When I hear the words "Rock & Roll" I immediately think of Chuck Berry whom I consider to be the King of Rock & Roll. I also think of Little Richard,Bill Haley,Buddy Holly,Eddie Cochran,Jerry Lee Lewis,Bo Diddley,Elvis,& Vince Taylor. In each of the decades wanted for the threads(60's,70's,80's, & 90's) there is 1 band that captured the spirit in each decade & that is:
60's - The Rolling Stones - This may be close with the Beatles but the Stones just fit the phrase "Rock & Roll" with their look,style,& sound. Their covers of Chuck Berry's "Carol", "Around & Around","Come On","Down the Road Apiece","Bye Bye Johnny" & "Little Queenie all just SCREAM out "ROCK & ROLL!!!". Their original matierial screamed out Rock & Roll as well especially all their singles released in the 60's
70's - The Rolling Stones - The Stones really became huge in the 70's with concerts selling out major Hockey Arenas & the huge 60 - 80 thousand seat football stadiums thus living up to being the greatest Rock & Roll band in the world. If you really want to catch the spirit of Rock & Roll Check out: "Bitch","Brown Sugar","Rip This Joint","All Down the Line","Happy","Star Star","Do Do Do Do Do Do(Heartbreaker)","It's Only R & R", "Ain't Too Proud Too Beg","Dance Little Sister","If You Can't Rock Me","Luxury","Hand of Fate", "Crazy Mama","Shattered", "Respectable", "Lies","Some Girls","When the Whip Comes Down", & "Before They Make me Run"! If that's not the Spirit of R & R,I don't know what is!!
80's - Rolling Stones - Once again I couldn't think of a band that captured the Spirit of Rock & Roll the way the Stones did.Emotional Rescue had some cool ass Rock & Roll on it such as "Summer Romance","Where the Boys Go",& "Let Me Go"."Tattoo You" was great Rock & Roll album & the Stones had one hell of a Rock & Roll Stadium tour that proved that they still had the fire going.They released a concert movie from that tour the following year & the 2 times I seen it at a local theater it sold out.They released a couple more albums in the mid 80's that also featured some great rock & roll & just when you thought their popularity might be starting to decline a bit the band released 'Steel Wheels' & a huge tour followed the release. The band even had a PPV concert from Atlantic City that went over huge.
90's - The Rolling Stones - Proved again there was no one that could touch them in the Rock & Roll department. In 1994 they released 'Voodoo Lounge' with another huge tour to follow.Hell, VH1 even had a Rolling Stones week to celebrate the new album & tour. 1997 came & the band was still going strong with the release of 'Bridges to Babylon' & once again another Tour!!
It wasn't my intention to pick the Stones for each decade but the more I thought about it there is no band that really comes close to capturing that original spirit of Rock & Roll like the Stones & there is no sign of them giving up!!!!
