# Educate me about the Rolling Stones. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490 "2008-04-23T01:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/1 "2008-04-23T01:47:05Z")
I’m a young’un. I’m a member of [emusic](http://www.emusic.com). They’ve just added a bunch of albums. I’d like to add some good music to my collection, and I hear the Rolling Stones are “good” and “essential” and all that jazz. So help me get some satisfaction: 12 X 5 Aftermath Aftermath UK Beggars Banquet Between the Buttons Between the Buttons UK Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) December’s Children (And Everybody’s) England’s Newest Hitmakers Flowers Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! Got Live If You Want It! Hot Rocks (1964-1971) Let It Bleed Metamorphosis More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies) Out Of Our Heads Out Of Our Heads UK Singles 1963-1965 Singles 1965-1967 Singles 1968-1971 Sympathy For The Devil - Remix The Rolling Stones Singles Collection: The London Years The Rolling Stones, Now! Their Satanic Majesties Request Through The Past Darkly (Big Hits Vol.2) You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Soulwax Remix) What say you? Pick two or three essentials, or rank 'em or something. I prefer whole albums to picking and choosing. You can see the albums and the songs [here](http://www.emusic.com/artist/The-Rolling-Stones-MP3-Download/11661667.html). They’re all released by ABKCO, but I have no idea what that means. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/2 "2008-04-23T01:58:32Z")
Beggar’s Banquet and Let It Bleed. The rest, as they say, is commentary. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/3 "2008-04-23T02:03:24Z")
Beggars Banquet Let It Bleed Satanic Majesties Request High Tide and Green Grass Flowers Pure rock and roll bedrock, baby. My personal favorite is probably Let It Bleed, followed by Beggars Banquet. They both kick the entire ass. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/4 "2008-04-23T02:14:32Z")
Exile on Main Street is their best album. After that, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Some Girls are all excellent choices as well. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/5 "2008-04-23T02:16:36Z")
Not on your list but “Sticky Fingers” and “Exile on Main Street” are my favorites. “Get Your Ya-Yas Out” is good if you like bluesier stuff. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/6 "2008-04-23T02:21:31Z")
Hot Rocks (1964-1971) Bought it for my dad for Christmas a year or two ago - all the old school famous Stones songs I knew, dig it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/7 "2008-04-23T02:25:33Z")
The three successive studio albums 1969-72: Let It Bleed Sticky Fingers Exile On Main Street Get one of the Greatest Hits packages for their earlier stuff: the singles are superb, but the early albums are spotty. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/8 "2008-04-23T02:50:06Z")
If you want to see how badly a band can decline, listen to any Stones album post 1981. \<\<\ **Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/9 "2008-04-23T02:51:48Z") The Rolling Stones Singles Collection: The London Years will keep you quite happy if you just want the songs you know. But there’s something to be said for digging into the albums. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/10 "2008-04-23T03:18:55Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Beggar’s Banquet and Let It Bleed. The rest, as they say, is commentary. [/QUOTE] Well, that’s a bit harsh, but those two are the first two I would pick. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/11 "2008-04-23T03:45:06Z")
The Stones did a long series of classic British Invasion pop rock and then peaked with masterpieces like “Symphony for the Devil” and “Gimme Shelter”. “Gimme Shelter” is on _Let It Bleed_, which contains a bunch of instantly recognizable songs including “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” which is nearly as great. But “Symphony for the Devil” is on _Beggar’s Banquet_, which contains the good, but not great, “Street Fighting Man”, and eight undistinguished country blues tunes that could be by anybody. I’m puzzled by how many mentions it gets. Any of a number of British groups would be my choice over the Stones when it came to blues. _Hot Rocks_ contains all the essential Stones hits, including a half dozen from those two albums. The earlier _Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)_ has a good album’s worth of singles, but mostly needs to be mentioned because it inspired the Outlaws" fantastic song “High Tide and Green Grass Forever,” a southern rock all-time-great. If you don’t want to go the greatest hits route but want full albums, try _Aftermath_, which is the best of their dark period. _Flowers_ is a half breed, a compilation album from the days when American and British releases were different, and albums of missing material had to be issued to catch the fans up. It’s has as many hits as a normal greatest hits album, proof of how great their songwriting was in 1966-7. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/12 "2008-04-23T04:11:20Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] The Stones did a long series of classic British Invasion pop rock and then peaked with masterpieces like “Symphony for the Devil” and “Gimme Shelter”. [/QUOTE] Don’t you mean “ **Sympathy** for the Devil”? Or is this some sort of whoosh? From your list, I would agree with _Beggar’s Banquet_ and _Let It Bleed_ and would add that _Some Girls_, though not listed, is also a good choice. Full disclosure - I have never owned a Rolling Stones album. They are not my favorite group and besides, they get more airplay than anyone but the Beatles. However, now that I am approaching the age where I get an AARP card, I find that their earlier less known bluesy songs are much better listening than any of their chart topping pop hits. So I’d recommend giving some of the very early stuff at least a cursory listen, especially if you enjoy bluesy music. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/13 "2008-04-23T04:29:31Z")
