The Beatles and The Rolling Stones have since the 1960s been a frequent topic of discussion among critics. The debate over which band produced better music and which is more popular stands unanimous among most critics, simply, The Beatles won and as a survey states: ‘readers overwhelmingly agree that The Beatles blow The Rolling Stones out of the water as royal rockers.’[1] The Rolling Stones, who formed in 1962, are currently in 13th place in the Recording Industry Association of America’s best selling artists of all time, which is calculated by the number of million units of albums shipped to the U.S. The Beatles remain in first place with almost triple the number of albums sold over The Rolling Stones.[2] Yet less frequently debated, but perhaps more significant than their popularity stakes, is the extent to which The Rolling Stones followed in the slipstream of the Beatle’s success, using The Beatles who were the forerunners of popularity and innovation in the sixties, to propel their own careers. This essay discusses the evidence of that debate and how The Rolling Stones emulated the methods employed by The Beatles in order to keep up with current trends, whilst accelerating their own popularity.
There are a number of relevant critiques on this topic, which provide an understanding on the basis behind the debate and enable a judgement on the extent to which The Rolling Stones followed in the slipstream of The Beatles. The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from its Beginning to the mid-1970s[3] by Studwell and Lonergan gives a useful insight into the cultural impact of The Beatles and Stones. It argues that while The Stones may have been technically equal as musicians they were not at the Beetles’ level in terms of musical or cultural innovation because their impact on culture and politics wasn’t as substantial as The Beatles. The Rolling Stones: A Musical Biography[4] by Murry Nelson is a literary text that debates the popularity of The Rolling Stones and their relationship with The Beatles, giving an insight into why The Rolling Stones copied The Beatles and the negative response they received through it. Nelson adds a substantial viewpoint to his argument by drawing from evidence such as their appearance at events and a number of primary sources, including interviews and critiques. Mick Jagger[5] is yet another extremely useful piece of literature written in 2012 by Philip Norman. He too includes primary sources of interviews with Mick Jagger, and goes into more specific detail about the band’s relationships, including their similarities, differences and competitiveness.
In order to establish the extent to which The Stones copied The Beatles I will reference a number of primary documents to gain a first hand and accurate account of the opinions of both bands in relation on this issue. Most crucial to my argument will be the relevance of interviews with both The Beatles and The Stones, providing me with an overview of the varying first hand opinions on the topic. Newspaper articles and biographies also provide important views as to how The Beatles believed The Stones mimicked them and the extent to which The Stones denied doing so. There are also a number of primary source websites, which have helped me to research into the album covers and the images portrayed by the two bands.
The Beatles and The Rolling Stones throughout the 1960s had, on the surface, a good relationship. As Mick Jagger said ‘They were really very easy to get on with’,[6] and McCartney stated in The Beatles anthology that in 1966 they were ‘hanging out with The Stones working on their sessions; it was a very friendly scene.’[7] Their friendship bought them a tactical alliance which resulted in them ‘not only singing on each other’s records but sometimes staggering their releases to allow each other a clear run at the charts.’[8] As evidenced in an interview with Paul McCartney it was The Beatles who wrote I Wanna Be Your Man and ‘ended up giving it to The Stones’[9] after Jagger had asked them if they had any songs. McCartney claims that George Harrison was ‘instrumental in getting them their first record contract’[10] because he had suggested The Rolling Stones to Decca records label, and ‘Andrew Loog Oldham’[11] then signed them up. The interview with Paul McCartney supports the fact that The Rolling Stones did indeed follow in the slipstream of The Beatles. The Beatles essentially got The Rolling Stones their first break by giving them I Wanna Be Your Man, which reached number twelve on the UK charts and helped them to gain a recording contract. Ever since The Stones have imitated The Beatles in a number of areas although this was encouraged from the outset by The Beatles.
However, it is apparent that The Rolling Stones were not quick to acknowledge this as McCartney says in his 1984 interview with Joan Goodman; ‘They don’t tell anybody about it these days; they prefer to be more ethnic; but you and I know the real truth.’[12] The interviews with both The Beatles and Stones are extremely useful sources in bringing to light the thoughts of the bands, for example Mick Jagger was interviewed in 1968 by Jonathan Cott and while Jagger doesn’t deny The Beatles giving The Stones I Wanna Be Your Man, he is dismissive of it and doesn’t appear to be entirely appreciative; ‘so they played it and we thought it sounded pretty commercial, which is what we were looking for, so we did it like Elmore James or something’.[13] Through the use of interviews I am able to form a more accurate debate as to whether The Stones emulated The Beatles as critic’s opinions can be biased towards a particular band. The interview with McCartney by Goodman is a particularly useful source as McCartney’s answers are very specific, he also comments on the Stone’s denial that The Beatles helped them in getting started.
