Release of The Rolling Stones, Beggar’s Banquet
Release: Dec. 6
Following 1967’s critically panned Their Satanic Majesties Request, attempt to cash in on psychedelia, the Stones revealed their essence on Beggar’s Banquet—a dirty, raw, set of originals that injected some country twang into the band’s R&B obsessions and set the mold for the iconic Stones sound that would stretch on for another 50 years. Containing at least three certified Stones classics—“Street Fighting Man,” “Salt of the Earth (featuring a rare lead vocal from Keith Richards) and the signature song “Sympathy for the Devil”—Beggar’s Banquet marked the first entry in a four-album run—followed by Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingersand Exile on Main Street—that would go down as maybe the greatest winning streak in rock history. Sadly, it also marks the final album with Brian Jones’s full participation, and his reliability at the time was clearly in question. The original cover image, featuring a graffiti-strewn lavatory, was rejected by the record label and replaced with an unadorned invitation image that drew instant comparisons to the Beatles’ White Album, which had come out three weeks before. Nevertheless, the inner gatefold, depicting an enthusiastic food fight, ensured the Stones’ depravity wasn’t diminished.
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