Beggars Banquet

One of the great early Stones albums before they got more commercial. Has aged we’ll.

After two years, the Stones slide back into their musical predilections which tend to blues, r&b and country. On "Beggars Banquet", with the hiring of Jimmy Miller as their new producer, the band finds a new purpose. This album is where Keith Richards' social outcast stance really solidifies and he does some heavy lifting throughout the project. Keith's appreciation for rural blues was in evidence before ("High and Dry", "Connection"), but he's more immersed in it here. With an unbridled passion, he sounds completely at home on the Stones' cover of Reverend Robert Wilkins "Prodigal Son". His confidence level is so high, along with Mick Jagger's, that they can author a song like "Dear Doctor" sensationally in this vein, despite Mick's mocking tone. Where Mick's starring role emerges, however, is that of adopting the persona of pseudo-Satan on "Sympathy for the Devil". He's leading the charge on this samba-rock masterpiece until Keith enters the fray with his sultry guitar soloing. It's then a double act running the show. But every musician involved creates this unstoppable rhythm for over six minutes and it shakes you down. "Street Fighting Man' is a first for the Stones. This recording acutely mirrors the political reality of the times even if Mick maintains a remoteness from it. The line "what can a poor boy do, except the same old rock and roll band" encapsulates him. Charlie Watts' drum work galvanizes this into the classic it deserves to be. Savage rock finds its way into "Stray Cat Blues". The lyric exhibits Mick at his naughtiest. And, Keith's sleazy blues guitar licks punctuate intent. On this cut, I feel like I'm being complicit in the sins that are being laid out because of its unremitting groove. Hey, that's part of rock and roll. Thanks Charlie! The two preeminent tracks, for me, are "Salt of the Earth" and "No Expectations". Mick surveys the landscape on "Salt of the Earth" while he shields himself with layers of irony. And, the chorus of background singers (The Watts Street Gospel Choir) coming in at the third verse adds another dimension of spirituality into the lives of the working class. Nicky Hopkins rocks that piano hard during the coda. It's that one song that just grows like a tree. Then, there's the saddest moment on "Beggars Banquet" and in the Stones' entire catalogue: "No Expectations". Brian Jones had done wonderful slide guitar playing over the years, especially on non-originals like "Little Red Rooster" and "I'm Moving On". However, on "No Expectations" his downcast acoustic slide guitar work immortalizes him. He played his life out as if he had a premonition this was his last hurrah. Mick's lyric captures that lament in Brian's dissolution and Nicky's piano passages provide that bridge to the other side. Luckily on "Beggars Banquet", the Rolling Stones had a roadmap of what they were seeking for Jimmy Miller's economical production helps immeasurably in bringing this music to full bloom. There's nothing trivial here: just an unflagging openness of ten songs that feel lived and stripped down.

My favorite Stones album in 180 gram awesome sounds so good love it

In 1968, the extended Summer of Love was OVER. "Peace and love" was not happening; a violent reality was growing across the nation. In the more idealistic period, the Stones had released a series of excellent stylish and trendy albums, but 1968's "Beggars Banquet" is different. Did the change in atmosphere nudge them toward more basic music? Whatever the reason, this album features blends of rootsy rock, blues, folk and country, rather than arty or trendy pop-rock. And it shows that the Stones were still in the game, while charting their own course. The album's sound is very sharp; the guitar licks actually hurt my ears. I think the masterpiece of this album is the first track, "Sympathy For The Devil". The narrator is a polite (at first) and articulate character who introduces himself as "a man of wealth and taste". Things quickly get more serious. He tells us that he participated in many horrifying events: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Russian Revolution, the blitzkrieg of World War II and the assassination of the Kennedys. He ends up warning us that if we ever meet him, we should have some courtesy, sympathy, and some taste, or else he will "lay your soul to waste". Musically, the track opens peacefully enough as an upbeat number with lively percussion, nice piano chords and rambling bass. Later we begin to hear slashing, blistering guitar licks, and the background shouts of "woo-woo!", at first sounding like good fun, after a while begin to seem provoking and slightly menacing. This track - music and lyrics - strikes me as a metaphor representing the "end of innocence" and the onset of chaos that the world was experiencing. 5 of the 9 remaining tracks have strong blues influence, of varying shades. "No Expectations" is lazy blues, while "Parachute Woman" is more aggressive, with grating guitar. "Jigsaw Puzzle" is a bluesy mid-tempo song that meanders on, repeating the same chord pattern. "Stray Cat Blues" is bluesy rock, and "Salt Of The Earth" is light blues tinged with gospel. "Dear Doctor" is totally country, while "Factory Girl" is more like country-folk. "Prodigal Son", written by Robert Wilkins, is straight acoustic folk; it is a re-telling of the parable found in the New Testament, and it is the only song not composed by Jagger and Richards. "Street Fighting Man" is a practically flawless hard rock delight which announces the times perfectly: "Ev'rywhere I hear the sound of marching charging feet, boy/'Cause summer's here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy". Definitely NOT the Summer of Love. Another thing to notice about the album's lyrics is that 4 songs ("No Expectations", "Parachute Woman", "Factory Girl" and "Stray Cat Blues") paint pictures of women who are far from being the classy specimens depicted in "Lady Jane" and "She's A Rainbow". In "Factory Girl", the guy is waiting for "a girl who's got curlers in her hair...Her zipper's broken down the back...she's got stains all down her dress"!