Throughout the 1960s The Beatles released a number of albums, all of which featured different and unique album covers, and many appear to have been imitated by The Rolling Stones. When The Beatles released the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (figure 1) the album cover paid a tribute to The Rolling Stones in the form of a doll wearing a sweater, which reads ‘Welcome The Rolling Stones Good Guys.’[14] When The Stones later released the album Their Satanic Majesties Request (figure 2) it was ‘seen as an attempt to imitate and out do The Beatles, and a poor attempt at that’.[15] This was not just in terms of the ‘mixture of electronic, psychedelic music’[16] it consisted of but of the album cover as well, which like The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album cover consisted of bright colours, flowers and psychedelic images. On the other hand, as Jim DeRogatis explains, some critics argue that the ‘Stones were mocking ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ with ‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’ never really buying into the idea of using psychedelic drugs as the portal to journey ‘toward the white light’.[17] Coleman in his biography of Lennon claims that Lennon also ‘slammed The Stones’ Satanic Majesties Request album as an imitation of Sgt Pepper, and loathed The Stones’ record, We Love You, which John said was She Loves You backwards.’[18] Other albums were also copied in terms of their name, The Beatles: Let it Be was recorded in January of 1969 but released in 1970, The Rolling Stones recorded and released Let it Bleed in November of 1969 which is often unrecognized as John Lennon points out in an interview in 1970: ‘And I’d like one of you fucking underground people to point it out, Let it Bleed’.[19] The Stones have often been regarded as ‘lacking The Beatles’ artistic autonomy, The Stones appear...uncertain’[20] and insecure, when designing their album covers. This explains the blatant copies of some of the album art, for example, The Beatles White Album (figure 3), which was released on the 22nd of November 1968 has a very minimalistic cover. The Stones then released Beggars Banquet (figure 4) less than one month later on the 6th of December 1968, which had a similar minimalistic style.[21]
William Studwell and David Lonergan who wrote The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from its Beginning to the mid-1970s argue that The Rolling Stones did indeed emulate The Beatles. As some critics suggest the ‘Stones, might be their equals or even superior as musicians’[22] but lacked the innovation and, at the start, popularity to succeed as a band. The relationship The Stones had formed early on with The Beatles set them in good stead for gaining popularity with the public. Yet in order to enhance their appeal they needed to imitate The Beatles. This is demonstrated in an extract from Sandford’s biography of McCartney who recalls an event in 1963 at the Albert Hall when The Stones ‘watched in awe as The Beatles calmly applied their make-up and triggered a riot the instant they walked on stage. Paul noted that, when he next saw The Stones, Mick was ‘made up like a tart'.[23] In the John Lennon interview of 1970 he said, ‘on every fuckin' album’[24] they were closely copied by The Stones but more drastically emulated was the creation of their own record label. The Beatles started Apple records in 1968, which was a creative outlet for The Beatles aiming to make them more money. In 1970, ‘The Stones were starting their own label, Rolling Stones Records’[25], which was combined with a distribution deal with Atlantic Records. Luckily for The Stones it avoided ‘the pitfalls that brought Apple down,’[26] but was again regarded as a way of slipstreaming behind The Beatles and allowing them to discover the pitfalls before The Stones themselves created their record label.
‘The Beatles also opened the American market to such British Invasion groups as…The Rolling Stones.’[27] After The Beatles massively successful tour of America in 1964, they had created popularity for British rock and roll bands. In 1966 The Rolling Stones followed in The Beatles footsteps by touring America, introducing themselves to a wider audience as well as generating themselves a lot of money. The Stones were then offered ‘A million pound deal with Decca Records to finance five films in the next three years.’[28] Again, this was following the same methods as The Beatles who appeared in the film A Hard Day’s Night in 1964. As Mick Jagger claimed ‘We don’t want to do a Beatles for a start,’[29] implying that they wouldn’t copy The Beatles in creating a comedy. In 1967 The Beatles took part in a Christmas special called Magical Mystery Tour. When this was suggested to Mick Jagger ‘the idea had instant appeal to Mick because the previous Christmas The Beatles had appeared in just such a special.’[30] Again this demonstrates The Stones emulating The Beatles but due to the Magical Mystery Tour being so unsuccessful, as Philip Norman describes it, ‘the most resounding flop of their career’[31], The Stones saw this as an opportunity to outdo The Beatles. It appears as if The Stones were jealous of The Beatles, constantly wanting to trump them and compete against them. Paul McCartney has disclosed in an interview that he believes the reason to be jealous was ‘because all four band members could sing whereas they were solely reliant on Mick Jagger’.[32]
Although friends, at one stage Lennon in particular became increasingly against The Rolling Stones, most crucially because Mick Jagger began to knock The Beatles, despite them writing their first two records for them. As Lennon said in an interview ‘Mick…said a lot of sort of tarty things about The Beatles, which I am hurt by, because I can knock The Beatles, but don’t let Mick Jagger knock them.’[33] Lennon also felt that ever since The Stones had copied The Beatles; ‘I’d like to just list what we did and what The Stones did two months after, on every fucking album and every fucking thing we did, Mick does exactly the same. He imitates us.’[34] The Rolling Stones, who claim there was no rivalry or commonality in ideas between themselves and The Beatles, deny this allegation. As ‘Keith Richards told journalist Lisa Robinson in 1989 ‘we saw no connection between us and The Beatles – we were playing blues, they were writing pop songs dressed in suits. We were too hip to be pop stars.’[35] Yet it is commonly thought among critics that ‘The Stones were imitating The Beatles, not competing with them.’[36] A contrary view is that, Mick Jagger, while producing their new album after The Beatles had released their famous Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, ‘spent long hours in The Beatles’ company, as if hopeful that some of Sgt. Pepper’s magic might rub off.’[37] The renown success of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band ‘served as a challenge to The Rolling Stones’[38] who had to compete for competition.
