by Pete Fornatale (Get the Book)Fornatale, the noted disc jockey, radio host, and musical historian who died in 2012, opened the first program of his brand-new radio show in 1969 with a Rolling Stones song. By then the Stones were worldwide superstars, but, as Fornatale recounts in this profusely illustrated oral history of the band, there were some rocky times in the early days. Then back-to-back singles of (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction and Get Off of My Cloud catapulted them into international stardom. That was 47 years ago. The book features interviews with not only the Stones but also fellow musicians, film directors, music-industry execs, journalists. Given its wide scope 50 years of Stones history the text necessarily skims the surface, and readers looking, for example, for new revelations about the death of original guitarist Brian Jones, or Mick's relationship with Marianne Faithfull, might be a bit disappointed. On the other hand, the book does a good job of covering the band's half-century history in broad strokes, giving us a nice look at the Stones as musicians, celebrities, and young men growing to maturity in the public eye. --Booklist
