Although the Rolling Stones have announced plans to release a commemorative 50th anniversary book later this year, another book about their legacy will be published by St. Martins in the spring of 2013. The book will be written by Bill Janovitz, guitarist for the great 90s alternative band Buffalo Tom.

But rather than dig up the same old tales of the band's legendary excesses, Janovitz is putting the emphasis where it belongs, on their incredible catalog. "The idea is to take 50 of my favorite and/or representative songs, spread across all of their career, examine them deeply and contextualize them within the eras in which they appeared," Janovitz wrote on his blog post announcing the deal. The book's working title is '50/50: Listening to 50 Years of the Rolling Stones.'

Janovitz is no stranger to writing about the Stones. In 2005 he wrote the definitive take on their 'Exile On Main Street' album for Continuum Books' celebrated 33 1/3 series. He plans on using that book, as well as his blog's excellent breakdown of 'Gimme Shelter,' as a template for the entries, but is looking more to tell the history of the band through its songs.

As Janovitz says, it's an "[e]xtremely fun, but daunting prospect." Indeed, even narrowing down the selection to 50 songs could take years of fine-tuning. But Janovitz is ideally suited to write this book, and we'll be looking forward to it next year.

 

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