Although there is evidence to suggest The Rolling Stones followed in the slipstream of The Beatles it could be argued that in fact they were very individualistic. Firstly, The Rolling Stones played heavier rock and roll than The Beatles, who began with rock ‘n’ roll and moved on to popular music. They also had a more violent style, which The Beatles did not, demonstrated at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, which was an event headlined and organized by The Rolling Stones in 1969. The event turned out to be extremely violent, with a number of deaths and huge amounts of property and vehicle damage. As one of the Hells Angels said, ‘The Stones hired us to act as security for $500 worth of beer.’[39] The Stones appeared to have a more reckless attitude toward life and drug taking. For example, Brian Jones ‘was charged with possession of cannabis, methedrine, and cocaine, smoking and allowing his flat to be used for smoking cannabis’.[40] Their more reckless out look on life is what made them popular with their fans, the fact that ‘parents found their music and their appearance even more disgusting and threatening than The Beatles’[41] made them more popular with the youth of Britain. The Beatles, however, had a smarter, cleaner look that The Rolling Stones. Keith Richards said in an interview, in reference to The Beatles having a wider market appeal, ‘you can’t suddenly become accepted overnight by cutting your hair’ and ‘putting on a suit’[42]. The Stones always appeared more reckless than The Beatles, deliberately growing ‘longer, more unruly hair’[43] in order to gain popularity among young teenage girls as well as boys who liked their rebellious image. It could be argued that The Stones weren’t imitating The Beatles but simply following the trends of the sixties, which indeed so many other bands did. The sixties was the decade of rock and roll and wide experimentation with sex, drugs and music throughout the United Kingdom and America. The hippie, rock and roll style of music and dress were trends that not just The Stones and The Beatles followed but others such as The Who and Pink Floyd. The counter argument to the claims of imitation is that The Rolling Stones didn’t necessary emulate The Beatles but the worldwide trends and fashions of the sixties.
Although The Rolling Stones displayed their own clothing styles along with differing musical techniques, they have undoubtedly emulated The Beatles in many areas, and in doing so have become one of the most famous and biggest selling bands in the world. As evidenced from interviews with The Beatles from the 1970s onwards, they were of the view that their work was imitated and there was a clear rivalry between the two bands. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison have been especially valuable from The Rolling Stones’ perspective as they gave them songs, paid tribute to them, sang on their albums and even helped them to get their first recording contract with Decca records. It is probable that without The Beatles’ early contribution The Rolling Stones wouldn’t be nearly as popular as they are today. Through imitating and following The Beatles trends, The Stones, although falling short in comparison to The Beatles, had a huge success in Europe and America, leaving a legacy and lasting image in music, magazines and through their distinctive logo of the lips and tongue. In comparison The Beatles’ less well-known logo was their name but with an extended letter T in the word Beatles. The Beatles have, however, undoubtedly left a legacy of music, artistic innovation and revolutionary ideas towards sex and drugs, which had huge cultural impacts on a generation, on music innovation and on The Rolling Stones. As Derek Taylor said ‘everyone was in love with all that The Beatles stood for – their gaiety, their honesty, and their enormous commercial value.’[44]
There are a number of relevant critiques on this topic, which provide an understanding on the basis behind the debate and enable a judgement on the extent to which The Rolling Stones followed in the slipstream of The Beatles. The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from its Beginning to the mid-1970s[3] by Studwell and Lonergan gives a useful insight into the cultural impact of The Beatles and Stones. It argues that while The Stones may have been technically equal as musicians they were not at the Beetles’ level in terms of musical or cultural innovation because their impact on culture and politics wasn’t as substantial as The Beatles. The Rolling Stones: A Musical Biography[4] by Murry Nelson is a literary text that debates the popularity of The Rolling Stones and their relationship with The Beatles, giving an insight into why The Rolling Stones copied The Beatles and the negative response they received through it. Nelson adds a substantial viewpoint to his argument by drawing from evidence such as their appearance at events and a number of primary sources, including interviews and critiques. Mick Jagger[5] is yet another extremely useful piece of literature written in 2012 by Philip Norman. He too includes primary sources of interviews with Mick Jagger, and goes into more specific detail about the band’s relationships, including their similarities, differences and competitiveness.
In order to establish the extent to which The Stones copied The Beatles I will reference a number of primary documents to gain a first hand and accurate account of the opinions of both bands in relation on this issue. Most crucial to my argument will be the relevance of interviews with both The Beatles and The Stones, providing me with an overview of the varying first hand opinions on the topic. Newspaper articles and biographies also provide important views as to how The Beatles believed The Stones mimicked them and the extent to which The Stones denied doing so. There are also a number of primary source websites, which have helped me to research into the album covers and the images portrayed by the two bands.
