My favorite group - anyone else?
Any big Rolling Stones fans here?
- Thread starter Commander Kielbasa
- Start date
Yeah, one of my favorites for sure. I've seen them several times, starting in '89 when everyone was sure it would be their last tour ever (though it was for Bill Wyman!). In '94 I got backstage from a connection my uncle had, and didn't see any of them, except... Keith Richards! I was with my mom, who had seen them back in '66, and I went up to him with my heart pounding and somehow got out some words, and he smiled and put out his hand and we talked with him for a minute or so and he could not have been nicer.
I like a lot of '60s music but I also like blues and country and R&B so the Stones meet my interests closer than some other groups of that era. Favorite album... Right now I would say Beggar's Banquet but that's liable to change.
I like a lot of '60s music but I also like blues and country and R&B so the Stones meet my interests closer than some other groups of that era. Favorite album... Right now I would say Beggar's Banquet but that's liable to change.
They're top 10 for me for sure, and I've had the pleasure of seeing them live twice, but I still prefer The Who and The Beatles over the Stones.
I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the Stones are still around (Yes, I know The Who are still around - kind of) and they made some really bad disco era stuff; and the last album of theirs that I actually enjoyed was Steel Wheels, which was almost 30 years ago.
Had they stopped in the mid 70's, I'd probably rank them higher.
I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the Stones are still around (Yes, I know The Who are still around - kind of) and they made some really bad disco era stuff; and the last album of theirs that I actually enjoyed was Steel Wheels, which was almost 30 years ago.
Had they stopped in the mid 70's, I'd probably rank them higher.
Yes, I am a huge fan. I've seen them a dozen times and have about a thousand bootlegs of theirs. Love them!! In fact, when we were building the engine room for STC; listening to the Stones was mandatory!!! 
Still when I listen to "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out" I still get chills and I've listened to it thousands of times. Still the best live album ever recorded!
Still when I listen to "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out" I still get chills and I've listened to it thousands of times. Still the best live album ever recorded!
One of my favorite bands. Gimme Shelter and Sympathy For The Devil are two of my favorite all time songs. I most prefer their southern bluesy early 70s period.
Saw them once at Bigger Bang tour.
I don't think their mediocre late career output detracts at all from their decade of classics. Not like McCartney's solo work in the same period is any better.
Saw them once at Bigger Bang tour.
I don't think their mediocre late career output detracts at all from their decade of classics. Not like McCartney's solo work in the same period is any better.
Last edited:
For me it's more the opposite. The Beatles are frozen at 1969, and though what they did up till then is obviously immortal, I would have loved to see what they made of synthesizers, reggae, punk, disco etc. Their limited body of live work, too, works against them for me as they didn't go through more interesting dynamic evolutions like the Stones did. For the big British Invasion groups I generally rank them Stones, Kinks, Who, Beatles, heavily influenced by 1970s output.
Before Some Girls or Tattoo You or Dirty Work? No way!
Yeah, incredible. The Taylor era was so great album-wise, and having a "designated" lead guitarist seems to have been formative for Keith as he dug even more tenaciously into the rhythm section. The Bo Diddely-beat "Sympathy" is such a fun take on it I always wish they still played it that way live. My other live favorite is Some Girls - Live in Texas '78 video, maybe the peak of Keith-Woody "weaving" sound.
I love the Stones. I saw them two years and it was one of the beset concert experiences I've ever had. I really love all their stuff until about 1980. After that, it's all pretty generic stuff. There aren't many bands where you can recognize and sing karaoke to 40+ songs.
I am a huge Taylor fan and prefer that era of the band but still do enjoy a lot of the Woody era as well. For Taylor fans I highly recommend the official release of "Brussels Affair" from the 73 tour; simply amazing!!! Also, if you don't have the "Sticky Fingers - Super Deluxe" you are missing out on some fantastic material!
If you don't have the official "Brussels Affair" buy it now, here (plus there is a great interview video of Keith talking about the show):
http://www.stonesarchive.com/bootleg_years/1973/
Last edited:
My personal favorite are the Brian years. I feel they become sort of one dimensional in the Taylor years.
I mean you have
Mona - Great blues cover
I Wanna Be Your Man - The Stones invent punk and introduce the slide guitar to Britain
The Last Time - an awesome country rock number
Get Off My Cloud - 1960s Swinging London epitomized in one song
Paint it Black - for obvious reasons
Doncha Bother Me - awesome slide guitar
Under My Thumb - sexist, yet a great tune
Stupid Girl - same as above
Tell Me - A tender ballad, one of the Stones' first songs.
Play With Fire - almost Donovan-esque, one of the most sinister songs I've heard
Lady Jane - a number that sounds like it could've come out of the Elizbethan era
Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing in the Shadow - Another example of psyched out proto-punk
Satisfaction - for obvious reasons
Sittin' on a Fence - With a mandolin-esque lead guitar by Brian, this song sounds like a precursor to the gentle folk
music that would be pushed by Led Zeppelin
Ruby Tuesday - perhaps the most beautiful song the Stones ever wrote.
