Rolling Stones…in the beginning

According to Keith Richards… Jones was on the phone booking a gig and was asked the name of the band. Jones panicked but recovered quickly…on the floor he saw the album The Best of Muddy Waters and his eyes went to track five on side one…’Rollin’ Stone Blues’…Their first gig was on July 12, 1962 in London…the line-up was Jones, Stewart, Jagger, Richards, with bassist Dick Taylor and drummer Tony Chapman (neither became members of the Stones)…and yes…the G was added to the name…Rolling Stones

Brian Jones’ Cards are 10 ♣️  5 ♣️  5 ♣️

Ian Stewart’s cards are 10 ♣️ Q ❤️ 5 ♣️

Mick Jagger’s  cards are 2 ♣️ 2 ♣️ 2 ♣️

Keith Richards cards are K❤️ 2 ♣️ K❤️

Brian Jones’  cards  10 ♣️  5 ♣️  5 ♣️
Ian Stewart’s cards   10 ♣️ Q ❤️  5 ♣️

Ronnie Wood‘s  cards are 3♠️  9❤️ 7♣️ Charlie Watts 2 ♠️ 8 ❤️6 ♣️ Bill Wyman J ❤️ 2 ❤️ 2

A brief look at the cards of Jones and Stewart show a striking similarity. Both share the Ten of ♣️ Birthday card, which is the card of Mental Accomplishment…They also both share the Five of ♣️, indicating a restlessness inside each of them and a desire to search for their true purpose….

Jones was a brilliant multi-instrumentalist…a very creative player…playing instruments not normally heard on rock recordings. Jones and Richards developed a unique musical style with their guitar playing…Richards refers to it as the ”ancient art of weaving” (referring to their guitar parts)…creating their trademark sound.

Andrew Loog Oldham, who became their manager, decided that Stewart should not be on stage during concerts. A six piece band was one too many musicians on stage and Stewart didn’t fit the band’s image. Oldham said Stewart could play on recordings and be their road manager. It was quite a demotion …yet Ian Stewart took it in stride.

The story goes that Stewart might have realized that he was “out of sync” with the marketed image of the Stones …however he could remain a vital part of the group…and he did for many years.

We believe that Stewarts’ Queen of ❤️ card, the Loving Parent card, enabled him to step back when necessary, play his parts in the studio and be the road manager. Everyone in the band looked for Stewarts approval…his opinion truly mattered.

The Jack of ♣️ is extremely creative, typically very smart, and excels in both mental and financial fields. The 4 ❤️ is a very strong family card…so doubling it makes it a powerful influence. Since bands are like families it is no surprise that Oldham was so influential in the vision of the Stones.

Oldham was young when he first discovered the Stones and being a Jack of ♣️ worked to his advantage…he envisioned the Stones as the anti-Beatles…you can hear the differences in their music. Oldham was bright enough to realize he needed a more seasoned partner to manage the Stones and brought in Eric Easton….who was older and couldn’t be more different. The combination worked in the beginning and got the Stones on the road to success. Easton’s birthday isn’t known, and after a few years he was out of the picture.

However we find it impossible to ignore Andrew Oldham’s contributions…we think most Stone fans will agree with us. In addition to moving Stewart off the stage…he encouraged Mick Jagger to be the front man. He understood that original songwriting was extremely important and encouraged Jagger and Richards to start co-writing…and he promoted the Stones as the bad boys of rock and roll.

Brian Jones became increasingly disillusioned as Jagger and Richards became creative songwriting co-writers. Jones found himself being pushed to the side …resulting in an increase of drug use…making him unreliable and difficult to work with. He also started experimenting with different instruments, leaving Richards yearning for their trademark guitar weaving sound.

In June 1969 Brian Jones was dismissed from the band and passed away one month later…leaving many fans unaware of what really happened. Did he quit on his own…did he commit suicide…was he murdered… the truth of his death is not known…the coroner said he drowned…later adding it was death by misadventure.

By 1967 Oldham resigned as the manager…in came American businessman Allen Klein.

Since we are looking at the Stones music & the relationship between the band members, we realize this is where we could start going down the “Rabbit Hole”… we believe music enriches our lives….clearly Allen Klein was in business to richen himself. Klein ended up managing both the Beatles & Rolling Stones ….leading to many years of litigation for the Stones over the way Klein mishandled their finances and according to Paul McCartney, Klein contributed to the breakup of the Beatles.

Time to get back to The Rolling Stones, and the dynamics of their relationships.

(link to Andrew Easton)

(link to Allen Klein)

Sad Fact: Brian Jones died at the age of 27…making him part of the 27 club, which includes many musical legends …they lived fast and died way too soon…

Robert Johnson  (1911-1938)
Brian Jones (1942-1970)
Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson  (1943-1970)
Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970)
Janis Joplin (1943-1970)
Jim Morrison (1943-1971)
Ron “Pigpen” McKernan  (1945-1973)
Pete Ham  (1947-1975)
Kurt Cobain (1967-1994)
Amy Winehouse  (1983-2011