[QUOTE=Rhubarb] Don’t you mean “ **Sympathy** for the Devil”? Or is this some sort of whoosh? [/QUOTE] It’s all the fault of [Blood, Sweat and Tears](http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/blood_sweat_tears/symphony_for_the_devil_sympathy_for_the_devil.html), on their third album. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/14 "2008-04-23T06:29:26Z")
[QUOTE=Rhubarb] now that I am approaching the age where I get an AARP card, I find that their earlier less known bluesy songs are much better listening than any of their chart topping pop hits. [/QUOTE] Yeah, what is it with middle/late-middle age that makes a person suddenly start liking bluesy music? Almost everyone I know in that age range is either developing or has developed an appreciation of it, myself included. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/15 "2008-04-23T06:46:02Z")
As it happens, the Avclub just did a full primer on this very subject: > **[The A.V. Club | Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed.](https://www.avclub.com/)** > > Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/16 "2008-04-23T09:28:11Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Beggar’s Banquet and Let It Bleed. The rest, as they say, is commentary. [/QUOTE] Those two plus Sticky Fingers are my ‘holy trinity’. ---
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/17 "2008-04-23T09:51:04Z")
My dislike for the Rolling Fossils borders on loathing, yet would recommend anyone with an interest in the band to check out early material where Brian Jones seemed to have more sway on the band’s material. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/18 "2008-04-23T12:42:30Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Well, that’s a bit harsh, but those two are the first two I would pick. [/QUOTE] From that list, yeah. If you’re going beyond that list, you also need _Sticky Fingers_ and _Exile on Main Street._ ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/19 "2008-04-23T12:58:35Z")
[QUOTE=Carson O’Genic] My dislike for the Rolling Fossils borders on loathing, yet would recommend anyone with an interest in the band to check out early material where Brian Jones seemed to have more sway on the band’s material. [/QUOTE] Wow - folks have listed a bunch of favorites, but only Exapno has offered much rationale behind the choices. \*\*Princhester \*\*- that AVClub write-up is really great. **Garfield226** , you could do a lot worse than listening to that, picking out the songs you like and getting the albums/collections those songs are on. A few points: - Being a guitarist, I tend to group the Stones’ work based on who played opposite Keef: [ul] [/ul] [ul] [li]Brian Jones - per **Carson** above: More popped-up blues covers, British Invasion pop with an anti-Beatle strut to it. “Would you let your daughter marry a Rolling Stone?” was the famous line. Satisfaction is the crowning achievement, but Ruby Tuesday illustrates the pop space they were covering.[/li][li]Mick Taylor - the high point. Takes full control of the lead work (with some notable exceptions, like Keef’s lead on Sympathy), freeing up Keith to explore his truly innovative rhythm work. Keith also began using Open G tuning on some songs, first with Honky Tonk Woman, but most of the distinctive hits of the era including Gimme Shelter, Brown Sugar, Tumblin’ Dice and Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’. The guitar approach changed everything about the sound - and the songwriting used that change to advantage. You could approach straight-up I IV V tunes (the standard Johnny B. Goode chord progression) in a new way that felt familiar but different enough to sound fresh. And this is the era where the Stones allowed country to be a bigger influence - compare Ruby Tuesday with Wild Horses or Dead Flowers; the secondary gene code running through their songs (blues was primary) shifted from pop to more Americana.[/li][li]Ron Wood - a great guitarist, but the danger left the band. Some Girls is truly brilliant and Tattoo You (featuring some Some Girls cast-offs) is solid, but not a whole lot else…[/li][/ul] - My Recommendation is to get Hot Rocks for the best Brian Jones stuff. For Mick Taylor - well, it is often said that the Big 4 - **Let It Bleed, Beggar’s Banquet, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St.** - are the most consistently high-quality run of albums for a band other than the Beatles - you are welcome to disagree; I am just noting the reputation. The point is that they are worth exploring and that each is worthy as an album - an end-to-end statement becoming less common as the unit of music consumption. \*\*Exile \*\* in particular is held up as being “the perfect album”. Lots to be commented on about that, but we can save it for now…and of the Woody era, I would strongly recommend Some Girls. So, yeah, the Stones are worth an investment of 5 albums and 1 Greatest Hits collection… - If you care about bluesy-sounding rock guitar, and appreciate a good rock hook, you really can’t do any better than the work on \*\*Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ \*\* - in all ways, it is a master class in How It’s Done. IMNSHO, Keith’s opening lick is one of the greatest of all time - a stinging, greasy smear of blues swagger. And followed by Charlie and Bill coming in syncopated behind him? Fuhgeddaboudit! The main hook of the verses is instantly memorable, and the transition to the laid-back jam at the end is great - with Mick Taylor doing great lead work throughout. The Stones - like the Beatles, Zep and many commercially popular-AND-talented bands - are kinda like the Yankees: you are welcome to hate their image, and not like their style, but you have to respect their talent and track record. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490/20 "2008-04-23T13:11:05Z")
Beggers Banquet Sticky Fingers Let It Bleed and then, for something a little different: Exile On Main Street If you must have something a bit newer (less than 30 years old), go with Some Girls. All of these have a few big hits and a few great songs. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-about-the-rolling-stones/446490.md?page=2)