"Let It Bleed" by THE ROLLING STONES (2002 Abcko 'Hybrid SACD/DSD CD' Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Sometimes You Get What You Need…"

In the truly fantastic and illuminating 2013 movie "20 Feet From Stardom" - one of the great unsung heroes of backing singers MERRY CLAYTON recalls with a giggle being dragged into a Studio by The Rolling Stones in her mink coat at some ungodly hour in the morning and told to scream "RAPE! MURDER! IT'S JUST A SHOT AWAY..." into a microphone at the top of her formidable lungs whilst heavily pregnant and with her hair-curlers still in. The film isolates her vocal track where she went up an extra octave to get the effect they needed - and you can hear her blowing the room out with her sheer power. Mick Jagger - who is also interviewed in the film along with Springsteen and many other rock beneficiaries - recalls it too and smiles wryly - Merry was damn good. In fact perhaps Clayton stood out as much as he did.

But whatever has passed into musical history since - nowadays both are quite rightly proud of the fabulous song "Gimme Shelter" that opens 1969's "Let It Bleed" by The Rolling Stones - what many lifetime fans feel is one of their finest hairy-assed reprobate hours. Merry Clayton would go on to have a short but sadly unnoticed Solo career of her own on Ode/A & M Records - even naming her debut album "Gimme Shelter" after her most famous moment with the grinning English boy (see separate review).

Back to this CD reissue... When the Decca label side of the Stones catalogue first came out on CD in 1986 on London - it was not the greatest moment for the new format. This 2002 reissue acknowledges this and advises that after 'long and painful' searches through tape vaults on both sides of the Atlantic - both time and technology had caught up enough to warrant a proper stab at it again - and man what a result.

Released August 2002 on Abkco 90042 (Barcode 018771900429) - "Let It Bleed" by THE ROLLING STONES is a straightforward transfer of the album (42:21 minutes):

1. Gimme Shelter

2. Love In Vain

3. Midnight Rambler

4. Live With Me

5. Let It Bleed

6. Midnight Rambler [Side 2]

7. You Got The Silver

8. Monkey Man

9. You Can't Always Get What You Want

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Let It Bleed" - released November 1969 in the USA on London NP 4 (Mono) and NPS 4 (Stereo) and December 1969 in the UK on Decca LK 5025 (Mono) and SKL 5025 (Stereo). Only the Stereo mix is used.

Made by Sony and Phillips - the SACD/DSD Hybrid Disc actually has two layers - the first contains the normal CD playback - but the other layer has a SACD remaster which will automatically come on if your machine has SACD playback facilities (it doesn't require a special machine to play this disc). The three-way foldout card digipak unfortunately doesn't reproduce the inner sleeve or the sticker and poster that came with rare originals of the album. It does however take the figurines off the cake and dot them across the digipak and CD. But the real sweet tooth is the sound. Given a careful transfer/remaster/mastering job by Steve Rosenthal, Teri Landi and Bob Ludwig - the sonic transformation of Jimmy Miller's original production are awesome.

Right from the opening moments of "Gimme Shelter" with its atmospheric guitars and NICKY HOPKINS piano playing - you know you're in the presence of something special. Things get even better with the largely acoustic cover of Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain" featuring RY COODER on Mandolin to great effect .The lead in car-horns and fiddle playing of BYRON BERLINE on their countrified piss take of "Honky Tonk Women" (called "Country Honk") sounds suitably ramshackle. Bill Wyman's Bass and Charlie Watt's Drums kick in with power on "Live With Me" as does the piano playing of LEON RUSSELL. The two acidic Side 1 finishers "Live With Me" (with MICK TAYLOR) and "Let It Bleed" (with IAN STEWART) have that fantastic British Rock 'n' Roll swagger that only the Faces seemed to be able to get near with any conviction.

