The Rolling Stones - Complete CD-Maximun Collection (2002) (Volumes 11-20 of 31)

The Rolling Stones by CD-Maximum of Russia. 31 volumes featuring the Stones back-catalogue of Decca, London and Rolling Stones Records album releases with bonus tracks. The bonus tracks are best sounding studio or live recordings (soundboard/audience) previously released on several bootlegs. The artwork packaging is first rate. Each CD features the original album artwork plus additional album, singles, E.P. or bootleg artwork from various countries (UK, France, Germany, USA and Japan) and full color posters. The silver CD is silk-screened with the original album label too. Sound quality overall is either excellent mono or stereo.











The American version featured different cover art and a shorter running order that eliminated "Out of Time", "Take It or Leave It", "What to Do", and "Mother's Little Helper". All four tracks were later issued in the US on other compilations, and "Mother's Little Helper" was also issued as a single in 1966, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard charts. In their place, the album substituted their current No. 1 hit "Paint It, Black". The revamped Aftermath still reached No. 2 in the US, eventually going platinum.

The Rolling Stones finally delivered a set of all-original material with this LP, which also did much to define the group as the bad boys of rock & roll with their sneering attitude toward the world in general and the female sex in particular. The borderline misogyny could get a bit juvenile in tunes like "Stupid Girl." But on the other hand the group began incorporating the influences of psychedelia and Dylan into their material with classics like "Paint It Black," an eerily insistent number one hit graced by some of the best use of sitar (played by Brian Jones) on a rock record. Other classics included the jazzy "Under My Thumb," where Jones added exotic accents with his vibes, and the delicate Elizabethan ballad "Lady Jane," where dulcimer can be heard. Some of the material is fairly ho-hum, to be honest, as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were still prone to inconsistent songwriting; "Goin' Home," an 11-minute blues jam, was remarkable more for its barrier-crashing length than its content. Look out for an obscure gem, however, in the brooding, meditative "I Am Waiting." Reviewed by Richie Unterberger allmusic.com

Track Listing

01. Paint It, Black
02. Stupid Girl
03. Lady Jane
04. Under My Thumb
05. Doncha Bother Me
06. Think
07. Flight 505
08. High And Dry
09. It's Not Easy
10. I'm Waiting
11. Goin' Home

Bonus Tracks

12. Reelin' And Rockin' (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964-06-11)
13. It's All Over Now (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964-06-10)
14. I Can't Be Satisfied (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964-06-10)
15. Stewed And Keefed (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964-06-10)
16. 2120 South Michigan Avenue (Long Version) (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964-06-11)
17. Around And Around (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964-06-11)
18. Confessin' The Blues (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964-06-11)
19. Don't Lie To Me (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964-06-11)
20. Down In The Bottom (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964-06-11)
21. Down The Road Apiece (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964-06-11)
22. Empty Heart (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964-06-11)


The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica on "Doncha Bother Me" (along with Brian Jones), percussion, lighting
Keith Richards – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Brian Jones – electric, acoustic, and slide guitars, harmonica, backing vocals, marimbas on "Under My Thumb" and "Out of Time", bells, Appalachian dulcimer on "Lady Jane" and "I Am Waiting," sitar on "Paint It, Black", koto on "Take It Or Leave It", tenor saxophone on "Flight 505", keyboards on "It's Not Easy", "What To Do", "Out of Time" and "Take It or Leave It", percussion
Charlie Watts – drums, percussion
Bill Wyman – bass guitar, backing vocals, organ, piano on "Doncha Bother Me"


Additional musicians

Jack Nitzsche – percussion on "Goin' Home", electric piano on "Stupid Girl"
Ian Stewart – piano, organ


Album Released: June 20, 1966














Got LIVE If You Want It! is the first live album by British rock band The Rolling Stones. It was released in the US in late 1966. It was also released as Have You Seen Your Mother LIVE! on Decca in England but for export only; it was not released in the UK under this alternate title.

At the time, it was not released officially in the UK; instead, the British market had the 1965 EP release Got Live If You Want It!, from which the album's name derived (a different mix of "I'm Alright" appeared on this EP.) The album had been compiled as a result of a contractual obligation with US distributor London Records, and the band themselves were not happy with it. They consequently disowned it, arguing that Get Yer Ya-Yas Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert (1970) was their true live album debut.

The performances captured for Got Live If You Want It reportedly occurred on 1 and 7 October 1966, in Newcastle upon Tyne and Bristol while on their last UK tour for three years, despite the album's assertion that the recording hailed from the Royal Albert Hall. Although the band went into the studio later in October 1966 to correct audio imperfections, Got Live If You Want It! was deemed a lacklustre and ragged live document upon release. Furthermore, to fill out the album, two unissued studio recordings (1963's "Fortune Teller" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" from 1965) received live audience overdubs in order to create fake concert recordings.

The album was issued in December, as the group were nearing the end of Between the Buttons' sessions. It reached #6 in the US in early 1967 and went gold. Decca Records UK released the LP as Have You Seen Your Mother Live! for import purposes, while King Records Japan released the same LP under the title Hits LIVE.