The Beatles and The Rolling Stones throughout the 1960s had, on the surface, a good relationship. As Mick Jagger said ‘They were really very easy to get on with’,[6] and McCartney stated in The Beatles anthology that in 1966 they were ‘hanging out with The Stones working on their sessions; it was a very friendly scene.’[7] Their friendship bought them a tactical alliance which resulted in them ‘not only singing on each other’s records but sometimes staggering their releases to allow each other a clear run at the charts.’[8] As evidenced in an interview with Paul McCartney it was The Beatles who wrote I Wanna Be Your Man and ‘ended up giving it to The Stones’[9] after Jagger had asked them if they had any songs. McCartney claims that George Harrison was ‘instrumental in getting them their first record contract’[10] because he had suggested The Rolling Stones to Decca records label, and ‘Andrew Loog Oldham’[11] then signed them up. The interview with Paul McCartney supports the fact that The Rolling Stones did indeed follow in the slipstream of The Beatles. The Beatles essentially got The Rolling Stones their first break by giving them I Wanna Be Your Man, which reached number twelve on the UK charts and helped them to gain a recording contract. Ever since The Stones have imitated The Beatles in a number of areas although this was encouraged from the outset by The Beatles.
However, it is apparent that The Rolling Stones were not quick to acknowledge this as McCartney says in his 1984 interview with Joan Goodman; ‘They don’t tell anybody about it these days; they prefer to be more ethnic; but you and I know the real truth.’[12] The interviews with both The Beatles and Stones are extremely useful sources in bringing to light the thoughts of the bands, for example Mick Jagger was interviewed in 1968 by Jonathan Cott and while Jagger doesn’t deny The Beatles giving The Stones I Wanna Be Your Man, he is dismissive of it and doesn’t appear to be entirely appreciative; ‘so they played it and we thought it sounded pretty commercial, which is what we were looking for, so we did it like Elmore James or something’.[13] Through the use of interviews I am able to form a more accurate debate as to whether The Stones emulated The Beatles as critic’s opinions can be biased towards a particular band. The interview with McCartney by Goodman is a particularly useful source as McCartney’s answers are very specific, he also comments on the Stone’s denial that The Beatles helped them in getting started.
Throughout the 1960s The Beatles released a number of albums, all of which featured different and unique album covers, and many appear to have been imitated by The Rolling Stones. When The Beatles released the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (figure 1) the album cover paid a tribute to The Rolling Stones in the form of a doll wearing a sweater, which reads ‘Welcome The Rolling Stones Good Guys.’[14] When The Stones later released the album Their Satanic Majesties Request (figure 2) it was ‘seen as an attempt to imitate and out do The Beatles, and a poor attempt at that’.[15] This was not just in terms of the ‘mixture of electronic, psychedelic music’[16] it consisted of but of the album cover as well, which like The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album cover consisted of bright colours, flowers and psychedelic images. On the other hand, as Jim DeRogatis explains, some critics argue that the ‘Stones were mocking ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ with ‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’ never really buying into the idea of using psychedelic drugs as the portal to journey ‘toward the white light’.[17] Coleman in his biography of Lennon claims that Lennon also ‘slammed The Stones’ Satanic Majesties Request album as an imitation of Sgt Pepper, and loathed The Stones’ record, We Love You, which John said was She Loves You backwards.’[18] Other albums were also copied in terms of their name, The Beatles: Let it Be was recorded in January of 1969 but released in 1970, The Rolling Stones recorded and released Let it Bleed in November of 1969 which is often unrecognized as John Lennon points out in an interview in 1970: ‘And I’d like one of you fucking underground people to point it out, Let it Bleed’.[19] The Stones have often been regarded as ‘lacking The Beatles’ artistic autonomy, The Stones appear...uncertain’[20] and insecure, when designing their album covers. This explains the blatant copies of some of the album art, for example, The Beatles White Album (figure 3), which was released on the 22nd of November 1968 has a very minimalistic cover. The Stones then released Beggars Banquet (figure 4) less than one month later on the 6th of December 1968, which had a similar minimalistic style.[21]
William Studwell and David Lonergan who wrote The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from its Beginning to the mid-1970s argue that The Rolling Stones did indeed emulate The Beatles. As some critics suggest the ‘Stones, might be their equals or even superior as musicians’[22] but lacked the innovation and, at the start, popularity to succeed as a band. The relationship The Stones had formed early on with The Beatles set them in good stead for gaining popularity with the public. Yet in order to enhance their appeal they needed to imitate The Beatles. This is demonstrated in an extract from Sandford’s biography of McCartney who recalls an event in 1963 at the Albert Hall when The Stones ‘watched in awe as The Beatles calmly applied their make-up and triggered a riot the instant they walked on stage. Paul noted that, when he next saw The Stones, Mick was ‘made up like a tart'.[23] In the John Lennon interview of 1970 he said, ‘on every fuckin' album’[24] they were closely copied by The Stones but more drastically emulated was the creation of their own record label. The Beatles started Apple records in 1968, which was a creative outlet for The Beatles aiming to make them more money. In 1970, ‘The Stones were starting their own label, Rolling Stones Records’[25], which was combined with a distribution deal with Atlantic Records. Luckily for The Stones it avoided ‘the pitfalls that brought Apple down,’[26] but was again regarded as a way of slipstreaming behind The Beatles and allowing them to discover the pitfalls before The Stones themselves created their record label.
