the two composers clarified their differences and decided to meet on the island of Barbados to see if they would make other record material. According to the guitarist himself, he told his wife: "I'll be back in 48 hours or in fifteen days. I'm going to figure out right away if this is going to work or if we're going to fight like cats and dogs."
1989-2001: The Rolling Stones Inc., the business empire
On January 18, 1989, The Rolling Stones (including Mick Taylor, Ronnie Wood, Ian Stewart, and Brian Jones) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in a ceremony not even attended by the drummer Neither Charlie Watts nor bassist Bill Wyman. During March and April of that year they stayed with Chris Kimsey recording on the island of Monserrat in daily sessions of more than 15 hours. At the end of August they put Steel Wheels on sale . Four singles were extracted from this: "Mixed Emotions", "Rock and a Hard Place", "Almost Hear You Sigh" and "Terrifying", the first two in August and November 1989, respectively, and the last two in 1990. "Mixed Emotions" was placed among the most popular songs on the Billboard charts, fifth on the Hot 100 and first on Rock Tracks, their last single to reach these positions. It was well received both by the public, which led it to triple platinum status in North America, and by critics, who indicated that despite not having the quality of other previous works, they highlighted it as a comeback.
With the release of new material, they performed at New York's Central Station to announce a world tour, their first in seven years, which they called U.S. Steel Wheels Tour. Their first concert was held on August 31 in Philadelphia, the first of 60 scheduled dates in 32 cities, and featured Living Colour, Guns N' Roses and Sons of Bob as opening act (only the first two would remain throughout the tour). On later dates Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Eric Clapton and John Lee Hooker appeared as special guests. In February 1990 they traveled around first time to Japan as part of their tour, including 10 concerts at Tokyo's Korakuen Dome. In the middle of that same year they embarked on a journey through Europe, the Urban Jungle Tour, starting the tour on May 18 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and continuing through 26 cities in nine countries to end with a recital in Wembley Stadium in London, England, in August. The adventure was very lucrative for them, generating $260 million in profits. In April of the following year they released Flashpoint, the live album compilation of the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour which included two previously unreleased tracks: "Highwire" and "Sex Drive". With his appearance, his contractual relationship with CBS Records ended. After the end of the tour they devoted themselves to solo works.
In 1992 they signed an agreement with Virgin Records, which would be in charge of distributing Rolling Stones Records material and releasing their next three studio albums. On January 6, 1993, bassist Bill Wyman officially announced his departure from the band during the broadcast of the English television program London Tonight: «I think the last two tours are the best we have done, so I'm very happy to retire." He left the group after years of deliberating his decision and after refusing to sign a contract with Virgin. The release of solo materials and the retirement of Wyman created some uncertainty about the continuity of the group.
The group was planning to start recording an upcoming album, so they began the search for a replacement for the bass. They decided to talk to Darryl Jones, a band member on The Tonight Show, who had toured for Miles Davis, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Madonna and Eric Clapton. Jones, who had worked with Richards on the recording of his solo album Talk Is Cheap, auditioned and was chosen by drummer Charlie Watts. While they were in the studio, his record company released the compilation Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones, containing their singles released between 1971 and 1989.
Voodoo Lounge emerged on July 11, 1994, recorded between September 1993 and April 1994 on the islands of Barbados and at Ronnie Wood's studios in Ireland. It was enthusiastically received by the public, settling in first place in Great Britain, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia and in second in the United States, being multiple platinum in Canada, and the US, platinum in Germany and Gold in Great Britain. Brittany. Critics reviewed the album positively, highlighting the return to his musical concepts, the ambiguity of his songs, and the predominance of ballads. The work stood out for its melodic emphasis and the leading role played by Charlie Watts on drums throughout. length of each of the songs. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine opined: "it is a stronger album than its predecessor". and "I Go Wild" as singles, of which only the third charted well on Bill's Hot 100. board, although "Love Is Strong" and "You Got Me Rocking" peaked at number two on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.
On August 1st they kick off their world tour Voodoo Lounge Tour, which kicked off at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington D.C. This was the first of more than sixty dates planned by South America. North. To open their presentations, they chose Lenny Kravitz, Counting Crows and Stone Temple Pilots as opening acts. On September 8, they performed at the MTV Video Music Awards gala at Radio City Music Hall. During the ceremony they received recognition for their artistic career. Likewise, the channel would include at the end of the year his video "Love Is Strong" in its list of "The 100 most requested videos" of 1994.
