Luckily the Rolling Stones at the top of their game were captured on film in the unbelievable TA.M.I. Show on which some people feel that their closing performance even outdoes James Brown's. I am not sure if I concur, as it is just not right to compare. Regardless I have see few performances on par with the Stones'.
That being said, this performance pre-dates the Rolling Stones that people born after the fifties (or possibly even most of the fifties) knows, still long before defining hits like "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," but the familiarity with the material is hardly an issue. In 1964, few people other than the band's biggest fans would know much about the individuals that made up this group. There's the wild frontman oozing with sex, the the drugged-out genius on lead guitar, the barely competent madman wildcard on rhythm guitar - and I believe four maracas, the creepy older lech holding a bass like a real weirdo, and a quiet fellow behind the traps serving as the ringleader. It's more than than just the way that they are dressed that made their performance the most casual. When the Stones abandoned their Beatles-esque uniforms they brought on the artist of rock artists just not giving a fuck, providing many with the "Stones are better than Beatles" argument that still rages on.
If, this seems to focused on the T.A.M.I. Show it's because it could make a greater argument than any person ever could. The producers wisely chose this band, still called by some a flash in the pan, to close the extravagant show and forever solidified the band's greatness before they even came into themselves. They played the music they all loved, they were young, and they sere still far come bloated or drug-damaged. For those reasons the Rolling Stones, regardless of how much greater they may have become, were the best band in the world in 1964.
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