Beviglia - Counting Down the Rolling Stones

Their 100 Finest Songs

Jim Beviglia

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York Toronto Plymouth, UK

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Beviglia, Jim, author.

Counting down the Rolling Stones : their 100 finest songs / by Jim Beviglia.

pages cm. (Counting down)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4422-5446-6 (hardback : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4422-5447-3 (ebook) 1. Rolling StonesCriticism and interpretation. 2. Rolling Stones Songs. 3. Rock musicHistory and criticism. I. Title.

ML421.R64B48 2015

782.42166092'2dc23

2015019983

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To everyone in my hometown of Old Forge, PA:

Lets drink to the salt of the earth.

The gratitude with which I am filled at having the opportunity to write this third book in the Counting Down series is matched perhaps only by the worry I feel as I write these acknowledgments, knowing that I could never possibly thank everyone who has made this possible. But Ill give it a try anyway.

First of all, Id like to thank The Rolling Stones themselves for all of the wonderful music that Ive humbly attempted to describe and detail in these pages. Unlike my first two subjects, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, I hadnt written extensively on The Stones before I started writing the book. As familiar as I thought I was with their music from being practically a lifelong fan, the research for this book unearthed numerous surprises and musical gems that I hadnt previously discovered. My appreciation for them has only deepened as a result, and its very cool to be able to add to the reams of excellent literature available on their careers and lives.

Ive included in the bibliography the books that helped me most in my research. But I would be remiss if I didnt mention the website Time Is on Our Side (timeisonourside.com), an excellent destination for those seeking information on The Stones and their songs. Run by a gentleman named Ian McPherson, this site unfailingly pushed me in the right direction in terms of quotes about the songs from the band themselves. Even now that the book is finished, I find myself heading back time and again to the site.

Once again I am hugely indebted to Bennett Graff, my editor at Rowman & Littlefield, who took a chance on me a few years back with the first of these books. His choices in editing my prose are consistently insightful and clarifying, and his encouragement in every step of the process for each book never fails to buoy my confidence. The entire staff at Rowman is outstanding at their jobs and at putting up with an author with a million stupid questions.

American Songwriter continues to give me wonderful opportunities to write about the songs and artists I love. Editor in chief Caine ORear assigns me the best stuff, and, considering his musical knowledge, its an honor every time he praises my work. The readers of my Countdown Kid blog were with me before I was published and have stuck with me even though my posts can be few and far between when Im in the midst of these books. What a blessing their support has been.

For my book on Bruce Springsteen, I decided to seek help with publicity. Trish Stevens and Ascot Media Group filled that role better than I ever could have imagined, providing me with a heaping helping of contacts that led to great press for the book in all forms of media. Along those lines, Id like to thank those people to whom I spoke about the book, all of whom were exceedingly kind and put my work out there to the public at large. On a local level, Frankie Warren blew the horn for my book louder than anybody. Weve become good buddies since, which has been one of the happiest byproducts of this whole experience.

Needless to say, its impossible to mention all of the people in my life who have contributed to my overall happiness and content, without whom these books probably would never have materialized. But I must thank my two big brothers and lifelong protectors, Bob and Rich; my loving sisters-in-law, Kara and Stacie; and my nieces, Gina, Mia, Liza, and Ava, all growing up way too fast but deeply cherished by their Uncle Jim. Endless gratitude is due to my mom, Diane. She taught me lessons on self-sacrifice that I still have a hard time following, because I, like most human beings, lack her strength and courage.

I am blessed to have a daughter who gets cooler every day and could cover an infinite sea with the tiniest part of her heart. Daniele, nobody loves you more than your dad.

Finally, in the time between my last set of acknowledgments and this one, my girlfriend of almost ten years became my wife. Superlatives fall far short of describing her, the impact shes had on my life, or the depth of my love for her. So Ill just say that my three favorite words in the English language are my wife, Marie and leave it at that.

To do a book like this, you have to have the right subject. In other words, not every artist is going to be worthy enough to warrant an in-depth look at his or her top one hundred songs. First of all, some artists just havent been around long enough to compile a hundred songs that are good enough to scrutinize. Then there are those artists who have been around forever but whose work just doesnt have the consistent levels of quality that would make you want to dive deep into their catalogs.

My previous two subjects, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, cleared these bars pretty easily, and, when it became apparent that I was going to get the opportunity to do a third, The Rolling Stones were an easy choice. After all, how many other bands have been recording for more than fifty years? And, of those bands who have even approached that milestone, have there been any that have reached the levels of popularity, impact, and artistic brilliance that The Stones have maintained?

Speaking of Springsteen, an anecdote he once gave probably comes as close to describing the appeal of The Rolling Stones better than I possibly could. He was talking about growing up as a music fan and the bands to whom he was drawn as a kid growing up in New Jersey. He related how The Beatles, as he saw them, were like this unattainable ideal, so perfect in the way they looked, sang, and played. There wasnt even an inkling on his part that he could possibly be like them. As much as he loved their music, he couldnt ever hope to emulate it.