In 1995 the band visited Latin America for the first time as part of their new tour, packing dates in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile between January and February. During the 37th Grammy Awards, his most recent recording material won in the Best Rock Album category and the video clip for "Love Is Strong" won in the Best Rock Album" category. music video, long form. They complete their performances in South Africa, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Continental Europe, to offer their last concert at the Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam on August 30. The tour reported earnings of more than 370 million dollars after more than 140 concerts performed. At that time, it was becoming their most successful tour. Between March and July they recorded Stripped in Tokyo, Lisbon, London, Amsterdam and Paris, to be released on November 13. The material was made up of acoustic versions of some of his old songs alternated with others taken from the Voodoo Lounge Tour, inspired by a Jackson Brown album. On this album, he highlighted his version of "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan, which was also released as a single.
On September 29, 1997, they released Bridges to Babylon, recorded in Connecticut, London, New York and Los Angeles between December 1996 and July 1997. It featured a wide range of producers, headlining by Don Was (Voodoo Lounge and Stripped) and The Glimmer Twins (Jagger/Richards), and backed by The Dust Brothers (producers of Beck and Beastie Boys), Pierre de Beauport, Rob Fraboni, and Danny Saber (producer of Black Grape). He preceded "Anybody Seen My Baby?" as the first promotional single, placing itself among the 40 most popular songs in Europe, and reaching number 3 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks. The material contained R&B, rock, reggae and blues themes, with influences from electronic music. Reviews were mixed, and sales were close to going platinum. In the middle of the year they announced the start of the Bridges to Babylon Tour, which kicked off on September 4 in Toronto, Ontario, toured North America and stopped momentarily at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri on December 12.. At the end of the year, the MTV television network included his video clip "Anybody Seen My Baby?", starring actress Angelina Jolie, among "The 100 most requested videos" of 1997.
They resume the tour on January 5, 1998 in Quebec and conclude their run in the US (interrupted only by a couple of shows in Mexico) with a show in Las Vegas, Nevada in mid-February. After playing in Japan, Brazil, Argentina, and again in the United States and Canada, they reach the last leg of their itinerary, Europe. With a presentation at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on September 19, they put a momentary stop to the tour. They release No Security on November 2, a live album that features several previously unreleased songs, except for "Live With Me" and "The Last Time".
In January 1999, they returned to the United States with the No Security Tour, with the idea of performing indoors for no more than 20,000 people. They resume the Bridges to Babylon Tour on May 29 in Stuttgart, Germany and conclude the tour on June 20 in Cologne. At the conclusion of the tour, net earnings exceed $390 million, eclipsing what was done with their previous tour. The band's inactivity was only interrupted when Mick Jagger and Keith Richards made a brief appearance at the "Concert for New York", held at Madison Square Garden, with the aim of raising funds for the victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
2002-2012: The Stones in the new millennium
With their presentation on September 3, 2002 at the FleetCenter in Boston, they began their anniversary tour called the Licks Tour. Virgin Records, in association with ABKCO and Rolling Stones Records, subsequently released the compilation Forty Licks on September 30, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the founding of The Rolling Stones. This double disc had forty tracks, thirty-six of the band's best-known songs and four new compositions recorded in Paris in the middle of the year. The same day "Don't Stop" comes out to promote it, with modest success on the charts around the world, although it was placed within the top 10 of the charts in Japan, Taiwan and Argentina. Forty Licks became an immediate success, selling 310,000 units in its first week and at the end of the year it was among the best-selling albums of the year, earning a triple platinum record in the United States and surpassing the barrier of six. million units around the world. After more than thirty performances they concluded the year with a show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on November 30.
