Music Banter - View Single Post - The Rolling Stones: "Beggars Banquet," "Let It Bleed," & "Sticky Fingers"
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Old 01-10-2012, 05:57 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Default The Rolling Stones: Beggars Banquet- 1968


The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet- 1968
RMR Album Rating- 10


Two questions…
#1: If you didn’t know the Rolling Stones were British, and you listened to this album, would you think the album sounded British?

#2: If you listened to this album and had no reference to the Stones or the album’s release date, when would you guess it was released?
In response to the first question. I would answer no. To me, “Beggars Banquet” sounds very American, and the style of the album sounds very rooted in southern American culture; it just defines what traditional American rock and roll should sound like.

In response to the second question, I would also answer no. In fact, I would have no idea when it was released. “Beggars Banquet” sounds very timeless. Nothing sounds dated. The production, music, and lyrics all sound very fresh and poignant, and it is hard to believe that it was recorded in 1968.

The style of the album is tough to describe, but (as mentioned) it sounds very inherently American. It’s a combination of classic country, riff rock, bar rock, blues, and a myriad of other styles, including sleaze rock– a style that The Rolling Stones were in the process of inventing. Every instrument sounds very real and organic, and Jagger’s singing is very twangy and laid back, which also adds to the southern American feel of the album. As an example, I love the chorus of “Dear Doctor”:
“Oh help me, please doctor, I’m damaged/ There’s a pain where there once was a heart/ It’s sleepin’, it’s a beatin’/ Can’t ya please tear it out, and preserve it/ Right there in that jar?”
I also want to highlight “Stray Cat Blues,” which is a very important song because it shows the Stones testing the water to see what they could get away with in terms of suggestive material, and it really opened the door for the content on “Let it Bleed,” and “Sticky Fingers.”
“I can see that you’re fifteen years old/ No I don’t want your I.D./ I can see you’re so far from home/ But it’s no hanging matter/ It’s no capital crime… /Oh yeah, you’re a strange stray cat/ Oh yeah, don’tcha scratch like that/ Oh yeah, you’re a strange stray cat/ Bet your mama don’t know you scream like that/ I bet your mother don’t know you can spit like that…/ You say you got a friend, that she’s wilder than you/Why don’t you bring her upstairs/ If she’s so wild then she can join in too”
Then you have the two signature songs from the album. The opener “Sympathy for the Devil” and the closer “Salt of the Earth.” Keith Richard’s riffing is at its best of the album on these two songs, as is the other instrumentation. Jagger’s lyrics and vocal delivery are also excellent. I also love the lyrical content of “Sympathy for the Devil,” as it presents the devil as the “evil” in all of us. It’s not a groundbreaking concept, but they certainly pull it off well.

To conclude this and return to my two opening points, “Beggar’s Banquet” is a timeless classic American sounding album, and it is the start of The Rolling Stones golden era of albums, which also contains “Let it Bleed” from 1969, “Sticky Fingers” from 1971, and “Exile on Main Street” from 1972.

"Dear Doctor"


"Salt of the Earth" (Live '70)


"Salt of the Earth" Featuring Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin
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