Side 2 opens with the killer "Midnight Rambler" - a concert pleaser to this day. I love the wickedly sly "You Got The Silver" with Keith giving it bottleneck slide and half-stoned half-jealous vocals. Reputedly about the actress Anita Pallenberg immersed in the filming of "Performance" with Mick Jagger - the song also turned up in the futuristic classic "Zabriskie Point" - a notorious bomb at the box office in 1970. There can't be many Stones who don't think "Monkey Man" one of their great, unheralded Rocking masterpieces - a snotty little number perfectly placed before the glorious symphony of "You Cant Always Get What You Want". What can you say about this album finisher - how many times has its opening magic been used in movies to elicit emotion - and worked! To this day the 7" single edit of it on the B-side of "Honky Tonk Women" can only be found on the 3rd Stones Singles Box 1968-1971 (see separate review). As Al Kooper bashes the keys and Doris Troy, Nanette Newman, Madeline Bell and The London Bach Choir sing the song out - I'll admit to blubbing little Glimmer Twin tears...absolute f***ing genius.

"This Record Should Be Played Loud" it stated on the inner bag of the original vinyl LP.

Whether you go for the 2002 SACD/CD Hybrid issue or Japan's SHM-CD from 2010 (with all the repro artwork and 2002 remaster) - I'd apply the same code to this blindingly good remaster...CRANK IT!

PS: A young Delia Smith baked the cake on the cover...swear to God...

"Beggars Banquet" by THE ROLLING STONES (2002 Abcko 'Hybrid SACD/DSD CD' Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Pleased To Meet You…" 

As the truly fantastic "Sympathy For The Devil" sails into your living room on a patter of Tabla shuffles and Salsa shakers – all slithery, slinky and sidewinding like a snake – you wonder how many times this incredibly durable song has been used in movies? How many instances has a smug vampire or demon or Old Nick himself (in human form of course) played this tune in his car CD-player as he heads off for another rendezvous with a succulent throat in the big dark city?

Bloodletting and a propensity to name-check Hades and its unsavoury occupants aside - The Rolling Stones started a peerless run of albums with 1968's "Beggars Banquet" that ran through 1969's "Let It Bleed", 1971's "Sticky Fingers" (the first on their own Rolling Stones Records) – culminating in the magnum opus double-album "Exile On Main St." - a deserved No. 1 in 1972. Yet in its plain white British laminated gatefold or naughty US toilet graffiti sleeve - somehow good old 'BB' seems to get ignored over the illustrious trio that followed it. And its history on CD has been murky and problematic too...

When the Decca label side of the Stones catalogue first came out on CD in 1986 on London - it was not the greatest moment for the new format. This 2002 'Hybrid SACD/DSD CD' reissue and remaster acknowledges this and advises that after 'long and painful' searches through tape vaults on both sides of the Atlantic - both time and technology had caught up enough to warrant a proper stab at it again. And like the other titles in this wicked series of card digipaks - man what a result. Here are the street fighting men...

UK and Europe released August 2002 – "Beggars Banquet" by THE ROLLING STONES on Abkco 8823012 (Barcode 042288230120) is a Limited Edition Hybrid SACD/DSD CD Remaster – a straightforward transfer of the 10-track Stereo album that plays out as follows (39:47 minutes):

1. Sympathy For The Devil

2. No Expectations

3. Dear Doctor

4. Parachute Woman

5. Jigsaw Puzzle

6. Street Fighting Man [Side 2]

7. Prodigal Son

8. Stray Cat Blues

9. Factory Girl

10. Salt Of The Earth

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Beggars Banquet" - released 6 December 1968 in the UK on Decca LK 4955 (Mono) and SKL 4955 (Stereo) and 7 December 1968 in the USA on London LL 3539 (Mono) and London PS 539 (Stereo). Only the STEREO MIX IS USED.

