Fact #42294
When:
Short story:
Mick Jagger bumps into an old acquaintance, Keith Richards, in Dartford Railway Station, Dartford, England, UK, Europe. Together, they will go on to join a group formed by guitarist Brian Jones - The Rolling Stones.Full article:
Bill Wyman (bassist, Rolling Stones) : Mick Jagger and Keith Richards didn’t create The Rolling Stones – they were part of The Rolling Stones like all of us. Brian Jones gave the name The Rolling Stones, he chose the music and he was the leader.
(Source : BBC interview, 2015)
Keith Richards : He (Mick Jagger) lived around the corner from me, so we'd see each other on our tricycles and hang around here and there. Later, we started going to different schools, but I'd still run into him now and again. I once saw Mick outside Dartford Library selling ice creams from a refrigerated trolley - summer job.
In a town like Dartford, if anybody's headed for London or any stop in between, then in Dartford station, you're bound to meet. The thing about Mick and my meeting was that he was carrying two albums with him - Rockin' At The Hops by Chuck Berry, and The Best of Muddy Waters. I had only heard about Muddy up to that point.
So we're on the train and I say, "Man, I know all Chuck Berry's licks." Mick says, "You play guitar?" He had a little youth-club band, doing Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran stuff.
Dick Taylor (later of The Pretty Things] : Mick and I were playing together. And then I went to Art School and Keith was there. I was still rehearsing with Mick. And Keith was playing a bit too. We used to talk quite a lot, Keith and I. But he was too shy to ask us to come along. Then one day he bumped into me and we started talking together and the next day he started coming to rehearsals.
Mick Jagger : Keith's mum was very tolerant of him playing. Keith was an only child and she didn't have a lot of other distractions, whereas my parents were like "Get on your homework." It was a real hard time for me. So I used to go and play with Keith, and then we used to go and play with Dick Taylor. His parents were very tolerant, so we used to go round to his house, where we could play louder.
Dick Taylor : That formed the basis of Little Boy Blue And The Blue Boys. After that we went out and met Brian Jones and we all joined up with Brian. Initially Mick and Keith joined up with Brian and all the other guys in Brian's band left because Keith was such an animal. They all thought he was a real rock 'n' roller.
Keith Richards : He was very heavily into blues, already had his connection - you couldn't get that music in England. The guy he would write to was Marshall Chess at 2120 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, 'cause Marshall filled Chess Records' international orders.
It would have been around 1958 when I first cottoned on to John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and all of those other Chicago guys. I would have been around 15 or 16, I was at art school and records were passing around between aspiring guitar players and bluesmen - bored 16 year old white kids. It was before I met Brian, it was even before Mick and I had got together musically... but I think it was the fact we were searching out these records that brought us together - we found out we weren't the only ones in the world listening to this type of music.
Mick Jagger (vocalist, Rolling Stones) : We started to go to each other's house and play these records. And then we started to go to other people's houses to play other records. You know, it's the time in your life when you're almost stamp-collecting this stuff. I can't quite remember how all this worked. Keith always played the guitar, from even when he was 5. And he was keen on country music, cowboys. But obviously at some point, Keith, he had this guitar with this electric-guitar pickup. And he played it for me. So I said, "Well, I sing, you know? And you play the guitar." Very obvious stuff.
Keith Richards : When I started playing all I wanted to do was play like Chuck Berry. I thought if I could do that I'd be the happiest man in the world, then when I found out I could do that I thought, maybe there is another aim in life. The idea of playing with Muddy Waters was 'when I get to heaven... if I make it there and he makes it there: But I actually got to play with him, John Lee, Howlin' Wolf, Scotty Moore... I actually got to play with them all. You can't ask much more than that. And I got paid!
Mick Jagger : I used to play Saturday night shows with all these different little groups. If I could get a show, I would do it. I used to do mad things - you know, I used to go and do these shows and go on my knees and roll on the ground - when I was 15, 16 years old. And my parents were extremely disapproving of it all. Because it was just not done. This was for very low-class people, remember. Rock And roll singers weren't educated people.
Tweet this Fact
(Source : BBC interview, 2015)
Keith Richards : He (Mick Jagger) lived around the corner from me, so we'd see each other on our tricycles and hang around here and there. Later, we started going to different schools, but I'd still run into him now and again. I once saw Mick outside Dartford Library selling ice creams from a refrigerated trolley - summer job.
In a town like Dartford, if anybody's headed for London or any stop in between, then in Dartford station, you're bound to meet. The thing about Mick and my meeting was that he was carrying two albums with him - Rockin' At The Hops by Chuck Berry, and The Best of Muddy Waters. I had only heard about Muddy up to that point.
So we're on the train and I say, "Man, I know all Chuck Berry's licks." Mick says, "You play guitar?" He had a little youth-club band, doing Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran stuff.
Dick Taylor (later of The Pretty Things] : Mick and I were playing together. And then I went to Art School and Keith was there. I was still rehearsing with Mick. And Keith was playing a bit too. We used to talk quite a lot, Keith and I. But he was too shy to ask us to come along. Then one day he bumped into me and we started talking together and the next day he started coming to rehearsals.
Mick Jagger : Keith's mum was very tolerant of him playing. Keith was an only child and she didn't have a lot of other distractions, whereas my parents were like "Get on your homework." It was a real hard time for me. So I used to go and play with Keith, and then we used to go and play with Dick Taylor. His parents were very tolerant, so we used to go round to his house, where we could play louder.
Dick Taylor : That formed the basis of Little Boy Blue And The Blue Boys. After that we went out and met Brian Jones and we all joined up with Brian. Initially Mick and Keith joined up with Brian and all the other guys in Brian's band left because Keith was such an animal. They all thought he was a real rock 'n' roller.
Keith Richards : He was very heavily into blues, already had his connection - you couldn't get that music in England. The guy he would write to was Marshall Chess at 2120 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, 'cause Marshall filled Chess Records' international orders.
It would have been around 1958 when I first cottoned on to John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and all of those other Chicago guys. I would have been around 15 or 16, I was at art school and records were passing around between aspiring guitar players and bluesmen - bored 16 year old white kids. It was before I met Brian, it was even before Mick and I had got together musically... but I think it was the fact we were searching out these records that brought us together - we found out we weren't the only ones in the world listening to this type of music.
Mick Jagger (vocalist, Rolling Stones) : We started to go to each other's house and play these records. And then we started to go to other people's houses to play other records. You know, it's the time in your life when you're almost stamp-collecting this stuff. I can't quite remember how all this worked. Keith always played the guitar, from even when he was 5. And he was keen on country music, cowboys. But obviously at some point, Keith, he had this guitar with this electric-guitar pickup. And he played it for me. So I said, "Well, I sing, you know? And you play the guitar." Very obvious stuff.
Keith Richards : When I started playing all I wanted to do was play like Chuck Berry. I thought if I could do that I'd be the happiest man in the world, then when I found out I could do that I thought, maybe there is another aim in life. The idea of playing with Muddy Waters was 'when I get to heaven... if I make it there and he makes it there: But I actually got to play with him, John Lee, Howlin' Wolf, Scotty Moore... I actually got to play with them all. You can't ask much more than that. And I got paid!
Mick Jagger : I used to play Saturday night shows with all these different little groups. If I could get a show, I would do it. I used to do mad things - you know, I used to go and do these shows and go on my knees and roll on the ground - when I was 15, 16 years old. And my parents were extremely disapproving of it all. Because it was just not done. This was for very low-class people, remember. Rock And roll singers weren't educated people.