The Blues Roots of the Rolling Stones

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-04-21 rating:
Where it all began...
Not a Rolling Stones album of course, but a fascinating source of information and exploration for anyone interested in finding out about the music that influenced the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World (and should'nt that be Rhythm & Blues Band anyway?) when they were just a group of music mad teenagers scattered around various parts of North Kent, South London and Gloucestershire.

Rumour has it that Mick Jagger was carrying some of this very music with him when he first met Keith Richards on Platform 3 of Dartford Railway Station c.1962. Meanwhile down in Cheltenham, Brian 'Elmo' Jones was perfecting his Elmore James licks and working his way through the Muddy Waters songbook, including noting that Rolling Stone Blues might make a useful band name one day.

This excellent album is the latest release from Snapper Music in their ongoing 'Blues Roots' series, and contains a top quality mix of both well-known and extremely-rare tracks. It is wonderful to see Rev. Robert Wilkins, Leroy Carr and Robert Petway placed side-by-side with Chuck Berry, B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf, as well as the aforementioned Elmore James and Muddy Waters. Naturally, with an undertaking of this complexity - the licensing alone must be a nightmare - there are a few omissions. There is no Willie Dixon (Pain in my Heart), Amos Milburn (Down the Road Apiece), Gene Allison (You can make it if you try) or Alvin Robinson (Down Home Girl). And sadly there is nothing either from a man who is one of the least credited influences on the Stones - Jimmy Rogers. Not alone did they base their version of I Can't Be Satisfied directly on his interpretation, but he also gave them the title of one of their biggest early hits (The Last Time), and his 1951 number My Little Machine became the template for several of the band's early r'n'b based recordings.

However these quibbles aside - and who knows, perhaps there is a Volume 2 on the way?? - this budget-priced album is a very worthwhile investment for any genuine Stones fan. A word of appreciation too for Michael Hendon's precise and informative liner notes. Clear, straightforward and very much to the point.

Go on, get yer ya ya's out!

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