11. Ruby Tuesday
It’s a song so enduring it’s got a national restaurant chain named after it. But Keith Richards’ ode to a free-spirited flame who’s impossible to pin down is far tastier than anything you’ll find on the menu.
12. Start Me Up
You won’t find much of The Rolling Stones’ post-Some Girls output on this list, but this 1981 Tattoo You track ranks among their all-time greats. Keith Richards’ iconic opening riff alone is enough to warrant its inclusion, and Mick’s howls of “you make a grown man cry” (not to mention some of the more suggestive lyrics) will get anyone revved up
13. Moonlight Mile
As Sticky Fingers comes to a close with “Moonlight Mile,” this lushly arranged ballad lasts for roughly six minutes. Most Stones fans wouldn’t mind it continuing forever. Created after Mick Jagger and Mick Taylor hashed out the song during an all-night session, Jagger takes the lead on acoustic guitar on record, while adding strings to top it off. After Sticky Fingers’ particularly controversial and riff-heavy focus, this song offers a chance to reflect on the tyranny of distance and madness on the road.
14. Rocks Off
Exile On Main St.‘s opening track perfectly sets the tone for the rest of what would become forever lauded as the band’s magnum opus. It sounds like a party—driving horns, some killer licks and Jagger’s sneering vocals all tossed together to perfection—but, penned at the height of Keith Richards’ heroin addiction, it hints at something darker. Lyrics like “I can’t even feel the pain no more” and “I want to shout but I can’t hardly speak” are revealing, while “The sunshine bores the daylights out of me” fits right in with the rest of our favorite smartasses’ devil-may-care catalog.
15. Loving Cup
“Loving Cup” is yet another example of the unique magic contained within Exile on Main St. It was a disorganized mess of a recording process, one with full-time members missing some sessions altogether and other non-members jumping in spontaneously. It somehow not only worked out, but also swelled to become the ultimate diamond in the rough. “Loving Cup” is one of those tracks to arise from the depths of Southern France.
16. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
One of the Stones’ most recognizable hits, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” takes the blues that acted as such a strong early influence for them and turns it on its head. Sure, the song’s protagonist “was raised by a toothless, bearded hag” and “schooled with a strap right across [his] back,” but the track dismisses his prior suffering in favor of a simple, much sunnier outlook: “It’s all right now, in fact it’s a gas.”
17. Wild Horses
Featuring the likes of Gram Parsons and Jim Dickinson, “Wild Horses” has become one of the most frequently covered songs in rock ’n’ roll history. Many believe that Jagger wrote the lyrics about Marianne Faithfull, but he’s refuted that on numerous occasions. Nevertheless, it’s one of the band’s more intimate and poignant songs throughout their five decades together.
18. Shine A Light
On “Shine A Light,” Jagger, Richards and the rest of The Rolling Stones are firing on all cylinders, taking the sprawling Exile on Main St. to its final climax. The album is undoubtedly a gospel-tinged affair—just look at number five on this list for another example—but it’s Exile’s 17th track that illuminates the album in all its sprawling glory.
19. The Last Time
The Verve had to pay big when their hit “Bitter Sweet Symphony” was found to be a little too similar to this classic Stones track in 1997, but it’s easy to see why they’d be tempted to lift its catchy hook.
20. Honky Tonk Women
“Honky Tonk Women” was about as Western as the Stones ever ventured, yet it struck a perfect balance, combining classic country influences into their conventional blues rock. Between the song’s signature cowbell (played by producer Jimmy Miller) and Mick Taylor’s reworking of a traditional ’30s era song along the lines of Hank Williams and Jimmie Taylor, the British group never sounded more American.
To be continue ....
0 comentarios:
Publicar un comentario