The Rolling Stones classic Mick Jagger describes as “a very Chuck Berry song”
While inducting The Beatles into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, Mick Jagger recalled The Rolling Stones’ early association with the Fab Four. “We were doin’ Chuck Berry songs and blues and things, and we thought that we were totally unique animals,” Jagger noted. “And then we heard there was a group from Liverpool, and they had long hair, scruffy clothes.”
Jagger continued to describe his bitter envy upon hearing ‘Love Me Do’ for the first time. “But they had a record contract. And they had a record on the charts, with a bluesy harmonica on it, called ‘Love Me Do.’ When I heard the combination of all these things, I was almost sick,” he added.
“Later on, they gave us our first big hit in England, which was a song they wrote called ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’,” Jagger continued, noting the vital leg-up. “And we were very grateful for that ’cause that really broke us in England. The example of the way they wrote and the original way that they crafted their songs wasn’t lost on us. And later on, their success in America broke down a lot of doors that helped everyone else from England that followed. And I thank them very much for all those things.”
As the frontman hinted earlier in his speech, the Stones had Chuck Berry to thank prior to The Beatles. “When I started, all I wanted to do was play like Chuck,” Keith Richards once said of his early idol. “I thought if I could do that, I’d be the happiest man in the world.”
As the British invasion took off through the mid-1960s, The Beatles challenged the Stones to emerge from their roots to write original and progressive pop-rock hits. This saw the band hit the top of the charts with two singles in 1965 and explore psychedelia in Their Satanic Majesty’s Request. Despite many stylistic divergences through the years, The Rolling Stones remained loyal to their roots in classic rhythm and blues music, especially that of Chuck Berry.
In 1974, following their most commercially and critically revered stint highlighted by Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St., the Stones returned to basics with the quintessential rock hit, ‘It’s Only Rock’ n’ Roll (But I Like It)’. “The title has been used a lot by journalists; the phrase has become a big thing,” Jagger once said of the hit. “That version that’s on there [the album of the same name] is the original version, which was recorded half in Ron Wood’s basement, if I remember rightly. It was a demo.”
To compliment the track’s iconically straightforward title, the Stones modelled it on Berry’s classic rock ‘n’ roll style. “It’s a very Chuck Berry song, but it’s got a different feeling to it than a Chuck Berry song,” Jagger continued. “You can’t really do proper imitations of people. You always have to start out by imitating somebody.”
Jagger then used fine art to explain how the band worked from Berry’s structure. “In painting, some famous artist always starts out by being an impressionist,” he added. “And then they become the most famous abstract artist. Or an actor starts out by imitating someone else’s style. And then you develop your own. And I think that’s what happened with this band and all the musicians that have played in it. You start off with one thing, and then you mutate into another, but you still acknowledge the fact that these influences came from here and here and here. Because not everyone knows that. But you make this new amalgam. And out of all this different music, all out these blues, out of all this country music, out of all this jazz and dance music and reggae music, you know, you make something that’s your own.”
Listen to The Rolling Stones’ ‘It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)’ below.
