The Rolling Stones came to Atlantic after eight years with the British Decca and the American London labels. In 1971, they announced their intention to form their own label and were bombarded with offers from various record labels for distribution. No one knows what thought process the Stones went through to make their pick. If big money was to be the deciding factor, the offers from Warner Brothers, CBS and RCA were at the top of the heap. If sentimentality was to be involved, then the two top contenders would be Chess and Atlantic. The Stones early songbook was heavily loaded with Chess recorded songs by Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and Howlin' Wolf, and later they had been favoring the soulful sounds coming from Atlantic by Solomon Burke, Otis Redding, Don Covay and the Drifters.

The Stones visited the Chess offices in New York, recently moved from Chicago by GRT, who had recently purchased the Chess labels from the Chess brothers. The Rolling Stones were not impressed with cold impersonal atmosphere at the new Chess Records/GRT, but they were impressed with one person there, Marshall Chess, the son of Chess founder Leonard Chess. Marshall Chess was a fan of the Rolling Stones and was their age.

Atlantic was a complete contrast to the new Chess. It was still managed by one of the two founders, Ahmet Ertegun, and Ahmet impressed the Stones as someone with a real love of music. In addition to that, Atlantic had proved to be very good in marketing, promoting and distributing records. The Rolling Stones appointed Atlantic as their label's distributor and made Marshall Chess the label's Manager.

The Rolling Stones label was to be used for new talent discovered by the Stones, but that aspect never really came to pass. Apart from their own recordings, the only records on the label were a record featuring Moroccan pipes recorded by Brian Jones, a budget priced jam session album featuring some of the Stones and their pianist Nicky Hopkins, two solo albums by Bill Wyman, and a couple of reggae albums by Peter Tosh. Based on the limited number of albums on Rolling Stones records, it's doubtful Atlantic ever recouped their investment, but it did give Atlantic prestige to have the Rolling Stones on the label and gave them even more respectability in the rock marketplace.

We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an information web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association with Rolling Stones or Atlantic Records. Should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (which are all out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 2000 by Mike Callahan.