‘The Beatles also opened the American market to such British Invasion groups as…The Rolling Stones.’[27] After The Beatles massively successful tour of America in 1964, they had created popularity for British rock and roll bands. In 1966 The Rolling Stones followed in The Beatles footsteps by touring America, introducing themselves to a wider audience as well as generating themselves a lot of money. The Stones were then offered ‘A million pound deal with Decca Records to finance five films in the next three years.’[28] Again, this was following the same methods as The Beatles who appeared in the film A Hard Day’s Night in 1964. As Mick Jagger claimed ‘We don’t want to do a Beatles for a start,’[29] implying that they wouldn’t copy The Beatles in creating a comedy. In 1967 The Beatles took part in a Christmas special called Magical Mystery Tour. When this was suggested to Mick Jagger ‘the idea had instant appeal to Mick because the previous Christmas The Beatles had appeared in just such a special.’[30] Again this demonstrates The Stones emulating The Beatles but due to the Magical Mystery Tour being so unsuccessful, as Philip Norman describes it, ‘the most resounding flop of their career’[31], The Stones saw this as an opportunity to outdo The Beatles. It appears as if The Stones were jealous of The Beatles, constantly wanting to trump them and compete against them. Paul McCartney has disclosed in an interview that he believes the reason to be jealous was ‘because all four band members could sing whereas they were solely reliant on Mick Jagger’.[32]
Although friends, at one stage Lennon in particular became increasingly against The Rolling Stones, most crucially because Mick Jagger began to knock The Beatles, despite them writing their first two records for them. As Lennon said in an interview ‘Mick…said a lot of sort of tarty things about The Beatles, which I am hurt by, because I can knock The Beatles, but don’t let Mick Jagger knock them.’[33] Lennon also felt that ever since The Stones had copied The Beatles; ‘I’d like to just list what we did and what The Stones did two months after, on every fucking album and every fucking thing we did, Mick does exactly the same. He imitates us.’[34] The Rolling Stones, who claim there was no rivalry or commonality in ideas between themselves and The Beatles, deny this allegation. As ‘Keith Richards told journalist Lisa Robinson in 1989 ‘we saw no connection between us and The Beatles – we were playing blues, they were writing pop songs dressed in suits. We were too hip to be pop stars.’[35] Yet it is commonly thought among critics that ‘The Stones were imitating The Beatles, not competing with them.’[36] A contrary view is that, Mick Jagger, while producing their new album after The Beatles had released their famous Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, ‘spent long hours in The Beatles’ company, as if hopeful that some of Sgt. Pepper’s magic might rub off.’[37] The renown success of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band ‘served as a challenge to The Rolling Stones’[38] who had to compete for competition.
Although there is evidence to suggest The Rolling Stones followed in the slipstream of The Beatles it could be argued that in fact they were very individualistic. Firstly, The Rolling Stones played heavier rock and roll than The Beatles, who began with rock ‘n’ roll and moved on to popular music. They also had a more violent style, which The Beatles did not, demonstrated at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, which was an event headlined and organized by The Rolling Stones in 1969. The event turned out to be extremely violent, with a number of deaths and huge amounts of property and vehicle damage. As one of the Hells Angels said, ‘The Stones hired us to act as security for $500 worth of beer.’[39] The Stones appeared to have a more reckless attitude toward life and drug taking. For example, Brian Jones ‘was charged with possession of cannabis, methedrine, and cocaine, smoking and allowing his flat to be used for smoking cannabis’.[40] Their more reckless out look on life is what made them popular with their fans, the fact that ‘parents found their music and their appearance even more disgusting and threatening than The Beatles’[41] made them more popular with the youth of Britain. The Beatles, however, had a smarter, cleaner look that The Rolling Stones. Keith Richards said in an interview, in reference to The Beatles having a wider market appeal, ‘you can’t suddenly become accepted overnight by cutting your hair’ and ‘putting on a suit’[42]. The Stones always appeared more reckless than The Beatles, deliberately growing ‘longer, more unruly hair’[43] in order to gain popularity among young teenage girls as well as boys who liked their rebellious image. It could be argued that The Stones weren’t imitating The Beatles but simply following the trends of the sixties, which indeed so many other bands did. The sixties was the decade of rock and roll and wide experimentation with sex, drugs and music throughout the United Kingdom and America. The hippie, rock and roll style of music and dress were trends that not just The Stones and The Beatles followed but others such as The Who and Pink Floyd. The counter argument to the claims of imitation is that The Rolling Stones didn’t necessary emulate The Beatles but the worldwide trends and fashions of the sixties.
