Today in Music (1964): The Rolling Stones released their debut album

England’s Newest Hitmakers The Rolling Stones

Released: April 16, 1964 R, May 30, 1964 E Peak: 11 US, 112 UK, -- CN, 13 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, -- UK, 2.50 world (includes US and UK), 4.30 EAS Genre: classic rock R The Rolling Stones (UK) E England’s Newest Hit Makers (US/Australia)

Tracks: Click on a song title for more details. Not Fade Away [1:48] Route 66 [2:21] I Just Want to Make Love to You [2:18] Honest I Do [2:10] Mona (I Need You Baby) [3:33] Now I’ve Got a Witness [2:32] Little by Little [2:40] I’m a King Bee [2:37] Carol [2:34] Tell Me [4:05] Can I Get a Witness [2:56] You Can Make It if You Try [2:02] Walking the Dog> [3:09] Total Running Time: 33:24 , 30:48 E The Players: Mick Jagger (vocals, tambourine, harmonica, maracas) Keith Richards (guitar, backing vocals) Brian Jones (guitar, backing vocals, harmonica, tambourine) Bill Wyman (bass, backing vocals) Charlie Watts (drums) Ian Stewart (keyboards)

Rating: 3.999 out of 5.00 (average of 24 ratings) Quotable: “As hard-core as British R&B ever got” – Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide Awards (The Rolling Stones/England’s Newest Hitmakers): (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album “The group’s debut album was the most uncompromisingly blues/R&B-oriented full-length recording they would ever release. Mostly occupied with covers, this was as hard-core as British R&B ever got; it’s raw and ready. But the Stones succeeded in establishing themselves as creative interpreters, putting ‘50s and early ‘60s blues, rock, and soul classics (some quite obscure to White audiences) through a younger, more guitar-oriented filter. The record’s highlighted by blistering versions of Route 66, Carol, the hyper-tempoed I Just Want to Make Love to You, I’m a King Bee, and Walking the Dog.” RU As was often true of UK groups making it in the US in the ‘60s, albums didn’t make it across the ocean with the exact same track listings, covers, and sometimes even album names. When the UK album The Rolling Stones trekked overseas, the group’s cover of Bo Diddley’s Mona (I Need You Baby) was jettisoned, later to appear on the U.S. album Now! Instead, the U.S. release England’s Newest Hitmakers added the group’s “Bo Diddley-ized version of Buddy Holly’s Not Fade Away.” RU It was the Stones’ first top 10 in the UK and a minor hit in the U.S. “It’s not a big switch, a Bo Diddley-style cover of a Buddy Holly song bumping an actual Bo Diddley cover on the U.S. version.” BE The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Not Fade Away The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Charles Hardin, Noman Petty Recorded: 1/10/1964 at Regent Sound Studios; some sources say 1/28/1964 and 2/4/1964 Released: 3/6/1964 (single), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964), Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass) (1966), More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies) (1972), The Singles Collection: The London Years (1989), Forty Licks (2002), Grrr! (2012) Peak: 48 BB, 44 CB, 52 HR, 7 CL, 3 UK, 33 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 13.98 streaming About the Song: Buddy Holly wrote and recorded this song in 1957 and it was released as the B-side of “Oh, Boy!” It employs a “modern version of African American religious chants” MG-50 in what became known as the Bo Diddley sound. In 1964, the Rolling Stones’ version of the song became their third single and first hit on the Billboard charts in the U.S. The Stones’ version “is far superior…the five English boys take hold of the number and give it an irresistible drive.” MG-51 Keith Richards “transcend[s] the original with a more aggressive, more accentuated riff” MG-50 “that was far more ‘Bo Diddley than anything on the original version.” MG-51 The song marks “the real birth of the Stones” MG-51 as it “defines the true sound of the Rolling Stones for the very first time: the energy, the aggression, and the sensuality.” MG-51

Route 66 The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Bobby Troup Recorded: 1/3/1964 at Regent Sound Studios Released: The Rolling Stones (1964), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 18.34 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Bobby Troup, known to television audiences for his role in the 1970s’ show Emergency!, wrote “Route 66” in 1946. Taking its name from the famous road connecting Chicago to Santa Monica, the song “represents a glorification of travel as a symbol of freedom.” MG-30 Nat “King” Cole was the first to record the song. Since then, it has been covered by Chuck Berry, Natalie Cole, the Cramps, Brian Setzer, Them, and, of course, the Rolling Stones. MG-30 The Stones “revisit the route west with a great deal more adrenaline.” MG-30 “They had already honed the number…onstage…[so] that by this point they were performing it like a well-oiled machine.” MG-30 “Bill lays down a nice groove and even attempts a walking bass line that seems to delight Charlie.” MG-30 “Mick has gained in assurance since ‘Come On,’ and his voice…now has the effect of truly bringing the song to life and focusing the listener’s attention.” MG-30 The song also features “a perfectly judged solo from Keith.” MG-30

