May 4

“Pop music is sex and you have to hit them in the face with it.” So said the Rolling Stones’ manager as they rolled onto the music scene in 1962.

They were the vanguard of the British Invasion, a new breed of pop stars influenced by Elvis and Chuck Berry. The Stones made the Beatles seem tame: their hair was longer, their attitude more threatening, and their music echoed the raw sexuality of American blues.

In May 1965, two days after their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, the Stones played Georgia Southern College in Statesboro. Tickets cost $3. Mick, Keith, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, and Bill Wyman played 10 songs to a subdued audience largely unfamiliar with their music. One week later, the Stones recorded “Satisfaction” in Chicago. Coincidence? You decide.

It was a pivotal moment in the Stones’ long career when they played their first concert in the American southeast in Statesboro on May 4, 1965, Today in Georgia History.