Let It Bleed

This is the only Rolling Stones album I had listened to before beginning this blog and to be quite honest, I’ve constructed my ranking system in accordance with how other albums measure up to this one. I have memories of flying down the 401 in the pouring rain blaring “Gimmie Shelter”, howling nights of hazy intoxication where I’ve been able to extract more meaning from “Midnight Rambler” than in any other state of mind, and sad days restricted to the confinements of social obligations where “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” brings some placid sense of hope. And I’ll let you make of it what you will, that “Love in Vain” was on my daily playlist for the first four months of this year.

“Gimmie Shelter” sends a political message, as Jagger vocalizes the need for shelter from the coming storm of worldly devastation and destruction. In his own words he put it: "That's a kind of end-of-the-world song, really. It's apocalypse; the whole record's like that." To get into a writing frame of mind I’ve listened to this album four times in the last two days and countless times in the last few weeks. Today, I dug through my meager collection of vinyl --and as I write these very words my eardrums are pulsating with pleasure from the energy rush. The airwaves in my room resonate while the needle dances through the grooves of the phenomenal composition, --and as the record revolves an injection of the soul of the band, screams: “It’s just a shot away, It’s just a shot away.”

The Stone’s “Love in Vain” is cover of a Robert Johnson tune that has a more polished sound than the original. The sad lyrics, drawn long by Jagger alongside the country blurbs from Richard’s guitar depict the epitome of a yearning and lonesome lover.

“The Midnight Rambler” was written about the Boston Strangler. It is a fast paced jam that comes to life with Richard’s dangerous guitar riffs and solos. Jagger’s sporadic bellowing into the harmonica tames the country twang of the guitar while Brian Jones’ magnificent splashes on the drums keeps tempo with the quickening bass. This tune would come to be known as a great crowd pleaser at shows as its length and style provide opportunity for instrumental solos.

The London Bach Choir is featured throughout “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” singing just those words. Skepticism often takes me over when the Stones force out a positive rainbowy tune (*cough…“She’s a rainbow”...) and although this song carries positive message it still seems like a Stones song.

Although this album prides itself on knock-out hits it doesn’t have the same fluid flowing motion of Beggars Banquet.

Beggars Banquet

After a long busy week, a slow Friday afternoon killing the hours with a few Stone’s albums and the good company of my 17 year old Yorkshire terrier really hit the spot. After forcing Their Satanic Majesties Request on myself I was a little leery about what Beggars Banquet might bring. Fortunately, with this album the Stones dropped the psychedelic-rock act and returned to a sound that’s more their forte. Although this album doesn’t exact knock-out punches with numerous rock-out hits, it steadily slugs away and the impact lands in a smooth ‘n’ cool R&B tone, emanating out of a folk sound that’s lit-up with rocking guitar solos. This album is a good listen from start to finish.

Beggars Banquet opens with “Sympathy for the Devil”. It’s kept by a primitive beat and brought to life by Jagger’s bluesy voice singing satanic lyrics from the perspective of Lucifer while back-up vocals resonate with a continual “Woo-who”. The piano seems to bring some mode of regulation to the tune, even to the untamed stinging guitar solo from Richard’s.

“Street Fighting Man" has a tinny sound induced by the use of a sitar and tambura. Jagger drags his voice through the lyrics hanging on to notes in a way that really builds the energy of the song. This is one of their most politically directed songs, featuring lyrics such as the following that form the base idea.

“Well, then what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock 'n' roll band
'Cause in sleepy London town
There's no place for a street fighting man”

“Stray Cat Blues” is a jive tune kicking back with long reeling guitar riffs from Richards, and a sliding tempo that picks up and slows down and just gives the feeling that swaying back and forth is the right thing to do. It even makes the swaying of my 17 year old dog seem natural and controlled.

Much like the above album cover that was originally rejected, each of these tunes were controversial upon their release. “Sympathy for the Devil” was so because of its satanic underpinnings, “Street Fighting Man” because of the race riots in the US and political unrest in France at the time, and “Stray Cat Blues” because the lyrics pertain to a 15 year old girl as the ‘stray cat’.

Their Satanic Majesties Request

The first time I ever put my ears to this album was a couple of weeks ago. I was bustling around my room, busied in literature related nonsense and it wasn’t until the third track before confusion took me back to my computer screen --I was nearly certain by some mistake I’d dragged a lost Beatles album of B-sides onto my playlist. Curiously this wasn’t the case. By the time that I’d let the whole album run through, I’d decided that somehow the Rolling Stones had forced Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Yellow Submarine to crossbreed resulting in this defective submarinish offspring. I’ve always been fond of Sgt Pepper’s but have never been taken in by Yellow Submarine –in fact, I’ve always been agitated by the Yellow Submarine album. Later that day I browsed the internet to find out that Yellow Submarine wasn’t released until ‘69 so my crossbreeding theory went kaputz. To the relief of my confusion I found that Lennon and McCartney had been involved in the recording of this album. From what I can tell, they were responsible for backup vocals in the first track. But from the sound of the album I’d guess they had more of a hand in it than that.

The epitome of this disaster lies in the chaotic hoopla of “Sing This All Together (see what happens)”. This track nearly drags on for eight minutes mimicking jungle sounds then accelerating into a fit of screams that seemingly progresses from chaotic to erotic which is then echoed by graceless blasts from woodwind.

No doubt under the hypnotic spell of the Beatles (as I assume everyone was in ’67) “She’s a Rainbow” comes across as a catchy ditty with a bright mellotron melody, bright lyrics, and bright violin –a brightness that I wouldn’t say is typical of the Stones. This tune charted at 25^th on the Hot Billboard 100.

As this period of Rock and Roll was in the groove of a psychedelic sound many bands were out making a name for themselves with this resonance. The Doors were breaking through with the release of their first album, Jefferson Airplane were enjoying success with “Plastic Fantastic Dancer”, and “White Rabbit” and David Bowie was laughing it up with “The Laughing Gnome”....

The only song that has the Stones captured in some distorted psychedelic way is “2000 Light Years From Home”. With an eerie wavering mellotron in the distant background and the soft and mysterious vocals hanging on to every syllable like they’re Jagger’s last, this is the best the Stones ever did with a psychedelic sound.

To sum-up the sound of this album: If the Beatles were to trap the Rolling Stones in a Yellow Submarine for months while incessantly playing their Yellow Submarine album over and over and then open the port holes and slowly drowned them while demanding them to play their instruments and sing –this would be the result.