I’m back! I told you I’d be back. I
hope you weren’t worried sick, waiting up for me and pining nightly for a music
review. Although who could blame you, if you did?
Anyway, let’s announce my return
with a bang, although since this process is random it could have just as easily
been a whimper.
Disc 820 is….Let It Bleed
Artist: The
Rolling Stones
Year of Release: 1969
What’s up with the Cover? Those record players from the
seventies that stacked a bunch of records one top of one another were not good
for your albums, but this takes that to a whole new level of irresponsible. Or maybe
this is just a themed cake, and not a record player at all. Chocolate bike-tire
clock cake. My favourite.
How I Came To Know It: Once I honed in on the sweet spot
in the Rolling Stones catalogue (which for me is the late sixties through early
seventies) this album became a must-have. So I went and bought it.
How It Stacks Up: I recently bought 1974’s “It’s Only Rock ‘n
Roll” and now have seven Stones albums. “Let It Bleed” was better than I
remember it, and I’m going to put it in at fourth best, knocking “Beggar’s Banquet” down a spot in the process.
Ratings: 4 stars
“Let It Bleed” surprised me with its power and
visceral energy, and that’s a good thing. I recall when I first heard this
album it felt a little bit sloppy, but revisiting it for the Odyssey I found that
I had been wr…wr…wr…mistaken.
The record sounds like you are seeing the Rolling Stones
live in concert, straight from 1969. Whether it is true or not, you get the
feeling the studio was fun and festive, with all the yips and yells. The production
quality feels like they’re all gathered around a single mic, but without losing
any of the clarity you need to appreciate the songs.
Also, welcome Mick Taylor, who is a big reason that
most of my favourite Rolling Stones albums fall between 1969 and 1974. On “Let
It Bleed” Taylor contributes his guitar wizardry to “Country Honk” and “Live With
Me.” In fact, without Taylor “Country
Honk” could have come off as a novelty song, but his easy blues slide (and someone’s
inspired decision to add a fiddle) together ground the song.
“Live With Me”
is to this album what “Bitch” is to “Sticky Fingers,” a nasty grimy rock song where the riff is king and all shall bow down
to it. Again, Mick Taylor makes the magic happen. This time the added touches
around the edge are saxophone, which are OK if it weren’t for the fact that the
next generation of rockers grew up listening to this song and then proceeded to
emulate it 15 years later – only badly.
The title track is one of Mick Jagger’s better
vocals, getting dirty and sinful while still showing a surprising fragility. “Let It Bleed” runs through a lascivious
list of bodily fluids and drugs, with Mick telling of coke binges, money shots
and at one point getting knifed in a basement. How this can somehow still feel
like a love song is hard to fathom, but that’s the genius of Jagger, I suppose.
“Let It Bleed” also proves that blues inspired band
can ramble around a little and still not make a song too long. “Midnight Rambler” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” are both
around seven minutes long and take their time getting where they’re going. “Midnight Rambler” even winds down half
way through just to get going again and still doesn’t lose the plot. The Stones
understand that as long as the song is developing into something, and not just
aimlessly noodling, it is OK to take your time.
And I would be remiss not the note that “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is
so iconic that the lyric:
“You can’t always get what you
want
But if you try sometimes, you
might find
You get what you need.”
Has become an expression of wisdom parents tell
their kids. It is up there with Polonius’ “Neither
a borrower nor a lender be” and that’s frickin’ Shakespeare. It throws in
organ, French horn, a backing choir and I think tambourine, and never misses a
beat. Even the manic trilling on the piano at the end is perfect.
“Let It Bleed” is a an album that stands the test of
time, and even 46 years after it was released, still sounds fresh and
innovative. It may not be my favourite Stones album, but I won’t be letting it
leave my collection anytime soon either.
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