Announcement: Why The Rolling Stones’ Debut Album Deserves More Love
The Rolling Stones’ rise to fame wasn’t exactly fast. The now-famous rock outfit formed in 1962 and didn’t start making much traction until the late 1960s and early 1970s. Specifically, records like Exile On Main St. catapulted the English band to international stardom. They released quite a few records through the years, and few are as sorely ignored as The Rolling Stones’ debut self-titled album from 1964.
I get it. It’s not their best work. It’s elementary in several respects, and it’s not exactly original, either. Still, The Rolling Stones has its merits, and I think those merits are worth celebrating. At the very least, young band members reading this might get some inspiration and hope out of the Stones’ debut record. Simply put: You can release a pretty tame record and still make it big.
Like all of the biggest rock bands in modern history, The Rolling Stones’ success started with a local cult following. And that following resulted in their debut record, The Rolling Stones, in 1964.
Released on April 16, 1964, the Stones’ eponymous debut didn’t look, at face value, how one would expect it to look. If anything, it looked like a knockoff Beatles record. The band appeared on the cover with mop-top hairdos and suits, as instructed by their then-manager Andrew Loog Oldham.
The album isn’t very original, either. There are 12 songs on the record and only three of the tracks were composed by the band. The rest of the album contains covers of Bobby Troup and Bo Diddly songs, among others.
But despite not being so original, the album did showcase the respective talents of each of the band members. It definitely makes sense why those cover songs would grab the attention of fans looking for the next big British Invasion band.
The real merit of this album, though, comes down to those few original tracks. “Tell Me (You’re Coming Back)” is one of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’ first collaborative compositions. The other two songs were credited to a fake name, titled “Now I’ve Got A Witness” and “Little By Little”.
Those two latter songs were a collaboration with producer Phil Spector, and that collaboration was an extremely important choice. There are some R&B elements there, with a blues-rock energy that pointed to a future the band would soon embody. If anything, this record is worth enjoying to hear the humble beginnings of one of the greatest rock bands of all time.
