Back when the Rolling Stones were proud to be the voice of revolt and Mick Jagger was as far away from his knighthood as Zayn Malik is from a seat in the House of Lords, they were, very occasionally, modest, not to say humble. A couple years after cutting their eponymous first album in 1964, chock full of covers of blues and rhythm and blues songs by black artists including a buzz-toned slice of anthropomorphism about our favourite honey-making insect, Jagger told Rolling Stone magazine: “You could say that we did blues to turn people on, but why they would be turned on by us is unbelievably stupid. I mean what's the point in listening to us doing ‘I’m a King Bee’ when you can hear Slim Harpo do it?” ---------- The Iceman
Even back then I thought the Stones were awful at doing blues. Jagger's vocals were a caricature at best and Brian Jones' harmonica playing was remedial and wheezy. I was in Detroit at the time, had lots of rhythm and blues coming way, I lived two blocks from Baker's Keyboard Lounge and my older brother had college buddies who were music snobs who schooled me just a little in the glories of Howlin Wolf, Muddy, BB, John Lee Hooker. I was fourteen and no less opinionated than I am now. I sense the Stones sensed their own failure to generate an equal magic playing the songs of their mentors and soon enough got ambitious with their own writing. The Rolling Stones became the world's greatest rock and roll band, period. ---------- Ted Burke tburke4@san.rr.com
Did you live off of Livernois or Coolidge? (Detroit or Oak Park).
I was the piano tech for Bakers Keyboard Lounge back in the day.
Regardless of how the Stones may have sounded then, this is still a pretty great comment from Sir Mick. ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Jun 13, 2015 4:10 AM
Keith talks in autobiography about how they started out just trying to pay homage to the blues. My favorite line of his when they started to become famous in the US and people would ask him about their music and the blues keith said: You had it all along, you just weren't listening.
