A 1960’s Comparison: The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones
In 2019 Billboard, the foremost international music and entertainment magazine in the industry ranked these 2 bands in the No1 and No2 spots as Top Artists of All Time. Let’s examine why.
Both bands’ members were born during WWII in the early 1940’s. The eldest was the Stone’s Bill Wyman who was born in 1936, a year shy of Elvis Presley’s birthdate.
The Beatles were all from Liverpool and the Rolling Stones (a.k.a., the Stones) mostly grew up 230 miles south in London.
The Beatles began with different band members in 1958, but the final 4 members began their 8 year career in 1962 and disbanded in 1970. They only toured from 1962 to 1966.
The Stones were founded by Brian Jones in 1962 and continue to record and tour to this day, an improbable 62 years later. No one would EVER have bet on this run. Their original 5 member line-up was finalized in early 1963 and has grown to a much larger on-stage presence including at least 8 additional musicians.
Both bands landed in the US for the first time in 1964, with the Beatles arriving 4 months before the Stones. They both were key cogs in the success of the British Invasion which shattered American’s perceptions about popular music coming from anywhere else but the US. It had never happened before, and the floodgates were uncontrollably spilling over with new talent in the first few years. It established London as a credible music competitor to Los Angeles and New York City.
Based on the sales of Billboard Hot 100 No1 singles, the Brits amassed 50% of all No1‘s in 1964–1965 and remained a formidable force through 1971.
Both of the respective band managers chose very different paths regarding the group’s public imagery.
· Brian Epstein dressed the Beatles in identical classy suits and boots, well-groomed long hair, while always making them conscience about projecting themselves as charming, clean and non-controversial.
· Andrew Loog Oldham, the Stones manager, initially favored copying the Beatles, but wisely chose an anti-establishment approach which fit them perfectly. He wanted to make the Stones, “a raunchy, gamy, unpredictable, bunch of undesirables”.
The Stones and Beatles were intentional reverse images of each other.
Fun Fact: Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham was recommended to them by none other than the Beatles. He was younger than anyone in the band and could not obtain an agent’s license or sign contracts without his mother cosigning.
The artistic rivalry between the 2 bands was undeniable, but their musical tastes weren’t that similar. The Beatles were never heavily drawn to American Blues, the province of the Stones. The Beatles respected the blues, but they were more genre diverse preferring to not be defined narrowly. However, both bands shared a strong attraction to Chuck Berry’s brand of rock n’ roll.
Both bands congealed only 6 months apart, but the Beatles commercial success in the UK came much sooner. They released their first Top 20 hit “Love Me Do” in late 1962 and had 3 No1 single hits in 1963. Their first 2 1963 albums, Please, Please Me and With The Beatles were both major No1 hits and fueled the rise of Beatlemania. By contrast, the Stones didn’t have their first Top 20 UK hit “I Wanna Be Your Man” until 1963 and their first UK album The Rolling Stones didn’t reach No1 until 1964.
This 1962–1963 gestation period in the UK was essential in understanding the Beatles undeniable commercial superiority.
For me, these are the 5 fundamental defining points in their professional ascension:
1. Hamburg — The Beatles, minus Ringo Starr, were booked in 1960 and 1961 for 2 long residencies lasting 3 months in tough “red district” clubs where they played 6–7 hours 7 days a week. They tightened their performance skills and developed showmanship that taught them how to confidently engage audiences. Think of this as their military “boot camp”.
2. The Cavern Club — From 1961 to 1963 they did 292 shows at this damp unventilated underground Liverpool venue. Not only did they create a huge following of loyal fans, but it was also here that they met Brian Epstein, their future manager. They now owned Liverpool. Some more boot camp. Now, let’s segue way to personality development at the broadcast level.
3. The BBC — Between 1962 and 1965, with the vast majority occurring in 1963, they performed 52 live national radio sessions. These appearances allowed the audience to experience the band’s wholesome natural charm and humorous banter between songs. The final step…camera, lights, action!
4. Television — They had a few minor TV appearances in 1962, but it exploded in 1963. They made multiple appearances on Thank Your Lucky Stars, Ready, Steady, Go, Juke Box Jury and single appearances on many others. In the Fall, they appeared on Sunday Night at The Palladium and crowned the year off with an appearance on the Royal Variety Show watched by 15 million viewers. This national TV variety show was England’s version of America’s The Ed Sullivan Show for which they would appear on 3 months later doing much of the same setlist. They now owned the UK. Now, let’s add a seemingly endless stream of great music to the formula.
5. Original Pop Songs — Both of their first 2 1963 UK albums contained an unheard of 8 out 14 original songs. Brand new artists don’t start this way. Their first 5 single releases in 1962–1963 featured original songs on both the A & B-sides and were big hits with 3 No1’s and 1 No2. They chose to not confuse their listeners and their band image by releasing songs featuring multiple genres and smartly stuck with broadly appealing and easy listening pop songs.
So, that’s my take on what rocketed them to the “Toppermost of the Poppermost” as John Lennon would say to remind the lads that they were aspiring to be the best band in the land. But what were the Stones doing during this same period?
