Musical signifigance of the phrase "Rolling Stone"

[occ]

Ok, let's see. You've got the band, the Dylan song, and the magazine. Which came first? Was there any relation between them (isn't 'Like a Rolling Stone' a jab at the Stones in some way?)? Any kind of litigation in any direction between any of them?

[jb_farley]

everything goes back to the saying "A rolling stone gathers no moss"

[Yue Han]

Don't forget the Temptations song, "Papa Was A Rolling Stone."

To elaborate, a rolling stone came to be used to describe someone shiftless that had no roots, ethics, or home, as you can see from the songs it's used in.

The Rolling Stones took it as there name probably for that reason. I don't know which came first, the band or the magazine. Either way I figure it, somebody comes off looking stupid and/or sychophantic.

Of course, the Stones were a British band (right? or have I lost it?), so they may have chose their name before the American magazine became the standard music tradepaper.

--John

[pepperlandgirl]

Well, before all of that was the Muddy Waters song "Rolling Stone", and that's what inspired Mick to name his band. The Stones were together for quite awhile before the Dylan song came out, and before the magazine.

[pepperlandgirl]

Well, The Rolling Stones are a British band. Both the band and Dylan's song was out before the magazine. The magazine was introduced IIRC, 1966. The Muddy Waters song was 1950

[MinkMan]

1950 Muddy Waters records "Rollin' Stone"
July 11, 1962 The name of the band "The Rolling Stones" first appears in Jazz News. The name was from the MW song.
Apr 1964 The Stones release their first LP The Rolling Stones
1965 Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" on Highway 61 Revisited
Nov. 11, 1967 First Issue of Rolling Stone Magazine
June 1972 The Temptations "Papa was a Rolling Stone" Released

[Junior Spaceman]

Hank Williams also released the single 'Lost Highway' in 1950, which included the phrase 'Like a Rolling Stone' - I don't think this had an influence on the others, but it shows it was in usage outside the blues at that time.

HenrySpencer.

[Moonshine]

IIRC Mick Jagger and Keith Richards named the band after the phrase in Muddy Waters song, because that is what they were into at that time. Bob Dylan wrote his song for the Stones, and that is the way they introduce it whenever they play it live too.