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Between 1964 and 1966, the Stones issued THE ROLLING STONES BOOK (also known as “The Rolling Stones Monthly Book”), the equivalent of the Beatles’ ‘The Beatles Monthly Book’, as well produced by British publishing company Beat Publications Ltd. The first issue came out on June 10 1964, and continued to be published monthly until November 1966, with a total of 30 numbers. Each one featured approximately thirty pages (size 8 X 6.25 inches) containing updated information about the group, as well as exclusive photos, interviews, song lyrics, etc. The Beatles Monthly Book closed down temporarily in the early ’70s, but it was revived later, first reprinting the originals, but then as a launching pad for UK Record Collector magazine, and finally shutting up in January 2003, while ‘The Rolling Stones Book’ had only the original edition. Here’s the editorial on the first issue (June 1, 1964) by Mick Jagger himself.
Hello! If anybody had told me a few months ago that I’d be editing a magazine—and one all about the Stones at that—well, I’d have said they were plain crazy! But, here I am doing just that and loving every page of it. The idea, you see, is that one of us should be editor each month. Not to do all the work, we’ve got a live-wire staff to do that, but to kick in with ideas and choose the pics and letters and that sort of thing. And the editor of the month will get a big portrait of himself specially drawn for the centre pages, which means that by No. 5 you’ll have a complete set of Stones’ portraits. I like writing, you know. Especially song-writing. I hope to do a Iot more composing this year with Keith. He and I seem to work naturally together. Of course most of the stuff we write isn’t suitable for the Rolling Stones but we both get a terrific kick out of hearing what other artists do with it. If you have ever tried to write a song you’ll know what I mean. All of us like receiving your letters. We soon get on to Annabelle, that’s our Fan Club secretary, if she doesn’t send them through regularly. And now a lot of them can be published in our own magazine. It’ll also help us to keep in touch with you. We’re so busy these days tearing around all over the place that it’s good to know there’s one place we can keep in regular contact. Hope you like the first edition of our book.