A live document of the Brian Jones-era Rolling Stones sounds enticing, but the actual product is a letdown, owing to a mixture of factors, some beyond the producers' control and other very much their doing. The sound on the original LP was lousy – which was par for the course on most mid-'60s live rock albums – and the remasterings have only improved it marginally, and for that matter not all of it's live; a couple of old studio R&B covers were augmented by screaming fans that had obviously been overdubbed. Still, the album has its virtues as a historical document, with some extremely important caveats for anyone not old enough to recognize the inherent limitations in a live album of this vintage. The first concerns the history of this release – the Got Live if You Want It! album (not to be confused with the superior sounding but much shorter, U.K.-only extended-play single, issued in England in mid-1965) was a U.S.-only release late 1966, intended to feed a seemingly insatiable American market. As a best-of album had been issued in March 1966 and Aftermath in June of the same year, and the Stones had just come off of a major U.S. tour (which proved to be their last for over three years), another album was needed, to bridge the gap in America between the those earlier LPs, the two most recent singles – "Paint It, Black" and "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" – and the Between the Buttons album, which was not going to make it out in time for the Christmas season.

The result was Got Live if You Want It!, which was intended to be recorded at a concert at Royal Albert Hall on September 23, 1966, the Stones' first live appearance in England in over a year. The problem was, as was memorably stated by a writer in Rolling Stone magazine a few years later, the Stones in those days didn't play concerts – they played riots, and that was precisely what happened at Royal Albert Hall, as several hundred fans charged the stage, overwhelming the band before they'd gotten through the opening number, "Paint It, Black." The scene was captured in the footage later used in the promotional film for "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" What was left of the show, once order was restored, was taped, along with at least two other shows on that tour over the next week or so; and it should also be remembered that in those days the group seldom played for more than 30 to 40 minutes, and sometimes less than that, much like the Beatles in concert. And the audience noise, much as it was with the Beatles, was overwhelming in the days before stacks of Marshall amps became routine in a band's equipment – indeed, at some shows, at certain moments, only the tempo of Charlie Watts' drumming could tell you which song the group was doing, and the band members couldn't hear much more than the crowd – matters such as tuning instruments and precise playing, even down to the most routine changes, became exercises in futility. Add to that the limitations of live recording, and the inevitable sound leakages and other problems, and one can see how this album was easier to conceive than to actually bring off successfully. When all of the tapes were assembled, the producers were left with about 28 minutes of material that was usable to varying degrees, and even that was somewhat wishful thinking by the standards of the day. (Apart from the Kinks' Live at Kelvin Hall [aka The Live Kinks], few groups or record labels in 1967 had the courage to release a concert album that sounded like the real article.) And here, someone – the Stones' producer, London Records, whoever – started fiddling around, twirling knobs, changing balances, and making the stuff supposedly sound "better," and bringing in a couple of studio tracks, "I've Been Loving You Too Long" and "Fortune Teller," and laying on some crowd noise to bring the show up to an acceptable length for an LP.

The result is the Rolling Stones album that has undergone more changes than any other in its various incarnations. First, there was the original LP version and the mix it featured, which left out most of the introduction and virtually any between-song talk by Mick Jagger; his voice was brought up and the rest of the band sounds somewhat suppressed; one channel of the stereo version had Jagger's voice isolated and amplified to ridiculous prominence, while the other channel had a relatively "flat" and realistic balance on the concert material. In fact, if you took the latter channel and bumped it onto both channels of an open-reel tape, the result was a short but pretty good live performance. In the mid-'80s, ABKCO Records took control of the Stones' library and went back to the original source tapes for the Got Live if You Want It! CD, re-editing the material in consultation with producer Andrew Oldham, improving the mixes on several of the songs, including "The Last Time," "Time Is on My Side," and "19th Nervous Breakdown," and also giving a fuller account of Long John Baldry's introduction. That was a step in the right direction and improved the record somewhat. Then, in 2002, came the SACD hybrid remastering of the album for a new CD edition, which is likely to be the last word in improvement on this album. The balances are finally realistic, in terms of Jagger's voice and the rest of the band – Bill Wyman's bass work and Charlie Watts' drumming are consistently rewarding, and Keith Richards and Brian Jones have their moments, as well, though not as consistently. The performances were done, after all, under what were, at best, siege conditions, with little opportunity for finesse or nuance.The one element that does come through consistently is the excitement and sheer kinetic energy generated by the band. The older songs come off the best – though one is glad that they do "Lady Jane," the dulcimer-dominated piece comes off in this setting a lot like "Yesterday" did when the Beatles did that in concert; audiences shriek and scream over a quiet, reflective song that really doesn't merit that response, and the result as a live performance is off-kilter; the group's rendition of their then-current single, "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" is a bit chaotic, although it does give the band a chance to show what Keith Richards' critique of the studio version's burying of the rhythm section was all about – he and Brian Jones do their best to compensate for the lack of overdubbed brass stabs. The only real disappointment is the finale, "Satisfaction," which comes off as quick, ragged, and chaotic – it was impossible to interlock the guitars the way the group's sound needed, and it has no real ending, which is why it's faded down. The album is a lot more uneven than the much shorter EP of the same name (available on Singles 1963-1965), but it is now at least a fairly honest document of what rock & roll concerts in the mid-'60s were like. Ironically, Got Live if You Want It! wasn't released in England until more than a decade later and, in the interim, in 1971, Decca Records took some of its tracks, jumbled them up with some cuts off the 1969 concert album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!, and combined them under the misleading title Gimme Shelter, as though it were the soundtrack to that movie (despite a disclaimer on the back), and generally infuriated fans on both sides of the Atlantic in the process. Reviewed by Richie Unterberger allmusic.com

