“Gimme Shelter” is my favorite, but I really dig “Faraway Eyes”. The AOR station I listened to as a teenager probably played that one more than any song feom Some Girls.
To my ears they’ve never been able to pull off JJF live. The riffs are not the same. It’s a mess. The single is the perfect record. Maybe it’s out of style, apparently? The absence of it here is really surprising to me.
What’s funny about that song is, I think it’s an absolutely great song that’s ruined by the Rolling Stone’s performance of it. They act like they’re having a good time pretending to be country singers. The alternate version is much better, as it is a good rocker instead of stiff, fake country. But it’s still a better song than that. Townes Van Zandt’s version plows me under. He understood the song better than they did, or was more capable of performing it.
The opposite of that for me is Wild Horses. I’ve heard several covers of that song, and no one comes close. There’s something about the out-of-tune-ish harmonies that makes that song work. Perfect harmonies don’t work for it, it has to sound broken.
And yeah, great as they are, they stood on the shoulders of giants, as we all do. Without Ry Cooder, they’d have about a quarter of the career they have now. Luck is funny that way.
The OP asks for one’s favorite Stones song, and JJF isn’t my #1 favorite. But it’s one of my top five.
100% correct.
The song was only cited by me and one other poster. I thought this was very notable. I’m actually thinking “What happened to Jumpin Jack Flash?” in terms of how people enjoy it.
He was drowned, washed up and left for dead.
One or two 
Monkey Man: standard tuning, capo at 2nd fret.
Honky Tonk: Open G. I am lazy and hate retuning strings, so I keep it simple. I ignore the low E and keep it mute with my thumb. I detune the A to G, and the high E to D. (I discuss regularly that I also play in Cheater’s G where I just detune the A to G. I mute the high E and play the middle four strings as Open G for Keef riffs while keeping the high strings in standard for easy lead work).
So, G D G B D - check Youtube. Place your index at the fifth fret across all 5 strings. Hit the chord. While it is ringing, hammer on your middle and ring fingers in the shape of an Am7 (4th string, 3rd fret; 2nd string, 1st fret). Please tell me you hear that ;). You’ve gone from a C chord to an F chord, Keef style.
Amp: yeah, clean channel, with whatever dial - volume? Gain? - that affects level of crunch set about 2/3 up - really looking for that sweet spot where gentle picking sounds clean and a sharp stroke crunches up. Have your guitar volume backed off to about 7-8, and your Tone to about 6. I would try the Tube Screamer, set up to be as much of a clean boost as possible, I.e., gain low, but level high - use it to drive your amp’s preamp more than to crunch up the sound. It should make the sweet spot of the amp, well, sweet-spottier- a bit more of everything. Kick it in, back your guitar volume down to 3 and play gently - can you still fake a clean sound?
On the amp, have the treble backed off a bit and the bass set normal, not cut or boomy. Most importantly, make sure the Mids are NOT cut, and if anything, are boosted. Keith is all about midrange. It’s where his tone starts. I’ve never read that anywhere, now that I think about it. But if you play his stuff, it’s part of learning it.
Check YouTube for each - there are bone-simple versions to get started on. Keith makes them difficult with his fills and timing.
drad dog - of course I could speak to Jumping Jack Flash, why it is loved but not at the top of lists. But I have no interest in a tedious, negative discussion where I don’t feel listened to when I try to share perspectives I have given thought to and can back up. If you think a better type of discussion is possible, let me know.
I think only two or three people have mentioned my personal favorite:
“She’s So Cold,” maybe because I relate to it so much.
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I really like Undercover of the Night 
It’s a guilty pleasure of mine, too.
Where does Tumbling Dice fall in the hierarchy for the rest of you?
I love Tumbling Dice. Nothing wrong with Undercover of the Night, either!
I adore the song. The live version off the Belgian Affair former bootleg is the best weave between Keith and Mick Taylor, IMHO. Taylors leads on the song blow me away - so lyrical.
It does say a lot that JJF is not being cited in this thread. Talking about it seems like, well, actual discussion, of something very interesting. I don’t know how that would be negative or tedious, or what you’re pushing against.
Or how you feel “unlistened” to. Just assume I wasn’t talking to you, then? I’ve stopped reading your explanations of Keith Richards, so you’re entitled.
I’d never heard of this album before, but then I’m not the biggest Stones’ fan. Listening to it now off youtube, and it is fantastic so far.
Thanks for telling me about it.
1st place - “Gimme Shelter” A perfect blend of band and song. It’s the song they were born to perform.
2nd place - The “Some Girls” album. After all these years, it is still in my constant rotation.
3rd place - " One Hit (to the body)" - The boys found their old groove for a brief moment in 1986. The guitar work is perfection. Instantly identifiable as the Stones.
So many good ones, but a couple of my favorites barely mentioned are “Mother’s Little Helper,” (what a great, albeit depressing pop tune–I like to play it when I have some boring bit of housework to do :D) and “She’s so Cold.” I also dig “Start Me Up” because it has such an eclectic sound; e.g., it mixes that early 70s country rock sound with a sort of early proto-light-metal feel. Hard to describe, but I just like the mishmash feel of it.
Otherwise, I guess I love “Paint it Black,” “The Last Time,” “Prodigal Son.”
As usual, you’re the fucking man. Haven’t tried this yet as its late but will give it a go tomorrow.
Cool. By the way, Am7 includes 4th string 2nd fret, not third.
Also, when I say to back off the volume to 3 and check for a gentle clean tone - that’s just a way to see how dynamic your guitar’s tone can be. Dial the Volume back up to 7 or 8 and play the Open G lick.
Jumpin Jack Flash was recorded with just acoustic guitars during the period where Keith was recording everything through a Philips cassette recorder’s preamp, using it to overdrive the signal and sound quasi-electric. And he used a couple of Nashville-tuned guitars on top (a way to set up a 6 string so it sounds like a fake 12-string - a fun twist) When he plays it live he is using electric guitars. Between the use of electrics and the lack of the Nashville-tuned tracks on top, it is never going to sound the same live. Also, Keith doesn’t try to play the acoustic groove the same on electric for the versions I have heard. He goes different places with it.
Jumpin Jack Flash is a simple little fun song, named after the gardener who walked by when Mick and Keith were songwriting. It is Jagger’s version of King of Pain - i.e., he is just using word pictures to make a simple point. In the case of Jumpin Jack Flash, the simple point is “I started off bad, but I got better.” Great and fun - but it isn’t going to have the resonance of Gimme Shelter or Street Fighting Man, which was recorded at the same time, using the same acoustics-only+Philips approach and has much more enduring cultural currency. Mick is a lot more likely to pop up in a documentary explaining Gimme Shelter or Street Fighting Man than he would JJF.
You’re welcome. Sorry for leading off with bits about Keith’s playing.
Under My Thumb.
It has such an otherworldly, ethereal quality. Reminds me of my childhood, listening to classic rock stations on AM radio being broadcast from somewhere out in the New Mexico desert.