Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s) PART FOUR: The Rolling Stones
Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s)PART FOUR: The Rolling Stones
11/8/07
"Will all your money
Keep you from madness?
Will it keep you from sadness?
When you're down in the hole..."
--The Rolling Stones
Brian Jones stole the band name from a Muddy Waters song. The Rolling Stones' musical provenance developed with a devotion to American blues artists such as Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry, Little Walter, Slim Harpo, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf, Blind Willie McTell, Fred McDowell, Memphis Minnie, Jimmy Reed and countless others.
The Stones originated in London during 1962. They followed on the heels of the Beatles during their invasion of America. Only Bob Dylan rivals the Rolling Stones' musical legacy. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songs have remained deeply etched in American culture for the last four decades. Some of their best work includes December's Children, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street, Goats Head Soup, Some Girls, Tattoo You, Undercover, Voodoo Lounge and Get Yer Ya Ya's Out.
The Stones' style never strayed far from cutthroat blues, but they augmented country, reggae and Sun Records rockabilly into their own legendary sound. For the best book about the Rolling Stones, read Stanley Booth's True Adventures of the Rolling Stones. Booth's friend and Waycross, Georgia, native--Gram Parsons--exposed the Rolling Stones to authentic country music.
There's only one band that comes to mind when hearing the fabled introduction, "The World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band..."
James Calemine
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Comments
michaelbuffalo says...
I really loved the period during which Gram was hanging out with Keith, and the influence they had on one another's music. When I play GP on the turntable, "Wild Horses couldn't drag me away." Good article James. I love this series of yours.