I Just Want to Make Love to You The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Willie Dixon Recorded: February 24-25, 1964, at Regent Sound Studios Released: 6/12/1964 (B-side of “Tell Me”), The Rolling Stones (1964), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964), The Singles Collection: The London Years (1989) Peak: 38 CL Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.85 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954, “I Just Want to Make Love to You” “is a blues number in the purest tradition of Chess Records, the label that epitomizes modern Chicago blues.” MG-31 It reached #4 on the R&B chart. The Stones “upped the tempo relative to the original recording.” MG-31 The sound is “almost garage band.” MG-31 “If there is any need to point out one more difference between the Stones and the Beatles, this is it: while the Fab Four were singing ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ the Stones were extolling the virtues of a far more raunchy form of intimacy!” MG-31

Honest I Do The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Jimmy Reed, Ewart Abner Recorded: February 24-25, 1964, at Regent Sound Studios; possibly 1/10/1964 as well Released: The Rolling Stones (1964), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.75 streaming About the Song: Jimmy Reed recorded “Honest I Do” in 1957 and it hit #4 on the R&B chart. Keith Richards said, “Jimmy Reed was a very big model for us…We were fascinated by it, Brian and I. We would spend every spare moment trying to get down Jimmy Reed’s guitar sounds.” MG-32 Indeed the Stones’ version features Keith and Brian and “adheres fairly closely to Reed’s, with the same prominent snare drum, a reasonably slow tempo, and a bluesy harmonica.” MG-32 Jagger provides the latter, “drenched in a long and deep reverb whose effect is to accentuate the plaintive character of the lyrics.” MG-32

Mona (I Need You Baby) The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Ellas McDaniel Recorded: 1/3/1964 at Regent Sound Studios Released: The Rolling Stones (1964), Now! (1965) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.56 streaming About the Song: Bo Diddley wrote and recorded this song and released it in 1957 as the B-side of “Hey! Bo Diddley.” He “was a major source of inspiration for young British and US groups at the beginning of the sixties.” MG-33 The song’s “syncopated rhythm that had its origins in the depths of the Mississippi Delta before being revisited in the Chess Records canon of electric blues was the source at which the Rolling Stones drank.” MG-33 The Stones’ version of “Mona” is “distinctively more aggressive and more tribal than the original.” MG-33 Richards’ and Jones’ twin-guitar attack “play the most prominent part…[in] creating an authentic Bo Diddley sound.” MG-33 “Jagger delivers the lyrics brilliantly, the particular quality of his voice bringing a feline character to the number.” MG-33

Now I’ve Got a Witness The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): The Rolling Stones (as Nanker Phelge) Recorded: 2/4/1964 at Regent Sound Studios Released: The Rolling Stones (1964), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.16 streaming About the Song: This song introduced the “Nanker Phelge” moniker as a means to credit a song to the Rolling Stones. The song was the introduction of keyboardist Ian Stewart as an unofficial member of the band and also featured Phil Spector and Gene Pitney. For this instrumental, Mick Jagger takes up tambourine instead of vocals. “It is the rhythm section that really shines, with Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman complementing each other to great effect.” MG-34

Little by Little The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): The Rolling Stones (as Nanker Phelge), Phil Spector Recorded: 2/4/1964 at Regent Sound Studios Released: 3/6/1964 (B-side of “Not Fade Away”), The Rolling Stones (1964), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964), The Singles Collection: The London Years (1989) Peak: 47 CL Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.49 streaming About the Song: While this wasn’t a cover, the Rolling Stones did borrow the title of a 1959 blues number by Junior Wells and Earl Hooker. Phil Spector and Mick Jagger wrote this “in a few minutes in a corridor at Regent Sound Studios,” MG-35 making for “a fine homage to the blues.” MG-35 The song “tells of a love that is dying little by little because the narrator of the song has discovered that his lover has been untrue.” MG-35

I’m a King Bee The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): James Moore Recorded: February 24-25, 1964, at Regent Sound Studios Released: The Rolling Stones (1964), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.60 streaming About the Song: “’I’m a King Bee’ is one of the most famous songs by Slim Harpo, the archetypal proponent of Louisiana or swamp blues. He recorded it in 1957, inspired by Melvin “Lil’ Son” Jackson’s “Rockin’ and Rollin’.” It wasn’t an immediate success but “became an essential number for British and US rock groups from Pink Floyd to the Doors and from the Grateful Dead to Led Zeppelin.” MG-36 The Rolling Stones’ “version provides an insight into the work performed by Brian and Keith on guitar, and by Mick on vocal to penetrate the secrets of this ‘devil’s music’ born in the bayous of Louisiana. Their adaptation differs from Slim Harpo’s original in the substantially greater rock ‘n’ roll energy and the significantly more suggestive dive with which they endow the song.” MG-36

