The Beatles and the Stones were still in their infancy when they literally spearheaded this whole rock n roll phenomenon. What are the odds that the first two bands that exploded onto the scene would end up being the best, most impactful, and most influential to ever do it?

The first Beatles album was catchy, but the songs were simple  and in retrospect not that extraordinary. And they ended up composing the most melodic and sophisticated pieces of  music in pop culture ever and are regarded as musical geniuses.

And the Stones blew up before ever writing a single song. They were a cover band just wanting to play like their black idols, and not quite nailing it. And they ended up playing black music better than anyone, and country music, and dance music, and have decades of huge hits and live success.

I find it remarkable, no?

Its amazing how quickly great artists evolve into producing works of utter genius.  Listen to Bob Dylan's debut album (recorded in October '61) - a series of old blues covers and just a couple of originals where he's still trying to regenerate Woody Guthrie.

And just a year later that 21 year old nascent songwriter composed 'A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall'