House of Rock and Roll

The Rolling Stones Tongue

The Band

The Rolling Stones are an English band who initially based their music on rhythm and blues and rock and roll. They first got together in London and after their first success in the UK, they shortly became just as popular in the US as the “British Invasion” started in the early 1960s.

The band first formed in 1962 when Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were joined by the legend that is otherwise known as Mick Jagger as lead vocals and guitarist Keith Richards.  Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts later completed their early lineup. Ian Stewart was then let go from the lineup early 1963 but continued to work with the band as road manager and keyboardist until his death in 1985.

The band’s early songs were primarily covers of R&B & Blues songs. The 1965 single “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” was their first big single, establishing The Rolling Stones as a top rock and roll band. Beginning with their first album Aftermath (1966,) the songs of Jagger and Richards, helped by the instrumental experimentation of Jones, continued an always present stylistic flexibility. Jones tragically died in 1969 shortly after being fired from the band and was replaced with Mick Taylor. Taylor then recorded five studio albums with The Rolling Stones before finally quitting in 1974. Former guitarist of the band, Faces stepped in and stayed with the band ever since. Wyman left the Rolling Stones in 1993; bassist Darryl Jones, who is not an official band member, has worked with the group since 1994.

The Rolling Stones have officially released 22 studio albums in the UK and 24 in the US, eight concert albums in the UK and nine in the US and numerous compilations; The Rolling Stones have had 32 UK & US top-10 singles, 43 UK & US top-10 albums from 1964 and 2008 and have sold an astonishing 200 million albums worldwide. 1971′s Sticky Fingers began a string of eight consecutive studio albums at number one in the United States. In 1989 The Rolling Stones were inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 they were ranked number 4 in Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The Rolling Stones are also ranked as the number 2 artists of all time on Acclaimedmusic.net. The Rolling Stones latest studio album ‘A Bigger Bang’ was released in 2005 and followed by the highest-grossing tour in history, which lasted until late summer 2007. In the 1969 American tour, tour manager Sam Cutler introduced them as “The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World”.

The Rolling Stones are renown in modern popular music for using various musical genresin their recordings and performances, ultimately making their own unique style. The band’s career is known for a continual reference and reliance on musical styles like American blues, country, folk, reggae, dance; world music exemplified by the Master Musicians of Jajouka; as well as traditional English styles that use stringed instrumentation like harps. The band cut their musical teeth by covering early rock and roll and blues songs, and have never stopped playing live or recording cover songs.

The Tongue

The Rolling Stones original logo of the lips and tongue – one of the most well known logos of rock and roll, is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum Collection thanks to the excellent help of The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity.

The logo was purchased by the Victoria and Albert at an auction in the United States for ,500. The Art Fund contributed 50% towards the total cost of the well known rolling stones lick logo.

The Rolling Stones Tongue was first designed by pop artist, John Pasche in 1970. The pop art design excellently showed off Mick Jagger’s well known lips and the band’s rebelliousness and has been in use by the Rolling Stones ever since.

Pasche was asked to produce the logo after Rolling Stones lead singer, Mick Jagger asked the Royal College of Art in London in 1969 to help him find a design student. The Rolling Stones had been frustrated by the bland and boring designs offered by their record label Decca Records. Subsequently, Jagger visited Pasche’s degree show and this led to discussions for a logo and other work for the Stones’s own label, Rolling Stones Records, after the group’s contract ended with Decca Records in 1970.

David Barrie, Director of The Art Fund, said: ‘This iconic logo, first used on the Stones’s Sticky Fingers album, is one of the most visually dynamic and innovative logos ever created. Designed in the UK by a British artist for one of the country’s most successful groups of all time, it’s wonderful that it has now found a permanent home in London, where the band was originally formed.’

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Rolling Stones Ringtones

The Rolling Stones is a top billing rock band that has been around or decades.  
There are few rock and roll bands around today that can say they were alive and contributed to the birth of rock and roll.

Ringtones have become big in the market today.  They are becoming standard on mobile phones and are here to stay.  Unlike the boring monophonic sounds of the past, the new TrueTone or RealTone ringtones are actual MP3′s that play on your phone when a call is received, a text is received or even when an email is received.