Made by Sony and Phillips - the SACD/DSD Hybrid Disc actually has two layers - the first contains the normal CD playback - but the other layer has a SACD remaster which will automatically come on if your machine has SACD playback facilities (it doesn't require a special machine to play this disc). The three-way foldout card digipak unfortunately doesn't reproduce the British front cover artwork (white with script titles) but does have the inner sleeve 'banquet' photo of the boys pigging out spread across the inner digipak and further onto the CD label. As with all of these three-way card digipaks - there is also a small square paper 'Certificate Of Authenticity' for the 'Inaugural Edition Hybrid Disc 2002' that quotes some lyrics to a song from the album and (in this case) pictures a black and white snippet of the 'toilet sleeve' on the rear. Not sat in any kind of pouch within the glossy card digipak - these little certificates are easy to lose - and the glossy sleeve easy to mark or smudge - so perhaps use a protective plastic to hold the lot in place/keep it new.  

But the real layers of soft ply are the new Audio. STEVE ROSENTHAL did the Sound Restoration and Archive Coordination - TERI LANDI the Analogue to Digital Transfers & Tape Archive Research with final Mastering carried out by the legendary Audio Engineer BOB LUDWIG at Gateway Mastering. The sonic transformation of Jimmy Miller's original production is awesome. This CD sounds fantastic in either DSD CD mode or SACD – a great Stones album made better at last.

After the bombastic backwards-tapes bilge of December 1967's psych-out "Their Satanic Majesties Request" – the stripped down almost country R&B instrumentation of "Beggars Banquet" came as a welcome relief. And excepting a cover version of "Prodigal Son" by Reverend Robert Wilkins (covered by Hank Williams in 1952 – probably the version Keith Richards heard and admired) – the other nine are Jagger-Richards originals. It opens on a balls-to-the-wall Stones classic – "Sympathy For The Devil". As well as the famous 'ooh ooh' chorus throughout that features Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Nicky Hopkins, Marianne Faithfull, Jimmy Miller and actress/Stones girlfriend Anita Pallenberg - one of the unsung heroes of this 6:02 minutes is Nicky Hopkins whose brilliantly complimentary piano playing underpins the rhythm. Up next is one of my all-time Stones craves – the gorgeous "No Expectations". Sailing in on a bed of Bluesy acoustic strums – Brian Jones plays slide while Nicky Hopkins once again does a sweet piano refrain throughout (you can hear Wyman’s bass in the remaster now too – so sweet). American fans will know that the song was used as B-side to "Street Fighting Man" on London 909 (shame they didn't feature its rare picture sleeve somewhere in the digipak - under the see-through tray for instance). We go all hick-Country with "Dear Doctor" where Keith and Mick complain "...there's a pain where there once was a heart..." - Brian Jones plays Harmonica while Dave Mason of Traffic guest on guitar. Keith Richards famously took over the 'slide guitar' reins from Brian Jones on the wickedly good "Parachute Woman" while Mick gives it some Harmonica and Nicky Hopkins plays piano (lost somewhere back in the mix). They were never so ramshackle and louche as on "Jigsaw Puzzle" where the bishop's daughter has been an outcast all her life while poor Mick pours over his jigsaw puzzle (undoubtedly in a very cool Chelsea flat).

Side 2 opens with the mighty "Street Fighting Man" - banned by the knobs at the BBC for its 'incendiary' sentiments (guaranteed million seller then). A harsh-reality statement – the song asked "...what can I poor boy do...” The direct opposite to the message of hippies and peaceniks – the authorities clearly thought its seeming praise of 'fighting' was going to cause riots in the – well – streets. It didn't. More likely the real violence came from American cops trying to control thousands of peaceful protestors riling against the sickening Vietnam War and its waste of life. I still don't know how Richards got that slightly off guitar sound and once again – Nicky Hopkins contributes Piano while Dave Mason offers Percussion. Acoustic Blues comes at us with "Prodigal Son" - Richards on Acoustic - Jones giving it some cotton-field Harmonica while Jagger sings about restlessness - going down the road - a poor boy crying for mercy. Truthful but "Some Girls" angry in ways - naughty rock-band antics fill the saucy lyrics of "Stray Cat Blues" where a 15-year old needn't show her ID (grow up boys). Far better is "Factory Girl" - a pretty song that has Dave Mason on Mandolin and Family's Rick Grech on Violin - both lifting the song into something special. It ends on more acoustic introspection - "Salt Of The Earth" - a song about the working everyman - the 'common foot soldier'. Keith croaks out the first verse - Jagger takes over from there in with Keith doubling. Nicky Hopkins plays melodious piano licks until The Watts Street Gospel Choir come sailing in towards the big finish.

