Today, in 1964, the first album of the Rolling Stones was released in the US. Eponymously titled, it carried the subtitle “England’s newest hit makers.”

Sure, there were groups like the Dave Clark Five, Freddie and the Dreamers, and Gerry and the Pacemakers, and more, but didn’t it come down pretty quickly to Beatles vs. Rolling Stones? Their management certainly fostered the idea that the Stones were the “bad boys” compared to the well-mannered and well-dressed Beatles.

Which did you prefer back then? Hard to imagine someone would have predicted in 1964 that the Beatles would pack it in by the end of the decade and that 50 years later the Rolling Stones would be still performing. Can’t get no satisfaction, indeed.

Here are the Stones, October 1964, on the Ed Sullivan Show.

I never saw the Beatles live, but had the pleasure of seeing the Rolling Stones live twice, most recently in fall 1965 (!), while visiting Jim Montanari for Cornell’s Homecoming. They were a secondary, afternoon act. Main attraction the same night on campus was Bob Dylan.

The Sixties on CNN
A 10-part television series on people and events of the Sixties has begun on CNN. One suspects there is a significant portion of people who consider the level of attention to this specific decade somewhat narcissistic and overdone. Let’s see how they feel about their time when they get 50 years out. Being part of a huge demographic bulge has its rewards.