![Stones And Girls The Rolling Stones posing with a group of women during rehearsals for ABC's 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' TV pop music show at Teddington Studios, London, November 11, 1964. From left to right, Bill Wyman, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Charlie Watts.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160324-rolling-stones-book-08.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
When The Rolling Stones played a historic concert in Havana in March, they appeared in Cuba as legendary ambassadors of rock. Back in the early 1960s, they were pretty much exactly the opposite: newcomers on a scene that was itself brand-new. They first performed in 1962, wearing a clean-cut look that matched the style of other fledgling groups. They would soon an embrace an edgier look and sound. A new book, Breaking Stones: 1963-1965 A Band on the Brink of Superstardom, from which these pictures are drawn, features images made by Terry O’Neill and Gered Mankowitz during those formative years.
It was in May of 1965, right at the end of that period, that TIME first delved into the Stones. “To distinguish themselves from the Beatles, Britain’s Rolling Stones have attempted to assume the image of Angry Young Men,” the magazine explained. “‘The Stones,’ their manager proudly explains, ‘are the group that parents love to hate.’ They sing Mersey-Mississippi rhythm and blues, backed by a quavering guitar and a chugging harmonica that smacks of cotton-pickin’ time down South.”
One anonymous teenage girl interviewed in the story admitted that their appeal was sexual, then begged “but don’t print that; my mother would hit me.”
![Studio portrait of The Rolling Stones, 1965.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160324-rolling-stones-book-01.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Mick Jagger Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger having a cigarette backstage; 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160324-rolling-stones-book-02.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Keith Richards Keith Richards resting in an arm chair at the BBC studios before an appearance on 'Ready, Steady, Go', 23rd July 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160324-rolling-stones-book-03.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![TV Rehearsal Mick Jagger laughing during a rehearsal for a Rolling Stones appearance on ABC's 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' TV pop music show, 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160324-rolling-stones-book-04.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Brian JOnes Guitarist Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones has a glass of milk in a motorway cafe, 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160324-rolling-stones-book-05.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Bill Wyman, bassist of English rock and roll band The Rolling Stones, during rehearsals for ABC's 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' TV pop music show, 11th November 1964. Bill Wyman, bassist for The Rolling Stones backstage in 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160324-rolling-stones-book-06.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Charlie Watts, drummer for the Rolling Stones. Circa 1963-1965.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160324-rolling-stones-book-07.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Stones And Girls The Rolling Stones posing with a group of women during rehearsals for ABC's 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' TV pop music show at Teddington Studios, London, November 11, 1964. From left to right, Bill Wyman, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Charlie Watts.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160324-rolling-stones-book-08.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com