Brian Jones gets arrested for possession of cannabis, the court case and subsequent 'troubles' postpone the release of The Rolling Stones comeback to real Rock And Roll, to real country and blues... by three months. Suffice to say, it must have been worth waiting for at the time, because 'Beggars Banquet' not only restores The Stones to former Rock N Roll heights, but surpasses anything they'd previously done. Not a weak moment in sight, unless you count 'Dear Doctor', but the light country shuffle of 'Dear Doctor' benefits from a perfectly placed Jagger vocal, a Mick Jagger who impresses throughout the entire album, by the way. Selected musical highlights? Well, apart from all of 'Sympathy For The Devil' ( with it's tight, sexy groove ) - a charming and happy fiddle runs around acoustic guitar, and that's 'Factory Girl'. Stupendous performances from Charlie and Bill with Mick riding an unusual rhythm, add classic Stones guitars, and that's 'Street Fighting Man'. Pretty much every single song here has something notable about either the music, or the vocals - usually both. 'Stray Cat Blues'? Mick sounds like a Punk singer ten years before the event, I mean, good god! And then the song goes off on this heavy groove guitar rock thing.... and you realise why people ever called The Rolling Stones the greatest Rock N Roll band in the first place! 'Sympathy For The Devil'? These things here.... ARE LYRICS! Danger, sex and groove - "Whoa ohhh!" indeed.
I'm fascinated by 'Prodigal Son', totally amazed by this simple song. Mick sounds like an old blues singer, genuinely sounds like an old blues singer. He sounds fantastic. The guitar reminds me of a T-Rex riff, only T Rex hadn't quite been invented yet. Was Marc Bolan a Stones fan? I can sing 'Ride A White Swan' along to this! Well, almost. 'No Expectations' has some nice slide from Brian Jones and a lovely beautiful vocal and feel from Mick. 'Parachute Woman' is just regular Stones, although with more groovy guitar and more genuinely great vocals. The six minute long 'Jigsaw Puzzle' has fabulous lyrics, "He's a walking clothes-line.....And here comes the Bishop's daughter...." and so it goes on. Perfect Rock N Roll Piano arrives through the songs mid-section instrumental break, the guitars swing and groove a little louder - an amazing noise swirls around you. The closing 'Salt Of The Earth' apparently opens with Keith Richards singing the first verse before Mick comes in to take over and then before a chorus arrives hymnal fashion. Piano, a Dylan 'Blonde On Blonde' feel in places - loud drums in the chorus. There's something not quite smooth about the songs execution, but its heart is in the right place and it's certainly enjoyable. 'Beggars Banquet' is good and true, and The Stones were flying.
Sympathy For The Devil / No Expectations / Dear Doctor / Parachute Woman / Jigsaw Puzzle / Street Fighting Man / Prodigal Son / Stray Cat Blues / Factory Girl / Salt Of The Earth
I'm fascinated by 'Prodigal Son', totally amazed by this simple song. Mick sounds like an old blues singer, genuinely sounds like an old blues singer. He sounds fantastic. The guitar reminds me of a T-Rex riff, only T Rex hadn't quite been invented yet. Was Marc Bolan a Stones fan? I can sing 'Ride A White Swan' along to this! Well, almost. 'No Expectations' has some nice slide from Brian Jones and a lovely beautiful vocal and feel from Mick. 'Parachute Woman' is just regular Stones, although with more groovy guitar and more genuinely great vocals. The six minute long 'Jigsaw Puzzle' has fabulous lyrics, "He's a walking clothes-line.....And here comes the Bishop's daughter...." and so it goes on. Perfect Rock N Roll Piano arrives through the songs mid-section instrumental break, the guitars swing and groove a little louder - an amazing noise swirls around you. The closing 'Salt Of The Earth' apparently opens with Keith Richards singing the first verse before Mick comes in to take over and then before a chorus arrives hymnal fashion. Piano, a Dylan 'Blonde On Blonde' feel in places - loud drums in the chorus. There's something not quite smooth about the songs execution, but its heart is in the right place and it's certainly enjoyable. 'Beggars Banquet' is good and true, and The Stones were flying.
Sympathy For The Devil / No Expectations / Dear Doctor / Parachute Woman / Jigsaw Puzzle / Street Fighting Man / Prodigal Son / Stray Cat Blues / Factory Girl / Salt Of The Earth