"Beggars Banquet" isn't as immediately 'rocky' as say 1969's "Let It Bleed" or the crowd-pleasing riffage of "Sticky Fingers" from 1971 - but it's a Stones album I keep returning to - wanting to play it side to side. Whether you go for the 2002 Abkco SACD/CD Hybrid issue or Japan's SHM-CD from 2010 with all the repro artwork (and the 2002 remaster) you're in good hands - the best Rock 'n' Roll band in the world on fighting form...

"Beggars Banquet" by THE ROLLING STONES (2002 Abkco 'Hybrid SACD/DSD' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Pass Through Here Again..."

When the Decca label side of the Stones 60ts catalogue first came out on CD in 1986 on London - it was not the greatest moment for the new format. Thankfully this 2002 reissue acknowledges that previous travesty and advises that after 'long and painful' searches through tape vaults on both sides of the Atlantic - both time and technology had caught up enough to warrant a proper stab at it again - and man what a result. Both 1968's "Beggars Banquet" and the follow-up genius of "Let It Bleed” in 1969 shine on these 'hybrid' reissues. Here are the street fighting details...

Euro released August 2002 on Abkco 8823012 (Barcode 042288230120) - it's a straightforward transfer of the album (39:47 minutes):

1. Sympathy For The Devil

2. No Expectations

3. Dear Doctor

4. Parachute Woman

5. Jigsaw Puzzle

6. Street Fighting Man [Side 2]

7. Prodigal Son

8. Stray Cat Blues

9. Factory Girl

10. Salt Of The Earth

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Beggars Banquet" - released December 1968 in the UK on Decca LK 4955 (Mono) and SKL 4955 (Stereo) and in the USA on London LL 3539 (Mono) and PS 539 (Stereo). Only the Stereo mix is used.

The UK album had plain white artwork on its laminated gatefold sleeve – apparently a reaction by Decca UK to the furore over the infamous American 'toilet sleeve'. As this CD is US-based it uses the 'toilet sleeve' as its artwork. The three-way foldout card digipak sleeve has basic track details on the furthest inside flap, an explanation on the SACD/DSD compatible CD and process on the second flap as well as the inner UK gatefold sleeve artwork used underneath the see-through tray (and as the label of the CD itself). There’s also a small square 'Certificate Of Authenticity' with 2002 originals for the 'Inaugural Edition Hybrid Disc 2002' which is numbered on the rear black and white photo (6) with lyrics to the "Jumpin' Jack Flash" B-side "Child Of The Moon" printed on one side. I believe each of these original 'Inaugural' inserts are numbered up to 12 or more. 

Made by Sony and Phillips - the SACD/DSD Hybrid Disc actually has two layers - the first contains the normal CD playback - but the other layer has a SACD remaster which will automatically come on if your machine has SACD playback facilities (it doesn't require a special machine to play this disc). Given a careful transfer and remaster by Steve Rosenthal, Teri Landi and Bob Ludwig - the sonic transformation of Jimmy Miller's original production is awesome. Let's get to that...