The Rolling Stones is a top billing rock band that has been around or decades.  
There are few rock and roll bands around today that can say they were alive and contributed to the birth of rock and roll. The Rolling Stones are the band that started it all. There were the Beatles who revolutionized pop music and then there were the Stones who did the same for Rock and Roll. Some will debate where the lines blur, but they definitely are styles from opposite sides of the tracks. With songs like “Satisfaction” and “Jumpin Jack Flash” to “Beast of Burden” and “Gimme Shelter,” the Stones constantly let the world know who the God Fathers of Rock and roll are.

Thier songs have been used in numerous Hollywood films such as “Goodfellas,” “Blow,” and “Vanilla Sky.”This is because directors and producers recognize the genius and relevance this band brings to the big screen. Such musical support in any film is sure to take an audience on a fun ride. From their early beginnings in 1962 London, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were drown to the same sound, the blues. When they met as school mates and started playing music together they knew there was a certain magic and ease. Its that writing partnership that has help sustain them for the past five decades. Amazingly they are able to stay current and relevant, as well as somehow still showing the youngsters how it is really done. With the recent release “A Bigger Bang” it is obvious that the stones have no intentions of settling down.

With the popularity of the Rolling Stones, it makes sense that you can hear their infamous songs playing around the world when someone receives a call on their mobile phone.  The Stones top the charts in terms of most played ringtones today.  This band just keeps getting better with time.

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A Review of Sweet Tea; a CD by Hills Rolling

Whatever one could say about Hills Rolling, the moniker of one-man band Trey McGriff, you can’t accuse him of having shallow roots. On his myspace page he lists as influences about one hundred or so bands and musicians. There are old schoolers (Otis Redding, The Beatles, Pink Floyd), new schoolers ( The Killers, My Morning Jacket), tweeners (Nirvana, Dinosaur, Jr.) electro types (The Cure, Depeche Mode) and eclecticians like him (Beastie Boys, Beck). No doubt this is in part a smart-ass commentary on the “what are your influences” question. It is also a list of people he has most likely listened to and is another way of saying that all the music he has heard, or for that matter, everything he has been through, is recorded by the brain, swished around by time, and reflected in his songs. Loves, hates, sounds, tastes, it’s all in your head. Musically and lyrically, this message comes through loud and clear on his CD Sweet Tea.

With all this in his musical blender, he has come up with a record that is like a meal with different foods, different flavors, and quite tasty. Sweet Tea is not an album with a theme or unified sound per say, but the strength of the songs and the individualism of his voice and musical palette steers the record clear of being a hodgepodge of stuff. He is not intellectually and intentionally going from style to style as if he’s searching for an identity, or flailing about hoping to catch the listener’s ear. The songs are well-crafted and come from his heart, making the music distinctly and honestly Hills Rolling. Not unlike a jazz artist who expresses his individual voice on an album by having a ballad, swing numbers, a blues and a song with a Latin flavor.

“Crazie” opens the record with a catchy bit of vintage hard rock that is the ’08 answer to “Rock and Roll Hootchie Coo” by Rick Derringer. The macho stance of that song is replaced by the simple wonder of gettin’ down with a beautiful girl that’s made him so crazy that “I don’t know what to do / I’m gettin’ dizzy I’m shakin’ in my shoes.” The music works well with the song, alternating between hard bar chord guitar licks and trippy tremolo/vibrato-soaked guitar leads. His pop sensibility keeps everything tight, short and sweet like the tea. Hip hop drums open “Not Again”, then the song gives way to the kind of acoustic/electric guitar-based rock that never goes out of style. Percussion and a home boy chorus give the song a party feel despite the grimness of the song’s slice of life lyrics: “I just live day to day / barely keepin’ my head above the water / Not again got all these feelings trapped inside me / Not again can’t pay the bills I think I’m sinking your way . . . I’m so lonely / some day / we’ll ride the waves into the sun.”

This cut deftly combines a pleasant tune with grimness, humor, and hope all rolled into one. “Watching The Waves” is psychedelic rock by way of the Cure, with a beer soaked college kid trippin’ on playing some simple guitar chords and having a moment with his friends. The harmonica captures the feeling of timeless, be-here-now grooviness that puts you right there on the beach, as McGriff chants “Standing in the ocean watching the waves roll by, roll by.”

One of McGriff’s other musical projects is in the mode of experimental electronica and is called SomeWhere OutHere. The song “Middle of Nowhere” hints in this direction. Starting with an electronic drum pulse and droning bass with a spacey guitar riff ala New Order, this piece is a soundtrack to doing . . . whatever. Weird sounds come in and out of focus as the interlocking licks and drum beat march on. Whereas these elements might seem abstract on another record, here the music maintains a grassroots, funky, down home feeling.