Track Listing

01. Under My Thumb
02. Get Off Of My Cloud
03. Lady Jane
04. Not Fade Away
05. I've Been Loving You Too Long
06. Fortune Teller
07. The Last Time
08. 19th Nervous Breakdown
09. Time Is On My Side
10. I'm Alright
11. Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing In The Shadow?
12. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Bonus Tracks

13. Around And Around (L'Olympia, Paris 1965-04-17)
14. Off The Hook (L'Olympia, Paris 1965-04-17)
15. Time Is On My Side (L'Olympia, Paris 1965-04-17)
16. Carol (L'Olympia, Paris 1965-04-17)
17. It's All Over Now (L'Olympia, Paris 1965-04-17)
18. Little Red Rooster (L'Olympia, Paris 1965-04-17)
19. Route 66 (L'Olympia, Paris 1965-04-17)
20. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (L'Olympia, Paris 1965-04-17)
21. The Last Time (L'Olympia, Paris 1965-04-17)
22. I'm Alright (L'Olympia, Paris 1965-04-17)
23. Hey Crawdaddy (L'Olympia, Paris 1965-04-17)


The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger – lead vocals, percussion
Keith Richards – guitars, backing vocals
Brian Jones – guitars, backing vocals, harmonica, appalachian dulcimer
Charlie Watts – drums, percussion
Bill Wyman – bass guitar, backing vocals


Album Released: December 10, 1966














Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) is the first official compilation album by The Rolling Stones, released on 28 March 1966, on London Records in the US and on 4 November 1966, by Decca Records in the UK. The two releases featured different cover art and track listing. The front cover for the American release was used for the rear photo on the UK edition.

The UK Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) includes tracks released after the American edition appeared. The Rolling Stones' debut 1963 single, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On", was included, but its more successful follow-up, "I Wanna Be Your Man" — composed by rivals (although in reality as friends) Lennon–McCartney — was left off the album.




Track Listing

01. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?
02. Paint It, Black
03. It's All Over Now
04. The Last Time
05. Heart Of Stone
06. Not Fade Away
07. Come On
08. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
09. Get Of Of My Cloud
10. As Tears Go By
11. 19Th Nervous Breakdown
12. Lady Jane
13. Time Is On My Side
14. Little Red Rooster

Bonus Tracks

15. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow- (Early Mix With Different Vocal)
16. Paint It, Black (Backing Track)
17. Mother's Little Helper (Backing Track)
18. Heart Of Stone (Early Version)
19. Con Le Mie Lacrime (Mick Jagger Solo Single Relased April 1966)**
20. Out Of Time (Mick Jagger Solo Version)

**"As Tears Go By" sung in Italian. Mick Jagger solo single released in Italy, April 1966.


The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger – harmonica, lead vocals, percussion
Brian Jones – guitar, slide guitar, harmonica, appalachian dulcimer, sitar, organ, backing vocals, keyboards
Keith Richards – guitar, backing vocals
Charlie Watts – drums
Bill Wyman – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals


Additional musicians

Jack Nitzsche – percussion, keyboards
Phil Spector – percussion
Ian Stewart – keyboards


Album Released: November 4, 1966














Between the Buttons is the fifth British studio album by The Rolling Stones, released on 20 January 1967 in the UK and 11 February in the US as the follow-up to Aftermath. It was the beginning of the Stones' brief foray into psychedelia. In 2003, the American version of Between the Buttons, which included "Ruby Tuesday" and "Let's Spend the Night Together", was ranked #355 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Sessions for the album began on 3 August 1966 and lasted until the 11th at Los Angeles' RCA Studios during the Rolling Stones' 1966 American Tour. Dave Hassinger was the engineer. Several songs were worked on; the backing tracks of six songs that would appear on the album were recorded, as were those of "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Who's Driving Your Plane?", B-side of "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?", released as a single in late September.

The band returned to London and sessions continued at IBC Studios from 31 August until 3 September. "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" was completed to be released on 23 September before the Stones embarked on their seventh British tour which lasted into early October and was their last UK tour for three years.

The second block of recording sessions for Between the Buttons began on 8 November at the newly opened Olympic Sound Studios in Barnes, London and alternated between there and Pye Studios until 26 November. During this time the bulk of the album was completed including vocal and other overdubs on the previously recorded backing tracks and mixing. "Ruby Tuesday" was also completed.

Around the same time producer Andrew Loog Oldham was also preparing the US-only live album Got Live If You Want It!, a contractual requirement from London Records that contained live performances from their recent British tour as well as studio tracks overdubbed with audience noise. After that album's release on 10 December, a final overdubbing session for Buttons was held at Olympic Studio on 13 December 1966 before Oldham took the tapes back to RCA Studios in Hollywood for final mixing and editing. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys was invited down to RCA Studios in Los Angeles during the mix-down of 'My Obsession', which remains one of his favourite Rolling Stones songs.

The album was recorded using 4-track machines and initial tracks were pre-mixed to make room for overdubs. Mick Jagger felt the songs lost clarity. He commented during an interview, "We bounced it back to do overdubs so many times we lost the sound of it. [The songs] sounded so great, but later on I was really disappointed with it."[4] He commented further; "I don't know, it just isn't any good. 'Back Street Girl' is about the only one I like." In an interview with New Music Express, he even called the rest of the album "more or less rubbish."

