THE ROLLING STONES’ FIRST GIG

- TheCrow -
​​In the summer of 1962. Alexis Korner’s band, Blues Incorporated, had a regular Thursday night gig at the Marquee Club in London. In July,  Korner was offered a spot on BBC Radio's Jazz Club, which didn’t go down well with Harold Pendleton. The latter ran the Marquee’s, and issued a blunt ultimatum, "If you leave this Thursday to do the broadcast, I will not guarantee your gig the Thursday after."
Korner had a plan. He asked his friends and acolytes, Mick Jagger, Ian Stewart, Keith Richards and Brian Jones to deputise for him at the Marquee. Having secured the gig Mick Jagger’s first ever utterance in the press was carried by Jazz News, "I hope they don't think we're a Rock 'n Roll outfit.."

​The line-up is: Mick Jagger (vocals), Keith Richards & Elmo Lewis (guitars), Dick Taylor (bass), Ian Stewart (piano), & Mick Avory (drums)
There was also the small matter of what the band should call themselves. According to Dave Godin, a friend from Kent, where Mick and Keith grew up, “I was there when they decided on the name, and there is no way that it came from the Muddy Waters 78 "Rolling Stone Blues"
Not everyone liked the name, particularly Ian Stewart, "I said it was a terrible name. It sounded like the name of an Irish Show Band, or something that ought to be playing at the Savoy."

​According to the hand written set list, among the numbers they performed were songs by their heroes Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino: that included – ‘Kansas City’, ‘Confessin' The Blues’, ‘Bright Lights Big City’, ‘Down The Road A Piece’ and ‘Dust My Broom’.