The Stones took a little longer to come into their own. Early on (pre-beggars Banquet) they were a rawer version of the Beatles, to some degree... but when they reached their artistic peak (68-73) the Stones were as much about the music, the groove, than they were about tradional pop songwriting. John and Paul wrote some of the greatest pop songs in the history of pop music, but they never wrote anything as soulful, as say, "Tumbling Dice". The Stones were english boys, but their vision was much more in American black music than in English pop. Like I said, love them both (and the Kinks and the Who), but my personal tastes lean a little more where the Stones went. Of course the Stones have been a lot longer, and cosequently, put out more marginal (some say bad) records than the Beatles, so their legacy is a bit more tarnished. Just imagine if the Beatles had stuck around...what would people have thought had McCartney brought "Ebony and Ivory" to the Beatles?