Between the Buttons was the last album wholly produced by Oldham, with whom the Stones fell out in mid-1967 during the recording sessions for Their Satanic Majesties Request.

All reissues of the album since 1968 have been in stereo; the album's mono mix has yet to see an official CD release.

The Rolling Stones' 1967 recordings are a matter of some controversy; many critics felt that they were compromising their raw, rootsy power with trendy emulations of the Beatles, Kinks, Dylan, and psychedelic music. Approach this album with an open mind, though, and you'll find it to be one of their strongest, most eclectic LPs, with many fine songs that remain unknown to all but Stones devotees. The lyrics are getting better (if more savage), and the arrangements more creative, on brooding near-classics like "All Sold Out," "My Obsession," and "Yesterday's Papers." "She Smiled Sweetly" shows their hidden romantic side at its best, while "Connection" is one of the record's few slabs of conventionally driving rock. But the best tracks were the two songs that gave the group a double-sided number one in early 1967: the lustful "Let's Spend the Night Together" and the beautiful, melancholy "Ruby Tuesday," which is as melodic as anything Mick Jagger and Keith Richards would ever write. Reviewed by Bruce Eder allmusic.com

Track Listing

01. Yesterday's Papers
02. My Obsession
03. Back Street Girl
04. Connection
05. She Smiled Sweetly
06. Cool, Calm And Collected
07. All Sold Out
08. Please Go Home
09. Who's Been Sleeping Here?
10. Complicated
11. Miss Amanda Jones
12. Something Happened To Me Yesterday

Bonus Tracks

13. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadows- (Original Single Mono Mix)
14. Get Yourself Together (Unreleased, Olympic Sound Studios, London November 1966)
15. If You Let Me (Outtake, RCA Studios, Los Angeles March 1966)
16. Let's Spend The Night Together (Original Single Mono Mix)
17. Ruby Tuesday (Original Single Mono Mix)
18. Who's Driving Your Plane (B-Side)
19. Yesterday's Papers (Backing Track)


The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger - lead and backing vocals, percussion
Keith Richard - guitars, backing vocals, bass guitar, double bass, co-lead vocals on "Connection", "My Obsession" and "Something Happened to Me Yesterday"
Brian Jones - electric guitar on "My Obsession", "All Sold Out", "Miss Amanda Jones", "Connection", and "Please Go Home", acoustic guitar on "Complicated" and "Something Happened to Me Yesterday", piano on "Ruby Tuesday", "Who's Been Sleeping Here?", and 'All Sold Out' organ on "Complicated", "She Smiled Sweetly", and "All Sold Out", electric dulcimer on "Cool, Calm, Collected", vibraphone, marimba, and harpsichord on "Yesterday's Papers", kazoo on "Cool, Calm, Collected", recorder on "Ruby Tuesday" and "All Sold Out", bass guitar, theremin on "Please Go Home", Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, and saxophone on "Something Happened to Me Yesterday", harmonica on "Who's Been Sleeping Here?" and "Cool, Calm, Collected", percussion, sitar on "Cool, Calm, Collected", backing vocals
Charlie Watts - drums, percussion
Bill Wyman - bass guitar, percussion, double bass, backing vocals


Additional musicians

Jack Nitzsche - piano on "She Smiled Sweetly" and "Let's Spend the Night Together", harpsichord on 'Back Street Girl'
Ian Stewart - piano on "My Obsession", "Connection", "Miss Amanda Jones", and "Something Happened to Me Yesterday", organ on "Miss Amanda Jones"
Nicky Hopkins - piano on "Cool, Calm, Collected"
Nick DeCaro - accordion on "Back Street Girl"


Album Released: January 20, 1967














Between the Buttons is the seventh American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released on 11 February in the US as the follow-up to Aftermath. It was the beginning of the Stones' brief foray into psychedelia. In 2003, the American version of Between the Buttons, which included "Ruby Tuesday" and "Let's Spend the Night Together", was ranked #355 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

**for more information see Between The Buttons (UK) post.




Track Listing

01. Let's Spend The Night Together
02. Yesterday's Papers
03. Ruby Tuesday
04. Connection
05. She Smiled Sweetly
06. Cool, Calm And Collected
07. All Sold Out
08. My Obsession
09. Who's Been Sleeping Here?
10. Complicated
11. Miss Amanda Jones
12. Something Happened To Me Yesterday

Bonus Tracks

13. Family (Olympic Sound Studios, London, May 1968)
14. Downtown Lucy (Olympic Sound Studios, London, May 1968)
15. Hamburger To Go (Olympic Sound Studios, London, May 1968)
16. Memo From Turner #1 (Unknown Recording Session 1968)
17. Memo From Turner #2 (Olympic Sound Studios, London 1968-11-17)
18. Sister Morphine (Olympic Sound Studios, London, May 1968)
19. Still A Fool (Olympic Sound Studios, London, May 1968)
20. You Got The Silver (Olympic Sound Studios, London, February-March 1969)
21. Highway Child (Keith Richards Redlands Home Session, February 1968)