Carol The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Chuck Berry Recorded: 1/3/1964 at Regent Sound Studios Released: The Rolling Stones (1964), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.97 streaming About the Song: “Like many Chuck Berry songs, ‘Carol’ is an ode to adolescence, with the inevitable sleek automobiles, rock ‘n’ roll dancing joints, and, of course, the exaltation of female sensuality. To put it in a nutshell, it is a song on which the Chuck Berry legend was founded.” MG-37 “Compared to Chuck Berry’s version, the Stones’ seems to have been given a shot of adrenaline. Carried along by an excellent rhythm section consisting of Charlie…, Bill, and Brian, Keith…plays jubilant guitar licks that…closely resemble those of the inventor of the duckwalk – including the actual solo.” MG-37 Jimmy Page said of their recording, “They were really spitting it out. The whole vibe of it was just great.” MG-37

Tell Me (You’re Coming Back) The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Mick Jagger, Keith Richards Recorded: February 24-25, 1964, at Regent Sound Studios Released: 6/12/1964 (single), The Rolling Stones (1964), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964), Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass) (1966), More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies) (1972), The Singles Collection: The London Years (1989) Peak: 24 BB, 27 CB, 26 HR, 14 CL, 9 CN, 32 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.93 streaming About the Song: “Tell Me” is “Jagger-Richards’ first good original tune” RU and “marked their ascendency over the group and, as a consequence, the end of Brian Jones’ leadership, at least on a musical level.” MG-38 It was surprising that the pair’s first official composition was a ballad and not a blues number. It confirmed the influence of Andew Loog Oldham as the band’s producer. He thought such a move would reach a wider audience. MG-38 He was right. It was the group’s first trip into the top 40 in the United States. The version on The Rolling Stones “sounds about two generations hotter than any edition of the song ever released in the U.S. – it’s the long version, with the break that was cut from the single, but the British LP and the original late-‘80s Decca-U.K. compact disc (820 047-2) both contain a version without any fade, running the better part of a minute longer than the U.S. release of the song, until the band literally stops playing.” BE

Can I Get a Witness The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland Recorded: 2/4/1964 at Regent Sound Studios Released: The Rolling Stones (1964), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.51 streaming About the Song: The famed Motown writing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote “Can I Get a Witness” for Marvin Gaye, who recorded it with the Supremes on backing vocals and “the boogie woogie piano of Earl Van Dyke, a member of the famous Funk Brothers.” MG-40 The title references “the ritual in black churches whereby the preacher poses the question ‘Can I get a witness?’ and the congregation devoutly and contemplatively responds with an ‘Amen.’” MG-40 In the Stones’ version, Ian Stewart emulates Van Dyke’s performance as he was “one of Britain’s most faithful proponents of this style of piano playing.” MG-40 “Mick Jagger is recast in the role of a preacher,” MG-40 adopting “a more rasping, bluesy voice with a rapid-fire delivery that makes him almost recognizable.” MG-40 The song has “a Ray Charles flavor, despite being fundamentally more rock ‘n’ roll.” MG-40

You Can Make It if You Try The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Ted Jarrett Recorded: February 24-25, 1964, at Regent Sound Studios Released: The Rolling Stones (1964), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.69 streaming About the Song: “You Can Make It if You Try” was written by Ted Jarrrett and recorded by the blues singer Gene Allison. It reached #3 on the R&B chart in 1958. Jarrett wrote it after his girlfriend left him. The Stones’ version “expresses this heartache extremely well, with Jagger’s vocals and Stewart’s keyboard both strongly gospel-tinged” MG-41 while also bringing “a rock ‘n’ roll flavor to the number that is absent from Gene Allison’s slower version.” MG-41 It gave the group “a new palette: after rock, blues, rhythm ‘n’ blues, and the pop ballad.” MG-41

Walking the Dog The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Rufus Thomas Recorded: February 24-25, 1964, at Regent Sound Studios; some sources say January 3-4, 1964 Released: The Rolling Stones (1964), England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.67 streaming About the Song: Rufus Thomas started at Sam Phillips’ Sun Records before jumping to the equally influential Stax Records, where he gave the record company “one of its fist resounding hits with ‘Walking the Dog.’” MG-42 “As with so many blues and rhythm ‘n’ blues numbers, double entendre plays an important part…’walking the dog’ has overtones of masturbation and oral sex.” MG-42 The song is “steeped in the soul of the Southern states, in which the Rolling Stones are perfectly at home. In their brilliant version they give the impression of being entirely at ease. In an extremely rare instance in their recording history, Brian Jones provides the vocal harmonies for Mick Jagger and whistles at the end of the refrains.” MG-42 Brian also played rhythm guitar while Keith played lead, “delivering extremely good blues-rock licks throughout as well as an excellent solo – without doubt the best on the album.” MG-42

Resources/References: BE All Music Guide review by Bruce Eder MG Philippe Margotin & Jean-Michel Guesdon (2022). The Rolling Stones: All the Songs. Hachette Book Group: New York, NY. RU All Music Guide review by Richie Unterberger Related DMDB Pages: First posted 4/1/2008; last updated 12/11/2025.