On January 8, 2003 they resume their tour at the Bell Center in Montreal and their concerts throughout the United States end on February 8 in Las Vegas. They perform in Australia, Japan, Singapore and for the first time in India, while performances planned in China and Thailand were canceled due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic. In June they move to Europe, interrupted only by a appearance at the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto, a benefit concert for victims of the SARS epidemic. They finish their tour at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, Switzerland on October 2. With this tour the group obtained profits of more than 300 million dollars. In November they performed in China as part of a festival to promote tourism after the SARS epidemic. The same month they published the box set Four Flicks, a DVD box containing their performances in Paris, New York and London during the Licks Tour. They were only sold at the Best Buy chain of stores, something that did not please the distributors HMV Canada and Circuit City, which in protest threw out records and related items from the Stones. Billboard and was certified 19 times platinum, making it the best-selling concert DVD in US history.
Drummer Charlie Watts was diagnosed with throat cancer in June 2004 and was surgically removed. Subsequently, he underwent radiotherapy treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London for six weeks. This led the group to suspend concerts and the recordings of their new album until the complete recovery of its member. By October Jagger declared to the British newspaper Daily Mirror that Watts had successfully overcome the disease, so he returned to the recordings. On November 1 they released Live Licks, a double live album by their last tour, containing the collaborations of singers Solomon Burke and Sheryl Crow on "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" and "Honky Tonk Women" respectively.
On May 10, 2005 they performed a small presentation at the Juilliard School in New York, announcing a new world tour and a new studio production. In August they began the A Bigger Bang Tour at Fenway Park in Boston and released the double single "Streets of Love"/"Rough Justice", which reached the top forty on European charts - reaching the top in Spain -, and on Argentine and Canadian charts. However, it had a poor impact in the United States and the rest of the world. His album was released on September 5 under the title A Bigger Bang. It was recorded at Jagger's residences in France and on the island of Saint Vincent. It received generally favorable reviews, being cited as his best production since Tattoo You or even since Some Girls. The material consists mainly of rock songs based on R&B and blues, contrary to their previous releases, appreciable in « Back on My Hand", and a handful of pop/rock songs like "Streets of Love". The song "Sweet Neo Con" generated controversy for its highly politically charged lyrics criticizing American Neoconservatism and implicitly the President of the United States George W. Bush, although the latter was denied by Jagger himself.
On November 22, Virgin and the Starbucks Corp. coffee chain released Rarities 1971-2003, a compact of remixes, unpopular tracks and rarities (B-sides and live recordings) from the band. As part of the A Bigger Bang Tour they performed at halftime of Super Bowl XL, where the lyrics of "Start Me Up" and "Rough Justice" were censored. On their return to Latin America they offered a free concert on the beaches of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, which attracted more than a million and a half people, becoming their most massive show. Unfortunately in April 2006, Keith Richards suffered a concussion after falling from a palm de coco in Fiji during the band's vacation. The situation led to the musician undergoing surgery and caused the postponement of several European performances until June.
Although they continued to tour Europe, the dates for Madrid and Barcelona were postponed for about a year. In early June 2007 they performed at the Isle of Wight Festival, and almost simultaneously released the box set-DVD The Biggest Bang, which was sold only in Best Buy stores. The tour concluded with three performances on August 21, 23 and 26 at London's O2 Arena. In September, the A Bigger Bang Tour was included in the Guinness Book of Records for being the most profitable tour in history, although the aforementioned publication mentioned earnings of more than 437 million dollars, the Stones tour promoter Michael Colh quoted $558,255,524. >Pollstar. On November 12, ABKCO Records released Rolled Gold+: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones, the reissue of Rolled Gold: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones from 1975, in Great Britain. This compilation was available, in addition to the double-CD and quadruple vinyl formats, on USB flash drive and in digital format, which could be downloaded online.
The tour resulted in the documentary Shine a Light, directed by Oscar winner Martin Scorsese, filmed during his performances at the Beacon Theater in New York on October 29 and November 1, 2006 as part of the A Bigger Bang Tour. It featured guest appearances by The White Stripes vocalist Jack White, pop singer Christina Aguilera and blues/rock guitarist >Buddy Guy. Upon its premiere on February 7, 2008 at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival, Shine a Light garnered good reviews from film critics and generated revenues of $5,505,267. theatrical US alone and $10,268,084 overseas. The film's soundtrack album was released simultaneously and debuted at number 2 in the UK and number 11 in the US, selling over 645,000 copies. copies around the world. At the end of June they signed a contract with Universal Music, with whom they had signed an agreement for the publication of Shine a Light, adding to the great list of artists left by EMI They were previously associated with concert promoter Live Nation, although they denied this. The label would release their new recordings under UK subsidiary Polydor Records, and also acquired the rights for US distribution of the earlier material. to 1994, while that later material would be distributed by Interscope Records.
