They Got The Blues

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They Got The Blues
Jeff Konkel
Night and Day

Whenever I tell friends and family here in the United States that a large percentage of the customers for my blues record label are from Europe, they always seem surprised.

They shouldn’t be.

Europe’s love affair with the blues stretches back more than a half century, and nowhere has it been more embraced than in the UK. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, when most white Americans were unaware of the dynamic music being created in black communities from the rural South to Chicago’s South Side, teenagers half a world away were picking up the slack. Among them were a young Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Childhood friends who had drifted apart, the duo were famously reunited in 1960 at the Dartford train station when Keith quickly took note of the records Mick had tucked under his arm. Among them were LPs by Chuck Berry and the reigning king of Chicago blues, Muddy Waters. In the months that followed, the pair teamed up with other likeminded blues fans including Brian Jones, a young guitarist with a serious Elmore James obsession.

The group that would soon christen itself the Rolling Stones – and would eventually be hailed as the ‘World’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band’ – began to coalesce in 1961, united by their shared love of American blues music. (Even the group’s name was cribbed from a blues song.) On this, the 50th anniversary of their formation, it’s fitting to salute the Stones not just for their contributions to rock ‘n’ roll but also for the central role they played in introducing millions of listeners to rock’s raw, primal predecessor: the blues.

From the outset of their performing and recording career, the Stones paid homage to American blues. They cut raucous versions of Willie Dixon classics like ‘I Just Want to Make Love to You’ and ‘Little Red Rooster’ and even held a recording session at the famed Chess Studios in Chicago, where Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter made their mark. In 1965, they made their appearance on the musical variety show Shindig contingent on having another Chess Records legend, Howlin’ Wolf, appear on the same episode.

By the late 1960s, Jagger and Richards had established themselves as one of the best songwriting duos in popular music, but they still made a point of cutting versions of blues chestnuts, like Robert Johnson’s ‘Love In Vain’ (on Let It Bleed), Fred McDowell’s ‘You Got to Move’ (on Sticky Fingers) and Slim Harpo’s ‘Shake Your Hips’ (on Exile on Main Street).

Just as significantly, the Stones frequently invited blues artists to open for them while touring some of the world’s biggest and best music venues. Because of this, rock fans were introduced firsthand to acts like B.B. King, Ike Turner and Buddy Guy.

Individually and collectively, the members of the Rolling Stones have recorded and performed live with countless blues artists through the years. Richards has appeared on albums by such blues legends as John Lee Hooker, Hubert Sumlin, Johnnie Johnson and Jimmy Rogers. Stones bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts joined Stones co-founder Ian Stewart on the 1970 album London Sessions by Howlin’ Wolf. In 2001, Wyman even authored a book on American blues entitled Bill Wyman’s Blues Odyssey, which spawned an accompanying DVD and CD soundtrack.

While it is impossible to ignore the deep and lasting impact that the Stones have had on rock music, there’s a strong argument to be made that their contributions to blues music are just as central to their legacy.

Cynics have long criticized the band for putting business before art, but the group’s ongoing commitment to supporting blues disproves this harsh judgment. As a producer of blues music, I know that the financial rewards for this music are few. I wish it were otherwise, but as a wise man once sang, ‘You can’t always get what you want.’

Jeff Konkel is an expert on the Blues. The award-winning producer of four acclaimed Blues albums, he is the founder of Broke and Hungry Records and one of the talents behind the standout documentary M for Mississippi: A Road Trip through the Birthplace of the Blue