2 The Band’s Big Break

CHAPTER 2 The Band's Big Break The Rollin' Stones spent most of their time together. In August 1962, Mick and Keith decided to move out of their childhood homes in Dartford. They joined Brian in a London apartment. They couldn't afford much. The apartment had only two rooms and was lit with bare lightbulbs. The boys owned no furniture except for a few mattresses to sleep on. They left their trash on the floor and dishes piled in the sink. It was especially freezing in winter.

Mick was still in college at the London School of Economics. He and Keith were only nineteen years old, and Brian was twenty. Brian and Keith now devoted all of their time to the band. Brian worked hard to find them places to play. But jobs were hard to get. Not enough people wanted to hear a bunch of British teenagers singing their own versions of American songs. Dick Taylor decided to leave the band. So the Rollin' Stones began looking for a new bass player. Bill Wyman was about seven years older than the other boys and already had a steady job and a family of his own. When Bill showed up at the audition, the Stones could tell right away that he was talented. Bill had experience playing with rock-and-roll bands. He also had his own amplifier— a great addition to the band!

The Stones also had their eye on Charlie Watts. They had seen him perform many times at the Ealing Club and hoped he would become their full-time drummer. Charlie had grown up playing his drum set along with jazz records. He was a jazz expert. At first, he wasn't sure about joining the Rollin' Stones. He kept his day job at an advertising agency, just in case drumming for the band didn't work out. But by January 1963, Charlie was in.

Once in a while, the Rollin' Stones would be invited to play at the Marquee Club in London. Larger crowds and eager fans started to fill the dance floor. But the band still hoped for their "big break"—a lucky chance that would make them popular enough to launch their music career. A man named Giorgio Gomelsky had just opened a new club. But the "club" was only the dark back room of a hotel in Richmond, a town outside of London. One Sunday night, the club's regular band couldn't make it. Giorgio knew that Brian Jones had started a band and needed work. So he asked the Stones to fill in.

The Rollin' Stones first played at the club called the Crawdaddy—on February 24, 1963. It was a snowy day. Only a few people came out for the show. By the next week, the crowd doubled. Even more people showed up the week after that. Pretty soon, people had to line up outside in the early afternoon for a show that didn't start until seven o'clock. Giorgio was happy with the packed house. He booked the Stones to play there every week for eight months. The Rollin' Stones finally had a regular

job! They played a lot of their favorite tunes by popular American musicians like Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, and Bo Diddley. The band was especially good at connecting with their audience. As they sang and played, their fans went wild. The crowd waved their hands, jumped around, and danced on tables. This was sometimes a problem in the tiny club it was so crowded, the dancing was more like sweating, shaking, and wiggling in place. Mick liked to dance when he sang. But there wasn't much room on the stage at the Crawdaddy. So instead of dancing, he shook his head to the music. Even those small moves got