In April 2009, the remastering of the entire Stones discography since 1971 was announced, leaving out Exile On Main St for a deluxe edition release in late 2009 or early 2010. On July 28 Universal released a box set with all 14 remastered studio albums. In September Keith Richards published plans for recording new material. The name of Jack White as producer was handled: «We will surely record new material next year. As for the production, I don't want to feed rumors: I'm just saying that Jack and I are in contact."
In March 2010 Keith Richards said that the group could start recording a new album at the end of the year. According to Richards, the profile of the new material has not yet been outlined; however, he slipped that the band would be evaluating entering the recording studios before the end of the year. "There are no definite plans, but I can't see the rest of the group members stopping. I wouldn't be surprised if we record something new near the end of the year," he noted.
In July 2010 there were rumors of their official separation in 2012 (after completing 50 years of career) doing a world tour to present the new album and to say goodbye, rumors that were denied in October of that same year by the band's guitarist, Ronnie Wood: "We're going to keep playing, for sure. We are like the old monks, those who never give up. We're gonna play 'til we drop off the stage... The Rolling Stones won't break up until all the members are dead."
2013-2020: Five decades together
In 2013, on the 50th anniversary of the first concert they gave as a group, they uploaded a photo on social networks and later announced their new tour 50 & Counting, which ended in the middle of that year.
In 2014 they began another tour called 14 On Fire through Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania and the United States, a tour that was suspended for several months due to the suicide of Jagger's girlfriend, L&# 39;Wren Scott, on March 17, 2014. The tour was resumed on May 26.
At the end of 2015 the band announced their return to Latin America, with an exclusive stadium tour for the region which they called América Latina Olé Tour; began in the National Stadium of Santiago in front of more than 60,000 people on February 3, 2016 in Santiago de Chile, to later present three concerts in the city of La Plata in Argentina, after these concerts they are presented for the first time in Uruguay. The tour continues with four shows in Brazil, specifically in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Porto Alegre. They also made their debut in Lima, Peru and in Bogotá, Colombia. Then they landed in Mexico, to perform a double date in Mexico City at the Foro Sol and finally the tour concluded on March 25, 2016 with a massive and historic concert in Havana, Cuba in front of more than 1.2 million spectators.
On December 2, 2016 the band released their new album Blue & Lonesome, consisting of versions of classic blues by artists like Willie Dixon or Little Walter, who were the band's first idols.
During the summer of 2017, the band's guitarist, Keith Richards, revealed that the group is preparing a new album.
On May 9, 2017 the group announced a new European tour, called the No Filter Tour. The tour began on September 9 in Hamburg, Germany and ended on October 25 in Paris. Despite criticism from the group's fans, they did not perform in the UK, but did perform in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and France. It should be said that Paris was the only city where two concerts were held.
On October 6, 2017, they presented the new album On Air, an album that includes the recordings made between 1963 and 1965 in the BBC studios. This compilation began to be distributed on December 1 of the same year.
2021-present: Death of Charlie Watts and 60th anniversary
The No Filter Tour kicked off on September 9, 2017 in Hamburg and closed its first leg two years later in Miami on August 30, 2019. It was scheduled to conclude in 2020, but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The tour was announced to resume in September 2021. However, in early August it was announced that, due to medical problems, Charlie Watts would be replaced on drums by Steve Jordan, a collaborating musician with Keith Richards, for the remainder of the tour, the first time in the group's history. that one of its members would not participate live.
However, on August 24, 2021, the Stones' office announced Watts' death at age 80. He is the first member of the group to die while active, as Brian Jones had been fired when he died in 1969, and Ian Stewart was not an official member of the band when he died in 1985.
On September 20, 2021, as a prelude to the tour's restart, the group gave a private concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, marking the first time since January 1963 that Charlie Watts was not with them on stage. Mick Jagger, joined by Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood fronting the stage, delivered an emotional speech as a tribute to his recently deceased partner.
