Sir Michael Philip Jagger was born in Dartford, Kent, England on July 26, 1943. He turns 83 today. Having read Stanley Booth’s True Adventures of the Rolling Stones (1984) and Christopher Sandford’s The Rolling Stones: Sixty Years (2022), I think Mick’s 83rd birthday seems somewhat improbable.
Forgive me for omitting your favorite songs, knowing less than I should, and making any errors that have crept in below. I haven’t even included all my own favorite songs. Mostly skipping over the hits, I want to highlight a few covers and originals that have made an impression on me, mostly from what I consider their prime years.
The Stones started as a blues cover band and helped familiarize many of us with the great American blues and soul artists. One day in 1963, the Beatles sold the Stones on recording the Lennon/McCartney number “I Wanna Be Your Man” as a single. It worked out for the Stones and seemed to have the effect of encouraging them to write their own music.
Bobby Troup’s “Route 66” is off their first album, I enjoy their version even if its betrays Mick’s unfamiliarity with Winona (Arizona). When in doubt, slur the words.
In the United States we got an elegant version of Chuck Berry’s “Around and Around” on the aptly titled 12 x 5 album. They had mastered the vocabulary of rock and roll.
With Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main St., the Stones hit their stride. All four albums were produced by the late Jimmy Miller, who was an essential contributor to their excellence. My friend Judith Miller, the former New York Times correspondent, lovingly remembered her brother in the memoir The Story and in the column “Mr. Jimmy.”
Jagger and Richards were writing great rock and roll songs. “Sympathy For the Devil” and “Street Fighting Man” are among the strongest and best-konwn tracks on Beggars Banquet. Here I want to highlight the lesser known tracks of the Jimmy Miller era of the Stones. “No Expectations” is another good Jagger-Richards number from Beggars Banquet.
Jimmy Miller also produced “Honky Tonk Women” for the Stones in 1969. Jimmy played the cowbell — in just the right amount. By this time the Stones had incorporated country, blues, and soul music into their songwriting. It was a monster single. They substituted an alternate take on Let It Bleed, which is great from beginning to end — beginning with “Gimme Shelter” and ending with “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” but don’t pass by “Monkey Man.” This is their cover of Robert Johnson’s “Love In Vain.”
“Moonlight Mile” concluded Sticky Fingers, the album with the Andy Warhol cover and the working zipper.
Exile On Main Street is a double album that is full of strong tracks such as “Tumbling Dice.” Among the lesser known is “Sweet Black Angel.” Jimmy Miller adds the percussion that is characteristic of so much of his production work.
“Waiting on a Friend” dates to the period above, although it wasn’t completed and released until 1981. It seemed to leave the poses behind. Sonny Rollins contributed the sax solo. I think we are going out on a high note with this one.
