Mick Jagger Admits One Rock Icon Lacked Vocals… But Made Up for It Big Time
Photo by Marcel Antonisse (ANEFO), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mick Jagger has spent decades watching music change from inside the spotlight, but some memories from the early days of rock still stand out clearly for the Rolling Stones frontman. In a wide-ranging interview reflecting on the artists who shaped his musical taste, Jagger spoke openly about one legendary performer whose voice he found limited but whose talent left a lasting impression.
Looking back on the 1960s, Jagger described discovering new sounds at a time when live music scenes in London were rapidly evolving. Small clubs often hosted musicians who would later become global icons, and audiences sometimes consisted of only a handful of people. For Jagger, one of those nights introduced him to a guitarist whose playing changed how he viewed performance itself.
Discovering a Rising Guitar Legend
Jagger recalled the first time he saw Jimi Hendrix perform, long before the guitarist became widely known. The experience took place at the Revolution Club in London, where only a few people were present. Despite the small crowd, the performance left a powerful mark on him.
“I loved Jimi Hendrix from the beginning. The moment I saw him, I thought he was fantastic. I was an instant convert. Mr. Jimi Hendrix is the best thing I’ve ever seen. It was exciting, sexy, interesting.”
Jagger praised Hendrix’s stage presence and musical style, describing how the performance blended American blues traditions with a distinct British influence. Even though he felt Hendrix’s singing voice was not his strongest feature, the guitarist’s skill more than compensated for it.
“He didn’t have a very good voice, but made up for it with his guitar. I first saw him at the Revolution Club, in London. I was one of six people in the club, and Jimi was playing. I couldn’t believe it.
“It was insane – so good and the whole idea of this kind of English band behind him, this bizarre mixture between a blues performer and a rock player with an English touch.”
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Reflections on Lyrics and Songwriting
During the same discussion, Jagger also reflected on another influential figure from the era, Bob Dylan. He credited Dylan with raising expectations for songwriting at a time when pop music often relied on simple themes and formulas.
“The lyricist who was really good at the time was Bob Dylan,” Jagger told Rolling Stone Magazine founder Wenner. “Everyone looked up to him as being a kind of guru of lyrics. It’s hard to think of the absolute garbage that pop music really was at the time. And even if you lifted your game by a marginal amount, it really was a lot different from most everything else that had gone before in the 10 years previously.”
Despite his admiration, Jagger also offered a measured view of some songs that were widely praised during that period. He suggested that certain tracks felt stronger in the cultural moment than they might appear later.
“A lot of it was perhaps not as good as we thought, but at the time, it was fantastic. Gates of Eden and all these Mexican-type songs, even the nonsense ones: Everybody Must Get Stoned and Like a Rolling Stone, Positively 4th Street.”
