THE BEATLES VS. THE ROLLING STONES? NOT SO MUCH! HERE’S OUR GUIDE TO 10 FRIENDLY — AND OCCASIONALLY EXCELLENT — COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN TWO LEGENDARY BANDS

By Damian Fanelli

[from left] Eric Clapton, John Lennon and Keith Richards play “Yer Blues” in December 1968

[facing] Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger share a train carriage (first class, of course) at London’s Euston Station in August 1967

WAS THERE A rivalry between the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in the Sixties? Sure. Was it ever serious? Not really. Is it something you’re gonna read about in this story? Not at all. In fact, we’re actually gonna head off in the opposite direction and discuss 60 years’ (and counting) worth of collaborations between these two extremely influential British bands, collaborations that — according to the Stones’ Keith Richards — are the result of a unique relationship.

“There’s always been an open door between the Beatles and the Stones,” Richards told Guitar Player while promoting the Stones’ 2023 album, Hackney Diamonds, which — hey, whaddya know? — features former Beatle Paul McCartney on bass on one track. “We were the only ones that knew what it’s like to have that extreme kind of fame in the 1960s, so that created a bond.” Come to think of it, maybe that’s why Mick Jagger inducted the Beatles into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — or why Richards and McCartney sometimes hang out together while on vacation in places like Turks and Caicos.