The Rolling Stones’ Music

OVERVIEW

In the last lesson, we looked at the Beatles. In this lesson, we will consider their counterparts in the British Invasion, the Rolling Stones. As we will see, the Rolling Stones had a very different trajectory than the Beatles did. They began as a blues cover band in London, and although their career exploded at about the same time as the Beatles', they far outlived their Fab Four counterparts as a group. Today, the members of the Rolling Stones are in their seventies and still going strong.

OBJECTIVES

Be ready to:

Recall the British blues revival tradition, which began as British musicians studied and emulated the music of Chicago blues musicians such as Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters

Recall the early days of the Rolling Stones and consider how their style changed as they moved from recording mostly covers of blues music to writing their own material

Identify the many ways in which the Rolling Stones were the opposite of the Beatles, apart from being a British rock band that was popular beginning in the middle of the 1960s

The Rolling Stones' Music

Rolling Stones

Unlike the Beatles, who preferred forms borrowed from Motown songs and girl groups, the Rolling Stones' songs are usually in verse-chorus form. Despite their early devotion to the blues, Richards and Jagger wrote only a single 12-bar blues song, "19th Nervous Breakdown ♫." According to Jagger, the idea of a white British singer trying to write a blues song was ridiculous. Instead, Richards and Jagger drew inspiration for the forms of their songs from artists such as Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly.

"I Can't Get No Satisfaction ♫" is in verse-chorus form. The introduction begins with a single riff that is repeated several times, and each repetition adds an additional instrument.

This riff contains only three different pitches. The guitar riff in the recording is distorted with a Gibson Maestro fuzzboxa guitar pedal that uses a frequency multiplier to add complex overtones to the guitar's sound, resulting in a distorted sound often described as "fuzzy". The fuzzbox used a frequency multiplier to add complex overtones to the guitar's sound. This effect was so popular that, by the end of 1965, the entire available stock of the Gibson Maestro fuzzbox had sold out, purchased by musicians eager to replicate the Stones' sounds. Jagger's improvisatory playing is heard in the last few seconds of the song, which is a nod to the band's blues influences. The lyrics of the song concerned boredom with everyday banality and commercialism, although rumors abounded that the song was actually about sexual frustration and masturbation. The coded reference to menstruation ("Baby, better come back, maybe next week / 'cause you see, I'm on a losing streak") and the resulting implication of sexual frustration horrified older listeners who found both the song and the Stones themselves to be far beyond the limits of good taste. However, this song about frustration with the status quo ignited the interest of younger audiences.

1966's Aftermath was the first album that included all original material and no covers. It was also the first Stones album that was recorded entirely in the United States. Not only did the album feature the songs of Jagger and Richards, but it also showcased the instrumental talents of Brian Jones. He added a marimba to "Under My Thumb ♫" and a dulcimer to "Lady Jane ♫." "Paint It, Black ♫" includes a sitara plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music that has between eighteen and twenty strings; it was used by the Beatles and Rolling Stones in the 1960s, which is an Indian instrument with up to 20 strings. As we will see in later lessons, the sitar became increasingly popular in the late 1960s as rock musicians began exploring non-Western instruments and new timbres. Aftermath also included several songs that demeaned women, such as "Stupid Girl ♫" and "Under My Thumb ♫," drawing the ire of many female fans and those involved in the feminist movement. For example, the lyrics of "Under My Thumb ♫" celebrate the taming of a pushy, dominating woman.

Like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones began experimenting with new instruments, recording techniques, forms, and timbres in the later 1960s. Their Satanic Majesties Request from 1967 is an experimental work that reflects elements of the burgeoning genre of psychedelic rock. Although the band members never confirmed it, many fans believe that the album's title was a play on the line that appears in all British passports: "Her Brittanic Majesties Request."

Although their popularity has waxed and waned over the last fifty years, the group has been performing music more or less consistently since 1962.The Rolling Stones have faced many personal and legal difficulties in their half century of existence.

Charlie Watts

At one point in 1967, three of the five members of the Rolling Stones -Jones, Jagger, and Richards-faced drug charges. Their tours were frequently delayed or canceled because members of the band had pending drug charges or sentences. In 1969, Jones drowned in his own swimming pool, although his death was likely the result of a drug overdose. Jagger's convictions on drug charges delayed the band's Pacific tour in the early 1970s. Richards was repeatedly arrested on charges of heroin possession during the 1970s. In 1993, Bill Wyman left the group to pursue solo projects. Today's Rolling Stones lineup includes three of the original five members: Jagger, Richards, and Charlie Watts. Jones was replaced first by Mick Taylor and then by Ronnie Wood. Despite all of their struggles with drugs, only Brian Jones died as a result of his drug abuse. As of this writing, the Rolling Stones continue to write new songs, release albums, and tour. Their longevity and resiliency in rock history is unparalleled.

"The Rolling Stones have been the best of all possible worlds: they have the lack of pretension and sentimentality associated with the blues, the rawness and toughness of hard rock, and the depth which always makes you feel that they are in the midst of saying something. They have never impressed me as being kitsch."

-Jon Landau

"The Rolling Stones are violence. Their music penetrates the raw nerve endings of their listeners and finds its way into the groove marked 'release of frustration."

-Jon Landau

"Piano player Ian Stewart, considered the "6th Stone," was not an official member of the group because manager Andrew Loog Oldham felt he didn't fit the Stones image. "

Songfacts