Ahmet Ertegun was profiled by George W. S. Trow in The New Yorker in a classic piece back in 1978. Ertegun was the son of the Turkish ambassador to the US and he remained behind in D.C. studying medieval philosophy at Georgetown. Instead of devoting himself to his studies he founded Atlantic Records with his friend Herb Abramson. Trow charted how Ertegun moved from tramping through muddy, Louisiana fields in search of hot new sounds to the whirl of Studio 54. Below the cut are links to the songs mentioned in the article, as best as I could find, in the order in which they appear. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Aug 17, 2009 - 25 comments

Eel Pie Island: the early 1960s incubator and catalyst of the burgeoning R & B scene in Twickenham and Richmond, The young musicians who played there included members of The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Long John Baldry, the Small Faces, to name but a few. BBC Radio documentary on Radio 4 (30 minutes). Plus, from about 1964 (?): pre-Wheels on Fire Brian Augur and the Trinity with three-quarters of Steampacket (Long John Baldry, the delicious Julie Driscoll, and Rod "the Mod" Stewart) I guess what with Augur on keyboard, the Steampacket didn't need their pianist, Elton John. youtuber
posted by Mister Bijou on Feb 1, 2007 - 10 comments

The Rolling Stones have produced a few of the Greatest Albums of All Time. Now Exile on Main Street, said by many to be The Stones their best work, has had its demo tracks and outtakes leaked on to the web. via
posted by aburd on Nov 7, 2006 - 132 comments

Is This Finally The Best Of The Rolling Stones? Their website was redesigned earlier this month in preparation for Forty Licks, the upcoming anthology which is being touted as the definitive compilation of their best songs. Is it though? There have been, er, more than a few of them in the past - even (most shockingly!) a couple of very good ones. Nor do the four new songs exactly transmit over-confidence. More pertinently: does it (do they) still matter? [Or, are we better off sticking to the current Primal Scream reincarnation?]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Sep 13, 2002 - 51 comments