For our fortieth anniversary, the editors of Rolling Stone have interviewed twenty artists and leaders who helped shape our time. Over the next four weeks, every day, we’ll be debuting exclusive audio clips from the Q&As, giving you unparalleled access to some of the most important personalities in history.

Besides lead-singing in the only act that’s allowed to be mentioned in the same sentence as The Beatles, Mick Jagger is also the only person on Earth capable of sustaining a professional relationship with Keith Richards. Also: This story more than validates his iconic stature. But to get it straight from the ample lips of the man himself, listen to Mick as he talks about the Fab Four, James Brown, writing political songs and his biggest fan, a certain Italian-American film director. To read the complete interview, be sure to pick up your own copy of our fortieth anniversary issue, on stands now.

• Jagger talks about how Elvis brought sexy back to the 1960s: “The sexuality of the early Elvis years was much more shocking to a straight audience than The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” which was quite insipid…it wasn’t very charged sexually. The wild men—Elvis, Jerry Lee—they were much more scary.”
• “That skinny boy” hanging out at the Apollo watching James Brown? That was Mick: “The artists that I liked when I was growing up were more vibrant, the ones that sang and danced and put out. [With James Brown], it was the whole thing. Don’t forget that it was like a cultural gulf beyond the beyond. Another planet…. His show didn’t just have to do with the artist but had to do with the audience, the way he and they interacted. Their reaction was always interesting, like being in a church.”
• Jagger talks about the collaboration between himself and Martin Scorsese, who really, really loves Gimme Shelter: “I wrote this story for this Martin Scorcese movie which is called The Long Player. It’s about the music business, two guys in it….”
• Mick talks about why his recent lyrical output has been so politically charged: “Politics and terror are quite difficult subjects. It’s harder than ever. If the beat is good but the lyrics aren’t up to snuff it can sound a bit puerile and trivial. It’s a fine line…. I find it’s much easier to write love songs than it is to write about the times we live in.”

Check back tomorrow for the next installment of our twenty-part audio interviews, featuring some of the most iconic and influential pop culture figures of the last 40 years.

Want a hint at Monday’s interviewee? Guess which literary giant said this to Mark Binelli:

“Anyone who thinks that religion is bad for society is out of his mind. We’re now beginning to see what happens when you don’t have it.”