Haul of Records: The Rolling Stones

I have wanted to post about The Rolling Stones for months but there were difficulties.

What is the best approach to writing about one of the greatest bands in rock music history?

I thought about listing my 20 favorite Rolling Stones songs but that seemed a bit much, especially since I was going to have to write about each song. Interest and attention could fade on the reader’s part and they may not scroll down to find out which close off the list.

The list of 20 was going to be narrowed down to my 10 favorite Rolling Stones songs with 5 representing their 1960s output and the other half would comprise 1970s singles. That also proved difficult because I had a hard time choosing which ballad out of Angie, Fool to Cry and Wild Horses was my favorite. I knew about and imitated Jagger’s singing of Angie since I was a boy. Fool to Cry entered my consciousness after the other too and if I were pushed I might choose it as my favorite of the three.

For the last few days, there have been posts about rock groups and specific albums of theirs. Originally, I was planning my answer to Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Best Albums list by listing what I thought were 10 essential rock albums for hip hop heads to hear. I could not choose which album of The Rolling Stones was the one I felt best represented the group. I am not entirely familiar with their discography because as I have stated several times on this blog, I have been geared towards greatest hits packages more than individual albums. The only Rolling Stones album I know inside out is Hot Rocks, their classic compilation of 1964-1969 singles. For The Rolling Stones to be represented by a compilation would rob albums like Beggar’s Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers or Some Girls of their glory.

I decided to just write about the group and put aside any strategy or clever campaign I could concoct.

Some 15 years ago, I was in a Montreal metro station and a man approached me with records that he wanted to sell. I almost thought it was a joke or Just for Laughs gag but I took the fact he had Hot Rocks on his person very seriously. That was the Rolling Stones album I mentioned earlier as knowing it inside out and the first of their albums I would own.

Another near-crazy instance of my finding a Rolling Stones record was when I was walking on the street of my first apartment and in a box on the curb lay Let It Bleed among a Led Zeppelin 2 and Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality. Had it not been for that discovery day, I probably still would not have heard Let It Bleed.

I leaped at the chance to buy the CD years later along with Big Hits & Green Grass, Through The past Darkly and 40 Licks.

I may not have been able to choose a Rolling Stones album as their best but I can state with all certainty that I choose Rolling Stones over The Beatles any day. Between the two groups, I bought Rolling Stones’ music first when I was able to buy my own music. I have been a Rolling Stones fan since childhood as I stated a few paragraphs prior. Memorabilia from the 1960s mesmerized me and that included classic footage of Rolling Stones performances, photographs and albums. I very much believed time was on my side until I learned the truth in my early 20s.

Growing up in the 80s, I saw them as one of the only groups of the 1960s still recording and performing. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had solo projects as well. Today, The Rolling Stones are on par with U2, a band that emerged 20 years after, as headliners for major concert tours worldwide. Part of me is amazed at how The Rolling Stones continue to pack arenas anytime they announce a tour nowadays. Another part of me wonders when they will stop altogether.

The saying a rolling stone gathers no moss truly applies to the band. They show no signs of slowing down any time soon. I can only hope to have the career longevity and energy of the band members when I reach retirement age.

1) Midnight Rambler (Live)

2) Paint It Black

3) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

4) Get Off of My Cloud

5) Sympathy For The Devil

6) Gimme Shelter

7) Let's Spend The Night Together

8) Under My Thumb

9) Time Is On My Side

10) Street Fighting Man

1) Beast of Burden

2) Tumbling Dice

3) It's Only Rock & Roll

Video Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock Roll by spirano

4) Respectable

5) Bitch

6) Miss You