July 12 marks the 50 anniversary of Rolling Stones first gig. To celebrate, the legendary rock n' roll band revisited their first stage at the Marquee Club in London for a photo session on Wednesday (July 11).
"It is quite amazing when you think about it," Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone, at London's Marquee Jazz Club. "But it was so long ago. Some of us are still here, but it's a very different group than the one that played 50 years ago."
Although 50 years of rock n' roll lifestyle might have taken its toll, they haven't lost any cool. After more than 400 songs, over two-dozen studio albums, ten mega-tours, turmoil and countless public squabbles, they look dangerous and commanding as ever, still capable of giving crowds more satisfaction than any band 50 years their junior.
That July night in 1962, the Rollin' Stones were Jagger on vocals, guitarists Brian Jones and Keith Richards, pianist Ian Stewart and bassist Dick Taylor. As for the drummer, it depends who you ask. Some fans contend it was their frequent early drummer, Tony Chapman, but Richards insisted in his 2010 memoir Life that it was friend Mick Avory.
The Stones landed the gig when Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated - the club's Thursday night regulars fronted by Jagger - were invited to play a BBC live broadcast. Jagger didn't take part in the broadcast, and Jones persuaded Marquee club owner Harold Pendleton to let their new group fill in.
