Ian Stewart, Ian Stewart is the Rolling Stones' no-nonsense piano anchor, and I will die on the hill that he kept the boogie honest while everyone else chased the spotlight. From 1961-1962 he worked London's R&B circuit with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated; in 1962 he co-founded the Rolling Stones and, after being pushed out of the "official" lineup in 1963 for image reasons, stayed on as road manager and session pianist right up to 1985. I hear him in the Stones' live roar and studio grooves, and he even guested on early-1970s sessions with Led Zeppelin. In the early 1980s he fronted Rocket 88, built for sweat, not fashion. When a Stones track suddenly swings like a pub jukebox at closing time, I blame Stu.