Happy Birthday to Mick Jagger....

     Today Mick Jagger is 68 today....

      Just by sheer numbers, one has to admit that The Rolling Stones are the greatest band in rock history. This doesn't mean the best, although one cannot argue the long ranging influence they have had on millions of up and coming artists throughout the decades. The quality level of the group's music over the years is quite astounding.

      Over the 40 years I've been keeping up with the Stones, it always seemed to me that Mick had a center to him which allowed them to be able to move ahead rather then getting into a rut either musically or emotionally. Despite a couple of high profile drug busts (in 67 and 70), one never got the feeling that his life was out of control, like his writing partner Keith Richards did throughout the 70's. He freely admits of partaking of the lifestyle that his money and fame would allow, but the death of Amy Winehouse last week reminds us again, that for many artists a solid core goes a long way in surviving the lure of excess.

      Much is made of their R&B core, especially over the last 20 years or so, but when you strip away their love of the genre, they just know their way around a hook. Much like the Beatles, they used their pop/rock singles in the mid 60's as an opportunity to stretch themselves and point the way to a generation of musicians that were to be defined as much by the long player as they were the single (although the Stones and Beatles were pros at both).

       We wish a happy birthday to Mick, and continued success.....

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A Rolling Stones Two-fer (1967)

On this day in 1967 "Ruby Tuesday" hit #1 on the U.S. charts....

Actually, it was the flip side that caused all of the fuss. "Let's Spend the Night Together" was actually the "A" side, but was banned in the UK. Although not banned in the US, broadcasters were a bit skiddish about playing it, so they also played the "Ruby" side.

The Stones were scheduled to play on the Ed Sullivan Show and beforehand Jagger was told to find another song. ("The songs go or you go"). They finally comprised and the words "let's spend the night together" was changed to "let's spend some time together". We don't have the actual tape for you to see, but every time Jagger sang that line, he rolled his eyes at the camera. Soon after that performance, they went to their dressing room and came out dressed in Nazi uniforms. Sullivan ordered them to get back into their stage outfits, instead they left the studio entirely. They never played on the show again.

So...we are playing both songs today...hope you all have a great Friday!!

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Forgotten Artist: Arthur Alexander

Arthur Alexander is one of the many examples of someone who had the musical skills to make it, but through mismanagement and just plain bad luck never achieved the success due him. He wrote songs that were covered by many artists such as The Beatles, Stones, Hollies, but basically sold the rights to his songs without realizing the consequences. (Many artists in the 50's an 60's suffered the same fate). His abilities vocally were such that his first major record company really had no idea what to do with him and so attempted to peg him as a pop star. On listening to his material now, it's easy to see that he was a master at the R&B ballad that had a solid country feel to it. Am not sure what the guys at Dot Records were thinking, but he never truly was given the chance to show his best with a major label. (However, check out ALL of his material on Judd Records)

In the mid 70's he finally tired of it all and went to driving a bus which is what he did until the early 90's when he made a very solid comeback album, "Lonely Like Me". He signed a recording/publishing contract in May of 93 and put together a new band. It seemed as if he was finally being recognized for his songwriting/vocal abilities. Before it could really get started however, he died in June of that year of a heart attack, being just 53.

It's very difficult to pick just three out of his songbook, the quality of his work was that strong. The first one is his first recorded single. "Sally Sue Brown". It is listed under "June" (as in Junior) Alexander...it is a very strong debut and it's easy to see what the folks at Dot could envision.

The next song is "You Better Move On", which was his highest charting hit (#24-US pop) in the spring of 1962. Artists from The Beatles, to George Jones covered this one.

He only had four songs that charted, three of them in 1962. In a last attempt for success he signed with Buddah records and recorded, "Every Day I Have To Cry Some" which reached #45 in the fall of 1975.

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