TRILOGY: THE ROLLING STONES

It’s the world’s greatest rock and roll band.

They may be scruffy, ethically challenged, vulgar, and the downside of the Beatles, but they are still rock and roll.

Unfortunately for the group, they followed the Beatles to the states and an instant comparison was made. In my hometown, where both the Beatles and Beach Boys played to capacity crowds, the Stones drew the lowest numbers of fans (about 8 or 9 hundred) in a 17,000-seat arena and became the history’s worse turn out for any group. To make matters worse, the sheriff pulled out his pistol pointed it at the group back stage and told them not to enter the town again. They never returned.

As you know, fame has its price. Recently, Jagger’s solo album (a damn good one) broke a new record in the UK with the lowest number of purchases the first day. He had played the game too. He suffered through numerous interviews and had to answer to a number of questions with “I won’t answer that question.” When he became a knight, Sir Mick was chosen because Prime minister Blair (a very big fan) intervened requesting that the Royal family make Jagger a knight. ABC news was livid. Jagger got a knighthood by deflowering fans and cheating on his taxes, they said.

However, their 40^th anniversary reunion tour has been an exceptional success. They draw huge crowds who pay top dollar to see them.

Billboard notes that they have over 40 singles that are top 40 hits, and have sold millions of albums in the USA alone. Most evaluations of the group put them toward the top of the heap. Billboard places them at # 6 with over 40 albums that reached gold or platinum status.

Their downside image comes from some of their interpersonal relations and a number of fans that have been hurt at concerts, which is of no fault of the group. Further, if you buy your albums at places other than Wal-Mart, you get some very repulsive covers on the CD.

Perhaps, their best album EXILE FROM MAIN STREET has a cartoonish Black with his mouth full of rocks. Another has a picture of a stripper (circa 1950’s) and the STICKY FINGERS album has a male with a zipper that one can unzip to do whatever. Some love the cover with women in old 50’s bras with faces that look like some very famous women.

To the chagrin of the group, after breaking with Decca, they found themselves competing against their old selves when the record company continued turning out compilations with attractive covers and the cream of the crop songs. You can’t always get what you want.

Allmusic.com describes them as SEXY, RAUCOUS, SLEAZY, INTENSE, MENANCING, BOISTEROUS, ROLLICKING, MALEVOLENT, CONFIDENT, ROWDY and THUGGISH. That same source gives 4 and 5 stars to albums up to

1972. There have been over 90 releases.

The Glimmer Twins (Jagger and Richard) have written most songs and compare with Lennon/McCartney of the Beatles and Wilson/Love of the Beach Boys.

However, not all agree about that. There are some conspiracy theorists that have the three groups listed above under the influence of aliens or Satanist. If you go to Google and type in the name of the Stones, Beatles or Beach Boys cross referenced with the Illuminati, you will come across a number of references that indicate where each groups are “fronts” for a number of writers who can turn out hits that make the public buy their records and the music and lyrics help undo the county. The Illuminati is allegedly a worldwide conspiracy of a small number of individuals who control the world. You may also want to cross-reference one of the groups (or all three) with Bohemian Grove, Skull and Bones, or the Trilateral commission and you may get the same results.

Sorry, I don’t buy it. I am one of the first to sniff out what I think are conspiracies, but this is not one of them.

If you think the Stones are evil, listen closely to SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL or buy their Satan album. There is no connection.

In the February issue of TEEN SCRAPBOOK (1965) rock music was on the way to making the big change in the summer of love, 1967. The 60’s got it’s image from about that time to 1972. At any rate, the teen magazine if filled with Beatles and Beach Boys and the Stones only get one page. If they were or are the greatest rock and roll band, it came to them in the late 60’s.

Although I like individual albums, the compilations have won me over to the group.

START ME UP.