(Domenico asked me to let you know how I truly felt about the Stones)
I wrote this essay because my sister in law asked me what I thought of the Rolling Stones because I had criticized them in her presence so I felt the need to explain myself
In their prime the Rolling Stones were beyond a doubt, one of the greatest combos in rock. During 1965-1972 the Stones put out a whole string of brilliant albums with only an occasional misstep like His Satanic Majesties’ Request. Rarely has anyone in pop music matched their string of back to back masterpieces, Beggar’s Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street (perhaps only the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Dylan, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis and a few others. )
Their 1966 Paint it Black helped pave the way for the dark, demonic and sinister sounds of Love, the 13th Floor Elevators, and the Doors. Their song Gimme Shelter does a perfect job at capturing the sense of fear, paranoia and disappointment felt by many after the end of the hippy utopian flower power movement (unlike the Beatles the stones never totally bought into this.)
Their only weakness in the first few years is that they were always a few steps behind the Beatles, Dylan and Beach Boys.
Their original Stones leader, Brian Jones was a fine guitarist and one of the best multinstrumentalists in all music. Before he drugged himself into oblivion and drowned, he helped discover, produce, and record the Master Musicians of Joujouka from Morocco (one of the first well known world music bands and LPs), and his gorgeous dulcimer playing on Lady Jane helped inspire other examples of baroque rock. See this link:
Keith Richards IS the indestructible spirit of rock n’roll, and his windmill guitar playing inspired Pete Townsend of the Who. His guitar playing on Satisfaction is the most exciting and distinctive in rock history (he is a great jazz buff and he was trying to reproduce the sound of a horn on his guitar.) The reason most of his modern and 60’s contemporaries can’t match him is that they don’t have his understanding of roots music and jazz collaboration. Richards once said the reason Led Zeppelin falls short is that they cannot swing. I liked Zeppelin but they were never quite in the Stones’ or the Who’s league.
One of the great moments in rock history was when Richards was in court to fight drug charges and he yelled at the judge that he was not on trial his whole generation was.
Mick Taylor who did great work with both the John Mayal’s Blues Breakers and the Stones played some of the best ever slide guitar. I had the pleasure of seeing him at Chicago Blues Fest about 10 years ago, and he was still magnificent. Slash of Guns N Roses has said Taylor was his main influence, but he wears his distinctive hat to commemorate the late, great Marc Bolan of T Rex – just in case you were wondering (T Rex was a great glam band that rivaled the Stones and Bowie in popularity in England in the early 70s but their fame never completely crossed over to American shores.)
Through Richards’ association with his good friend and fellow junkie, Gram Parsons, (he had encyclopedic knowledge of country and western) Richards gained a great appreciation and understanding of classic country music. This friendship bore fruit in all of the Stones’ country inspired music including Wild Horses which was actually recorded by Parsons’ band the Flying Burrito Brothers before the Stones (Parsons may have partially written the song). Richards recognized Parsons’s brilliance when Nashville slammed their doors in him, and after he died Parsons became a seminal influence on alt country or Americana. Parsons influenced more good music in a few years with his two solo albums that most people have in 30 years. He was also the mentor of Emmylou Harris.
Richards’ slightly modified Chuck Berry inspired riffing inspired the New York Dolls’ Johnny Thunders who inspired the much more sped up riffing of Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols. So punk can be traced to the Stones (or if you go back ever further Louie Louie by the Kingsman). The punk poet/vocalist, Richard Hell (author of perhaps the greatest punk anthem ever, Blank Generation) has said that his greatest influences were the Stones and the Velvet Underground. (Although his band Television sounded more like the Velvets, Hell sang more like Mick than Lou Reed.)
It is completely obvious that Aerosmith and the New York Dolls and countless other bands borrowed most of their stage moves from Richards and Jagger and some of the guitarists and singers even physically resembled them. David Johansen resembled Jagger and Thunders was like a more primitive even more strung out version of Richards.
I once did a performance art piece for the Ever So Secret Order of the Lamprey art group in Pilsen in which we played a recording of the Rolling Stones’ Monkey Man while I climbed a ladder, acted like an animal, and savagely hurled things at the audience while my recently deceased friend, Angelo Negrette (who was a great guy and looked like a complete “rock dude”) and the Spring man clad in a spring covered hat played air guitar (he played a guitar with springs on it.) Those were wild times!
The Stones work grew far less consistent and inspired in the late 70s, but they made a great comeback with Some Girls which successfully incorporated disco and punk influences. Unlike their contemporaries the Stones were able to digest and use the new sounds without getting too far away from their essential sound.
The main reason I often criticize the Stones (and U2 for the same reason) now so much is that they were a terrific band and counter cultural force which basically became just another logo or corporation. Also, either the Stones or (lawyers acting in their name) sued the late period Britpop band, The Verve because they used a riff from an orchestral version of an old Stones song in their hit single, Bittersweet Melody. Because of the law suit, The Verve, lost all their royalties to their best song which was their only hit in the United States (just recently this decision was revised and they are now earning royalties). And it is indisputable that the Stones (and even to a greater extent the Led Zepplin) often took riffs from obscure and sometimes famous blues songs.
Also the Stones who were one of the most rebellious revolutionary musical forces in 60s music dropped one of their better late period songs, My Sweet Neo Con, from their set list. The song was critical of the political right and some people threatened to boycott their sponsors until they stopped playing it. I could not imagine The Doors or Pearl Jam or The Clash or Sex Pistols capitulating this way. At this point he Stones are as antiestablishment as Wall Mart or the Chipmunks.
The Rolling Stones can still play well and they still have great instrumental chops (as witnessed by their recent under acknowledged blues covers album which was wonderful), but the quality of their song writing has deteriorated drastically, and Mick’s stage movements (he used to be terrific) have drifted more and more towards self-parody (at least in the footage I have seen). The best songs they write now are not as good as the songs they once threw in the garbage. Do you know anyone that even knows the title of one of their 90s songs?