In January 2022, a collection of stamps commemorating the 60th anniversary of the group's founding appeared. And in June, the group embarked on a new tour called the Sixty Tour, in celebration of the 60 years of career.
Style and influences
Style
The Rolling Stones are characterized by simple melodies and simple structures where there are not too many chords, which accompany raw lyrics that touch on social themes. During their long career they have added various genres to their classic rock and roll repertoire with a R&B/Blues base, such as country, folk, reggae and dance. His early compositions grew out of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' mutual interests in American music (Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Fats Domino, Jimmy Reed and Little Walter). These in turn influenced Brian Jones, leader of the band at the time, who was interested in T-Bone Walker and jazz music,[citation needed] and Charlie Watts, who was still into jazz. jazz (Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Buddy Rich and Elvin Jones) and repudiated rock and roll and blues, although he sympathized with the R&B like Jagger, Jones and Richards.
On their first albums they were performers of rhythm & blues and American soul, but due to the competitive market of English rock they were forced to write their own songs to begin to stand out and differentiate themselves. Songs like "Little by Little", "Heart of Stone" or "What a Shame" had an R&B structure. However, in some of their new songs they were mature and sensitive, contrary to the "virile" image they were trying to convey, such as "Off the Hook", which deals with the difficult relationships of English couples of that time (which earned them their first accusations of misogyny), and "As Tears Go By", which talks about the imminent end of a relationship. Despite their roots in American music, singles such as "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)" had Mersey influences, similar to songs by The Beatles.
With the rise of psychedelic rock in the second half of the 1960s they released Between the Buttons and Their Satanic Majesties Request. The first is a collage of rock songs and ballads with psychedelic and R&B overtones, and the second was an album of psychedelic music, more experimental and risky. In this, futuristic philosophical questions were exposed and they commented on their recent prison experiences with the support of exotic rhythms and instruments, with the intervention of the mellotron and the incorporation of an orchestra. By the end of the decade the theme of their lyrics took on a more political and political character. critically, "Street Fighting Man" was inspired by student fights in Paris and fierce clashes between the police and opponents of the Vietnam War in the United States, while "Gimme Shelter" makes references to the same conflict. war. Beggars Banquet, which includes "Street Fighting Man", brought together blues and R&B rhythms with touches of country music, the result of the great influence that country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons had on guitarist Keith Richards, one of his best friends at the time.
Their next three albums (Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main St.) deal primarily with loneliness and alienation. suffered by rock stars. i>gospel and jazz, as well as the band's classic rock/blues/R&B. decadence, stuck in rock-pop music, except for some experiments with jazz, funk and reggae in Black and Blue , and only supported by great hits like "Angie", to keep them still in the music market before the appearance of new genres such as Punk or Disco. To overcome this, after the departure of Mick Taylor, they released Some Girls, a metallic sound production, in which the handling of guitars stands out. The LP consisted of a repertoire of songs with the rawness of punk, reserving the main theme for a radically different style: "Miss You") is considered a disco theme. His following material shared the same style, except for Dirty Work, and his collaboration with the Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar, which materialized in the song "Continental Drift" from the album Steel Wheels . With Bridges to Babylon from 1997 they added touches of electronic music to their compositions. His most recent material A Bigger Bang maintains influences closer to R&B and blues.
Influence and legacy
The Rolling Stones is considered one of the best and most influential groups in the history of rock, the Spanish journalist José Ramón Pardo mentions in his book «The ideal nightclub of pop music» the key to the success of The Rolling Stones: he defines them as "a timeless group capable of adapting, with just a few simple stylistic notes, to any musical time that is coming". During the development of their career they became the definition of the rock, an emblematic band of the genre. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards established with The Rolling Stones the stereotype of the classic rock band. They gave a sound (with roots in North American R&B and blues) content that was often controversial; composing songs with themes such as disappointment, sex, drugs and women. They adopted a look of scruffy, dirty and intimidating boys; and a rebellious public image, behaving like "bad boys" in constant trouble with the law for the content of their lyrics and their open addiction to drugs and alcohol.
They have been included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1989, and in 2004 they were ranked fourth by the American magazine Rolling Stone in the list of The Immortals: the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The same publication placed fourteen of their songs on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, highlighting "(I Can&# 39;t Get No) Satisfaction" at number two and the inclusion of "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Gimme Shelter" in the top 100, and previously selected ten of his studio albums among The 500 Greatest Albums of all time, with Exile on Main St. at number 7 on the list. On the eve of their Licks Tour UK magazine Q named them one of "The 50 Bands You Must See Before You Die".
