185. The Rolling Stones, "Beggars Banquet"

 

Drop the needle on this record and the very first thing you hear are drums - Charlie Watts playing a jazz/Latin kind of thing, and then congas - and piano and Bill Wyman's bass and then "Please allow me to introduce myself," the intro to one of the most iconic rock songs ever written, "Sympathy for the Devil."  And that's just the beginning of this set, one of the greatest rock albums ever made.

The Rolling Stones had spent much of 1967 embroiled in various drug scandals and split from their producer Andrew Oldham.  In early 1968, they started working with Jimmy Miller on a new album and recorded a little number called "Jumpin' Jack Flash," which was released as a single.  By this point, guitarist Brian Jones was barely there at all, dropping by the studio when he wasn't too fucked up and contributing whatever he felt like (in fact, he plays an acoustic on "Sympathy," but it's so low in the mix you can barely hear it).  Despite all of this turmoil, the Stones recorded this collection, drawing on American roots music and giving it their indelible sheen.

So right after "Sympathy," you get "No Expectations," with Jones on slide, one of his last significant contributions, a bluesy, swaying song about leaving someone behind.  Then "Dear Doctor," a country-ish swing song, followed by "Parachute Woman," another heavily blues-influenced track that recalls Muddy Waters, one of the band's biggest influences.  Point being, four songs in, and it's clear what's going on here - the band is returning to their roots after the wild experimentation of Their Satanic Majesties Request, which was released almost exactly a year earlier.

Let's fast forward to side two, track one, "Street Fighting Man."  One of the greatest intros of any rock song, it starts with Keith Richards's weird, distorted acoustic guitar (recorded on a cheap cassette player, then plugged into a speaker in the studio and miked from there) and then Watts' drums.  Mick Jagger comes in with his harsh, strangled double-tracked vocals.  Still gives me shivers, and I've heard the song thousands? Tens of thousands? of times.  Let's all take a minute and listen to it again.

And then just like the raucous energy of "Sympathy" gets taken down a notch by "Expectations," "Street Fighting Man" is followed by "Prodigal Son," the only cover on the album, originally written by Robert Wilkins.  It's a telling choice, because it fits so seamlessly into the album (indeed, it was once credited to Jagger & Richards) it gives you a great idea where the band was drawing inspiration from for this album.

The Stones are vaguely embarrassing now, a bunch of extremely wealthy white gentlemen nearing 80 years old cavorting around on a stage for a crowd around the same age, but this album will remind you this was once the absolute bleeding edge of music, more dangerous than their rivals the Beatles, somehow stealing American music and making it their own.  A true masterpiece.

Does this album deserve to be in the Top 500? Yes, much higher.