Beggars Banquet

Certain Songs #2045: The Rolling Stones – “Salt of The Earth”

February 27, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Beggars Banquet
Year: 1968

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The final song on Beggars Banquet was the most successful attempt yet for the Rolling Stones to end one of their records with a big production, as “Salt of The Earth” starts quietly and ends up as a gospel-fueled rave-up, kinda of a warm-up for their next album closer.

It starts off, though with that instantly identifiable acoustic guitar strum by Keith Richards, who gets a fantasticly haunting and dark sound from it, and then like he’s the only one who happened to be in the studio, he sings the first verse, another milestone in Stones history.

Certain Songs #2044: The Rolling Stones – “Stray Cat Blues”

February 26, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Beggars Banquet
Year: 1968

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Welp. This is no good. You know how some twitter bios claim that “retweets are not endorsements”?? Well this is like that. There is absolutely nothing redeemable about the sleazy, strutting “Stray Cat Blues,” the lyrics of which are one of Mick Jagger’s greatest provocations, and would probably get him arrested today. Or at least cancelled.

Opening with an “ahhhhh” and an evil laugh, “Stray Cat Blues” jumps instantly into its reprehensible subject.

Certain Songs #2043: The Rolling Stones – “Street Fighting Man”

February 25, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Beggars Banquet
Year: 1968

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“Street Fighting Man” just might be my favorite Rolling Stones song, and one of the Rolling Stones most unique studio productions. Like “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” an overloaded Phillips cassette recorder was integral to the basic track, but on “Street Fighting Man” it was even more elaborate.

In this case, Keith, Mick and Charlie all gathered around the cassette recorder, like teenagers recording their garage band. Keith was on acoustic, Mick on maracas and Charlie . . . Charlie was playing a 1930s toy drum kit. Then, Jimmy Miller stuck a professional studio microphone in front of the cassette speaker and that became a single track over which they dubbed a shit-ton of other instruments: Charlie added a second drum part, Keith added bass and a bunch more acoustic guitars, and Brian added sitar and tambura that whirled in and around the final mix. And that was just the beginning.

Certain Songs #2042: The Rolling Stones – “Jigsaw Puzzle”

February 24, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Beggars Banquet
Year: 1968

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Cognitive dissonance defined: “Jigsaw Puzzle” is simultaneously the greatest song the Rolling Stones ever recorded and the fourth-best song on Beggars Banquet.

Maybe, but one thing is absolutely certain: the drum sound that Glyn Johns & Eddie Kramer get for Charlie Watts is complete and utter dynamite, maybe the greatest drum sound I’ve ever heard in my life. The snare is primal and visceral, and the toms sound like fireworks trailing off into the night.

Certain Songs #2041: The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil”

February 23, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Beggars Banquet
Year: 1968

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Delayed for a few months due to record company nervousness over the original cover art — that graffiti-covered bathroom wall — Beggars Banquet came out a full year after Their Satanic Majesties Request, the first time people had waited that long for a new Rolling Stones album.

Needless to say, it was well worth the wait: Beggars Banquet was a quantum leap in record-making, both a retrenchment in their R&B and country roots as well as a departure from what they’d previously done with those roots.