The Rolling Stones “12 X 5” 1964. London Records. Today, February 28th, would have been Stones founder and original guitarist Brian Jones’ 80th birthday (b. 1942, d. 1969). 12 x 5 was The Rolling Stones’ second US album release, an expansion of their UK EP Five by Five (1964) for the US market because EP’s didn’t sell well in the States. It includes the three cover songs from the EP: “If You Need Me” (Wilson Pickett), “Confessin’ the Blues” (Jay McShann/Walter Brown) and “Around and Around” (Chuck Berry). It also has two Stones originals (credited to “Nanker Phelge,” a collective pseudonym used between 1963 and 1965 for several Rolling Stones group compositions; “Nanker” referring to “a revolting face that band members, Brian Jones in particular, would pull” – Bill Wyman): “Empty Heart” and the instrumental “2120 South Michigan Avenue.” 12 X 5 added a few other cover songs – “Time Is on My Side” (Norman Meade aka Jerry Ragovoy), “It’s All Over Now” (The Valentinos; the Stones version was their first #1 hit in the UK), “Under the Boardwalk” (The Drifters) and “Susie Q” (Dale Hawkins). There are also three Mick Jagger/Keith Richards originals – “Good Times, Bad Times,” “Congradulations” (that’s how it’s spelled on the back of the album’s cover) and “Grown Up Wrong.”