Music / The Rolling Stones

"Now, if you want to hear some music like the boys are playing. Hold tight, bang your foot don't let it carry you away. Don't let the heat overcome you when they play so loud. Won't the music intrigue you when they get a crowd...?".

England's Newest Hit Makers.

The Rolling Stones is the debut studio album by legendary British rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1964. Though widely considered to be a solid album, it features just one original Jagger/Richards composition ("Tell Me") and two Nanker/Phelge—aka full group—compositions ("Now I've Got a Witness" and "Little by Little"), the rest of the tracklist consisting of covers.

It became one of the most successful albums of 1964 in the UK. Unfortunately, it is also currently out of print.

The US version of the album is subtitled England's Newest Hit Makers. It omits "Mona" and adds the single "Not Fade Away".

A big-name fan was the influential British radio DJ John Peel who, in 1997 placed it at #20 in a list of his 20 personal favourite albums^note It was by no means meant as a definitive list, as he felt that top albums lists "are terribly self-indulgent" and said "he'd change it to a completely different list if he would be asked again a week later". But it was the only time in his life he agreed to make such a list, so in that regard pretty close to being a definitive list when asked by the newspaper The Guardian.

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Tracklist (Standard Version):

Side One

1. "Route 66" (2:20)
2. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (2:17)
3. "Honest I Do" (2:09)
4. "Mona (I Need You Baby)" (3:33)
5. "Now I've Got a Witness (Like Uncle Phil and Uncle Gene)" (2:29)
6. "Little by Little" (2:39)

Side Two

1. "I'm a King Bee" (2:35)
2. "Carol" (2:33)
3. "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)" (4:05)
4. "Can I Get a Witness" (2:55)
5. "You Can Make It If You Try" (2:01)
6. "Walking the Dog" (3:10)

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Tracklist (US Version):

Side One

1. "Not Fade Away" (1:48)
2. "Route 66" (2:20)
3. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (2:17)
4. "Honest I Do" (2:09)
5. "Now I've Got a Witness (Like Uncle Phil and Uncle Gene)" (2:29)
6. "Little by Little" (2:39)

Side Two

1. "I'm a King Bee" (2:35)
2. "Carol" (2:33)
3. "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)" (4:05)
4. "Can I Get a Witness" (2:55)
5. "You Can Make It If You Try" (2:01)
6. "Walking the Dog" (3:10)

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Principal Members:

• Mick Jagger - lead vocals, harmonica, percussion
• Brian Jones - guitar, backing and co-lead vocals, harmonica, percussion, tambourine, maracas
• Keith Richards - guitar, vocals
• Charlie Watts - drums, percussion
• Bill Wyman - bass, vocals

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You Can Trope If You Try:

• Added Alliterative Appeal: "Little by Little".
  And little by little I'm losin' my love for you
• Alliterative Title: "Little by Little".
• Bo Diddley Beat: "Not Fade Away".
• Break Up Song: "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)".
  You said we're through before
  You walked out on me before
  I tried to tell you, but you didn't want to know
  This time you're different and determined to go
  You gotta tell me you're coming back to me
• Cover Version: All the songs bar "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)", "Now I've Got a Witness (Like Uncle Phil and Uncle Gene)" and "Little by Little", making it almost a Cover Album.
• Face on the Cover: A group shot of the band.
• Instrumental: "Now I've Got a Witness (Like Uncle Phil and Uncle Gene)".
• Intercourse with You: "I'm a King Bee" and "I Just Want to Make Love to You".
  Well I'm a king bee, baby
  Buzzing around your hive
  Yeah I can make honey baby
  Let me come inside
• List Song: "Route 66" lists all the locations you pass by on that particular route, from Chicago to L.A.
• Obsession Song: "Honest I Do".
  Stop driving me mad
  You the sweetest little woman that I ever had
  Please tell me you love me
• One-Woman Song: "Carol" and "Mona (I Need You Baby)".
• Pep-Talk Song: "You Can Make It If You Try".
  Sometime you had to fall
  Don't you know sometime you want to cry?
  Don't it make you feel so bad sometime?
  You wanna lay down and die
  Yeah, yeah, you can make it if you try
• Self-Titled Album: Although it is averted in the US version of the album.
• Shout-Out: "Walking the Dog" provides a small shout-out to the nursery rhyme "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary":
  Tell me, Mary, what's your twelve
  How does your garden grow?
  What with silver bells and cockle shells
  And pretty maids all in a row
• Singer Name Drop: "Little by Little" has a Guitarist Name Drop:
  Alright, Keith, come on, now
• Special Guest: Phil Spector and Gene Pitney play maracas and piano respectively on "Little by Little", and possibly "Now I've Got a Witness (Like Uncle Phil and Uncle Gene)".
• Step Up to the Microphone: Brian Jones shares co-lead vocals with Mick Jagger on the chorus of "Walking the Dog".
• Textless Album Cover: Unusually for the era, the original UK release had no text on the front cover save for the Decca logo.

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