Although The Rolling Stones displayed their own clothing styles along with differing musical techniques, they have undoubtedly emulated The Beatles in many areas, and in doing so have become one of the most famous and biggest selling bands in the world. As evidenced from interviews with The Beatles from the 1970s onwards, they were of the view that their work was imitated and there was a clear rivalry between the two bands. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison have been especially valuable from The Rolling Stones’ perspective as they gave them songs, paid tribute to them, sang on their albums and even helped them to get their first recording contract with Decca records. It is probable that without The Beatles’ early contribution The Rolling Stones wouldn’t be nearly as popular as they are today. Through imitating and following The Beatles trends, The Stones, although falling short in comparison to The Beatles, had a huge success in Europe and America, leaving a legacy and lasting image in music, magazines and through their distinctive logo of the lips and tongue. In comparison The Beatles’ less well-known logo was their name but with an extended letter T in the word Beatles. The Beatles have, however, undoubtedly left a legacy of music, artistic innovation and revolutionary ideas towards sex and drugs, which had huge cultural impacts on a generation, on music innovation and on The Rolling Stones. As Derek Taylor said ‘everyone was in love with all that The Beatles stood for – their gaiety, their honesty, and their enormous commercial value.’[44]
Bibliography
Books
Appleford, S. The Rolling Stones: The Stories Behind the Biggest Songs, (London: Carlton Books, 2010).
Beatles, The. The Beatles Anthology, (United Kingdom: Cassell, 2000).
British Invasion Bands. Rolling Stones: http://britishinvasionbands.com/the-bands/rolling-stones/.
Coleman, R. Lennon: The Definitive Biography, 3rd Edition, (London: Pan, 2000).
Evans, M. The Beatles Literary Anthology, (London: Plexus, 2004).
Nelson, M. R. The Rolling Stones: A Musical Biography, (USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2010).
Norman, P. Mick Jagger, (Great Britain: Harper Collins Publishers, 2012).
Sandford, C. McCartney, (United Kingdom: Random House, 2012).
Studwell, W.E. and D.F. Lonergan. The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from its Beginning to the Mid-1970s (USA: Routledge, 1999).
Williams, B., D. Gluck and B. Thompson. Rhythms of the Game: The Link Between Musical and Athletic Performance, (USA: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2011).
Articles
Altham, K. ‘The Rolling Stones: World-wide Stones’, NME Annual, 1966: https://vpn.lboro.ac.uk/+CSCO+0h756767633A2F2F6A6A6A2E65627078666F6E7078636E7472662E70627A++/Library/Article/the-rolling-stones-world-wide-stones.
Anonymous. ‘Readers’ Vote: Beatles Whomp The Rolling Stones’, Wisconsin State Journal, 25 August 1994: http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T16408920643&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T16408920647&cisb=22_T16408920646&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=145460&docNo=1.
BBC News. Mick Jagger Answers Your Questions, October 2007: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7022163.stm.
Booth, S. The True Adventures of The Rolling Stones. (review by Howard Horne) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984): http://www.jstor.org/stable/853307.
Gammell, C. ‘Rolling Stones Envied The Beatles’ Singing Prowess – Sir Paul’, The Telegraph, 23 May 2011.
Jagger, M. The Rolling Stone Interview by Jonathan Cott, 10 Dec 1968: http://www.angelfire.com/music6/roughjustice/rollingint.html.
Kot, G. ‘Beatles vs. Rolling Stones: Sound Opinions on the Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Rivalry’, Chicago Tribune, 19 Oct 2010.
McCartney, P. and L. McCartney. Playboy Interview with Paul and Linda McCartney by Joan Goodman, Playboy, December 1984: http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbpm.int2.html.
RIAA. Top Selling Artists, 2013: http://riaa.com/goldandplatinum.php?content_selector=top-selling-artists\.
Rolling Stone. Artists: The Beatles: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-beatles/biography.
Taylor, D., Derek Taylor: My Life With The Beatles - Beatlemania Grips England, 23 June 1965: http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/derek-taylor-my-life-with-the-beatles--beatlemania-grips-england.
Wenner, J., Interview of John Lennon and Yoko Ono by Jann Wenner, 8 December 1970.
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http://www.rocksbackpages.com
http://www.rollingstone.com
[1] ‘Readers’ Vote: Beatles Whomp The Rolling Stones’, Wisconsin State Journal, 25 August 1994: http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T16408920643&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T16408920647&cisb=22_T16408920646&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=145460&docNo=1.
[2] RIAA, Top Selling Artists, 2013: http://riaa.com/goldandplatinum.php?content_selector=top-selling-artists\.
[3] W. E. Studwell and D. F. Lonergan, The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from its Beginning to the Mid-1970s (USA: Routledge, 1999).
[4] M. R. Nelson, The Rolling Stones: A Musical Biography, (USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2010).
[5] P. Norman, Mick Jagger, (Great Britain: Harper Collins Publishers, 2012).
[6] BBC News, Mick Jagger Answers Your Questions, October 2007: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7022163.stm.
[7] The Beatles, The Beatles Anthology, (United Kingdom: Cassell, 2000).
[8] Norman, p.273.
[9] Paul and Linda McCartney, Playboy Interview with Paul and Linda McCartney by Joan Goodman, Playboy, December 1984: http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbpm.int2.html.
