Time Really Is On Their Side

Rolling Stones defy aging, but is it any good?

So what exactly did Mick Jagger mean when he sang in 1965 “What a drag it is getting old”?

In 1973, the first year music was at my 15-year-old core, I truly believed that the Rolling Stones were the greatest rock ’n’ roll band in the world.

Though even then, I realized their then-current Goats Head Soup was a far cry from Exile of Main Street just a year earlier. A few years later, my high school yearbook listed Mick Jagger as my choice to be reincarnated.

At 80 years old, Jagger is still impressive as a frontman. More than 60 years since forming, the Stones’ continued longevity is beyond compare as a brand.

But let’s face it, the Stones’ new single “Angry” is a retread of Chuck Berry riffs we’ve heard Keith Richards (who will be 80 this December) and Ron Wood (at 76, a Stone since 1976) bang out so many times before. The first glimpse of a new album, Hackney Diamonds is due on Oct. 20, their first original music in 18 years, following the entirely forgettable A Bigger Bang, considered lackluster even by diehard fans.

At the end of the day — as the British are fond of saying — the Rolling Stones are an enterprise that constantly churns out product with live albums of past tours, and endless repackaged compilations that apparently get purchased in sufficient numbers, or they wouldn’t do it.

“Angry” reinforces that not even a slick video can improve a crappy rock song, even featuring an “It Girl” (Sydney Sweeney of Euphoria, White Lotus fame).

The Stones certainly know how to get media attention. The 24-minute Jimmy Fallon-hosted live event on Sept. 6 from Hackney, London, within three days had been streamed 2.4 million times.

Where’s the Tribute to Charlie?

In my opinion, they would have been far better off releasing first a touching ballad — if one exists — as a tribute to Charlie Watts, who died two years ago, instead of this dull rocker. Charlie played drums on two tracks recorded in 2019 that are on the new album, and long-gone bassist Bill Wyman is on one song.

Without hearing anything else on Hackney Diamonds, let’s hope “Rolling Stones Blues,” the last track on their 24th album is about Charlie (pure speculation on my part) and be as good as 1976's “Memory Motel.”

After all, the Stones sort of paid homage to founding member and longtime road manager Ian Stewart on their 1986 album Dirty Work, which ends with 34 seconds of Stu tickling the ivories on Big Bill Broonzy’s standard “Key to the Highway.” Stewart died in December 1985 of a heart attack at 47. Back in 1963, manager Andrew Loog Oldham decided Stewart wasn’t good looking enough to be a rock star. Similarly, punk svengali Malcolm McLaren replaced Glen Matlock on bass with Sid Vicious, who looked the part but couldn’t play a lick.

By the way, I am not suggesting that a pre-requisite for any musician older than 60 must contemplate their mortality for their advanced output to be worthy, although David Bowie and Leonard Cohen clearly nailed it with the swan songs they left behind (Blackstar and Some Like It Darker, respectively).

The Road Beckons

No one will be surprised if Jagger, Richards and Wood hit the road in support of Hackney Diamonds. I am impressed that any octogenarian would have the stamina to play a full-length concert, let alone go out on a world tour. At their advanced ages, Bob Dylan (82) and Paul McCartney (81) also somehow muster enough energy to undertake massive tours when nobody would fault them for quietly enjoying retirement.

The Stones’ tours in 2005–2007 (144 shows) and 2017–2021 (58 shows) rank seventh and eighth on the highest grossing list, according to Wikipedia, although Taylor Swift is strangely missing from the data.

At 65, I recently decided to now only go to concerts of artists I’ve never seen before. The Cure, Tears for Fears, and Diana Ross, all fit the bill in 2023.

Not experiencing any of the greatness heard on-stage in 1969 from Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! in the concerts I saw in 1975, 1982 and 1989, I still have no desire to see the Stones live. I far more enjoyed The Cure in Minneapolis this past June.

However, I get plenty of satisfaction listening to much of the Stones’ deep catalog (especially Beggars Banquet through to Exile of Main Street, Some Girls, and side two of Tattoo You). My ears discern a major difference between “It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll (But I Like It),” a trite track, and “Time Waits for No One” from the same 1974 album.

In contrast, listen to….

I know comparing music through the decades can come off as apples and oranges. Two days after “Angry” dropped, this baby boomer thoroughly enjoyed Olivia Rodrigo’s new album Guts. I found it to be as impressive as her debut Sour, which I liked so much that I actually bought it on vinyl, a pretty good litmus test of music worth.

Both Rodrigo albums suggest a real talent has arrived. The kid is teeming with confidence, every song listenable, veering back & forth between all-attitude punk rock and brooding confessionals.

I recently had a Facebook exchange with a college friend who writes about music for a major newspaper. He complained that Rodrigo was packaged by Disney handlers. I have no idea how Rodrigo’s record was made, or even her background.

I agree with him that Rodrigo at times can be a bit over the top, as was Billie Eilish and Lorde in recent years. But all three clearly have something to say, and despite me being many decades older than them, I hear a tunefulness that’s completely lacking in “Angry.”

I’m just in it for the music. I don’t think commercial success or popularity has anything to do with it.

Three years ago, I liked the Stones’ one-off, pseudo reggae single “Living in a Ghost Town” because its lyrical content suggested it was about the Covid aftermath. I bought that 10-inch on vinyl, as I did the Stones’ unexpected two-LP 2016 album of obscure American blues, Lonesome & Blue, more mature sounding than their early to mid-1960s young-man treatments.

Not Fade Away, Indeed

For the first time in a long time, I listened today to the Stones’ debut album from 1964, full of R&B covers of American blues & early rock ’n’ roll and one pretty good Jagger-Richards composition, “Tell Me.” The US version of England’s Newest Hitmakers ironically kicks off with “Not Fade Away” (all the more relevant in 2023), while the earlier released UK LP instead led off with “Route 66.”

The Stones no doubt jumped onto the Beatlemania bandwagon, as did the entire British Invasion. They smelled money. Talent-wise, the Fab Four early on had a leg up on the competition with original gems like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You” that hinted of the greatness to come over the next seven years. Without Brian Epstein steering the ship, John, Paul, George & Ringo ran their course, as demonstrated in Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary.

Once Mick, Keith, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie started recording mostly original material by 1966, the Stones’ true talent came into focus, eclipsing the Beatles as an active entity by an astounding 53 years.

With music being so persona and subjective, decide for yourself if you prefer “Angry” or Rodrigo’s “Vampire.” For the record, I would prefer being pleasantly surprised by the rest of Hackney Diamonds.