In July 1962, a group of young men performed at the Marquee Club on Oxford Street in London. They called themselves “The Rollin’ Stones” and little did they know that they would soon make musical history. This evocative new book captures the youth, the times, and the spirit of the Stones’ formative early years. The years 1963-1965 were documented by two young photographers who were just beginning their careers. Terry O’Neill, just 25 years old, already had a few years of experience photographing musicians and knew that this group exuded the same magic as another British phenomenon that had just entered the charts: the Beatles. When the band began recording and touring, Gered Mankowitz joined them. His first recording, the now famous Mason’s Yard session, was so successful that Gered was asked to come along on tour to America. Gered was just 19 years old when he picked up his camera in 1965 and joined the band on stage. The two legendary photographers captured the band’s early days, and these indelible images are forever etched in the consciousness of the music world. The photographs in this book are enriched with various reminiscences and interviews that celebrate the band’s beginnings and give a glimpse of what it must have felt like to go from a small club in Soho with no record deal to touring the world a few years later with a number one record. In the front row were Terry O’Neill and Gered Mankowitz, two of the most respected, collected and exhibited photographers in the world. 2016 will be a big year for the Rolling Stones, as London’s Saatchi Gallery hosts the first major exhibition dedicated to the band, Exhibitionism, a career-spanning museum exhibition of Stones artifacts and memorabilia. The publication of this book by ACC Editions coincides with the opening of this landmark exhibition.

ACC Art Books, ISBN9781851498161, hardcover, 240 pages, 22 color and 186 black and white photos in the book.