Chess Assistant

When the Rolling Stones arrived at Chess Records in June of 1964 – then located at 2120 South Michigan Avenue on Chicago's South Side – it was more a pilgrimage to hallowed grounds than simply another recording session. They were impressionable youth – Mick Jagger and Keith Richards barely 20 years old, Brian Jones 22, Charlie Watts 23, Ian Stewart 25 and Bill Wyman the elder statesman at 27 – playing in the same studio spaces as their blues and R&B idols, the performers they'd been emulating. Although Chess Records did not allow groups not signed to the label to use its studios, Andrew Loog Oldham, the Rolling Stones manager and producer, nonetheless reached out to make a case for his burgeoning band. He found a receptive ear in Marshall Chess.

The author of the book is the Grandmaster and honored Russian coach who headed the All-Russian chess school.

By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title. As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of the Beatles in the British Invasion, the Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based rock & roll that came to define hard rock. With his preening machismo and latent maliciousness, Mick Jagger became the prototypical rock frontman, tempering his macho showmanship with a detached, campy irony while Keith Richards and Brian Jones wrote the blueprint for sinewy, interlocking rhythm guitars. Backed by the strong yet subtly swinging rhythm section of bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, the Stones became the breakout band of the British blues scene, eclipsing such contemporaries as the Animals and Them.

The Rolling Stones by CD-Maximum of Russia. 31 volumes featuring the Stones back-catalogue of Decca, London and Rolling Stones Records album releases with bonus tracks. The bonus tracks are best sounding studio or live recordings (soundboard/audience) previously released on several bootlegs. The artwork packaging is first rate. Each CD features the original album artwork plus additional album, singles, E.P. or bootleg artwork from various countries (UK, France, Germany, USA and Japan) and full color posters. The silver CD is silk-screened with the original album label too. Sound quality overall is either excellent mono or stereo.

The Rolling Stones by CD-Maximum of Russia. 31 volumes featuring the Stones back-catalogue of Decca, London and Rolling Stones Records album releases with bonus tracks. The bonus tracks are best sounding studio or live recordings (soundboard/audience) previously released on several bootlegs. The artwork packaging is first rate. Each CD features the original album artwork plus additional album, singles, E.P. or bootleg artwork from various countries (UK, France, Germany, USA and Japan) and full color posters. The silver CD is silk-screened with the original album label too. Sound quality overall is either excellent mono or stereo.