Right from the opening moments of "Sympathy For The Devil" with its sleazy rhythms and shotgun flicking guitars - you know you're in the presence of something special. By the time the chants of "Ooh Ooh" snake their way in – you're totally won over (Anita Pallenberg, Marianne Faithful, piano player Nicky Hopkins and Producer Jimmy Miller are all in their as well as most of the Stones on the Backing Vocals). "Sympathy For The Devil" is an Audio triumph and what a storming opener it is too (no wonder it gets used in so many movies). Things get even better with the Bluesy acoustic "No Expectations" where Keith Richards strums a restrained but melodic Acoustic - while Brian Jones plays a blinder on Slide (this is easily one of my favourite Stones track – lyrics from it title this review).

We get the inevitable drugs and debauchery song in "Dear Doctor" where Mick Jagger pleads rather caustically "...there's a pain where there once was a heart..." Thrown into the mix is Nicky Hopkins doing a gin-soaked piano, Dave Mason of Traffic playing guitar and Brian Jones once again anchoring the song with an ever-present warbling harmonica. We then get down and dirty with "Parachute Woman" where the Stones go Blues Rock as only they can. Without any thought for technology – the track is pure feel - mean and gritty with Keith giving it some grungy Slide (usually Brian Jone's domain). Side 1 ends with more of the same Bluesy Grit as "Jigsaw Woman" talks of tramps with eye-catching clothes and gangsters with Lugers who go home to their family after a hard day's killing while Mick just wants to do his Jigsaw Puzzle in peace.

I've never worked out if the opening guitar sound to "Street Fighting Man" is pure genius or crappy Production values (quite possibly a bit of both). Whatever history tells us - one minute into the song and you just know it's a stone cold classic. Released as a single in the USA with a rare picture sleeve that was immediately withdrawn – it would have been nice to see that rarity pictured in the digipak. At least Brian Jone's Sitar playing comes out of the mix a bit clearer as does Nicky Hopkin's clever piano refrain during the song fade-out (he contributed so much to this album and "Let It Bleed"). "Prodigal Son" feels like an old-timey spiritual the way Jagger sings it but the remaster has done little to Jone's Harmonica, which is still way back in the mix. Still don't know who the girl is that playfully says "Ah!" at the beginning of the swaggering "Stray Cat Blues" – a tune about ladies wanting to join the band in post gig celebrations while the naughty Rollers don’t ask too many questions about their dates of birth (how did they get away with that crap). After the slightly sleazy bravado of "Stray Cat Blues" – the genuinely sweet "Factory Girl" manages to be that cool thing in the Rolling Stones repertoire – a pretty song. Family's Rick Grech plays Violin on it while Traffic’s Dave Mason adds a Mandolin backbeat with Charlie Watts playing Tabla instead of Drums (giving the song a softer touch). Keith's endearing whine opens the shared Lead Vocals on the album closer "Salt Of The Earth" where they want to "...raise a glass to the hard-working people..." - how decent of them. It features The Watts Street Gospel Choir from Los Angeles – a group of unemployed kids getting their moment of fame. The Audio on this track is the best I’ve ever heard it and ends the album on a high...

Whether you go for the 2002 SACD/CD Hybrid issue (now available for as little as a fiver from some online retailers) or plumb for the prettier but more expensive Japanese SHM-CD from 2010 which uses the 2002 remaster but also offers the white UK artwork as part of its repro sleeve – either way you’re on a winner. And The Stones would only get better with the three studio albums that followed - "Let It Bleed" (1969), "Sticky Fingers" (1971) and "Exile On Main St." (1972). Yank that chain baby...

"The Singles 1968-1971" by THE ROLLING STONES - A Review Of The 2005 Abkco 10-Disc Box Set...

AMAZON UK Best-Price Purchase Link Above - AMAZON USA Link Below

"….It's A Gas Gas Gas…"

The last in a series of 3 Singles Boxes by The Stones provides goodies from a period of their history that I just can't get enough of - the late Sixties and early Seventies. They seemed to be dripping magic between "Beggars Banquet" and "Exile On Mail Street" -and this brilliant but sometimes frustrating mini 7" fest only rams home their swagger and musical genius. Here are the big tongues and sticky fingers...

