Beggars Banquet

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.

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.

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"!

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

Best

This is an album that established the Rolling Stones as a great album group, not just producers of an extraordinary long chain of brilliant singles. At a time when the Beatles were creating consistent albums, the Stones began here to do the same but focusing more on the grit and shadows of the times. And the results are compelling and still get on your feet and move kind of listening. This album is the non-flower-power portrait of its time and it's still valid today. The band was shifting, with Brian Jones slipping away, but each cut presents the individual musicians melding better than ever. They are dangerous and solid, loose and precise, pulsing and flowing. I'm grateful that Beggar's Banquet is still a classic, still timely, still bringing me to my feet 50 years later. I feel bad for anyone who can't appreciate the clarity and timelessness of great rock 'n' roll like this.

i have never heard the 2002 dsd remaster of this album, but apparently it doesn' t sound much different than this 2018 version. so if you have the 2002 cd, no need to get this one, unless you like the slipcase of the u.s. album cover with the original "toilet" cover on the inside of the jewel case. now i started my stones collection with the 2016 mono box, and in my opinion, those are the best versions to have, with the exceptions of this and "let it bleed", which were originally recorded in stereo and were "bounced down" for the mono box. these versions sound just fine, despite not being "true mono" with "let it bleed" the mono and stereo versions don't sound very different. "beggar's" is only one that the stereo version is noticeably better than the mono (especially "sympathy for the devil". in other words, if you have the mono box, this is the only title that you really need to get in stereo (either the 2018 or the 2002 one), because it sounds so much better. i also have the 2002 dsd stereo verisions of "out of our heads", "aftermath", and "between the buttons."(uk versions of all 3). these sound different enough from the mono versions to get these if you want to. but "beggar's banquet is the only stereo version that i would consider essential for a stone's fan to have instead of the mono.

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

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.

Album génial. Juste une remarque, la couverture de l’album n’est pas la même, mais c’est le même album. Tant mieux, la couverture présentée est moche, celle que j’ai reçu en plus fun et va très bien avec le contenu. Elle illustre très bien l’état d’esprit de « Sympathy for the Devil », « Street fighting man » et le sulfureux « Stray cat blues « . Un album aussi très bluesy. Génial

Muy buena remasterización. La portada es la del toilet y obviamente otorga un plus a la compra. Y las canciones por supuesto que excelentes.

Polecam!!!