The Rolling Stones: In the Beginning (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Bill Wyman (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1965, the Rolling Stones released their album Out of Our Heads, which included their hit "Satisfaction." During that time—between spring of 1965 and summer of 1966—when the band had just gained worldwide attention, Danish photographer Rej was on the scene and granted unprecedented access to the band members as no other future photographer would be. In this book, Rej collects the shots he took of the very young, very hot band just as, Bill Wyman writes in his introduction, they "were able to buy good houses, great cars, and as Keith [Richards] said at the time, we were able to eat in places that our fans couldn't afford to." The book is filled with candid and staged photos—both color and b&w—of the band members with all the awkwardness of musicians in their early 20s who are "beginning to appreciate how very big we could become." The captions accompanying the photos—some by Rej, others by the band members—are alternately insightful and mundane. But they, along with the photos, warmly capture the band at this critical moment in their lives. (Oct.)Correction: The publisher for Mirrors of the Unseen by Jason Elliot (Reviews, Aug. 28) is St. Martin's Press.
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From Booklist

In his foreword, longtime Stones bassist Bill Wyman calls Rej's coffee-table book the finest single collection of Stones photos. Perhaps, but it covers only the limited time in early Stones history when Brian Jones was the leader, they dressed in slacks and jackets, and neither the ill-fated Jones nor Keith Richards had yet switched from booze to illicit pharmaceuticals and herbs. The pictures, many in black and white, capture the excitement of young musicians just beginning to experience worldwide fame and, to a lesser extent, big money. Rej dropped out of the Stones' orbit as Jones, his main contact, became more enamored of drugs and weirdness. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books (September 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1554072301
• ISBN-13: 978-1554072309
• Product Dimensions: 13 x 10.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #398,943 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intimate peek into the early Stones, September 14, 2006

By	Robert Busko (Waynesville, NC USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Rolling Stones: In the Beginning by Bent Rej is a marvelous look at the behind the scenes life of the Rolling Stones before they became the band we are so familiar with. As the book tells us, Bent Rej had unprecedented access to the band when they made their first European tour. Many of the photographs come from this trip.

Chapters are devoted to each band member, including Brian Jones. In addition sections are devoted to Munster, Dusseldorf/Essen, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Vienna and Copenhagen. Other chapters entitled are Changing Times, 1965-1966, A Year of Satisfaction, Got Live If You Want It, Charlie Watts, etc.

Thoroughly enjoyable, many of these photos have never been made public before.

This is a must look/read if you're a Stone's fan.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars UNUSUAL, July 6, 2007

By	C. Myers-Burton (Conifer CO) - See all my reviews

Bent certainly captured the uniqueness of Brian Jones and his Stones in this collection. Much humor was filmed that many can say is absolutely priceless! Especially Mr. Jones camping in his undergarments. Those were the days!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rolling Stones-BOOK-In The Beginning, January 3, 2007

By	Greg 'Yardbird' Prevost (Upstate, NY) - See all my reviews

Fantastic book-You have every Stones book? This offers photos never published, and if they were, they were in now relatively obscure European Teen Magazines--I was familiar with many of the photos shot by Bent Rej as I have been a Stones collector since day 1-many of the fantastic Stones shots that were on British and European Teen magazine covers-as well as several hundred I've seen IN pages of these magazines (i.e. RAVE, BEAT INSTRUMENTAL, BIG BEAT, etc.) were shot by Bent, and uncreditied-Bent rounded up all of these plus a TON more...Just amazing..great book...great photos...Thanks Bent!! Greg Prevost/Outasite