Of all the British bands that purloined American music and sold it back to the States, none have matched the Rolling Stones' ingenious, energized redesigns of roots influences. The Stones didn't so much pay homage to their roots as create revelatory, enduring rock 'n' roll extensions of black Chicago and Delta blues, R&B, gospel and hardcore country, playing up the sexually rhythmic charge of the music by pushing it in new directions.

Before they were the "world's greatest rock 'n' roll band," the Stones were one of England's best cover bands. Singer Mick Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Brian Jones, drummer Charlie Watts and bassist Bill Wyman were passionate blues fans, and unlike other British R&B bands of the day, they put their own nasty edge on the material. An outgrowth of Blues Incorporated, the Rolling Stones made their first single, a cover of Chuck Berry 's "Come On," in 1963 and recorded their 1964 album debut, The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hitmakers), in just 10 days. It's a crackling explosion of bluesy beat that runs from the lead-off "Not Fade Away" through the buzz of "Route 66," "King Bee" "Carol" and "Walking The Dog." The group's ability to infuse rhythm & blues tunes with their own fertile energy jump beats carried through 12 X 5 and The Rolling Stones Now!, a toughened blues-rock jewel.

The next five U.S. albums, which saw Jagger-Richards blossom as songwriters, are vibrant pastiches of various studio sessions that didn't match the U.K. releases and orphaned a couple hit singles. Out Of Our Heads provided the breakthroughs of "The Last Time" and "Satisfaction." The raucous December's Children artfully mixed bad-boy blues slink ("Look What You've Done") with zooming rock 'n' roll ("Get Off My Cloud") and convincing balladry ("As Tears Go By"). It was the all-original Aftermath (1966) that most effectively reworked blues roots into exciting new hybrids, like Jones's gypsy hook on "Paint It Black." Jones's harmonica also powered "Going Home" from its origins as a two-minute, 30-second song into a trend-setting 11-minute jam.

Between The Buttons, with "Let's Spend The Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday" spliced in, and the leftovers of Flowers were entertaining, almost vaudeville detours with newfound melodic flair that showed some Beatles influence and sometimes strained Jagger's rogue vocals. Their Satanic Majesties Request blatantly knocked-off Sgt. Pepper's while yielding a few psychedelic highs.

Done clowning around, the Stones rebounded with a series of verifiable masterworks. Beggar's Banquet (1968) was a model of down-home sophistication, matching country-blues ("Prodigal Son") with outlaw politics ("Sympathy For The Devil") and a rough-hewn acoustic sound (the main tracks for "Street Fighting Man" were recorded on a portable cassette deck!). Sessions for Let It Bleed had already started when Mick Taylor (formerly of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers) replaced an exiting Jones, who subsequently drowned. A remarkable coda to the '60s, the album included "Gimme Shelter," "Midnight Rambler," "You Can't Always Get What You Want," a back-porch stomp rewrite of "Honky Tonk Women" and a definitive "Love In Vain."

The Stones kicked off the '70s with the live Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out (their own version of a heralded bootleg Liver Than You'll Ever Be) and another great album of brassy, ballsy leftovers, Sticky Fingers, which featured Andy Warhol's zipper cover. Summarily slagged by critics, who later referred to it as rock's greatest double-album, 1972's stunning epic Exile On Main Street took soulful dirt-roads and deep-mud trips through gospel, blues, Stax/Volt R&B and country influences.

The excesses of Goats Head Soup and It's Only Rock & Roll (1974, Taylor's last LP as a Stone) were awkwardly intoxicating, and the death-disco and funk-reggae grooves of Black And Blue (Ron Wood's first) made for a decent dance party. Much sharper was 1978's Some Girls and its eclectic hard-rock adventures in the key of "A." Ron Wood's first full LP as a Stone, it showed that what the group lost in musicianship when Taylor exited they got back in Wood's rhythmic verve.

Showbiz professionalism and stadium tours (with corporate sponsors) took over after Some Girls, the last great Stones' record, though the juiced rawness of 1981's Tattoo You came close. Most studio albums since--Emotional Rescue, Undercover, Dirty Work, Steel Wheels (Wyman's last), Voodoo Lounge (Darryl Jones's first)--show the band as stylistic rather than artistic masters and are overcautious reminders of the Stones' glory days, but each has a brilliant track or three to recommend them. On the consistent Stripped , a 1995 semi-unplugged live set, the Stones got back to their gritty '60s sound. It carried over to the gutsy traditions of 1997's Bridges To Babylon, the best Stones effort since Tattoo You.

In 2002, the Stones celebrated their 40th anniversary with the aptly titled Forty Licks. The two-CD career retrospective featured 36 Stones classics, plus four new tracks the band recorded in Paris with producer Don Was. To promote the set the Stones hit the road, although this time around they hit theaters and arenas, as well as the usual stadium stops.

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