Their Satanic Majesties Request

[rick36]

I believe that was Dirk and Nasty...

[teeder]

"The Stones would really redefine their sound just a year later and would go on to record a string of great Rock&Roll records over the next 6 years."

"Beggar's Banquet" through "It's only R&R" is some of my most favorite music ever. Extra gold stars going to Sticky Fingers and Exile!

[revolver323]

I stopped buying Stones albums after December's Children, although I have liked some of their stuff since then.

[einar]

Haha, yes they did. And Brian Jones played the sax on "You know my name".

[atomic_punk]

Didnt Zep's JPJ do some of the arranging on Satanic Majesties?

[servant]

Didnt Zep's JPJ do some of the arranging on Satanic Majesties?

Yes. I don't have the LP to double-check the details. I think he is credited for Arranging "She's A Rainbow."
If not the entire song, then at least the string arrangement.

[dustymurphy]

Extra gold stars going to Sticky Fingers and Exile!

I couldn't agree with you more. Seriously, that might be the best back to back (aside from Rubber Soul/Revolver) releases by a band ever. It's close to, if not exactly, a tie with the aforementioned Beatles releases. They were just a band at the peak of their creativity at that time.

[shamustwin]

Seems a few bands acheive a "trifecta", and I'd say the Stones did it with Beggars Banquet, Exile, and Sticky Fingers. These define, for me, the essence of the the Stones' post pop sound, and basically all post-invasion Rock.

[dustymurphy]

I can't even think of a three album streak like that that is so amazing and stands up so well after all these years. The Stones really hit a peak in terms of songwriting, playing, and singing. I always felt Let It Bleed fit in better with Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street though. But that's just me. Let It Bleed was a remarkably important album for me at a time when I was growing up and growing past what I had been listening to and playing (in terms of talent, I just got better as a guitar player) and it was the perfect album at the perfect time. I'd had a vinyl copy of Sticky Fingers from the time that I was 13 years old, so it was always around but not really an epiphany due to my age. When the SACD re-release of Let It Bleed came out, I picked it up the day it was released just because I didn't have it on vinyl, and was interested in hearing it. It was my first semester at college, and I had just bought a '72 Telecaster Custom re-issue due to my desire for a Keith-style tone and I was blown away by the album. It inspired me not only to change the type of music I had been making, but also to become a better player. (a couple of years of years later I had a custom P-90 bridge pickup put in the guitar that was made by Lindy Fralin based on Les Paul Jr. pickup. AMAZING tone!) I ended up getting CD copies of Exile and Sticky Fingers a few days later so I could listen to all three of them on the way to class and back (at that point I was and still am, more of a record fan. I only own about 25 CDs but about 3500 LPs.), and it really changed everything about my musical style and how I played the guitar. I was still in a pop-punk band (ugh, I know) that I had joined in high school and it gave me the courage to quit and do my own thing and start The Altamonts (another Stones reference) and basically changed my life. Or at least as much as a record can.

What Rubber Soul did for me at the age of 12, coupled with Let It Bleed at 18 really set me up for what I do and what I love as a musician and a fan of music. If it wasn't for those two albums, I don't know what my life would be like. Rubber Soul inspired me to learn to play the guitar. And playing guitar is huge part of who I am and what I do. It's strange to think that a record could have that much influence over someone's life, but it has.