Exile On Main Street, Rolling Stones

It's Finally-Got-Around-to-It-Friday!  Wherein I discover a classic that everyone else already knows about.

Exile On Main Street, Rolling Stones, 1972, :67

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I would like to begin by saying that through a lifetime of what to most people would be obsessive and non-stop listening to music, the Rolling Stones are not in my top fifty acts in terms of time listened to.  They're actually about number 60, tied more or less with the Band and just under Elf Power.  I say this to give you a sense of how I feel about the Stones.  England's hitmakers, for sure, but to me they will always be the luckiest lads to take country-blues and add a British strut, not "The World's Greatest Band."  So anyway, this album doesn't change my view much.  Yes, what a good blues-country-rock record this is.  An excellent one, even, made even more impressive by its length.  But one of the all-time greatest discs?  Not to me.  Most of it kind of blends together for me, all the songs sounding vaguely similar and somewhat evocative of the guitar line in "Gimme Shelter."  Sorry, Robert.  Sorry, world.  That said, of course, there are some great songs on this double album, and, admittedly, some departures from their usual sound, like 'Sweet Black Angel."  Favorite tracks: "Rocks Off," "Tumbling Dice," "Shine a Light," "Rip This Joint," "Soul Survivor."

England's Newest Hitmakers, Rolling Stones

Continuing the alphabet of albums, E is for English blues appropriation.

England's Newest Hitmakers, Rolling Stones, 1964, :31

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

The American edition of the originally eponymous debut of the Rolling Stones.  The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band is here, inchoate, a rather inessential blues cover band. "Route 66" and "I Just Want To Make Love To You" are fine, but not exactly remade in new blazing glory. The remake of Berry's "Carol" is pretty good, though the handclaps are bit distracting. People fall all over themselves praising this album in retrospect, but to me it's a pub band covering and imitating great songs, and adding very little of value.  Favorite tracks: "Not Fade Away," "Can I Get a Witness."

12 x 5, Rolling Stones

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1964.

12 x 5, Rolling Stones, 1964, :32

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Yeah, yeah, this is the Rolling Stones, the Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Band in the World, yet I’m just not sure that this album adds anything to their accomplishments. White British lads covering Berry’s “Around and Around” without adding their own spin on it is pretty much the extent of this album’s raison d’être. Showing that the Stones were still working toward their bad-boy sound, the version of “Time Is On My Side” (also a cover; I never knew) here is more languid than the later, justly more well-known version, and features an organ solo rather than guitar.  Their one-and-a-half minute version of "Susie Q" doesn't need to exist.  The three originals here are decent enough, but are early shuffle blues, nothing special. Favorite tracks: “Under the Boardwalk” is utterly inessential and slavishly faithful to the original, but it’s a good song.  And I guess the same goes for "It's All Over Now."