My parents introduced me to the Rolling Stones when I was in elementary school. "Steel Wheels" was the first rock record I ever heard, and second-grade me was blown away. I was always the good kid in class. "A" Honor Roll, teacher's pet, thick glasses and tucked in shirts. I was the nerd who was good even when we had a substitute teacher. But listening to the Stones made me feel like a rebel. I knew something that the other kids didn't. I wasn't sure exactly what Mick Jagger was singing about, but I knew it was cooler than Disney soundtracks and pop radio. While my classmates perfected their New Kids on the Block dance moves, I memorized the lyrics to "Rock and a Hard Place."
"Steel Wheels" isn't my favorite rock album. It isn't even in my Rolling Stones Top-Three. But it is the album that defined rock and roll for me at an early age.
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