At the beginning of his career his music had a great impact on the sound of bands like Jefferson Airplane, The Flamin' Groovies, and Humble Pie, in the 1970s his compositions were also reflected in some material by various singers, including Terry Reid, Rod Stewart, and David Bowie. The combination of rock, blues and R&B characteristic of the band was appreciated in some productions of seventies groups such as Led Zeppelin, and ZZ Top. some glimpses of Jagger and company in other bands of different genres such as New York Dolls, J. Geils Band, Oasis, The Verve, Primal Scream, and The Hives. Guns N' Roses, Cinderella, Velvet Revolver, Jet and The Black Crowes. In the same way, some materials by The Rolling Stones were the promoters of other artists, as is the case with the song "I Just Want to See His Face"., whose dense atmosphere was a precursor to the sounds of the productions of Sonic Youth and Tom Waits or the album Exile on Main St., which was the inspiration for Liz Phair's debut album, Exile In Guyville.
In Latin America they have had great repercussions in various Argentine bands such as Ratones Paranoicos, Los Piojos, and Viejas Locas. In that South American country, his first visit in the mid-90s gave rise to an urban movement called rolinga, whose followers mix their fanaticism for Mick Jagger's band with other local bands linked to the first rock developed in neighborhoods. of big cities. Such is the case of Los Piojos, and after the emergence of chabón rock, the rolingas became followers of bands such as Intoxicados (dissolved), Callejeros (dissolved), Jóvenes Pordioseros, La 25 or Guasones, all of them with remarkable stone sound.
In Spain his influence can be seen in groups like Tequila or Burning or in the heartfelt homage to Loquillo on his song "Sympathy for the Stones", among others.
Discography
Studio discography
Release date | Title | Sales in USA. U.S. | Billboard |
---|---|---|---|
16 April 1964 | The Rolling Stones | 500 000 | #11 |
17 October 1964 | 12 x 5 (US only) | 500 000 | #3 |
15 January 1965 | The Rolling Stones No.2 | 500 000 | #5 |
13 February 1965 | The Rolling Stones, Now! | 500 000 | #5 |
30 July 1965 | Out of Our Heads | A million. | #1 |
4 December 1965 | December's Children (And Everybody's) | 500 000 | #4 |
20 June 1966 | Aftermath | 500 000 | #2 |
11 February 1967 | Between the Buttons | 500 000 | #2 |
8 December 1967 | Their Satanic Majesties Request | 500 000 | #2 |
6 December 1968 | Beggars Banquet | A million. | #5 |
5 December 1969 | Let It Bleed | 2 million | #3 |
23 April 1971 | Sticky Fingers | 3 million | #1 |
12 May 1972 | Exile on Main St. | A million. | #1 |
31 August 1973 | Goats Head Soup | 3 million | #1 |
18 October 1974 | It's Only Rock'n'Roll | A million. | #1 |
23 April 1976 | Black and Blue | A million. | #1 |
9 June 1978 | Some Girls | 6 million | #1 |
20 June 1980 | Emotional Rescue | 2 million | #1 |
24 August 1981 | Tattoo You | 4 million | #1 |
7 November 1983 | Undercover | A million. | #4 |
24 March 1986 | Dirty Work | A million. | #4 |
29 August 1989 | Steel Wheels | 3 million | #3 |
11 July 1994 | Voodoo Lounge | 2 million | #2 |
29 September 1997 | Bridges to Babylon | A million. | #3 |
5 September 2005 | A Bigger Bang | A million. | #3 |
2 December 2016 | Blue " Lonesome " | 123,000 | #4 |
Members
Of the original members of the band, to date only the association formed by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards remains, which continue to be the longest-running formation in the history of rock. Pianist Ian Stewart ceased to be an "official member" of the band in 1963, by decision of Andrew Loog Oldham, the group's manager and producer at the time. However, he continued playing with the group until his death in 1985. The multi-instrumentalist and first leader Brian Jones was expelled from the band in June 1969 (he would die a month later), and was replaced by Mick Taylor, although the latter he would leave the band in the mid-70s. In turn, Taylor was replaced by Ronnie Wood in 1976. Bill Wyman decided to leave the band in 1993 and was not officially replaced. In August 2021, Charlie Watts died at the age of 80, just weeks after casting doubt on his participation in the tour scheduled for that year due to health problems. On said tour, he is replaced on drumsticks by Steve Jordan, the band's new drummer.