In her October 2007 article in the New Yorker, author Sasha Frere-Jones, the best music writer around I must add, wrote that, unlike rock from the 50′s through the 80′s, twenty-first century indie rock is totally devoid of the blues and soul, the root-feeding soil of so much great music. This leaves indie rock and its offshoots, in his words, “full of lassitude and monotony.” No problem with that here. Hills Rolling McGriff is from Georgia or thereabouts, so the blues, soul and country are in his blood. Perhaps that is what helps blend the musical stew he’s cookin’ up on Sweet Tea. This CD is further proof that while commercial rock and pop are rotting and twisting in the wind, these are great days for music down here where just us folks are living.

http://www.myspace.com/hillsrolling

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The Origins and Scope of the Rolling Stones’ Music

The Rolling Stones were like many other British acts of the 1960s as they were heavily influenced by American rock ‘n’ roll and R&B. They were at the leading edge of the so-called British Invasion of the mid-1960s, as the Stones and contemporaries such as the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Kinks, the Animals, the Yardbirds, the Who, Herman’s Hermits and the Hollies all made at least a significant showing on the charts, both in America and at home in Britain. Out of all of those groups, the Beatles, in spite of breaking up in 1970, became and still remain the most successful act in music history in terms of sales and influence. The Rolling Stones became a constant presence that is still active today. In addition to their longevity, the Stones have had significant success on the charts in America, Britain, and around the world. There is little doubt that any act since the Beatles fails to meet the Beatles’ standards, however there are few acts that meet the standards of the Stones either. For the most part, comparing the Beatles to the Stones is like comparing apples to oranges as they have different styles, with the Beatles being more influenced by early rock ‘n’ roll while the Stones were not only influenced by early rock ‘n’ roll but also by American Blues.

As noted above, the Stones and their British contemporaries were indeed influenced by early American rock ‘n’ roll artists such as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly the Everly Brothers and Jerry Lee Lewis, and therefore had a foundation deeply rooted in rock ‘n’ roll. Once again, what made the Stones stand out from the Beatles and all of their other contemporaries, save for maybe the Yardbirds, was the fact that they were also heavily influenced by American Blues and R&B artists such as Muddy Waters, Rev. Gary Davis, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin’ Wolf and Arthur Alexander. A significant majority of the Stones’ recordings from their first three years (1963-1965) showcased both their rock ‘n’ roll influences and their blues influences. As a matter of fact a great deal of their recordings from this period would be cover songs of the American Blues and R&B artists mentioned above.

As the years went on however, the Stones added and incorporated more genres into their blues and rock ‘n’ roll foundation such as country, folk, baroque pop, psychedelia, adult contemporary, reggae, dub, new wave, punk and disco too name a few. It is this characteristic of the band which has made them very successful over the years as their ability to incorporate these other genres into their repertoire has enabled them to build upon their original foundation and consequently build an enormously successful career. Artists that influenced the Stones to incorporate news genres into their sound include George Jones, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Otis Redding. Hits and popular songs over the years such as “Ruby Tuesday,” “Angie,” “Wild Horses,” ‘Tumbling Dice,” “Miss You,” “Paint It Black,” “Sympathy For The Devil,” “Start Me Up” and “Honky Tonk Women” are all indicative of their musical diversity. “Ruby Tuesday” is baroque pop; “Angie” is a 70s-style adult contemporary ballad; “Miss You” is a disco-rock fusion; “Wild Horses” and “Honky Tonk Women” have a strong country influence; “Tumbling Dice” is inflicted with gospel and soul; “Paint It Black” is eastern-tinged psychedelia; “Sympathy For The Devil” has a tribal meets rock ‘n’ roll sound, while “Start Me Up,” although sounding like a straight-forward rocker, is in fact a reggae based track. Even their biggest hit, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” is an example of the Stones building upon their foundation as it features a much harder edge than their early cover songs.

The sound of the Stones would help lay the groundwork for a diverse array of rock artists which followed them such as Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, The Doors, The Stooges, Thin Lizzy, Oasis, Blur, The Stone Roses, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, T. Rex, The Ramones, AC/DC, Creedence Clearwater Revival, New York Dolls, Def Leppard, Foreigner, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Steve Earle, Neil Young, Elton John, The Sex Pistols, Bon Jovi and Pearl Jam–And that is just the first generation. One must consider the number of artists that the Stones-influenced artists have influenced themselves. The only thing that is as long-lasting as the Rolling Stones themselves is without a doubt the legacy they have left and will continue to leave even after the band calls it a day. When that day comes, it will be long after most of their British Invasion contemporaries have hung it up, most of them retiring back in the ’60s and ’70s. As rock music has changed, and even faltered over the years, the Rolling Stones remain one of the few constants as an excellent source of entertainment.

