Let It Bleed

"Midnight Rambler," which originally began Side 2 in those days of vinyl, is another one of those most rare long Stones songs and featured Mick Jagger wailing on his harp. "Monkey Man" is my all time favorite non-Stones hit song with Jagger pointing out " I hope we're not too messianic or a trifle too satanic" (I used it for a class assignment once as the music background for a Pat Paulsen speech) and "Country Honk" is a countrified version of their hit "Honky Tonk Woman." You also have a couple of acoustic blues tracks with "You Got the Silver," which offers up the first lead vocals by Keith Richards, and a cover of Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain." "Live With Me" is a solid Stone rocker and the title song is okay, but what is important is that title: it fostered an inherent comparison with "Let It Be," but since that was the Beatles' weakest album, the Stones came out ahead on this one. Those were fun days in rock and roll, boys and girls, let me tell you.

Special mention to the efforts of Nicky Hopkins on this album, who plays piano on most of the key tracks as well as the late Brian Jones, who appears on two of the tracks, as does his replacement, Mick Taylor. On top of all that, I love the way the back of the album deconstructs the front. "Beggar's Banquet" might be the more traditional Rolling Stones album, but "Let It Bleed" still holds the top spot for me and the last time I put together my Top 10 albums of all time list for my Pop Culture class "Let It Bleed" was on it. Finally, as it says at the bottom of the liner notes: THIS RECORD SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD. It should also be played often.