Once the band was formed in 1962, they played mostly blues-based small gigs in their London backyard. It wasn’t until they released their first single, a Chuck Berry cover of “Come On” in mid-year 1963 that they toured outside of the city. Their 2nd single “I Wanna Be Your Man” written mostly by Paul McCartney gave them something to include in their live setlist and inspired them to start writing their own songs.
Their first UK album The Rolling Stones reached No1 in 1964 and featured their first original A-side pop song “Tell Me (You’re Coming Back)”. The rest of the album was comprised of American cover songs except for 2 throwaway by Nanker Phelge, which was a pseudonym they used for collectively written mash-up songs.
The Stones first US album release England’s Newest Hit Makers was released in April 1964 and was very similar to their previously released UK album except for another new original song “Tell Me”. The album charted at No11 and single charted at No24. Three singles preceded it in 1964 and only one charted at No48.
Fun Fact: The Stones first US tour in June 1964 was described by bassist Bill Wyman as “a disaster” because “we didn’t have a hit record [there] or anything going for us”. They were ridiculed on the US variety show The Hollywood Palace by the show host Dean Martin for both their looks and performance. I viewed a YouTube video and thought his condescension was uncalled for.
The Beatles released 12 studio albums in the UK and 17 in the US. The discrepancy was Capitol Records, their North American record distributors, decision to reorganize the Beatles intended songs, sequence and album covers to maximize record sales at the expense of the artistic outcome. Of those 17 US studio albums, 14 reached No1 and the remaining 3 reached no lower than No3. Beginning with the Anthology series, their albums reached No1 4 more times between 1995 and 2000. They reached an industry record of 21 No1 US hit singles and scored 8 Top 5 singles.
Beginning in 1964, the Stones have released 31 studio albums, 10 of which were released in the US in the 1960s. Only 1 album reached No1 (Out Of Our Heads) and 8 others reached the Top 5. They have also released 122 singles, 35 in the 1960’s, 5 of which reached No1.
US Record Performance Summary
Beatles — 14 No1 albums & 21 No1 singles.
Rolling Stones — 1 No1 album & 5 No1 singles.
According to CBS, The Beatles have sold 1.6 billion singles and 177 million albums in the US. Their worldwide album sales are 600 million. As of 2023, Music Aficionado claims the Stones have sold 240 million albums. Overall, the Rolling Stones have 38 Top 10 albums (9 No1 albums) and 8 No1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 over the course of their expansive career.
In fairness, the Beatles had a few years head start in developing their stride as performer’s, personalities and songwriters. Except for Ringo, the collective “nervous system” of the Beatles began to codify in 1958. The Stones never had the grueling 1960–1963 performance schedule as outlined above and couldn’t begin building their own collective “nervous system” until 1962. They were playing catch-up from miles behind in terms of brand recognition, fan development, media access and stage presentation. I also think they weren’t as good musicians.
Here’s my rating by position.
· Rhythm Guitar (John Lennon vs. Brian Jones) John played much more difficult guitar parts than Brian, he could also play lead guitar and he sang great lead vocals and harmony parts. John was a legendary songwriter. Winner: John.
· Lead Guitar (George Harrison vs. Keith Richards) Both of their guitar solos were good, but George provided better use of guitar fills adding more texture to their songs. George sang more lead vocals and was a better harmonizer. And George was more experimental. He introduced both the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and Indian influences with the sitar. Keith co-wrote many more songs than George wrote individually for the Beatles. Winner: George.
· Bass Guitar (Paul McCartney vs. Bill Wyman) Bill was the most replaceable member of the Stones. Paul’s bass lines were much more creative and essential to the music of the Beatles than Bill’s were to the Stones. Paul was a great lead vocalist, harmonizer, played many important keyboard parts and played rhythm and lead guitar parts as well. He was also a legendary songwriter. Winner: Paul.
· Drums (Ringo Starr vs. Charlie Watts) From a drumming standpoint, for me this is the most challenging comparison. Both played the role of a steady “pocket” drummer. Neither were “bangers” or interested in distracting fills or ego-based solos. But, because of the Stones narrow choice of mostly blues and blues rock, he was asked to be much less creative. By contrast, Ringo needed to play many more genres and master them at a high quality Beatles level. He was also a decent lead singer and sang live regularly. Winner: Ringo.
· Front man (Mick Jagger vs. Paul McCartney) Mick is a traditional front man, singing almost all the lead vocals and was the “face” of the band. Paul’s role was strictly to banter a bit between songs. He wasn’t the “face” of the band. Winner: Mick.
Final Fun Fact: The Beatles and Stones were artistically competitive, but friends too. Both Brian Jones and Mick Jagger frequented Paul’s first home in the St. John’s Wood section of London very near Abbey Road studio beginning in 1966. They would share new song demos for an outsider’s opinion. Mick and Paul also shared record release dates to avoid head-to-head commercial competition.
Several months ago I published a similar article comparing the Beatles achievements to Taylor Swift. If you’re interested in reading it, click here.
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