A day in 1960, a teenaged Mick Jagger made his way through a railway station in Dartford, England. It's impossible to say what was going through his head that day, but his timing was perfect. He ran into an old friend, Keith Richards. A short four years later, the two stood at the center of the most controversial3—and some would say greatest—rock-and-roll band in the world, the Rolling Stones.
In the meantime, Jagger and Richards head to separate colleges—Jagger to the London School of Economics, Keith to Sidcup Art College—but they traveled the music scene together. Later they met Brian Jones, a talented blues guitarist. Because of their mutual love of American blues, Jagger, Richards, and Jones decided to form their own group, and they invited Dick Taylor, drummer Tony Chapman, and a piano player Ian Stewart to join. Brian Jones named the band after the title of the Muddy Waters4 song “Rollin' Stone”.
By 1962, the Stones was begging for gigs5 around London. Chapman was soon replaced by a drummer Charlie Watts. Taylor was replaced not long after by bassist Bill Wyman. The band catapulted to fame6 in 1964 after their first Top 10 single “I Wanna Be Your Man” and a bill-topping7 tour.
By the mid-1960s, the Stones had fused8 early rock 'n' roll influences into a guitar-based sound that established a prototype9 for hard rock. Songs like “Satisfaction” and “Street Fighting Man” captured the violence, frustration and chaos10 of that era. Second in popularity only to The Beatles, the Stones affected a rebellious, bad-boy image that helped them become one of the world's biggest and most famous bands.
By the end of the Sixties, the Stones had released a great number of hit records. “Beggars Banquet”,“Let It Bleed”, “Exile11 on Main Street” turn up12 on lists of the greatest albums of all time. As the Stones were working on “Let It Bleed”, Brain Jones died, and the band replaced him with Mick Taylor. As the Stones entered the seventies Taylor took over most of the lead guitar parts in the band as Richards' drug problems got somewhat in the way13. While all this went on, Jagger remained the front man14 and continued to deliver songs vocally15 like no one else. With the Beatles now gone, the Stones were the true kings of rock.
In the mid-eighties things got tense between Jagger and the rest of the band as Mick wanted to do solo projects. For the first time it seems that maybe the end of the Rolling Stones was near. But by the close of that decade things were ironed out16 and “the Steel Wheels tour” was a huge success. They haven't had a No. 1 album since “Tattoo You” in 1981. But while most of their peers have either died or dropped into obscurity17, the Stones remain one of the world's top concert attractions. In 1993 Wyman quit the band. To this day the Stones have yet to replace him.
In recent years, the Stones' tours have gotten more praise than the new albums they write and record. The Stones' latest album, “A Bigger Bang”, which comes out in September 2005, is their longest record in 33 years. Jagger and Richards say they worked together more closely on “A Bigger Bang” than they have in years, partly because Watts, the only other original Stone, was battling throat cancer.
1960年的一天，10多岁的米克·贾格尔穿过位于英格兰达特福德市的一个火车站。要知道他那天到底在想些什么是不可能了，但他挑的时间却恰到好处。他碰到一个老朋友，基斯·理查德。短短四年之后，他们两个就成为世上最具争议的——有人会说是最伟大的——摇滚乐队即滚石乐队的中坚力量。
与此同时，贾格尔和理查德进入了不同的大学——贾格尔去了伦敦经济学院，而基斯进了斯特卡普艺术学院——但他们常在一起玩音乐。后来他们遇到了布莱恩·琼斯，一个有天赋的布鲁斯吉他手。出于对美国布鲁斯音乐的共同热爱，贾格尔、理查德和琼斯决定成立自己的乐队。他们邀请了迪克·泰勒，鼓手托尼·查普曼，以及钢琴师伊恩·斯图尔特加入。布莱恩·琼斯用马迪·沃特斯的一首歌名“滚石”作为乐队名称。
直到1962年，滚石乐队还在伦敦寻求开办专场演唱会的机会。很快查普曼由另一名鼓手查利·沃茨所取代，之后不久泰勒也由贝斯手比尔·怀曼代替。1964年他们发行首张打入前十的单曲《我愿做你的男人》，初次举办巡回演出之后，乐队从此一举成名。
到20世纪60年代中期，“滚石”已经将早期的摇滚元素融入到以吉他为基础的曲风之中，形成了硬摇滚的原型。《满足》和《街头斗士》这样的歌曲表现了那个时代的暴力、沮丧和混乱无序。他们受欢迎的程度仅次于披头士，“滚石”演绎了一种叛逆的坏男孩形象，这帮助他们成为了世界上最大、最著名的乐队之一。
到60年代末，“滚石”已推出了大量热门唱片。《乞丐的盛宴》、《任它流血》以及《流亡在大街》进入音乐史上最棒的专辑之列。 在“滚石”创作《任它流血》期间，布莱恩·琼斯去世，于是米克·泰勒接替了他的位置。“滚石”进入70年代后，由于理查德吸毒问题已成困扰，泰勒基本接过了乐队首席吉他手的位置。与此同时，贾格尔仍然担任乐队的主唱，依旧那么与众不同。随着披头士的解散，“滚石”成了真正的摇滚之王。
80年代中期，由于米克想单飞，贾格与乐队其他成员的关系紧张起来。第一次出现了危机：滚石乐队似乎即将走向终结。但是10年过去了，一切平息下来，“钢轮”巡回演出也获得了巨大成功。虽然自1981年的《替你文身》之后，他们的专辑再也没能拿第一。然而，在大多数同时代音乐人去世或是陷入沉寂之时，“滚石”依然是世界顶级音乐会最吸引人的亮点之一。1993年怀曼退出乐队，至今还无人代替。
与他们所创作录制的新专辑相比，近几年“滚石”的巡回演出更受赞赏。2005年9月，“滚石”推出最新专辑《石破天惊》，这是他们33年来最长的唱片。贾格尔和理查德说，这些年来他们在创作《石破天惊》时最为同心协力，部分原因是，“滚石”惟一的另一位元老沃茨正陷于与喉癌的抗争中。
1. apt adj. 合适的，恰当的
2. stray from 偏离
3. controversial adj. 有争议的
4. Muddy Waters马迪·沃特斯（1915-1983），美国布鲁斯音乐的传奇人物。
5. gig n. 现代音乐或流行乐的专场演唱会
6. catapult to fame一举成名
catapult v. 射出，弹出
7. bill-topping adj. 首次；最重要的
8. fuse v. 使融合
9. prototype n. 原型
10. chaos n. 混乱
11. exile n. 流亡；流浪者
12. turn up 出现
13. get in the way 妨碍某人做某事
14. front man （乐队） 主唱，灵魂人物
15. vocally adv. 用声音
16. iron out解决，消除 （困难等）
17. obscurity n. 默默无闻
18. boldly adv. 果敢地，无畏地
19. harikari n. 日式的切腹自尽
20. 此句文化背景：在布鲁斯与爵士乐坛，黑人歌手处于主导地位。而且他们巡回演出收入并不像滚石乐队那么高。
21. in a position to 能够做某事
22. That you could cut with a knife 非常浓重的
23. jocular adj. 诙谐的
24. odds n. 失败的可能性， against all odds 尽管有极大的困难
25. junkie n. 有毒瘾者
26. heroin n. 海洛因
27. ol' chap 即old chap, 意为老家伙
benign adj. 仁慈的，和蔼的
28. harmony n. 和谐，融洽