2 - Guitar Slingers and Hired Guns: The Musicians of the Rolling Stones

Summary

Fifty-seven years together is a remarkable achievement for any combination of humans – in marriage; siblings; a company; not least an artistic collaboration with a core of three men, together from the fresh optimism of their twenties to the deep-lined wisdom of their seventies. It is only natural to divide such an eon into more manageable eras and chapters in order to discuss the results of such a collective. This is the organization I adopted in my most recent book about the Rolling Stones, Rocks Off: 50 Tracks that Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones (New York, 2013), in which discussions of the songs are grouped into three large sections corresponding to the band’s three guitar players who served as Keith Richards’ counterpoints over the band’s history: Brian Jones, Mick Taylor, and finally, Ron Wood. Each of these guitarists had a significant impact on the sound of the Stones, and most longtime fans view the history of the group as divided along these lines. Though there have been many other people contributing to over a half-century of Stones recordings and tours, I will be concentrating here on the musicians who made indelible impacts on Stones records, especially those who were with the band for multiple years and albums.