The Rolling Stones ( B4 )

1962–1964: Building a following

The back room of what was the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, London where the Rolling Stones had their first residency in 1963

Jones, Jagger, Richards, Stewart, and Taylor played a gig billed as "the Rollin' Stones" on 12 July 1962, at the Marquee Club in London. Shortly afterwards, the band went on their first tour of the UK, which they called a "training ground" tour, because it was a new experience for all of them. Their material included the Chicago blues as well as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley songs. The band's original rhythm section did not include bassist Bill Wyman, who joined in December 1962, or drummer Charlie Watts, who joined in January 1963. By 1963 they were finding their musical stride as well as popularity. In 1964 two unscientific opinion polls rated the band as Britain's most popular group, outranking even the Beatles. The band's name was changed shortly after their first gig to "The Rolling Stones". The group's then acting manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, secured a Sunday afternoon residency at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, London, in February 1963. He claimed this triggered an "international renaissance for the blues".

In May 1963, the Rolling Stones signed Andrew Loog Oldham as their manager. His previous clients, the Beatles, directed the former publicist to the band. Because Oldham was only nineteen and had not reached the age of majority—he was also younger than anyone in the band—he could not obtain an agent's licence or sign any contracts without his mother co-signing. By necessity he joined with booking agent Eric Easton to secure record financing and assistance booking venues. Gomelsky, who had no written agreement with the band, was not consulted.

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The Band ( I1 )

Mott the Hoople ( B2 )

While in prison on a drug offence, Stevens had read the Willard Manus novel Mott the Hoople about an eccentric who works in a circus freak show, and decided to use it as a band name. Silence reluctantly agreed to a name change following their early 1969 audition for Stevens.

The band's debut album, Mott the Hoople (1969), recorded in only a week, was a cult success. Their repertoire included cover versions of "Laugh at Me" (Sonny Bono) and "At the Crossroads" (Doug Sahm's Sir Douglas Quintet), and an instrumental cover of "You Really Got Me" (The Kinks).

The second album, Mad Shadows (1970), sold poorly and received generally negative reviews. Wildlife (1971) fared even worse (despite gaining the highest UK album chart position of the band's pre-Glam years), and flirted with an overtly country-hippie stance and accordingly (usually) acoustic instrumentation. On 10 October 1970, Mott the Hoople and Bridget St John were showcased on BBC Two's Disco 2. Even though the group was building a decent following, Brain Capers (1971) failed to sell well. The group decided to split following a depressing concert in a disused gas holder in Switzerland. When combined with an aborted UK tour with The Lothringers, the band was close to breaking up.

Glam years

David Bowie had long been a fan of the band. After learning from Watts that they were about to split, he persuaded them to stay together and offered them "Suffragette City" from his then yet-to-be-released Ziggy Stardust album. They turned it down. Bowie also penned "All the Young Dudes" for them and it became their biggest hit. Released as a single in July 1972, it was a success in the UK, with the band using Tippins – who by this time was their tour manager – to sing backing vocals during concert. Bowie produced an album, also called All the Young Dudes, which included a Mick Ronson strings and brass arrangement for "Sea Diver".

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Spooky Tooth - As Long As The World Keeps Turning ( L2 )

You said I've been waiting outside your door
Biding my time hoping soon I might be recognized
Sometimes you leave without even a glance
Pa**ing me by like I don't set a chance
Only a smile would make all of my waiting worthwhile

Chorus:
For as long as the world keeps turning
My fire will keep on burning
For your love
For your love

Maybe I'm searching for what I can find
Maybe your difference and what's in my mind
Oh, but nevertheless a feeling just can't be denied

Chorus

I can't sleep at night
No, I can't eat a bite
I can't run
I can't hide
Without you I might die

Frank Zappa ( b18 )

Other albums from the period are Over-Nite Sensation (1973), which contained several future concert favorites, such as "Dinah-Moe Humm" and "Montana", and the albums Roxy & Elsewhere (1974) and One Size Fits All (1975) which feature ever-changing versions of a band still called the Mothers, and are notable for the tight renditions of highly difficult jazz fusion songs in such pieces as "Inca Roads", "Echidna's Arf (Of You)" and "Be-Bop Tango (Of the Old Jazzmen's Church)". A live recording from 1974, You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 (1988), captures "the full spirit and excellence of the 1973–75 band". Zappa released Bongo Fury (1975), which featured a live recording at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin from a tour the same year that reunited him with Captain Beefheart for a brief period. They later became estranged for a period of years, but were in contact at the end of Zappa's life.

Business breakups and touring

Zappa with Captain Beefheart, seated left, during a 1975 concert

Zappa's relationship with long-time manager Herb Cohen ended in 1976. Zappa sued Cohen for skimming more than he was allocated from DiscReet Records, as well as for signing acts of which Zappa did not approve. Cohen filed a lawsuit against Zappa in return, which froze the money Zappa and Cohen had gained from an out-of-court settlement with MGM over the rights of the early Mothers of Invention recordings. It also prevented Zappa having access to any of his previously recorded material during the trials. Zappa therefore took his personal master copies of the rock-oriented Zoot Allures (1976) directly to Warner Bros., thereby bypassing DiscReet.

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Supertramp ( I1 )

The Rolling Stones ( B3 )

History

Early history

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger became childhood friends and classmates in 1950 in Dartford, Kent. The Jagger family moved to Wilmington, Kent, five miles (8.0 km) away, in 1954. In the mid-1950s, Jagger formed a garage band with his friend Dick Taylor; the group mainly played material by Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley. Jagger met Richards again on 17 October 1961 on platform two of Dartford railway station. The Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records Jagger was carrying revealed a shared interest. A musical partnership began shortly afterwards. Richards and Taylor often met Jagger at his house. The meetings moved to Taylor's house in late 1961 where Alan Etherington and Bob Beckwith joined the trio; the quintet called themselves the Blues Boys.

In March 1962, the Blues Boys read about the Ealing Jazz Club in Jazz News newspaper, which mentioned Alexis Korner's rhythm and blues band, Blues Incorporated. The group sent a tape of their best recordings to Korner, who was favourably impressed. On 7 April, they visited the Ealing Jazz Club where they met the members of Blues Incorporated, who included slide guitarist Brian Jones, keyboardist Ian Stewart and drummer Charlie Watts. After a meeting with Korner, Jagger and Richards started jamming with the group.

Jones, no longer in a band, advertised for bandmates in Jazz Weekly, while Stewart found them a practice space; together they decided to form a band playing Chicago blues. Soon after, Jagger, Taylor and Richards left Blues Incorporated to join Jones and Stewart. The first rehearsal included guitarist Geoff Bradford and vocalist Brian Knight, both of whom decided not to join the band. They objected to playing the Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley songs preferred by Jagger and Richards. In June 1962 the addition of the drummer Tony Chapman completed the line-up of Jagger, Richards, Jones, Stewart and Taylor. According to Richards, Jones named the band during a phone call to Jazz News. When asked by a journalist for the band's name, Jones saw a Muddy Waters LP lying on the floor; one of the tracks was "Rollin' Stone"

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