Best

BEGGARS BANQUET, was one of the first LPs that I picked up as a kid, and I would play SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL over and over again I was so connected to the lyrics in that song. Of course, there were many others from this LP that also totally fixed THE STONES in my mind as one of the best groups out there. The fact that the Beggars Banquet was the start of a huge roll of great LPs for the STONES was a really amazing feat. From this disc, all the way to Goats Head Soup was a run that I think no other band has ever duplicated. It cemented in the public mind that THE STONES could really KICK OUT THE JAMS. They really are the BEST ROCK AND ROLL BAND in music history! This LP is a great example of why that is so.

Classic blues

Lo esperado. Perfecto.

Sicuramente sympathy for the devil è una delle mie preferite in questo album pazzesco!

Tolle Scheibe,mit Stones Klassikern wie Steet Fighting Man,Sympathy For The Devil.Tolles Cover, welches wohl das dirty Image unterstreichen soll.Die restaurierten Aufnahmen klingen gut,klare Empfehlung !

ストーンズのターニングポイントでもある名盤、68年作のベガーズバンケットの50周年記念リイシュー。よくあるアウトテイク盛沢山のデラックスエディションでもなく、ボーナストラック無しの1枚組で簡素なものです。 リマスターは、これ以上音が良くなるものがあるかというくらい良バランスで、1つ1つのパートがダイレクトに聞き取れるようになっています。60年代ロックのレコード特有の霧が無くなったという意味もありますが、音圧を上げすぎる等で大きく作品を変化させるというよりかは、より劣化を少なくアップデートした趣です。おかげでこのアルバム特有のパーカッション、ドラムス、アコギのエッジがより明確になり、心地よさと緊張感を併せ持つグルーヴが堪能できます。 ただマイナス点は2点ほど、"Stray Cat Blues"の中盤、"Salt Of The Earth"の後半に旧リマスターには無い定位のヨレが気になりますが、マスターテープから遡るともう50年以上経つため、多少の不具合は致し方ない所でしょうか。（これから修復技術が向上する余地があるともいえますが）とにかく、全体的に聴きやすくなったからこのアルバムが凄く好きな人は買いなおす価値はあるでしょう。 順当に行くと次の再発はレットイットブリードなんでしょうけど、個人的にはこの音質で67年以前の彼らの作品"Aftermath"、"Between The Buttons"がリマスターされるとまた新たなストーンズ・グルーヴの発見があるかも、と思わせます。同時期にリリースされたビートルズのホワイトアルバム50周年盤の陰に隠れてしまった感がありますが、良いリイシューです。

Of all the Rolling Stones albums, this was the first one I ever purchased. I love this album with all my heart and it made me a life long Rolling Stones fan. Only thing I can say as a criticism is that the cover was not this one shown but the the cover with the toilet on it. That means I got the 50th anniversary edition, from which I see has the original cover the Stones wanted but the record company didn't. In the end I don't mind the quality of the music is not in the cover. Still a great album and one of my all time favourites.