The American Rolling Stones

Recently, The Onion A.V. Club had an article that sought to answer the question "Who are the American Beatles?" Most discussions of The Beatles directly compare them to The Rolling Stones, due to both bands' popularity, chart success, British-ness, and influence, which is a legitimate comparison; however, the article posited several American equivalents to The Beatles, but no mention of any American equivalent to The Stones.

The hardest part about looking for American counterparts to these bands is that while they hailed from the UK, they were influenced more by American culture. Both bands started because of the members' love for American blues and R&B artists and examination of cultural references place them in California instead of merry olde England, so analyzing them as a chiefly English phenomenon is somewhat misguided. I would argue that the American equivalent to The Beatles is indeed The Beatles.

On to my question, however. What about The Rolling Stones? One only has to listen to Sticky Fingers to find the answer: like The Beatles, the American Rolling Stones are... well, The Rolling Stones.

Sticky Fingers may be the best example of imitation being the sincerest form of flattery. These boys from Britain took one of the most ragged, down-home forms of music and made it their own. Like Clapton's husky Delta voice paired with his smooth tone, Jagger's yowl finds its place among the snarl from Richards, and his lyrics are just alternate between heartbreak and misogyny like any good blues man. In fact, Sticky Fingers is such a good example of general "blues-rock" that you could probably explain the entire genre with that one album.

Like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones are a British band formed by American influences, and when it comes to finding a direct companion, The Stones are their own counterpart.