On July 5, 1969, at 5:25 PM, in London’s Hyde Park, there occurred a moment that came to define The Rolling Stones.

“The world’s greatest rock and roll band.” They’re amazing; let us applaud the Stones!”

It was the first time The Rolling Stones were labeled as such. Of course, that term—the greatest rock and roll band in the world—and The Rolling Stones are inextricably linked today.

It was Sam Cutler who said it. Cutler worked for Blackhill Enterprises, the organization that put on the inaugural Hyde Park free performances. He was staring out at an audience of between 250,000 and 500,000 people at the moment.

The Rolling Stones’ 1969 performance at London’s iconic park was not the first. Pink Floyd had headlined the first free concert a year earlier, and numerous more bands followed, including Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood’s brief-lived Blind Faith in June 1969. (Both Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull were present.) The Rolling Stones performance, on the other hand, seems to be the one that everyone is talking about. “Were you at the Hyde Park concert?” asks someone of a certain age. They are aware of the concert you are talking about.

There are several factors that contribute to the concert’s uniqueness and specialness. It was the band’s first show in over two years, and guitarist Mick Taylor made his debut. Taylor had previously been a member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and had only recently joined the group, replacing Brian Jones. Jones’ sad death in a swimming pool two days before, of course, loomed over the entire show.

The ensemble chose to keep going and paid lovely respect to Jones. “Alright! “All right, now listen,” Mick replied. “Would you please hold it for a moment so I can say something to Brian? ” I’d appreciate it if you could join us as I do it. I’d like to say a few words about Brian… “I’m going to say something Shelley wrote.”

“Adonais” by Percy Bysshe Shelley was the poem. As Mick completed delivering the poem, the band’s road manager, Tom Keylock, released over 3,000 white butterflies, a gesture that cost the band £300 but came to characterize the show.

Jagger’s clothing was another distinguishing component of The Rolling Stones’ Hyde Park performance. The performer was dressed in a Michael Fish Greek-inspired voile “dress.” (When the band performed in Hyde Park in 2013, Mick wore a blue jacket with a white butterfly design.)

The concert stage was rather small. “When Blind Faith did it,” Charlie Watts said in 2013, “they set this stage in the middle of the grass, put the drums and amplification on it, and everyone turned up and went around it.” “When we did it, we had a Mickey Mouse stage, a tiny thing on metal scaffolding, drums, and a bit of a backdrop for Mick in his white dress, and everyone just showed up.” Of course, it’s now a properly contained place.”

But it doesn’t matter. Surprisingly, the group’s first single was “I’m Yours and I’m Hers.” The song wasn’t written by the Stones, but by Texan albino blues musician Johnny Winter. The song appeared on his just-released debut Columbia album. Keith Richards had purchased it in June, and it was his idea that they begin the performance with it. It was the band’s first and only time performing it live.

Another first was the Stones’ performance of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” on stage for the first time. This one was well known among the audience. The previous summer, the song had dominated the charts for a few weeks. It became their standard opener on their autumn 1969 tour of the United States. Don Covay’s “Mercy Mercy” followed, which was a surprising choice given that it was recorded in May 1965. Following that, the songs “Stray Cat Blues,” “No Expectations,” and “I’m Free” had their stage debuts.

“Down Home Girl” was the band’s oldest song, having been recorded in late 1964 and published on their second British album. They then went on to an ancient song: a version of Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vain,” which he recorded in 1937. But it was a new song for the band. They’d recorded it a few months before, and it would finally appear on Let It Bleed later that year.

“Loving Cup” was a new song by The Glimmer Twins that they had been working on in the studio; it was released on Exile on Main Street in 1972. They followed with “Honky Tonk Women,” their new single, and “Midnight Rambler,” the opening tune of Let It Bleed’s side two. (Some news accounts of the Hyde Park event referred to it as “The Boston Gambler.”)

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was the lone song from the Stones’ previous tour, which took place in April 1967. “Street Fighting Man” came before “Sympathy for the Devil,” both from Beggars Banquet. Ginger Johnson’s African Drummers joined The Rolling Stones on stage during “Sympathy for the Devil.” (Johnson was a regular on the London jazz club circuit.)

Sam Cutler’s impromptu introduction of “the greatest rock and roll band in the world” has become an utterly suitable way to define the group. Cutler used the phrase to introduce them throughout their later-year US tour, and it can be heard on Get Your Ya Yas Out, the tour’s live CD. It demonstrated how far they had progressed from their humble origins as a local blues band. Or, for that matter, their pop heartthrob status. According to one music publication in an issue published a week after the Hyde Park event, “99% of the audience came to listen and not (as they might have done five years ago) to scream.” The times they were a-changin’…