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Brian Jones on the Rolling Stones’ destiny in 1964
“I remember one long chat between the three of us (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and myself), with a Muddy Waters’ long-player providing the background music. We thought about our parents, about the efforts they’d made in giving us a good home-life as kids and a good education. We wondered if we were doing the right thing by not getting into worthwhile jobs and forgetting all about this mad music bit. Mick usually led the discussions. He’d say that we really had to go for what we believed in. We had this sort of obsession about pushing rhythm & blues across to a wide public here. We wanted OUR idols to be idolized by everybody else…
…We didn’t have the money to buy a banner and cart it through the streets, but if we had we would have done just that. So we had to think hard. Suppose we failed. Suppose we went on not doing much, just soaking up music, for a whole year. That would be about the limit, we reckoned. We flopped – would it matter? At least we’d have tried. We’d have tried to the best of our ability and we would have had nothing to regret in later life – when possibly we’d all be working in offices and married and settled in some suburban house. But if we didn’t give it a proper fling, we would probably end up kicking ourselves – like never knowning how good we could have been. And we figured that a lifetime of regret, of thinking back, just wouldn’t work out.”
By 1964, The Rolling Stones’ destiny was set in motion. Brian Jones had formed the band with a clear vision—to play raw, authentic blues—and now, they were on the verge of something much bigger. What started in smoky London clubs was now sparking chaos worldwide. Their first U.S. tour introduced them to the home of the blues, and recording at Chess Studios only deepened their connection to the music they worshipped.
But it wasn’t just about the music—fans were losing their minds, riots were breaking out, and the Stones were quickly becoming rock’s ultimate rebels. While Brian had laid the foundation, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were emerging as the dominant creative force. The band was evolving, their sound was getting sharper, and their reputation was growing wilder by the day. In just one year, they went from blues purists to the future of rock & roll.
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