Record Rebound: The Rolling Stones reissue their transitional second studio album
Miraculously, over six decades after their formation, The Rolling Stones remain active in the music industry. Just last year, the group released the studio album Hackney Diamonds, and they don’t appear ready to call it quits just yet, with touring dates scheduled for 2024-25. Today, the co-founding songwriters Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are the last of the original lineup in the band.
Jagger and Richards first crossed paths while attending Wentworth Primary School in Dartford but truly befriended one another in their late teens after a chance meeting on platform two at Dartford Railway Station. Richards, the less gregarious of the two, initiated the conversation after spotting a stack of American blues records under Jagger’s arm. Within weeks, they began jamming together, eventually joining Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts in the first stable lineup of The Rolling Stones.
Initially, The Stones were a devout rhythm and blues group under the management of Jones, who named the band after Muddy Waters’ classic song ‘Rollin’ Stone’. They soon joined The Beatles to face the screaming hoards, but Jones sought a different path for his band. As Jagger and Richards began to work on their songwriting skills, Jones became preoccupied with a mission to bring the blues to the top of the British charts.
Remarkably, The Stones managed to sate Jones’ desires after releasing a cover of Willie Dixon’s blues standard ‘Little Red Rooster’. The single reached the top of the UK Singles Chart and remains the only blues song to do so to this day. This achievement laid the groundwork for The Rolling Stones’ flourishing chart success through the mid-1960s as they led a British invasion of the US charts.
With each new success, Jones’ enthusiasm dwindled. Ousted by the songwriting endeavours of Jagger and Richards, he became increasingly disillusioned with the band’s deviation from blues roots towards pop-leaning rock ‘n’ roll. Much like Bob Dylan’s controversial electric guitar renaissance around the same time, The Stones’ embrace of pop ideals divided some fans into either Jones’ blues-centric camp or that of Jagger and Richards.
Today, very few fans disagree that The Rolling Stones released their most creatively inspired work between 1968 and 1973. However, the early blues-centric albums are all too easily forgotten. Before 1966’s Aftermath, each album contained at least one or two rhythm and blues covers; such releases can be disregarded for lack of originality, yet there is much to be admired in The Stones’ case.
The first two Sones albums are rarely considered masterpieces of Sticky Fingers’ calibre. However, they deserve a spot in your collection as a vital moment in the band’s history. The Rolling Stones No. 2, released in January 1965 following a successful debut several months prior, is a great snapshot of the group’s evolution, containing three encouraging Jagger-Richards originals alongside a solid selection of covers.
The Rolling Stones’ second album is best remembered for its enduring covers of Bert Berns, Solomon Burke, and Jerry Wexler’s ‘Everybody Needs Somebody to Love’, Muddy Waters’ ‘I Can’t Be Satisfied’ and Norman Meade’s ‘Time Is On My Side’. In a letter Richards sent to his aunt in 1961, he wrote, “Mick is the greatest R&B singer this side of the Atlantic, and I don’t mean maybe.” In these early covers, one can understand the young guitarist’s early attraction.
As 1965 unfolded, Jagger and Richards topped the charts with ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ and ‘Get Off of My Cloud’, consolidating their position as hitmakers alongside The Beatles. Though the original compositions on No. 2 aren’t so familiar to rock ‘n’ roll fans, ‘What a Shame’ and ‘Off The Hook’ are great examples of the band’s early blues writing.
On Friday, June 7th, The Rolling Stones reissue their second album, nearly 60 years after its release. Pressed onto standard black vinyl with red Decca labels, the UMR reissue accurately replicates the original product. You can pre-order/purchase the LP here.
