****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Being 60 I can well remember the arrival of the "British Invasion"in 1964. While the Beatles got most of the attention , and believe me , it was well deserved, I was a Stones fanatic from day one.Rock and Roll had exploded in the early 1950's with Chuck Berry ,Elvis Presley ,Jerry Lee Lewis,Buddy Holly and many other hard core rockers. I watched my older sisters and brother become all out "'55 ers" ,dancin'and playing the records ,going to the big Fox and Albee theater rock extravaganzas.Mystyfying our parents !!!. I was too young to go but listened to every detail of the shows with reverent awe.I worshipped my sisters and Big Brother,the oldest.Because of him , I was a real "Rock Kid" at 5.But then something happened...Elvis got drafted,Jerry Lee got shamed and with Chuck Berry ,Little Richard etc vanished from our radios.Then Buddy Holly ,Richie Valens,and the Big Bopper went down.It really was "The Day The Music Died." When Elvis came back from the Army he had changed.Rock and Roll by 1962 was:Pat Boone ,Fabian, Bobby Rydell and other watered down "Pop artists". Except for Motown,rock was gone. But then came the Beatles and there was hope.When the Rolling Stones hit, it was a miracle .Rock and Roll was alive again!!!The Stones took the best of the '1955er' music, mixed it with rhythym and blues and put it through a tough English blender and it came out beautifully harsh and rockin'.Our parents accepted the Beatles but they hated the "ragged","ugly","dirty",Rolling Stones.So of course ,we loved 'em. This Album ,"The Rolling Stones Now" was their third American release in 1964,coming a few months after "12 by 5" ,the Stones breakout American hit album.On "NOW",the song writing talents of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are becoming evident . "Heart of Stone" was a top ten single hit ,their first original to make it.Their first American single to hit the top ten,"Time is on My Side",was not a Jagger/Richards song ."What a Shame" and "Surprise ,Surprise"both by Jagger/Richards, became instant Stones fan favorites . The Stones on "Now" cover Chuck Berry's "You can't Catch Me", and as in the two earlier albums,do Chuck Berry like masters ,only with a British touch and Stone's fire.This album(yeah ,I'm an old guy)holds up better than so much early '60's rock. I still keep my early Stones CD's in the car (and copies at home)and whenever I play "Now" for younger people,they are impressed and understand why the Rolling Stones are still so popular and can sell out tours in record time. Every cut on "Now" is a keeper, no weak sides here.Side one starts with "Everybody needs Somebody to Love",an impossable to resist shakin' it ,type mover.A bluesy ,but not too slow, "Down Home Girl"follows ,showing us Mick's skill with the Blues. Every song that follows is perfect.A rare find . Just pure Rock and Roll the way it was meant to sound ,with all it's influences poundin' through.
