But what's puzzling you Is the nature of my game

70's Pick of the Week

“Sympathy for the Devil”, The Rolling Stones, 1968

You’ve heard these discussions I’m sure, maybe on a bus or in a mall. They go something like this:

Dude 1: “Hey man, what band do you like better, The Beatles or the Stones?”

Dude 2: “The Stones man, the Beatles were just not cool”

Dude 1: “No way. The Beatles really pioneered the way songs were written man”

Dude 1: “Ya but the Beatles were so clean cut and played stuff my Mom listened to – Beatle mania crap man. Jagger and Richards knew how to make a real rock song!”

Dude 2:  “Dude, Lennon had more talent in his little finger than Jagger will ever have, and beside the Beatles gave the Stones their first hit song”

...and on we go...Do we care?  That is the point at which you turn up your iPod, and stare out the window.

I was thinking the other day as I heard “Get off of My Cloud” seeping out of my daughter's room that one way to look at it is: What would it be like if a particular band did not exist? If they were just not there? Would I want there to be no Beatles? No Stones? How about Billy Joel? Do we really need him? How about the Clash? We could surely forego them couldn’t we? How about Elvis, did we really need him?

The way music weaves and evolves is part of our culture. It makes a rich colourful sonic pallet for us to behold. Music feeds on itself. It sheds its own skin every now and then like a snake. A fresh shiny snake appears and slithers into our consciousness with something new – we may or may not like it, but it is going to happen

This curious video offers a view into the evolving Stones at this point in time. It is interesting how they interact, or don’t as the case may be with other musicians, the crowd and their band mates. The Stones were already huge by this point, but not near the quantum manic cult status they have now.

 If the Stones didn’t play in Hyde Park that day would anyone have come?  What would the people that had come to see them do instead?