[10] Ibid., http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbpm.int2.html.
[11] British Invasion Bands, Rolling Stones: http://britishinvasionbands.com/the-bands/rolling-stones/.
[12] Paul and Linda McCartney: http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbpm.int2.html.
[13] Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stone Interview by Jonathan Cott, 10 Dec 1968: http://www.angelfire.com/music6/roughjustice/rollingint.html.
[14] B. Williams, D. Gluck and B. Thompson, Rhythms of the Game: The Link Between Musical and Athletic Performance, (USA: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2011).
[15] Nelson, p.54.
[16] Ibid., p.54.
[17] G. Kot, ‘Beatles vs. Rolling Stones: Sound Opinions on the Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Rivalry’, Chicago Tribune, 19 Oct 2010.
[18] R. Coleman, Lennon: The Definitive Biography, 3rd Edition, (London: Pan, 2000) p.65.
[19] J. Lennon, Interview of John Lennon and Yoko Ono by Jann Wenner, 8 December 1970.
[20] S. Booth, The True Adventures of The Rolling Stones. (review by Howard Horne) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984): http://www.jstor.org/stable/853307.
[21] http://www.allcdcovers.com.
[22] Studwell, and Lonergan, p.74.
[23] C. Sandford, McCartney, (United Kingdom: Random House, 2012) p.368.
[24] Wenner.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Studwell and Lonergan, p.74.
[27] Rolling Stone, Artists: The Beatles: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-beatles/biography.
[28] K. Altham, ‘The Rolling Stones: World-wide Stones’, NME Annual, 1966: https://vpn.lboro.ac.uk/+CSCO+0h756767633A2F2F6A6A6A2E65627078666F6E7078636E7472662E70627A++/Library/Article/the-rolling-stones-world-wide-stones.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Norman, p.317.
[31] Norman, p.317.
[32] C. Gammell, ‘Rolling Stones Envied The Beatles’ Singing Prowess – Sir Paul’, The Telegraph, 23 May 2011.
[33] Wenner.
[34] Ibid.
[35] S. Appleford, The Rolling Stones: The Stories Behind the Biggest Songs, (London: Carlton Books, 2010) p.13.
[36] Studwell and Lonergan, p.74.
[37] Norman, p.272.
[38] M. Evans, The Beatles Literary Anthology, (London: Plexus, 2004) p.219.
[39] T. Ortega, ‘In the Wake of Altamont: Who Hired the Hell’s Angels?’, Village Voice, 24 August 2010: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/08/in_the_wake_of_1.php.
[40] Booth.
[41] Nelson, p.22.
[42] Altham: https://vpn.lboro.ac.uk/+CSCO+0h756767633A2F2F6A6A6A2E65627078666F6E7078636E7472662E70627A++/Library/Article/the-rolling-stones-our-fans-have-moved-on-with-us.
[43] Nelson, p.22.
[44] D. Taylor, Derek Taylor: My Life With The Beatles - Beatlemania Grips England, 23 June 1965: http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/derek-taylor-my-life-with-the-beatles--beatlemania-grips-england.
Books
Appleford, S. The Rolling Stones: The Stories Behind the Biggest Songs, (London: Carlton Books, 2010).
Beatles, The. The Beatles Anthology, (United Kingdom: Cassell, 2000).
British Invasion Bands. Rolling Stones: http://britishinvasionbands.com/the-bands/rolling-stones/.
Coleman, R. Lennon: The Definitive Biography, 3rd Edition, (London: Pan, 2000).
Evans, M. The Beatles Literary Anthology, (London: Plexus, 2004).
Nelson, M. R. The Rolling Stones: A Musical Biography, (USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2010).
Norman, P. Mick Jagger, (Great Britain: Harper Collins Publishers, 2012).
Sandford, C. McCartney, (United Kingdom: Random House, 2012).
Studwell, W.E. and D.F. Lonergan. The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from its Beginning to the Mid-1970s (USA: Routledge, 1999).
Williams, B., D. Gluck and B. Thompson. Rhythms of the Game: The Link Between Musical and Athletic Performance, (USA: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2011).
Articles
Altham, K. ‘The Rolling Stones: World-wide Stones’, NME Annual, 1966: https://vpn.lboro.ac.uk/+CSCO+0h756767633A2F2F6A6A6A2E65627078666F6E7078636E7472662E70627A++/Library/Article/the-rolling-stones-world-wide-stones.
Anonymous. ‘Readers’ Vote: Beatles Whomp The Rolling Stones’, Wisconsin State Journal, 25 August 1994: http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T16408920643&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T16408920647&cisb=22_T16408920646&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=145460&docNo=1.
BBC News. Mick Jagger Answers Your Questions, October 2007: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7022163.stm.
Booth, S. The True Adventures of The Rolling Stones. (review by Howard Horne) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984): http://www.jstor.org/stable/853307.
Gammell, C. ‘Rolling Stones Envied The Beatles’ Singing Prowess – Sir Paul’, The Telegraph, 23 May 2011.
Jagger, M. The Rolling Stone Interview by Jonathan Cott, 10 Dec 1968: http://www.angelfire.com/music6/roughjustice/rollingint.html.