A Rocking Good Time among the Rolling Rockies

Ideally located in the American heartland amidst snow capped landscapes and towering mountains lays captivating Colorado. Renowned for its high altitudes and picture perfect sceneries, Colorado is fast gaining popularity as a holiday hub that is not limited to skiing. The Centennial State as it’s known to locals goes far beyond being a glorified ski resort town to a vibrant vacationing hotspot for the masses.

Famed for its unspoilt natural wonders, Boulder, Colorado offers a wide range of attractions for the discerning traveller.  The University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and the stunning Eldorado Canyon are must-see locales in addition to Boulder Falls, Boulder Creek Path and the Leanin’ Tree Museum of Western Art. The Boulder County Farmers Market is perfect for those who are looking for some local flavour while the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse is also worth a visit.

For most of the world, Colorado means one thing, the location of one of the world’s most spectacular sights, the Rocky Mountains, and it is justifiably so as nothing dominates the Colorado skyline like this iconic mountain range that is as mysterious as it is breathtaking.  Sprawled across a land area of 4800km the Rocky Mountains’ highest point Mount Elbert in Colorado is elevated 14,440 feet from sea level. It is believed that the Rockies were formed mainly due to waterways and it is a little known fact that rivers fed by the Rockies supply water to one fourth of America’s population.

With ample opportunities to go hiking, trekking and camping it is no wonder that travellers from all over the world flock to witness the splendor of this soaring natural wonder and its national park.  The Rockies are at its best during those hot summer months when the Rocky Mountain National Park, Pikes Peak and Yellowstone National Park are in full bloom while the Grand Teton National Park, Royal Gorge and Glacier National Park also offer engaging excursions.

Well-known attractions within the Rocky Mountain National Park include the idyllic 45 mile high-altitude drive along Trail Ridge Road in addition to the hiking trails down Longs Peak. The Forest Canyon Overlook and Copeland Falls are preferred spots among seasoned guests while the Moraine Park Museum and Alpine Visitor Center offers charming trinkets and souvenirs to take home. Other points of interest such as Sprague Lake and the Bear Lake Trailhead are also not to be missed when one is visiting the Rocky Mountain National Park.

For those who are looking for a Boulder hotel close to all the activities the Rocky Mountains have in store, look no further than the  Millennium Harvest House Boulder . Conveniently situated, this comfortable rest provides quality service and hospitality that will surpass even your wildest

The Rolling Stones Still Going Strong In 2008

The Rolling Stones are one of the most successful bands ever. They originally formed in 1962 and are still touring forty-six years later. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were among the original band members shortly followed by Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts.

Brian Jones and Ian Stewart originally formed the band. Mick Jagger joined at the beginning as their lead singer. Brian Jones died in 1969 by misadventure and Ian Stewart died of a heart attack in 1985.

Probably one of there most famous singles, which catapulted The Rolling Stones to stardom was there hit single in 1965 “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”. Mick jagger and Keith Richards song writing partnership would ensure that they would sell upwards of 200 million albums.

Memorabilia and merchandise

With all this music history from The Rolling Stones, memorabilia and merchandise is plentiful. If you are a fan of The Rolling Stones, you will have no trouble finding posters, photos and original autographs of band members and compared to The Beatles memorabilia, it’s surprisingly cheap.

So what are the Rolling Stones up to in 2008?

They have just finished a film documentary directed by Martin Scorsese called “Shine a Light” about The Rolling Stones and starring The Rolling Stones with footage from their “A Bigger Bang” tour. The “A Bigger Bang” tour was a world tour and started in August 2005 and finished in August 2007. The tour is reported to have earned over 500 million dollars. Not bad for a bunch of pensioners.

In 2008 they also left the EMI recording company and signed with Universal Music which can only mean there are more Rolling Stones albums on the way and considering that Mick Jagger just turned 65 and Charlie Watts is 67 its makes you wonder where they get their motivation from, they certainly don’t need the money.

Is there really going to be a Rock & Roll band with members in their seventies. There’s only four more years to go before they can celebrate fifty years of the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger has been quoted has saying he and the other band members have no intention of retiring and they want to make more albums and do more tours.

