Rolling Stones influence on Bon Jovi
 

Jon says each time he gets a chance that the Stones are his all time favourite band blah blah. And since I've been on a massive 60s rush lately, I was just wondering - how did the Stones really influence Bon Jovi? Did they at all? Can you hear Stones music in Bon Jovi other than the rare occasion? What songs are we talking about?

My view is that I can hear some on Keep The Faith, These Days and a little on Crush but not that much really - rather limited actually. Any particular songs come to your mind? And outside music - do you see much of Jagger in Jon's stage presence? Cause I really really don't.

Sleep When I'm Dead could be a Stones track. Also Bitter Wine is Stonesy, and some others as well.

I don't think Bon Jovi sounds like The Stones, but if Stones were to play those songs, they would fit in nicely. Bon Jovi is a much more organized, neat band. The Rolling Stones is a trainwreck, the music is always on the verge of breaking down into a cacophony, but somehow it stays together. Bon Jovi is like a train, there's nothing moving or grooving.

Ice

If you take all in context... kinda. I mean, compared to MC, GNR and Poison there's a bit more bluesy Stones in 80s Jovi and the remainder is rooted in that. Jon doesn't have the ability or stamina to be Jagger but his runs around the stage 10 years ago might well be influenced by Mick, his desire to go on and on certainly is.

I've heard KTF compared to Sympathy too many times and so maybe a lot of it is similarly subtle - the odd rhythmic or melodic idea. I wouldn't be totally surprised if Jon tries to avoid the Stones influence in writing though, his idol is any writers Achilles heal.

Similarity is undoubted imo.

I somewhere read that during the recording sessions for Keep The Faith Jon played stones videos and concerts all over the place. And when you listen to songs like Sleep, Blame it on the love or the bassline of KTF you can really hear that influence. But in overall I wouldn't say that there is much Rolling Stones in Bon Jovi songs. Sure with Richie there's a bluesy kind of impact since he has some of the same guitar rolemodels as Keith Richards has but that's not enough to make the songs comparable to the Stones sound.
They're both rock & roll bands with roots in the bar and club scene. That's probably as far as it gets.

Someone mentioned Bitter Wine as being Stones influenced. When I listen to the electric version of that I would rather say it's a second With a little help from my friends kind of song (especially the intro). They probably ripped it down to an acoustic ballad afterwards.

You really need to define "influence". Yes I think he was influenced but not the way you are trying to perceive it.

I think Jon, being a fan of rock and roll, has had many influences in his early days who have helped define the artist he has become. I don't think there has been one artist who has solely influenced him per say.

Jon's obviously a self admitting fan of the Stones. Not only has he said it but he's covered a bunch of songs throughout his career while doing his Jagger moves. Jon has also stated that they are the only band he would open for and actually did. Finally, Jon met them early on during his early recording days before Bon Jovi.

Jon is also a fan of Elvis, Springsteen, Southside Johnny, The Animals, Leonard Cohen, Frank Sinatra, and many more. I'm sure they all played a role somehow within so if that's how you define "influence" then sure he was, just like all the others.

Jon's always been hell bent on being original and being true to who he is. If I hear a Bon Jovi song, it doesn't scream Stones song to me so I don't hear the influence in the sound. Sure there a few songs that sound like they could have been influenced from a song by the Stones but Bon Jovi has been known to do that with other artists as well too.

Listen to Jon's little speech before singing "Imagine" in '95. He talks about his definition of influences and how it works.

I've always thought that! And "Keep the Faith" is somewhat reminiscent of "Sympathy for the Devil".

I think the Rolling Stones have had an all round impact on at least 90% of the rock bands we've seen ever since.

Aloha !

That's not being influenced. That's just stealing a melody line here and there and putting it in your own song.

An influence would mean an overal sound, or riffs similar to those of the Stones. Sleep sounds very Stones like, same as for the intro to Little Bit Of Soul. It's the dance beat with a riff on top of it I think that does it. The arrangement on Bitter Wine is the same thing and the way the harmonies are done. The melody line is nicked from Bad Company's Shooting Star, but the overal arrangements are very Stones-like.


Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Jon has fully admitted they used Heartbreaker for Damned so that would fall under influence, whereas the use of it for Another Reason to Believe is just lazy.

The first time I heard Gimme Some I got the Stones association.