ROLLING STONES: Rebellion's Children

When schoolfriends Mick Jagger and Keith Richards encountered Brian Jones's phenomenal guitar skills, the nucleus of a historic group was formed. The three lived in unbelievable squalor in a Chelsea flatshare, but Mick was still hedging his bets by studying at LSE, while Brian's incredible self-importance, based on his musicianship but also the numerous children he fathered even as a teenager, nearly drove them apart. When the well-dressed bassist Bill Perks auditioned, he was doubtful whether he wanted to join such a motley crew, but he stayed and found fame as Bill Wyman, while the suave and debonair drummer Charlie Watts made up the fifth. Initially the group played R&B, but everything changed when the Beatles came to see them and Mick realised he wanted the fame and fortune that pop music could bring. In 1963 the Stones found a tough manager in Andrew Oldham, who forced them into Beatles-style clothes and got them a deal with Decca and a 60-concert tour. Photos from this era are candid and revealing, showing the lads posing for the cameras but not yet skilled in creating the cool masks of later publicity. Their ascent to stardom was meteoric and Jones coped least well. Even a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud and Anita Pallenberg failed to stall his permanent acid high, and it was only when Jagger and Richards started making money out of songwriting that Jones realised his reputation was only as good as the last gig, while the others had a solid source of income. 1965 was the year of Keith's stratospheric hit "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", regarded by many as symbolising all the frustrations of the sixties. When Pallenberg transferred her affections to Keith, Brian's downward slide was assured and the days of the original band were numbered. Meanwhile Marianne Faithfull had left Mick and Bianca was on the horizon. This superb book takes the incredible story of the stupendous Stones into the 21st century. 112pp, colour and monochrome photos on most double spreads.
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