Hey folks, it's the 40th anniversary of the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, immortalized in Gimme Shelter, the 1970 documentary by the Maysles brothers (Albert and David) with Charlotte Zwerin. Just as the Stones were weighed against the Beatles, Altamont was weighed against Woodstock -- the supposed end of the hippie dream in Nixonian America, amid the raging US-Vietnam War. Still, the balance sheet was even at Altamont: four deaths and four births. And the beat went on. Kent State and Jackson State shootings were just around the corner, and Watergate, too.
"Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!": The Rolling Stones in Concert, recorded during the 1969 tour, was released in 1970: it's one of the best concert albums ever released so far as I know. What's more, the 40th anniversary edition now out includes tracks that might have been included in a two-disc set in 1970, before it was decided to stick to a single disc release. It's all there now: bonus tracks, B.B. King, Ike & Tina Turner, and film footage. How cool is that? (As an aside, the record title comes from a similarly titled song by North Carolina bluesman Blind Boy Fuller/Fulton Allen, who died in Durham, North Carolina in 1941).
But the best album by the Rolling Stones was yet to come with Exile on Main St. in 1972. This album has so much to offer that even decades later, I'm still absorbing its richness. Above is a promo, featuring Mick Jagger on piano. More on Exile in due time. Dig it, Jack!
Today's Rune: Wholeness.
7 comments:
Erik, Gone is the day I get my "ya ya's' out for any band. Wellll, maybe Tom Jones!!!
Heyyy, I'm right near Durham! :p I'd get my ya ya's out for the Stones, I don't car how old Mick is! lol
There's no argument here. Exile on Main St. is definitely the Stones best album. So, in your opinion, what's their worst album?
Thanks all for the comments! Funny'
JR, technically, Got Live If You Want It! is horrendous. As far as worst album content, I'll have to mull that one over. What do you think? (I don't know the post-Some Girls stuff as well, for sure, i.e. the thirty-one years since!).
I saw Mick and the boys in 79....haven't been to ANY show since. Not because it was the best and nothing could compare, but rather because Jagger in an orange spandex jump suit while I was doing skleeners just changed my entire perspective.
Hum, I don't have Exile on Main street. I like the stones pretty well, will have to check it out.
I would argue that Exile is the best rock album ever. Just my humble opinion. The record should have been a train wreck-- Keith was at the depths of his heroin addiction, Mick was living his rich rock star jetset lifestyle, all the Stones were living in tax exile in France.
Their worst? Emotional Rescue.
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