The singer Mick Jagger thought was in a league of his own: “Nobody could beat his stage act”
For as long as Mick Jagger can recall, music has played a prominent role in his life. While rock ‘n’ roll was only in its infancy during childhood, he still harboured dreams of taking to the stage and following his passion wherever it may have led him.
Although Jagger wanted to shoot for the stars, he had no blueprint to follow. Growing up, his musical heroes all came from the United States, which felt like it existed in another universe, but that didn’t stop Jagger from holding aspirations to follow his dreams.
While the blues was somewhat of a niche interest, Jagger was fortunate enough to find people who shared his passion, which later led to the formation of The Rolling Stones. In 1950, Jagger and his future bandmate, Keith Richards, became classmates when they enrolled at Wentworth Primary School in Dartford.
Soon after that, they became best buddies – neither of them had any idea that in decades to come, Keef would be hailing Jagger as the greatest show in rock ‘n’ roll one minute, and poking fun at the size of his manhood the next. However, four years on from their auspicious meeting, Jagger’s family moved to Kent, and it wasn’t until a chance encounter at Dartford Railway station in 1960 that the pair fatefully met once more.
While chatting about their lost years apart, it quickly became clear that they both shared a love for American rhythm and blues music, and one impassioned artist, in particular, stood out from the pack: Little Richard. As it happens, this is a love that helped to spawn The Rolling Stones in the first place, and it has endured ever since.
Upon the sad passing of the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer back in 2020, Jagger told Rolling Stone: “His music still has the same raw electric energy when you play it now as it did when it first shot through the music scene in the mid-1950s.” That is a searing, visceral sonic edge that Jagger has always attempted to imitate, describing Little Richard as not only the “biggest inspiration of [his] teen years” but a lasting influence on his entire career.
The inspiration that Little Richard served for Jagger was not purely secondhand, either. Their paths crossed in a much more direct sense, and the Rolling Stones frontman was briefly under his mentorship. Before The Stones became household names, they were picked to support the pioneer from Macon, Georgia on tour, a golden opportunity they grasped with both hands.
Little Richard once recalled the subsequent shows: “I had never heard of the Rolling Stones before I went to England.” But he was a luminary who recognised that he was helping to shepherd the world towards a revolution, so he always kept his finger firmly to the pulse of the emerging zeitgeist springing up in his wake.
So, once the tour began, Little Richard familiarised himself with the British band intently. Not only were they an impressive rock ‘n’ roll unit, but they also expressed a willingness to learn from the best in the business, and the ‘Tutti Frutti’ singer was charmed by this passion.
He started with a moustache thinner than a stick insect’s tube sock, added: “Mick Jagger used to sit at the side of the stage watching my act. Every performance. They had a little record out, a cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Come On’, but had never done a tour before. Mick opened the show with the Rolling Stones,” he recalled.
Adding, “They were making fifty dollars a night. He couldn’t even pay for his room. Mick used to talk to me all the time. He’d sit there and talk all night if I let him. He and the others used to sleep on Bo Diddley’s floor in the hotel.”
Jagger would later ratify this story himself, vouching: “When we were on tour with him, I would watch his moves every night and learn from him how to entertain and involve the audience and he was always so generous with advice to me,” he said. “I couldn’t believe the power of Little Richard on stage. He was amazing… Nobody could beat Little Richard’s stage act. Little Richard is the originator and my first idol.”
It wasn’t just Jagger who adored him as a fellow singer and performer either; Keith Richards also once shared his side of the story, recalling: “The most exciting moment of my life was appearing on the same stage as Little Richard.”
Richards’ all-action ways and storytelling style made it clear to the band that you couldn’t just perform; you also had to entertain. For Jagger as a singer, this meant that hitting notes was one thing, but interpreting the song and giving life to the music was another essential element.
This was Little Richard’s great gift to the world, and he shared it with a lot more than just The Rolling Stones. In fact, his path on the far side of the pond is so auspiciously woven into cultural history that he almost seemed like a rogue envoy who conspired to bring about the ensuing British Invasion. His name simply crops up too often for there not to be some sort of metaphysical conspiracy afoot.
In 2004, during a conversation with Rolling Stone, Little Richard looked back at his influence on bands such as The Rolling Stones, explaining why this was a source of pride rather than bitterness. He shared: “The Rolling Stones started with me, but they’re going to always be in front of me. The Beatles started with me – at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, before they ever made a record – but they’re going to always be in front of me.”
Even David Bowie was in the audience to witness the tour when Richards and The Stones came together. For Bowie, Little Richard was something of an idol, and during an interview with Michael Parkinson, he recalled watching him for the first time. “I saw him first in 1963 I think it was. And I think it might have been at the Brixton Odeon. I don’t know, somebody will remember the tour. Everybody remembers everything these days.”
Although Richard was the main attraction, it was the support act that caught Bowie’s attention: “The Rolling Stones were opening up for him,” he continued, “It was the first time I ever saw them. And they weren’t very well known. There was about six kids that rushed to the front, you know – that was their fanbase. Everybody was there for Little Richard. I think Bo Diddley was on the show and all that.”
Watching The Rolling Stones’ set, Bowie realised he needed to change his angle as he witnessed proto-punk tenets first-hand. In his own words: “It was priceless. I’ve never seen anything so rebellious in my life. Some guy yells out ‘Get a haircut!’ and Mick says ‘What and look like you!’ I thought, ‘oh my god, this is the future of music’ and sure enough.”
Little Richard may have passed, but the mark he left behind is impossible to erase. He’s a key reason why The Rolling Stones created rock ‘n’ roll history; whether it was from studying his records or watching him perform on a nightly basis on tour, Little Richard’s DNA is imprinted into the band.
