Here is my list of the best contributions by Mick, Keith & Brian, and also a few from Bill, Charlie, Mick T. and last but not least, Ronnie.  Also the best from the sixth Stone, Ian 'Stu" Stewart.  

The Stones for the most part are not known so much for their ballads, as they are for harder rock tunes, but that is really unfair. My top four picks for best vocals by Mick are ballads. I always felt Mick sang his best on 'Angie' since the first time I heard the song. Then you have 'Winter', the way Mick sings this one just makes you want to grab your lover and sit down next to a warm fire. With 'Ruby Tuesday', a song Mick didn't even write, well, he sure  sings it like he did, his voice was meant for that song. Of course when it comes to shouting, or just belting out a song, who's better than Mick? Could anyone else have sang 'Sympathy For The Devil' the way Mick does and give us the same feeling most of us get from that song? I think not! Then of course there's 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', like 'Sympathy...' its in the way he pronounces each word when he sings it that helps make the song so great!
 
 

Mr. Keef Riffhard, aka Mr Cool. Most people say he 's one of rocks best all-time rhythm guitar players. Maybe, but to me anyway he's really one of rocks all time best LEAD guitar players. Is there a better, more biting guitar solo than his on 'Sympathy For the Devil'? Or his lead on 'Jumping Jack Flash', 'Stray Cat Blues' or 'Satisfaction'? Hell, that's just naming a few. Then you got his acoustic guitar playing which also is tops on songs like 'Wild Horses', 'Dead Flowers' and 'No Expectations'. He also plays a damn good bass, too! You just can not miss the sound of Keith's guitar on most of their songs. It's a sound that defines the Rolling Stones.  

It's hard to believe Brian was in the Stones for only 7 or so years when you consider the impact he left. The truth is, there would not have been any Rolling Stones in the first place if Brian had not been around. But that's another story. There may not  be another individual other than Brian Jones who help change and defined the sound heard in rock music. Take the song 'Ruby Tuesday' for example, did you ever hear a recorder in a rock song before Brian added it to this classic? Or the marimbas on 'Under My Thumb'? Or the dulcimer in both 'Lady Jane' and 'I Am Waiting'? Also, how many white guys were playing the slide guitar before Mr. Jones? Then you got the sitar in 'Paint It Black', okay, his friend George Harrison may have beat him to it by a few weeks as the first sitar played in a rock song ('Norwegian Wood'), but Brian played his sitar in a way no sitar had ever been played before. Then all the different instruments he played on the non-rock song "Gomper" can't be forgotten, either, even if it doesn't land in my Top 10 list for him.

No, as pointed out by Keith, there was not any instrument that Brian could not play, and he played them better than most, and all with heart.  Mick Taylor did a superb job while in the Stones and Ronnie still fits in fine today, but nobody ever replaced Brian Jones in the band, and although the Stones continued to be great after he was gone, they still are not the same without him.

Charlie hates being a rock star and cannot understand why all Stones fans love him so much. There is just something about him that attracts him to us "normal folks".  For me anyway, I'll go back to the early sixties. Remember the way he played his drums during that time? Back then rock drummers did not stand out so much. When you think of Charlie,  the term "hard rock drummer " may not come to mind, but for the early sixties that was really how his sound was. By the mid and late sixties we had Keith Moon , John Boham and others who drummed harder, but Charlie was one of the first rockers to let his drums stand out and help set the way. Through the years his beat has held up steady and like it or not Charlie, your fans still think you're the best!

There have been lots of bass players in the history of rock n roll, some real bad, some real good, but few better than Bill. To think that the only reason that he made it into the band was because of his amp! But from the first Stones album and on to his last (Steel Wheels), he played a steady beat that went just great with Charlie's drums. I'm not surprised that the Stones still  have not replaced him. Keith was reportedly pissed when Bill retired from the band, well he wasn't the only one. Lots of us fans would love to have him back. To Bill I say this:  if its just the flying thing that made you leave, why not at least still help out in the studio?  I would love to see you back as a Stone as would other fellow Stones fans and most important, so would the Boys, even if they haven't said it lately.

The only problem the Stones ever had with Mick Taylor was his stay in the band was too short. But during the short time he was a Stone they put out some of their best stuff, in part thanks to him. He played his guitar different than the way Brian or Keith did, and that gave the band a sound that they never before had, a sound that fit in well and is still missed today.  

For the Stones, Ron Wood's arrival was just what the doctor ordered. With Ronnie the band got back some of what they lost when Brian died.  When Ron joined up, Keef was able to reestablish the fine art of guitar weaving that he hadn't been able to perform since the Brian Jones days. You also gotta love his steel and slide guitars all over the Stones records.To those who say Ronnie's best work was while he was in Faces, I say listen to Some Girls, Voodoo Lounge or even Bridges To Babylon. Ronnie may not be an original Stone, but he fits in great and is a Rolling Stone thru and thru.
 

Who was the one Stone who got screwed the most? No, not Brian, it was Stu. The man was an original Stone, the first member to join up with Brian,  before Mick, Keith, Bill and Charlie came along. Stu played honky tonk boogie woogie piano second to none! But there was one problem. Andrew Oldham, the Stones manager at the time,  did not like his looks and told the others that he had to go. Baaad move! It was decided that he could stay on as their road manager and session piano player. Lucky for the Stones he agreed to it. Stu's piano added to the great sound of the Stones that we all still love today. He passed away on December 12, 1985 and is greatly missed.

To view lists just like the ones above - but complied from Stones fans, click here.

For more info on the Stones, read their Bio over at my Classic Rock Site.