Kot, G. ‘Beatles vs. Rolling Stones: Sound Opinions on the Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Rivalry’, Chicago Tribune, 19 Oct 2010.
McCartney, P. and L. McCartney. Playboy Interview with Paul and Linda McCartney by Joan Goodman, Playboy, December 1984: http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbpm.int2.html.
RIAA. Top Selling Artists, 2013: http://riaa.com/goldandplatinum.php?content_selector=top-selling-artists\.
Rolling Stone. Artists: The Beatles: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-beatles/biography.
Taylor, D., Derek Taylor: My Life With The Beatles - Beatlemania Grips England, 23 June 1965: http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/derek-taylor-my-life-with-the-beatles--beatlemania-grips-england.
Wenner, J., Interview of John Lennon and Yoko Ono by Jann Wenner, 8 December 1970.
Web
http://www.allcdcovers.com
http://www.lexisnexis.com
http://www.rocksbackpages.com
http://www.rollingstone.com
[1] ‘Readers’ Vote: Beatles Whomp The Rolling Stones’, Wisconsin State Journal, 25 August 1994: http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T16408920643&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T16408920647&cisb=22_T16408920646&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=145460&docNo=1.
[2] RIAA, Top Selling Artists, 2013: http://riaa.com/goldandplatinum.php?content_selector=top-selling-artists\.
[3] W. E. Studwell and D. F. Lonergan, The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from its Beginning to the Mid-1970s (USA: Routledge, 1999).
[4] M. R. Nelson, The Rolling Stones: A Musical Biography, (USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2010).
[5] P. Norman, Mick Jagger, (Great Britain: Harper Collins Publishers, 2012).
[6] BBC News, Mick Jagger Answers Your Questions, October 2007: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7022163.stm.
[7] The Beatles, The Beatles Anthology, (United Kingdom: Cassell, 2000).
[8] Norman, p.273.
[9] Paul and Linda McCartney, Playboy Interview with Paul and Linda McCartney by Joan Goodman, Playboy, December 1984: http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbpm.int2.html.
[10] Ibid., http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbpm.int2.html.
[11] British Invasion Bands, Rolling Stones: http://britishinvasionbands.com/the-bands/rolling-stones/.
[12] Paul and Linda McCartney: http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbpm.int2.html.
[13] Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stone Interview by Jonathan Cott, 10 Dec 1968: http://www.angelfire.com/music6/roughjustice/rollingint.html.
[14] B. Williams, D. Gluck and B. Thompson, Rhythms of the Game: The Link Between Musical and Athletic Performance, (USA: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2011).
[15] Nelson, p.54.
[16] Ibid., p.54.
[17] G. Kot, ‘Beatles vs. Rolling Stones: Sound Opinions on the Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Rivalry’, Chicago Tribune, 19 Oct 2010.
[18] R. Coleman, Lennon: The Definitive Biography, 3rd Edition, (London: Pan, 2000) p.65.
[19] J. Lennon, Interview of John Lennon and Yoko Ono by Jann Wenner, 8 December 1970.
[20] S. Booth, The True Adventures of The Rolling Stones. (review by Howard Horne) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984): http://www.jstor.org/stable/853307.
[21] http://www.allcdcovers.com.
[22] Studwell, and Lonergan, p.74.
[23] C. Sandford, McCartney, (United Kingdom: Random House, 2012) p.368.
[24] Wenner.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Studwell and Lonergan, p.74.
[27] Rolling Stone, Artists: The Beatles: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-beatles/biography.
[28] K. Altham, ‘The Rolling Stones: World-wide Stones’, NME Annual, 1966: https://vpn.lboro.ac.uk/+CSCO+0h756767633A2F2F6A6A6A2E65627078666F6E7078636E7472662E70627A++/Library/Article/the-rolling-stones-world-wide-stones.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Norman, p.317.
[31] Norman, p.317.
[32] C. Gammell, ‘Rolling Stones Envied The Beatles’ Singing Prowess – Sir Paul’, The Telegraph, 23 May 2011.
[33] Wenner.
[34] Ibid.
[35] S. Appleford, The Rolling Stones: The Stories Behind the Biggest Songs, (London: Carlton Books, 2010) p.13.
[36] Studwell and Lonergan, p.74.
[37] Norman, p.272.
[38] M. Evans, The Beatles Literary Anthology, (London: Plexus, 2004) p.219.
[39] T. Ortega, ‘In the Wake of Altamont: Who Hired the Hell’s Angels?’, Village Voice, 24 August 2010: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/08/in_the_wake_of_1.php.
[40] Booth.
[41] Nelson, p.22.
[42] Altham: https://vpn.lboro.ac.uk/+CSCO+0h756767633A2F2F6A6A6A2E65627078666F6E7078636E7472662E70627A++/Library/Article/the-rolling-stones-our-fans-have-moved-on-with-us.
[43] Nelson, p.22.
[44] D. Taylor, Derek Taylor: My Life With The Beatles - Beatlemania Grips England, 23 June 1965: http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/derek-taylor-my-life-with-the-beatles--beatlemania-grips-england.