The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger - lead and backing vocals, percussion
Keith Richard - guitars, backing vocals, bass guitar, double bass, co-lead vocals on "Connection", "My Obsession" and "Something Happened to Me Yesterday"
Brian Jones - electric guitar on "My Obsession", "All Sold Out", "Miss Amanda Jones", "Connection", and "Please Go Home", acoustic guitar on "Complicated" and "Something Happened to Me Yesterday", piano on "Ruby Tuesday", "Who's Been Sleeping Here?", and 'All Sold Out' organ on "Complicated", "She Smiled Sweetly", and "All Sold Out", electric dulcimer on "Cool, Calm, Collected", vibraphone, marimba, and harpsichord on "Yesterday's Papers", kazoo on "Cool, Calm, Collected", recorder on "Ruby Tuesday" and "All Sold Out", bass guitar, theremin on "Please Go Home", Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, and saxophone on "Something Happened to Me Yesterday", harmonica on "Who's Been Sleeping Here?" and "Cool, Calm, Collected", percussion, sitar on "Cool, Calm, Collected", backing vocals
Charlie Watts - drums, percussion
Bill Wyman - bass guitar, percussion, double bass, backing vocals


Additional musicians

Jack Nitzsche - piano on "She Smiled Sweetly" and "Let's Spend the Night Together", harpsichord on 'Back Street Girl'
Ian Stewart - piano on "My Obsession", "Connection", "Miss Amanda Jones", and "Something Happened to Me Yesterday", organ on "Miss Amanda Jones"
Nicky Hopkins - piano on "Cool, Calm, Collected"
Nick DeCaro - accordion on "Back Street Girl"


Album Released: February 11, 1967














Their Satanic Majesties Request is the sixth British and eighth American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released on 8 December 1967 by Decca Records in the UK and the following day in the US by London Records. Its title is a play on the "Her Britannic Majesty requests and requires…" text that appears inside a British passport.

Upon its initial release, the album "drew mixed reviews from the critics as well as some mixed reactions within the group itself."

Begun just after Between the Buttons had been released, the recording of Their Satanic Majesties Request was long and sporadic, broken up by court appearances and jail terms. For the same reasons, the entire band was seldom present in the studio at one time. Further slowing productivity was the presence of the multiple guests that the band members had brought along. One of the more level-headed members of the band during this time, Bill Wyman, wary of psychedelic drugs, wrote the song "In Another Land" to parody the Stones' current goings-on.

Their producer and manager Andrew Loog Oldham, already fed up with the band's lack of focus, distanced himself from them following their drug bust and finally quit, leaving them without a producer. As a result Their Satanic Majesties Request was the Stones' only self-produced album, which Mick Jagger admitted was not for the best.

According to Brian Jones, a month before the album's planned release date the group "hadn't got anything put together".

Keith Richards himself has been critical of the album in later years. While he likes some of the songs ("2000 Light Years from Home", "Citadel" and "She's a Rainbow"), "the album was a load of crap".

The Stones experimented with many new instruments and sound effects during the sessions including the theremin, synthesizers, short wave radio static and string arrangements by John Paul Jones.

Released in December 1967, Their Satanic Majesties Request reached #3 in the UK and #2 in the US (easily going gold), but its commercial performance declined rapidly. It was soon viewed as a pretentious, poorly conceived attempt to outdo The Beatles and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (released in June 1967), often explained by drug trials and excesses in contemporary musical fashion, although John Lennon and Paul McCartney did provide backing vocals on "Sing This All Together".

Without a doubt, no Rolling Stones album – and, indeed, very few rock albums from any era – split critical opinion as much as the Rolling Stones' psychedelic outing. Many dismiss the record as sub-Sgt. Pepper posturing; others confess, if only in private, to a fascination with the album's inventive arrangements, which incorporated some African rhythms, Mellotrons, and full orchestration. What's clear is that never before or after did the Stones take so many chances in the studio. (Some critics and fans feel that the record has been unfairly undervalued, partly because purists expect the Stones to constantly champion a blues 'n' raunch worldview.) About half the material is very strong, particularly the glorious "She's a Rainbow," with its beautiful harmonies, piano, and strings; the riff-driven "Citadel"; the hazy, dream-like "In Another Land," Bill Wyman's debut writing (and singing) credit on a Stones release; and the majestically dark and doomy cosmic rocker "2000 Light Years from Home," with some of the creepiest synthesizer effects (devised by Brian Jones) ever to grace a rock record. The downfall of the album was caused by some weak songwriting on the lesser tracks, particularly the interminable psychedelic jam "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)." It's a much better record than most people give it credit for being, though, with a strong current of creeping uneasiness that undercuts the gaudy psychedelic flourishes. In 1968, the Stones would go back to the basics, and never wander down these paths again, making this all the more of a fascinating anomaly in the group's discography. Reviewed by Richie Unterberger allmusic.com

Track Listing

01. Sing This All Together
02. Citadel
03. In Another Land
04. 2000 Man
05. Sing This All Together (See What Happens)
06. She's A Rainbow
07. The Lantern
08. Gomper
09. 2000 Light Years From Home
10. On With The Show

Bonus Tracks

11. Child On The Moon (B-Side Original Mono Mix)
12. We Love You (Original Single Mix)
13. Dandelion (B-Side)
14. The Lantern (Rough Mono Monitor Mix)
15. In Another Land (Rough Mono Monitor Mix)
16. She's A Rainbow (Rough Mono Monitor Mix)
17. Untitled ( Rehearsals For An Unfinished Song)
18. 2000 Light Years From Home (Rough Mix Of Backing Track)
19. 2000 Man (Rehearsals)
20. Gold Painted Nails (Rehearsals)


