The Rolling Stones began calling themselves the "World’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band" in the late Sixties, and few disputed the claim. The Stones’ music, based on Chicago blues, has continued to sound vital through the decades, and the Stones’ attitude of flippant defiance has come to seem as important as their music.

In the 1964 British Invasion, they were promoted as bad boys, but what began as a gimmick has stuck as an indelible image, and not just because of incidents like Brian Jones’ mysterious death in 1969 and a violent murder during their set at Altamont later that year. In their music, the Stones pioneered British rock’s tone of ironic detachment and wrote about offhand brutality, sex as power, and other taboos. Mick Jagger was branded a "Lucifer" figure, thanks to songs like "Sympathy for the Devil." In the Eighties the Stones lost their dangerous aura while still seeming "bad" -- they’ve become icons of an elegantly debauched, world-weary decadence. But Jagger remains the most self-consciously assured appropriator of black performers’ up-front sexuality; Keith Richards’ Chuck Berry-derived riffing defines rock rhythm guitar (not to mention rock guitar rhythm); the stalwart rhythm section, anchored by Charlie Watts, holds its own with any band’s; and Jagger and Richards continue to write telling songs.

In June 1963 the Stones released their first single, Chuck Berry’s "Come On." After the band played on the British TV rock show Thank Your Lucky Stars, its producer reportedly told Oldham to get rid of "that vile-looking singer with the tire-tread lips." The single reached #21 on the British chart. The Stones also appeared at the first annual National Jazz and Blues Festival in London’s borough of Richmond and in September were part of a package tour with the Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley, and Little Richard. In December 1963 the Stones’ second single, "I Wanna Be Your Man" (written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney), made the British Top Fifteen. In January 1964 the Stones did their first headlining British tour, with the Ronettes, and released a version of Buddy Holly’s "Not Fade Away," which made #3.

In January 1967 the Stones caused another sensation when they performed "Let’s Spend the Night Together" ("Ruby Tuesday"’s B side) on The Ed Sullivan Show. Jagger mumbled the title lines after threats of censorship (some claimed that the line was censored; others that Jagger actually sang "Let’s spend some time together"; Jagger later said "When it came to that line, I sang mumble"). In February Jagger and Richards were arrested on drug possession charges in Britain; in May Brian Jones, too, was arrested. The heavy jail sentences they received were eventually suspended on appeal. The Stones temporarily withdrew from public appearances; Jagger and his girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithfull, went to India with the Beatles to meet the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Their next single release didn’t appear until the fall: the #14 "Dandelion." Its B side, "We Love You" (#50), on which John Lennon and Paul McCartney sang backup vocals, was intended as a thank-you to fans.

The early Nineties were a time for solo albums from Richards -- Live at the Hollywood Palladium and Main Offender (#99, 1992) -- and Jagger’s Wandering Spirit (#11, 1993). Neither sold spectacularly; apparently fans are most interested in Jagger and Richards when they work together. Wood released Slide on This, his first solo album in over a decade, and Watts pursued his real love, jazz, with the Charlie Watts Quintet.

In 1994 Jagger, Richards, Watts, and Wood, along with bassist Darryl Jones (whose former credits include working with Miles Davis and Sting) released the critically well received Voodoo Lounge (#2, 1994) and embarked on a major tour that proved one of the highest-grossing of the year. Voodoo Lounge was also the group’s first release under its new multimillion-dollar, three-album deal with Virgin Records, which included granting Virgin the rights to some choice albums from the Stones’ back catalogue, including Exile on Main Street, Sticky Fingers, and Some Girls. Voodoo Lounge brought the Stones their first competitive Grammy, 1994’s Best Rock Album.

Interesting Links:

Rolling Stones - Site Oficial

Stones Bazar

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