The Rolling Stones define the rock-and-roll band, as they have for nearÂly six decades now. ExactÂly how they’ve done so is thorÂoughÂly docÂuÂmentÂed, not least by the band’s own expanÂsive and still-growÂing catÂaÂlog of songs and albums (all of which I hapÂpen to have spent the last few months lisÂtenÂing through). But the stoÂry of the Stones conÂtinÂues to comÂpel, told and re-told as it is in every form of media proÂduced by each era through which the band has passed: books, artiÂcles, podÂcasts, and also the sort of docÂuÂmenÂtaries we’ve colÂlectÂed here today. Some were origÂiÂnalÂly proÂduced for teleÂviÂsion; othÂers, like WatchÂMoÂjo’s “The Rolling Stones: The StoÂry & the Songs” above, for the interÂnet. Each of them addressÂes the same quesÂtion: how did a couÂple of blues-obsessed lads from Kent come to run the biggest rock group in the world?
Even when straightÂforÂwardÂly preÂsentÂed, as in the BiogÂraÂphy broadÂcast above, the hisÂtoÂry of the Rolling Stones conÂstiÂtutes a pop-culÂturÂal thrill ride. It begins, by most accounts, with forÂmer classÂmates Mick JagÂger and KeiÂth Richards bumpÂing into each othÂer at a train staÂtion in 1961. Their shared interÂest in music, and espeÂcialÂly AmerÂiÂcan blues, inspired them to put a band togethÂer.
Before long, JagÂger and Richards’ Blues Boys made the acquainÂtance of anothÂer band, Blues IncorÂpoÂratÂed, whose memÂbers includÂed BriÂan Jones, Ian StewÂart and CharÂlie Watts. Though Watts wouldÂn’t join up until latÂer, the othÂer four conÂstiÂtutÂed most of the first lineÂup of the Rolling Stones, who made their debut at LonÂdon’s MarÂquee Club in July 1962.
You can see a great deal of archive footage depictÂing the Stones in their earÂly years in the docÂuÂmenÂtary above, Rolling Stones: Rock of Ages. The title implies an obviÂous and much-repeatÂed joke about the once-rebelÂlious youngÂsters’ insisÂtence on rockÂing into relÂaÂtiveÂly advanced age. But onstage — and the live perÂforÂmance has always been essenÂtial to their appeal, more so even than their albums — they remain very much the same band once proÂmotÂed with the quesÂtion “Would you let your sisÂter go with a Rolling Stone?” That line was only one of the strateÂgies used by its author, the Stones’ first manÂagÂer Andrew Loog OldÂham, to launch his boys into worldÂwide popÂuÂlarÂiÂty by framÂing them as the brash oppoÂsite of the BeaÂtÂles — to whom, despite their conÂsidÂerÂable musiÂcal difÂferÂences, one can hardÂly avoid makÂing refÂerÂence in the stoÂry of the Stones.
Though the bands became fast friends in real life, the press of the 1960s couldÂn’t resist craftÂing a rivalÂry, as recountÂed in The BeaÂtÂles vs. The Rolling Stones, the Canal+ docÂuÂmenÂtary above. WhatÂevÂer comÂpeÂtiÂtion existÂed between them (or with AmerÂiÂcan bands like the Beach Boys) only encourÂaged them to make their music more powÂerÂful and disÂtincÂtive. This they did in the face of countÂless perÂsonÂal and proÂfesÂsionÂal setÂbacks, which for the Stones includÂed the loss of foundÂing memÂber BriÂan Jones and the vioÂlent AltaÂmont Free ConÂcert, wideÂly interÂpretÂed as the end of the utopiÂan 1960s. As prodÂucts and surÂvivors of that era, the Stones also remain embodÂiÂments of its insouÂciant ambiÂtion. “For my genÂerÂaÂtion, what was hapÂpenÂing and the feelÂing in the air was: it’s time to push limÂits, says no less a surÂvivor than the subÂject of KeiÂth Richards: The OriÂgin Of The Species. “The world is ours now, and you can rise or fall on it.”
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
The Rolling Stones at 50: Mick, KeiÂth, CharÂlie & RonÂnie RevisÂit Their Favorite Songs
Based in Seoul, ColÂin MarÂshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities, the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.
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