The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, percussion
Keith Richards – guitars, backing vocals
Brian Jones – Mellotron, organ, electric dulcimer, recorder, percussion, piano, theremin, concert harp, sitar, sound effects, saxophones, flutes, trumpets, backing vocals, brass on "The Lantern", "Sing This All Together", and "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)", bass guitar on "Gomper"
Charlie Watts – drums, percussion, tablas
Bill Wyman – bass guitar, percussion, backing vocals, organ, lead vocals on "In Another Land"


Additional musicians

Nicky Hopkins – piano, harpsichord
John Lennon and Paul McCartney - backing vocals and percussion on "Sing This All Together" and "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)"
John Paul Jones – string arrangement on "She's a Rainbow"
Ronnie Lane – backing vocals on "In Another Land"
Steve Marriott – backing vocals and acoustic guitar on "In Another Land"
Uncredited musicians – strings on "She's a Rainbow"


Album Released: December 8, 1967














Flowers is an American compilation album by The Rolling Stones, released in the summer of 1967. The songs either appeared as singles, had been omitted from the American versions of Aftermath and Between the Buttons, were collected from studio sessions dating back to 1965, or are reissues of songs recently released on other albums.

Three tracks had never been released. "My Girl", "Ride On, Baby" and "Sittin' on a Fence" are from the Aftermath sessions from December 1965.

The title refers to the album's cover, with flower stems underneath the portrait of each band member. Bassist Bill Wyman claims that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards deliberately arranged the stem of Brian Jones's flower so that it had no leaves, as a prank. The portraits are from the British version of Aftermath.

Flowers reached #3 in the US during the late summer of 1967 and went gold.

Flowers was dismissed as a rip-off of sorts by some critics, since it took the patchwork bastardization of British releases for the American audience to extremes, gathering stray tracks from the U.K. versions of Aftermath and Between the Buttons, 1966-1967 singles (some of which had already been used on the U.S. editions of Aftermath and Between the Buttons), and a few outtakes. Judged solely by the music, though, it's rather great. "Lady Jane," "Ruby Tuesday," and "Let's Spend the Night Together" are all classics (although they had all been on an LP before); the 1966 single "Mother's Little Helper," a Top Ten hit, is also terrific; and "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing in the Shadow?," making its first album appearance, is the early Stones at their most surrealistic and angst-ridden. A lot of the rest of the cuts rate among their most outstanding 1966-1967 work. "Out of Time" is hit-worthy in its own right (and in fact topped the British charts in an inferior cover by Chris Farlowe); "Backstreet Girl," with its European waltz flavor, is one of the great underrated Stones songs. The same goes for the psychedelic Bo Diddley of "Please Go Home," and the acoustic, pensively sardonic "Sittin' on a Fence," with its strong Appalachian flavor. Almost every track is strong, so if you're serious about your Stones, don't pass this by just because a bunch of people slag it as an exploitative marketing trick (which it is). There's some outstanding material you can't get anywhere else, and the album as a whole plays very well from end to end. Reviewed by Richie Unterberger allmusic.com

Track Listing

01. Ruby Tuesday
02. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?
03. Let's Spend The Night Together
04. Lady Jane
05. Out Of Time
06. My Girl
07. Back Street Girl
08. Please Go Home
09. Mother's Little Helper
10. Take It Or Leave It
11. Ride On Baby
12. Sittin' On A Fence

Bonus Tracks

13. Sad Day (B-Side Original Mono Mix)
14. Out Of Time (Backing Track)
15. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow (Backing Track)
16. I Can See It (Backing Track)
17. Sometimes Happy, Sometimes Blue (Early Rehearsal For 'Dandelion')
18. Yesterday's Papers (Early Rehearsal)
19. Let's Spend The Night Together (Backing Track)
20. Ruby Tuesday (Backing Track)
21. Complicated (Backing Track)
22. All Sold Out (Backing Track)


The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger - Lead vocals, percussion, backing vocals
Keith Richards - Guitars, backing vocals, Double bass on ("Ruby Tuesday"), Piano, Bass guitar on ("Let's Spend the Night Together")
Brian Jones - Guitars, keyboards, bass guitar, percussion, koto on ("Take It or Leave It") and ("Ride On, Baby"), theremin on ("Please Go Home"), Dulcimer on ("Lady Jane"), recorder on ("Ruby Tuesday"), autoharp on ("Ride On, Baby") backing vocals
Bill Wyman - Bass guitar, backing vocals, Electric organ, Double bass on ("Ruby Tuesday"), percussion
Charlie Watts - Drums, Percussion


Album Released: June 26, 1967














Beggars Banquet is the seventh British and ninth American studio album by the English rock band The Rolling Stones. It was released in December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It marked a return to the band's R&B roots, generally viewed as more primal than the conspicuous psychedelia of Their Satanic Majesties Request. It also started off a string of four LPs that is usually regarded as the band's finest work.

Following the long sessions for Their Satanic Majesty's Request in 1967 and the departure of producer and manager Andrew Loog Oldham, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards hired producer Jimmy Miller, who had produced the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic. The partnership would prove to be a success and Miller would work with the band until 1973.

Beggars Banquet was Brian Jones' last full effort with the Rolling Stones.

Critics considered the LP as a return to form. It was also a clear commercial success, reaching No. 3 in the UK and No. 5 in the US (on the way to eventual platinum status).

