We've the BBC to thank - sort of.

And the main reason why is because when they hired Blues Incorporated to play on the 'Jazz Club' session on that night 50 years ago, they said that they wouldn't pay for all seven musicians.

They didnt see the point in paying for a band with three singers, especially as one of them (Mick Jagger) didn't also play an instrument. Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies played guitar and harmonica respectively (and they were the band's founders and leaders) so Mick was the odd man out on this occasion.

So, the band toyed with the idea of pulling out of the broadcast in protest - only for Mick to suggest that as they needed the exposure, they should go ahead and do the radio session without him and he'd keep their Thursday night Marquee residency open by getting the fledgling Rolling Stones together to fill in.

The newspaper cutting suggests that the band's name was 'Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones', which wasn't officially the case. I'd imagine the band was billed in this way for the benefit of the Marquee regulars to show them that one of the band they normally got to see on a Thursday night was involved in the group that was substituting for Blues Inc. on that evening.

As a footnote, this was the Blues Incorporated radio session info that night which gave the Stones their start as a live act :

12th July: BLUES INCORPORATED. UK radio (BBC) ‘Jazz Club’, London,
                   Paris Theatre. Producer: Terry Heneberg. Incl.
                   - Hey Hey (Alexis Korner?)
                   - Band introduction
                   - Spooky But Nice (Cyril Davies)
                   + Hoochie Coochie Man (Willie Dixon)
                   Line-up: Charlie Watts (dr)/Alexis Korner (gtr, voc)/Cyril Davies (voc, harm)/
                                  Dave Stevens (p)/Jack Bruce (string bass)/Dick Heckstall-Smith (sax)
                   Note: Hoochie Coochie Man was released in July 1972 on the Alexis Korner-album
                             'Bootleg Him!' and credited to this session

(info courtesy of www.zentgraf.de )

Interesting history lesson, Gazzapedia! So then this suggests that Charlie Watts did appear with the Stones in 1962 making 2012 the 50 year anniversary, but Charlie wasnt an official member until 1963, right? So is July 7, 1962 the origination date of the Stones because of this event?

Gazza wrote on Jul 7^th, 2012 at 2:55pm:


So July 12 is the first gig, but the band originated April what date? I guess they rehearsed, 3 months getting wasted in London.

Bitch wrote on Jul 7^th, 2012 at 7:58pm:


No one knows. They just got together informally.

Now another header that questions how the Stones got their name? I'm sticking with the Blues song, whether it was a 78 or whatever size record it was.

I don't know who Dave Godin is, but I NEVER heard that it came from a 78.
The way I recall it is that Brian glanced at an album cover and got the name
from it.

Whether or not Dave Godin owned anything larger than a 7" record, it's a fairly
well-established fact that one of the residents of Edith Grove had this 12" album
in his collection:



"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."  - Keith Richards


1. "I Just Want to Make Love to You"
2. "Long Distance Call"  
3. "Louisiana Blues"  
4. "Honey Bee"  
5. "Rollin' Stone"  
6. "I'm Ready"

Side two  
1. "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man"
3. "I Want You to Love Me"  
4. "Standin' Around Cryin'"  
5. "Still a Fool"  
6. "I Can't Be Satisfied"  






It seems like they studied this one pretty hard, too:

1."Bye Bye Johnny" – 2:02
2."Worried Life Blues" (Major "Big Maceo" Merriweather) – 2:07
3."Down the Road a Piece" (Don Raye) – 2:10
4."Confessin' the Blues" (Jay McShann, Walter Brown) – 2:06
5."Too Pooped To Pop" – 2:31
6."Mad Lad" (Davis) – 2:06
7."I Got To Find My Baby" – 2:12
8."Betty Jean" – 2:25
9."Childhood Sweetheart" – 2:40
10."Broken Arrow" – 2:19
11."Driftin' Blues" (Eddie Williams, Johnny Moore, Charles Brown) – 2:16
12."Let It Rock" – 1:42

The story of how they got the name, I recall reading this story: When the band was being booked for the first gig, the club owner or organizer asked KEEF on the phone what the name of the band is, and he picked up an album cover and chose a song title. It wasnt a line from lyrics, he did a quick glance and blurted out "The Rolling Stones" with no forethought whatsoever, it was a spur of the moment choice, and a very good choice!  

BTW... the more I read about the Rolling Stones the more confused I get, that's why I do prefer to listen their music, sing, play or dance it too!

Anybody seen my show sole