On April 16, 1964, the first album of the Rolling Stones. The band’s self-titled album would be the beginning of one of the most successful and longest-running careers in the history of rock and music in general.
At that time, the band was made up of Mick jagger (voice and harmonica), Keith Richards and Brian Jones (guitar and backing vocals), Bill Wyman (low) and Charlie Watts (battery). Ian Stewart, known as the “sixth stone”, played the organ and keyboards on several songs. The producers were Andrew Loog Oldham and Eric Easton and the cover photographer was Nicholas Wright.
The record label was Decca Records in the English version, London Records in the North American version, and it was recorded at Regent Sound Studio, on the legendary Denmark Street in London, where there is now a musical instrument store.
Keith Richards confirmed the precariousness of the recording of the first work: “We said ‘oh, this is a recording studio, huh? A little back room.’ Under those primitive conditions it was easy to make the kind of sound we got on our first album and first singles.but difficult to make one much better.”
The iconic band’s debut album was initially released in the United Kingdom, where it charted at number one for more than 12 weeks since its release. Some time later, he arrived in the United States, where his success was crowned.
“On the first album, we released everything in mono, like the R’n’B records we loved, we liked their rawness. The band had to record live in the studio”said Bill Wyman in an interview, that’s why it sounded more like a live performance than a professional recording.
The songs from the Rolling Stones’ first album
Most of the songs on the album are within the R&B genre, which was booming at the time. In the song list there are many covers of artists, especially R&B (Rhythm and blues), such as ‘I just want to make love to you’ by Willie Dixon, ‘Honest I do’ by Jimmy Reed, ‘Mona (I need you baby)’ by Bo Diddley, ‘I’m a king bee’ by Slim Harpo, ‘Carol’ of the legendary Chuck Berry, ‘Can I get a witness’ of the Holland-Dozier-Holland trio and ‘Walking the dog’ by Rufus C. Thomas Jr.
Songs by jazz musicians such as ‘Route 66’ by Bobby Troup and ‘You can make if you try’ by composer Ted Jarrett and which Gene Allison had performed in 1958 with a style that leaned more towards soul and the Rollings turned it into blues.
The only proper themes were ‘Tell me (You’re coming back)’, ‘Now I’ve Got a Witness (Like Uncle Phil and Uncle Gene)’ and ‘Little by Little’although in the latter two they signed with the pseudonym Nanker Phelge.
On the North American edition of the album the version of ‘Not Fade Away’ of Buddy Holly and Norman Petty and ‘Mona (I need you baby)’ disappeared.
This album came after the release of several singles such as “Come On” or “I Wanna Be Your Man”.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