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On 10–11 December 1968 the band filmed a television extravaganza entitled The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus featuring John Lennon, Eric Clapton, The Who, Jethro Tull, and Marianne Faithfull among the musical guests. One of the original aims of the project was to promote Beggars Banquet, but the film was shelved by the Rolling Stones until 1996, when it was finally released officially.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 57 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In the same year the TV network VH1 named Beggars Banquet the 67th greatest album of all time. The album is also featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

The Stones forsook psychedelic experimentation to return to their blues roots on this celebrated album, which was immediately acclaimed as one of their landmark achievements. A strong acoustic Delta blues flavor colors much of the material, particularly "Salt of the Earth" and "No Expectations," which features some beautiful slide guitar work. Basic rock & roll was not forgotten, however: "Street Fighting Man," a reflection of the political turbulence of 1968, was one of their most innovative singles, and "Sympathy for the Devil," with its fire-dancing guitar licks, leering Jagger vocals, African rhythms, and explicitly satanic lyrics, was an image-defining epic. On "Stray Cat Blues," Jagger and crew began to explore the kind of decadent sexual sleaze that they would take to the point of self-parody by the mid-'70s. At the time, though, the approach was still fresh, and the lyrical bite of most of the material ensured Beggars Banquet's place as one of the top blues-based rock records of all time. Reviewed by Richie Unterberger allmusic.com

Track Listing

01. Sympathy For The Devil
02. No Expectations
03. Dear Doctor
04. Parachute Woman
05. Jigsaw Puzzle
06. Street Fighting Man
07. Prodigal Son
08. Stray Cat Blues
09. Factory Girl
10. Salt Of The Earth

Bonus Tracks

11. Jumping Jack Flash (Original Mono Mix)
12. Highway Child (Keith Richards Redlands Home Session, February 1968)
13. And I Was A Country Boy (Unreleased Instrumental, Olympic Sound Studios, London 1969-03-23)
14. Family (Acoustic Version, Olympic Sound Studios, London 1968-06-28)
15. Blood Red Wine (Unreleased, Olympic Sound Studios, London, May 1968)
16. Downtown Suzie (Rough Mix, Olympic Sound Studios, London, May 1968)
17. Still A Fool (Unreleased, Olympic Sound Studios, London, May 1968)


The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, harmonica on "Parachute Woman"
Keith Richards – acoustic, electric and slide guitar, bass guitar on "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man", backing vocals, lead vocals on opening of "Salt of the Earth"
Brian Jones – slide guitar on "No Expectations", "Jigsaw Puzzle", and "Stray Cat Blues", mellotron on "Jigsaw Puzzle" and "Stray Cat Blues", harmonica on "Dear Doctor", "Parachute Woman", and "Prodigal Son", sitar and tambura on "Street Fighting Man", acoustic guitar (inaudible in final mix) and backing vocals on "Sympathy for the Devil"
Charlie Watts – drums, tabla on "Factory Girl", backing vocals on "Sympathy for the Devil"
Bill Wyman – bass guitar, upright bass on "Dear Doctor" and "Parachute Woman, backing vocals and maracas on "Sympathy for the Devil"


Additional musicians

Nicky Hopkins – piano, organ on "No Expectations"
Rocky Dijon – congas on "Sympathy for the Devil", "Stray Cat Blues", "Factory Girl"
Ric Grech – fiddle on "Factory Girl"
Ry Cooder – mandolin on "Factory Girl"
Dave Mason – mellotron on "Factory Girl", shehnai on "Street Fighting Man"
Jimmy Miller – backing vocals on "Sympathy for the Devil"
Watt Street Gospel Choir – backing vocals on "Salt of the Earth"


Album Released: December 6, 1968














Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) is The Rolling Stones' second official compilation album, released in 1969 shortly following Brian Jones's departure from the group and subsequent death. The album was released by Decca Records in the UK and London Records/ABKCO Records in the US.

In September, Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2), dedicated to Jones, appeared with an octagonal-shaped album cover. Because their first "Big Hits" compilation had been released in separate formats, with the Aftermath-era material appearing only on its UK edition, the American edition of "Big Hits Vol. 2" included hit singles from the "Aftermath" period.

The British track listing included the more obscure "You Better Move On", from The Rolling Stones' self-titled 1964 debut EP and "Sittin' on a Fence", an Aftermath outtake originally released in 1967 on the US-compiled Flowers album. In addition to those songs, many tracks, notably single-only releases, were collected for the first time on a UK Rolling Stones album: "Let's Spend the Night Together", "Ruby Tuesday", "We Love You", "Dandelion", and "Honky Tonk Women".

Both versions of Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) proved to be popular releases, reaching #2 in the UK and US with enduring sales.

The name of the album is a play on a line from the KJV translation of I Corinthians 13: "For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face…", but it is more likely the Stones intended a homage to Ingmar Bergman and his 1961 film Through a Glass Darkly.

In the inside flap of the album, there is a tribute to Jones, which reads: "When this you see, remember me, and bear me in your mind. Let all the world say what they may, speak of me as you find."




