Posted by dollar past sunset on March 30, 2000 at 22:51:20:
I've spent many years pondering how, when, why, who the Stones are. Who made/were the Stones? And why are they still the most played, talked about, heard of band that will ever exist? COULD THERE BE ONE ANSWER? YES! (IMHO)
Case for Keith: The Human riff. This man's contribution to rock music (the only music that matters) cannot be comprehended. If you look up "cool" in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of Keith. Maybe not a recent picture . . .
My opinion is that its Mick. He invented the Rock Star. Solely on attitude he raised the average bop, bop, bop, Elvis song to the majesty that the following tunes have: Brown Sugar, Street Fightin' Man, JJF, Sympathy, YCAGWYW, or a pedestrian tune - turned classic - like Under My Thumb.
In time, another dude like Keith who loved and could play black man's music would have come along. The groundwork was there for a white boy to finally play the blues. Several have come since.
But who would have believed that some skinny ass kid from London could sound SO cool, feel SO mean, shout SO loud, be SO happy, be SO angry, feel SO sad, and be SO in touch with the emotions that we all feel? It just doesn't happen.
It will be a long time before there is another basketball player like Jordan. It will be even longer before we see a rocker like Mick Jagger again.