Nailed at last: the recorded legacy of the Rolling Stones

Alan Clayson’s new book, The Rolling Stones Album File & Complete Discography (Cassell Illustrated, 464pp, pbk, £14.99), nails the recorded legacy of the finest of all English musicians. It’s a welcome addition to the library of the grown-up music listener.

The companion volume on Bob Dylan was also welcome, though not so necessary. Dylan’s catalogue is straightforward: apart from his brief Asylum interlude, he has been a Columbia recording artist since 1962; there’s no significant difference in Dylan releases around the world; and careful tending of the back catalogue in the Legacy series means that there are no great gaps.

By comparison, the back catalogues of a handful of major artists, notably the Stones and Miles Davis, are notoriously difficult. The Rolling Stones catalogue is, in fact, bewildering.

Confusion reigns because of:
· the Decca/London differences in the early product, which led to different UK and US single, EP and album releases;
· the subsequent split in product when the band moved from Decca/London to their own label, Rolling Stones Records;
· the different labels involved with the Stones – EMI, Atlantic and Virgin have all handled the post-Decca material;
· the intrusion of third party compilers, notably K-Tel and Arcade;
· the Virgin repackaging project in the 1990s;
· the ABKCO remastering project earlier in the Noughties, and
· the new Japanese paper sleeve repackaging project.

I’ve been trying to get to grips with the Stones catalogue, on and off, for 30 years – without once ever feeling confident I’d mastered it.

Now, with Alan Clayson’s new book to hand, I feel I’m almost there. Clayson provides a trustworthy route map through a discographical minefield. I’d find it valuable if it had simply cleared up the mired confusion of the endless Decca compilations of the 1970s. (Tip: Rolled Gold, only ever released on vinyl, in 1975, is the only one you need; it’s a masterpiece).

But Clayson does much, much more than that. He gives you all the detail you’d reasonably expect, on nearly all the Rolling Stones product that’s ever been released in the UK and the US. The inclusion of the lovely album cover artwork is a treat – I’ve had Slow Rollers and No Stone Unturned on tape for years without ever knowing what the hard-to-find original vinyl covers looked like.

And the context and evaluation of the magnificent Rolling Stones legacy, in the Album File part of the book, is worth a careful read: even hardcore Stones fans and collectors will learn something new. Coverage of the individual members’ solo projects is a bonus.

The book ain’t perfect. For example, there’s no mention of the three recent singles boxes; DVD/video – important in the Stones release story – is ignored; and the various reissue projects are crying out for a few pages of the expert explanation that Clayson could contribute. And I’m not overwhelmed, either, by the writing style or the sub-editing of the book.

But these imperfections are minor. Alan Clayson’s The Rolling Stones Album File & Complete Discography is the best introduction to the Stones’ treasure trove that’s been published for 10, possibly even 30, years. It’s a lovely little book. Buy it for the Stones fan in your life – s/he’ll cherish it.



Gerry Smith