Track Listing

01. Jumping Jack Flash
02. Mother's Little Helper
03. 2000 Light Years From Home
04. Let's Spend The Night Together
05. You Better Move On
06. We Love You
07. Street Fighting Man
08. She's A Rainbow
09. Ruby Tuesday
10. Dandelion
11. Sittin' On A Fence
12. Honky Tonk Woman

Bonus Tracks

14. Cocksucker Blues (Unreleased Demo)
15. Jumping Jack Flash (Backing Track)
16. Did Everybody Pay Their Dues- (Early Version Of Street Fighting Man)
17. Sometimes Happy, Sometimes Blue (Early Version Of 'Dandelion')
18. We Love You (Backing Track)
19. Brown Sugar (Alternate Version)
20. You Can't Always Get What You Want (B-Side Mono Edit)


The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger – lead vocals, percussion, harmonica
Brian Jones - guitar, harmonica, sitar, tambura, mellotron, recorder, organ, backing vocals
Keith Richards – guitar, backing vocals
Mick Taylor – guitar on 'Honky Tonk Woman'
Charlie Watts – drums, percussion
Bill Wyman – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals


Album Released: September 12, 1969














Let It Bleed is the eighth British and tenth American album by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in December 1969 by Decca Records in the UK and London Records in the US. Released shortly after the band's 1969 American Tour, it is the follow-up to 1968's Beggars Banquet and the last album by the band to feature Brian Jones as well as the first to feature Mick Taylor.

Although the Stones had begun the recording of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" in November 1968, before Beggars Banquet had been released, recording for Let It Bleed began in earnest in February 1969 and would continue sporadically until early November. Brian Jones performs on only two tracks: playing the autoharp on "You Got the Silver", and percussion on "Midnight Rambler". His replacement, Mick Taylor, plays guitar on two tracks, "Country Honk" and "Live With Me". Keith Richards, who had already shared vocal duties with Mick Jagger on "Connection", and sung separate lead vocals on parts of "Something Happened to Me Yesterday" and "Salt of the Earth", sang his first solo lead vocal on a Rolling Stones recording with "You Got the Silver".

Released in December, Let It Bleed reached #1 in the UK (temporarily knocking The Beatles' Abbey Road out of the top slot) and #3 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart in the US, where it eventually went 2x platinum.

Mostly recorded without Brian Jones – who died several months before its release (although he does play on two tracks) and was replaced by Mick Taylor (who also plays on just two songs) – this extends the rock and blues feel of Beggars Banquet into slightly harder-rocking, more demonically sexual territory. The Stones were never as consistent on album as their main rivals, the Beatles, and Let It Bleed suffers from some rather perfunctory tracks, like "Monkey Man" and a countrified remake of the classic "Honky Tonk Woman" (here titled "Country Honk"). Yet some of the songs are among their very best, especially "Gimme Shelter," with its shimmering guitar lines and apocalyptic lyrics; the harmonica-driven "Midnight Rambler"; the druggy party ambience of the title track; and the stunning "You Can't Always Get What You Want," which was The Stones' "Hey Jude" of sorts, with its epic structure, horns, philosophical lyrics, and swelling choral vocals. "You Got the Silver" (Keith Richards' first lead vocal) and Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain," by contrast, were as close to the roots of acoustic down-home blues as The Stones ever got. Reviewed by Richie Unterberger allmusic.com

Track Listing

01. Gimme Shelter
02. Love In Vain
03. Country Honk
04. Live With Me
05. Let It Bleed
06. Midnight Rambler
07. You Got The Silver
08. Monkey Man
09. You Can't Always Get What You Want

Bonus Tracks

10. Gimme Shelter (Alternate Version With Keith Richards On Vocal)
11. Honky Tonk Women (Alternate Version With Different Lyrics)
12. Loving Cup (Alternate Version With Different Piano)
13. You Got the Silver (Alternate Version With Mick Jagger On Vocal)
14. Sister Morphine (Alternate Version With Ry Cooder On Guitar)
15. Memo From Turner (Alternate Version With Different Rhythm)
16. Honky Tonk Woman (Mono Single Mix)


The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger - lead vocals (except "You Got the Silver"), harmonica on "Gimme Shelter" and "Midnight Rambler"
Keith Richards - guitars on all tracks, acoustic guitar on "Country Honk", bass guitar on "Live with Me", backing vocals on "Gimme Shelter", "Country Honk" and "Monkey Man", lead vocals on "You Got the Silver"
Brian Jones - percussion on "Midnight Rambler", autoharp on "You Got the Silver"
Mick Taylor - slide guitar on "Country Honk", guitars on "Live with Me"
Charlie Watts - drums (except "You Can't Always Get What You Want")
Bill Wyman - bass guitar (except "Country Honk" and "Live with Me"), autoharp on "Let It Bleed", vibes on "Monkey Man"


Additional musicians

Ian Stewart - piano on "Let It Bleed"
Nicky Hopkins - piano on "Gimme Shelter", "Live with Me", "You Got the Silver" and "Monkey Man", organ on "You Got the Silver"
Byron Berline - fiddle on "Country Honk"
Merry Clayton - vocals on "Gimme Shelter"
Ry Cooder - mandolin on "Love in Vain"
Bobby Keys - tenor saxophone on "Live with Me"
Jimmy Miller - percussion on "Gimme Shelter", drums on "You Can't Always Get What You Want", tambourine on "Monkey Man"
Leon Russell - piano and horn arrangement on "Live with Me"
Jack Nitzsche - choral arrangements on "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
Al Kooper - piano, French horn and organ on "You Can't Always Get What You Want"


Album Released: December 5, 1969