Timeline
Solo work
During the early years of the band, Brian Jones produced, wrote and performed the soundtrack for the film Mord und Totschlag (also known as A Degree Of Murder), a 1966 German avant-garde film starring his then girlfriend Anita Pallenberg and directed by Volker Schlöndorff. This was perhaps the only solo material Jones released during his lifetime. Shortly thereafter, he contributed saxophone playing to The Beatles' song "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)", a composition that was released as a side-by-side. B of "Let It Be" on March 6, 1970. In 1971, Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka was released posthumously, recorded by the same guitarist with a local group of a village in Morocco called Master Musicians of Joujouka in 1968. This World music album arose due to the insistence of the painter and novelist Brion Gysin and his fellow Moroccan Mohamed Hamri that the composer listen to the music of that African region.
Guitarist Keith Richards, before releasing his first solo album, collaborated with other artists, such as on The Beatles' song "All You Need Is Love" in 1967 (doing background vocals) as well as playing the bass and guitar on the album by soul musician and occasional keyboardist for the group during the 1970s Billy Preston: That's the Way God Planned It (1969). His first solo album was released in 1988 under the title Talk is Cheap , the year in which his live album Live at the Hollywood Palladium also circulated. In October 1992 he released what is up to now his last solo material: Main Offender.
Mick Jagger is the most successful solo artist. His first solo effort, She's The Boss (released in 1985), went platinum in the United States. That same year he released a duet with David Bowie on the single "Dancing in the Street": the original song by Martha and the Vandellas served as the promotional theme for the Live Aid charity movement. The previous year, he collaborated with the R&B group The Jackson 5, performing together with Michael Jackson, vocalist of the quintet, "State of Shock", a song that became the most successful single from his album Victory. During the band's greatest moment of crisis, he released Primitive Cool, although it did not have as much repercussion as his previous material. Later, he made his own compositions in the band's rest periods. Wandering Spirit (1993) was released after the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour; Goddess in the Doorway (2001) followed the Bridges to Babylon Tour and The Very Best Of Mick Jagger (2007), was released after of the A Bigger Bang Tour. In 2004 he composed the lyrics for the soundtrack of the film Alfie, whose promotional cut "Old Habits Die Hard" —in which Dave Stewart, former member of the English synthpop group, collaborated Eurythmics—won numerous awards including the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in 2005.
Ronnie Wood is another stone who has also released records as a solo artist. By the time he joined the band, he already had a solo repertoire, and he was also the founder of the group The New Barbarians. So far, he has released ten solo productions since joining The Rolling Stones: Gimme Some Neck (1979), 1234 (1981), Live at the Ritz (1988), Slide on This (1992), Slide on Live: Plugged in and Standing (1993), Live and Eclectic (2000), Not for Beginners (2001), Ronnie Wood Anthology: The Essential Crossexion (2006), Buried Alive: Live in Maryland (2006) and The First Barbarians: Live from Kilburn (2007).
For his part, drummer Charlie Watts, despite belonging to a rock group, continued to love jazz and with his Charlie Watts Quintet released several albums, being the last two From One Charlie and A Tribute to Charlie Parker with Strings in the early 90s.
Awards
Year | Prize | Category |
---|---|---|
1987 | Grammy Awards | Musical Path |
1989 | Rock Fame Hall | Income |
1991 | Juno Awards | International Artist of the Year |
1994 | MTV Video Music Awards | Musical Path |
1995 | Grammy Awards | Best Rock Album by Voodoo Lounge |
1995 | Grammy Awards | Best video, short format by «Love is Strong» |
2005 | World Music Awards | Best musical group on tour of the whole story |
2007 | Guinness Book of World Record | Most successful tour of all time |
2013 | New Musical Express | Best movie, Crossfire Hurricane |
2013 | New Musical Express | Best direct |
Music tours
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