It’s hard to believe The Rolling Stones have been around for 50 years. Harder still to admit I’ve been listening to their music for much of that time. The Stones did their best work between 1962 and 1982. After that, the quality of their work slipped to mediocre levels punctuated with occasion hits (like “Harlem Shuffle” in 1984). The Stones have issued Greatest Hits compilations in the past but this 3-CD remastered set sounds best. Not everything is here (I would have included “The Hand of Fate”) but most of it is. You can hear Keith Richards’ story of how “Street-Fighting Man” was made by clicking here.
Disc: 1
1. Come On
2. Not Fade Away
3. It’s All Over Now
4. Little Red Rooster
5. The Last Time
6. (I Can t Get No) Satisfaction
7. Time Is On My Side
8. Get Off Of My Cloud
9. Heart Of Stone
10. 19th Nervous Breakdown
11. As Tears Go By
12. Paint It, Black
13. Under My Thumb
14. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?
15. Ruby Tuesday
16. Let’s Spend The Night Together
17. We Love You
Disc: 2
1. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
2. Honky Tonk Women
3. Sympathy For The Devil
4. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
5. Gimme Shelter
6. Street Fighting Man
7. Wild Horses
8. She’s A Rainbow
9. Brown Sugar
10. Happy
11. Tumbling Dice
12. Angie
13. Rocks Off
14. Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
15. It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll
16. Fool To Cry
Disc: 3
1. Miss You
2. Respectable
3. Beast Of Burden
4. Emotional Rescue
5. Start Me Up
6. Waiting On A Friend
7. Undercover Of The Night
8. She Was Hot
9. Streets Of Love
10. Harlem Shuffle
11. Mixed Emotions
12. Highwire
13. Love Is Strong
14. Anybody Seen My Baby?
15. Don’t Stop
16. Doom And Gloom
17. One More Shot
I go back almost all the way. One of the first records I bought, yes records as in vinyl, was BETWEEN THE BUTTONS(RUBBER SOUL WAS THE FIRST). The two new songs on this one are reminiscent of the early days.
My sisters were into the Beatles and bought all their albums; I was the rebel and bought all the Stones’ albums.
A couple of weeks ago, I was driving somewhere and had NPR on the car radio. Keith Richards was on Fresh Air, talking about how “Street Fighting Man” came about. It was so interesting, I couldn’t wait to get home and listen to the song (which I’ve heard hundreds of times) with new ears.
However, I’m not sure if I need to buy this set. I have all but the last couple of songs on other CD sets. And, jeez, how little time did the Stones put into that cover? So cheezy!
Many of the early songs have been remastered for this CD, Deb. They sound great! BEST BUY has GRRR! for $20.
I have only been the occasional fan. They are too raucous for my ears, I think. And I can’t say their personal lives have helped me along. They seem more about money than music to me.
The Stones are still giving concerts now that they’re in their 70s, Patti. I find that impressive. Of course, you’re right: the Stones are always about the money.
I had BETWEEN THE BUTTONS too, Randy, and also the earlier THE ROLLING STONES NOW! I was a bigger Beatles fan but liked the Stones too. I agree with Deb – do not need this. I have the 2-CD FORTY LICKS collection. My favorite album of theirs is still LET IT BLEED.
Here’s one from the geezer bus: I can still remember the first time I saw them sing. It was on a Saturday night variety show called “Hollywood Palace” on June 6, 1964 (no, my memory isn’t that good, I looked it up!) and Dean Martin was the host. He introduced them by saying something like, “I once got rolled when I was stoned.” I think they did their great version of “Not Fade Away” that night.
I remember when the Stones did THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW and had to change the lyrics to “Let’s Send the Night Together,” Jeff.
Some years ago Bill Wyman was on the local oldies station telling Bob Shannon about recording one of my favorite Stones songs, “Paint It, Black” and telling about sitting on the floor playing the bass keys of the Hammond organ with his hands.
Keith Richards has some similar stories in that NPR interview about recording “Steet-Fighting Man,” Jeff.
George-the Best Buy version is only a 2 CD set at that price. And how could they leave off Shattered?
HBO has been running a good documentary on them called Crossfire Hurricane.
Thanks, Steve! I’ll have to check out CROSSFIRE HURRICANE.
Thanks for the link to the Keith interview. Very interesting.
ALL THINGS CONSIDERED on NPR conducted separate interviews with all the Stones, Jeff. But I thought the Keith Richards one was the best.
Best Buy sucks. Boycott Best Buy.
I’ve always been a stones fan. They’ve always been true to their rock roots and they’ve had a lot of good songs over the years.
George: Is there any way I can post here without having to type in my name and e-mail address every time? What a hassle.
Let me check with Patrick on that name/email address thing, Bob. You shouldn’t have to do that more than once. BEST BUY stock is cratering and they’re closing stores left and right. Clearly, other people have had Bad Experiences with BEST BUY just like you did.
I first heard the Stones on a transistor radio at the beach in the vary early 1960s, I think it was a song or two prior to “Satisfaction”. I bought every vinyl album from then on, but when CDs came along, while I bought all the Beatles CDs right away, I never replaced those Stones albums, so this may be just the ticket. But I would need the 3 disk set.
AMAZON has this 3-CD set for $24.16, Rick. You may be able to find it cheaper at some of the music web sites.