The Rolling Stones celebrate another big anniversary.
I saw the Rolling Stones Fifty and Counting Tour, and their Sixty tour, and thought the same thing everyone else did: “Well – this might be their last tour, so I want to see them.” I still doubt it was their last.
Their first? July 12, marks the 61st anniversary of the first show that The Rolling Stones played under their now famous name.
The performance took place at London’s famous Marquee Club on Oxford Street. The show came about when British blues outfit Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, which had a residency lined up at the club, was offered the chance to play a live BBC broadcast that evening – which was a huge deal then – and accepted. This left an opening that the venue had to fill.
Singer, Mick Jagger, who occasionally performed with Korner’s group, was given the chance to fill in that night with a new band he’d been working with. The band didn’t have a name at the time, and needed to choose one for the gig. Guitarist Brian Jones came up with The Rolling Stones, taken from a Muddy Waters song.
The band’s lineup for the show featured Jones — who wqueeas using the stage name Elmore Lewis at the time, Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, piano player Ian Stewart and bassist Dick Taylor. There still remains some disagreement about who, if anyone, played drums with the group that night. No one seems to know, or remember.
The Rolling Stones were a new band at the time, and did a lot of covers – just like another big British band you might be familiar with, and like most bands starting out. They played a 16-song set at the show that featured a mix of blues and early rock ‘n’ roll tunes.
Here’s the full set list from the Rolling Stones first show:
“Kansas City” – Wilbert Harrison
“Honey What’s Wrong” — Billy Fury
“Confessin’ the Blues” — Chuck Berry
“Bright Lights, Big City” — Jimmy Reed
“Dust My Blues” — Elmore James
“Down the Road Apiece” — Chuck Berry
“I Want to Love You” — Charles Smith
“I’m a Hoochie Coochie Man” — Muddy Waters
“Ride ‘Em On Down” — Robert Johnson
“Back in the USA” — Chuck Berry
“I Feel a Kind of Lonesome” — Jimmy Reed
“Blues Before Sunrise” — Elmore James
“Big Boss Man” — Jimmy Reed
“Don’t Stay Out All Night” — Billy Boy Arnold
“Tell Me That You Love Me” — Fats Domino
“Happy Home” — Elmore James
Here are some iconic Rolling Stones performances, and appearances
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