2,000 Light Years from Home - A song that could've easily been written about TOS
She's a Rainbow - Elizabethan pop.
Citadel - Medieval sounds meets sci-fi dystopia
The Lantern - Another eerie psychedelic song
We Love You - one of their most anti-establishment songs ever, led by Jones' mellotron
Street Fighting Man - Another of their most anti-establishment songs, led by Jones' sitar and tambura
Jumpin' Jack Flash
Child of the Moon - The Stones' goodbye to psychedelia featuring Jones on saxophone
No Expectations - a beautiful, simple ballad
Jigsaw Puzzle - a song that's half Bob Dylan and half druggy 1960s psychedelia
Parachute Woman - a great driving blues song featuring Jones on harmonica.
Brian Jones is generally forgotten but all of these songs and yet he's instrumental on all of them. He was considered one of the biggest late 1960s icons in his time and the Stones have done all they can to airbrush him out of their history.
I mean you have
Mona - Great blues cover
I Wanna Be Your Man - The Stones invent punk and introduce the slide guitar to Britain
The Last Time - an awesome country rock number
Get Off My Cloud - 1960s Swinging London epitomized in one song
Paint it Black - for obvious reasons
Doncha Bother Me - awesome slide guitar
Under My Thumb - sexist, yet a great tune
Stupid Girl - same as above
Tell Me - A tender ballad, one of the Stones' first songs.
Play With Fire - almost Donovan-esque, one of the most sinister songs I've heard
Lady Jane - a number that sounds like it could've come out of the Elizbethan era
Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing in the Shadow - Another example of psyched out proto-punk
Satisfaction - for obvious reasons
Sittin' on a Fence - With a mandolin-esque lead guitar by Brian, this song sounds like a precursor to the gentle folk
music that would be pushed by Led Zeppelin
Ruby Tuesday - perhaps the most beautiful song the Stones ever wrote.
2,000 Light Years from Home - A song that could've easily been written about TOS
She's a Rainbow - Elizabethan pop.
Citadel - Medieval sounds meets sci-fi dystopia
The Lantern - Another eerie psychedelic song
We Love You - one of their most anti-establishment songs ever, led by Jones' mellotron
Street Fighting Man - Another of their most anti-establishment songs, led by Jones' sitar and tambura
Jumpin' Jack Flash
Child of the Moon - The Stones' goodbye to psychedelia featuring Jones on saxophone
No Expectations - a beautiful, simple ballad
Jigsaw Puzzle - a song that's half Bob Dylan and half druggy 1960s psychedelia
Parachute Woman - a great driving blues song featuring Jones on harmonica.
Brian Jones is generally forgotten but all of these songs and yet he's instrumental on all of them. He was considered one of the biggest late 1960s icons in his time and the Stones have done all they can to airbrush him out of their history.
I'm meh about them. The only album of theirs, which I rate enough to have purchased, is "Exile on Main Street", although it's probably ten years since I last played it.
I don't get how you could rate a band's best work lower because they later produced less great work.
If a band releases 10 great albums and 20 bad albums, they are the band that released ten great albums. The other 20 you never listen to, and anything you never listen to doesn't count.
If a band releases 10 great albums and 20 bad albums, they are the band that released ten great albums. The other 20 you never listen to, and anything you never listen to doesn't count.
I saw them in '66 as well (though I could be wrong about the year), so it's possible your mom and I saw them on different legs of the same tour. Cool that Keith was so nice to you. Always good to hear stories like this.
When I saw them, one of their opening acts was an old time RnB vocal group called, "The Vibrations". THose guys came out and proceeded to burn down the house (and the crowd) with their singing and frenetic dancing. But the Stones, to their credit, came out and calmly (well, not THAT calmly), recaptured their audience.
This was something I always admired about this band. They had no problems with confidence and welcomed pretty much any challenge. If anyone gets a chance and is so inclined, check out a performance by James Brown at the TAMI Show on Youtube. The Godfather put on a show to end all shows as you will see, and Mick and the guys followed that. THAT took guts.
As I have written here many times, I loved the Beatles, but no way would Brian Epstein have allowed them to follow James Brown or anything like James Brown. I saw the Beatles at Dodger Stadium in '66, their opening acts were Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells and a one his wonder named Bobby Hebb (I thought "Sunny" would go on forever). Nothing mush to worry about there.
Hey JTB, ask your mom if she remembers who opened for the Stones when she saw them.
BTW, I reserve the right to be wrong about just about everything I just posted, because it was a long time ago, and I'm old.
OK I did, and she does not remember. But she said she's not sure if there was an opening act because they played two shows that night! She saw the later one.
Similar threads