There is obviously still a great deal of interest in the Rolling Stones if the earning for the “A Bigger Bang” tour are anything to go by and I hope they carry on. As a musician myself I see them as a great inspiration. Being in a Rock & Roll band used to be a young mans game. Not any more.

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Rolling Stones’ Guitarist Turns Down CSI

The Rolling Stones’ guitarist himself, Ronnie Wood is a self-confessed fan of CSI. Ironically, he turned down an offer to appear on the highly watched crime drama. The 60-year-old English rock star declined an offer made by CBS for him to fill in a guest stop on one of the three CSI shows. He said that the role was a safe cracker, however he declined the offer based on the experience of another rocker, Roger Daltrey, founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. Daltrey previously filled in as a guest star in the episode “Living Legend” from CSI’s season 4.

“I saw Roger Daltrey do a guest appearance – he said it was all too much,” Ronnie Wood explained to Virgin Radio. “No time to rehearse and he had to play five parts. I said no, I didn’t really want to go in like that.”

Roger Daltrey’s Mickey Dunn required him to wear a variety of prosthetic disguises, however Wood did not verify if his cameo appearances would be as complicated as Daltrey’s.

“They wanted me to be Uncle Ron the safe cracker,” he said.

In addition, he also did not reveal on which CSI franchise he would have appeared in, however many believe that he was supposed to be guesting on CSI: Miami, because Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo) had already mentioned an Uncle Ron on season 3′s “Crime Wave.” Also, in “Darkroom” of season 5, Wolfe had also mentioned that his uncle had been a safe cracker. However, it has not been clarified it the two uncles were one and the same man.

Wood wasn’t completely hesitant as he said he’d be welcoming future guest role offers on CSI if there was a London-set edition of the forensic drama series.

“It would be interesting if they set one in London and I could be an old time safe cracker,” he mentioned. “That would be fun.”

Catch CSI on Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT on CBS.

For more resources about Rolling Stones’ Guitarist Turns Down CSI or for the full story of CSI please review this link http://www.buddytv.com

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History of Rock Keeps Rolling On

Ever since Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry began crooning tunes with a different sound, the history of rock music has been marching forward. Different than anything that had come before it, rock mixed racy lyrics with loud, but soulful music to create something so distinct it earned its own moniker.

As the history of this musical form continues to be written, remember the basic genre is classified by the use of the guitar. Whether it’s hard rock, country rock, classic rock, punk rock or beyond, rock and roll involves guitars and lots of them. Acoustic or electric doesn’t necessarily matter, but a lead role in the music does (with a few exceptions).

Rock and roll history is often said to have gotten its first page in the 1950s when “Rocket 88″ was released. Little Richard, Elvis, Ray Charles and Chuck Berry all wrote their own pages during this decade. With songs such as “Rock Around The Clock,” “Love Me Tender,” “School Day” and more hitting the charts, the road was paved for such artists as Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis to make their debuts on the scene.

The dancing rock of the 50s gave way to the more “radical” rock of the ’60s. Here a generation of youth found their voice in war protest songs and peace rally music. Elvis remained a mainstay during this decade, but other big names also made the scene. The likes of Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Frank Zappa and The Monkees were popular during the ’60s. The Beatles revolutionized rock music when they made their American invasion in 1964.

The 1970s saw a continuation of the themes of the ’60s with the addition of disco and other influences. Van Halen became a big name during this decade and legends Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all met their ends during the 1970s. Greats from the ’50s and ’60s continued to rock during this decade as well.

The 1980s are perhaps best known for their heavy metal hair bands. Contrary to popular belief, this music was and remains more than just “noise.” Many musicians of this era were classically trained and know their stuff. Big moments during this decade include the death of John Lennon, the end of the band Wings, the creation of “We Are The World,” and Michael Jackson’s massive hit record “Thriller.” The more soulful sounds of Billy Joel were also a mainstay during this decade. Bands such as Journey, Def Leppard and the Scorpions made it big during this era in rock.

The 1990s saw the creation of boy bands and some serious recognition for rockers when the Hall of Fame opened in Cleveland. Musicians to hit the charts with a bang during this decade included Madonna, Kurt Cobain, Boyz II Men, Alanis Morissette and more. Heavy metal continued, but other sounds made their ways onto the airwaves as well.

With hard rock, classic, punk, pop and more still major players in the music scene, this genre is showing no signs of going away. It’s plain to see rock and roll “will never die.”

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