UK released 28 February 2005 - "The Singles 1968-1971" [Volume 3 of 3] by THE ROLLING STONES on ABKCO Records 0602498270752 is a 9CD + 1DVD Mini Box Set and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (6:52 minutes):

Jumping Jack Flash b/w Child Of the Moon

UK: 23 May 1968 on Decca F 12782

USA: 24 May 1968 on London 908

Disc 2 (14:39 minutes):

Street Fighting Man b/w No Expectations

USA: August 1968 on London 909 [withdrawn, $10,000 plus rarity with P/S]

Street Fighting Man b/w Surprise Surprise & Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

UK: 25 June 1971 on Decca F 13195 [3-Track Maxi Play at 33 1/3 speed]

Street Fighting Man b/w Surprise Surprise

UK: 20 July 1971 on Decca 13202

Disc 3 (7:51 minutes):

Honky Tonk Woman b/w You Can't Always Get What You Want [Edit]

UK: 11 July 1969 on Decca F 12952

USA: 11 July 1969 on London 910

[Note: The A-side was a non-album track at the time. The B-side is an exclusive single edit at 4:50 minutes which loses the 40-piece choir at the beginning and final portion of the song - the full version at 7:29 minutes is on the 1969 "Let It Bleed" album in Stereo]

Disc 4 (5:47 minutes):

Memo From Turner b/w Natural Magic

UK: November 1970 on Decca F 13067

[Note: MICK JAGGER Solo single; the B-side is an instrumental from the film "Performance" - written by JACK NITZSCHE, it features RY COODER on Guitar]

Disc 5 (7:26 minutes):

Brown Sugar b/w Bitch

UK: 16 April 1971 on Rolling Stones Records RS 19100

[Note: some British copies came in a rare picture sleeve which is `not' used here. Some copies of the original 7" had a bonus track after "Bitch" called "Let It Rock" - a live cover version of a Chuck Berry song recorded in March 1971 at Leeds University. It's `not' included here but is available on the "Rarities 1971-2003" CD compilation from 2005]

Disc 6 (9:32 minutes):

Wild Horses b/w Sway

USA: 12 June 1971 on Rolling Stones Records RLS 101

[Note: the 1994 Virgin remasters are used for both tracks]

Disc 7 (5:19 minutes):

I Don't Know Why b/w Try A Little Harder

USA: 23 May 1975 on ABKCO Records 4701

[Note: both tracks are taken from the 1975 outtakes compilation "Metamorphosis". The A-side is a Stevie Wonder cover recorded July 1969 (the night Brian Jones died) and is a "Let It Bleed" outtake. The B-side is a Jagger/Richards original from back in June 1964]

Disc 8 (6:42 minutes):

Out Of Time b/w Jiving Sister Fanny

USA: August 1975 on ABKCO Records 4702

UK: 5 September 1975 on Decca F 13597

[Note: the A-side was written by Jagger/Richards for Chris Farlowe who had a Number One hit with it in the UK in June 1966 on Immediate Records. Again from the "Metamorphosis" compilation - it made its first appearance on that album and this single with Jagger's vocal on the track. The B-side "Jiving Sister fanny" is another "Let It Bleed" outtake from July 1969]

Disc 9 (26:12 minutes):

Sympathy For The Devil Remix

1. Sympathy For The Devil (Original Recording)

2. Sympathy For The Devil (Neptunes Remix)

3. Sympathy For The Devil (Fatboy Slim Remix)

4. Sympathy For The Devil (Full Phatt Remix)

UK CD single released September 2003 on Mercury 9810612

Disc 10 "The Rolling Stones Videos 1964-2003" - 4-Track DVD, Region 0:

1. Time Is On My Side (Live on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964)

2. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow (Filmed Live in 1967 - no venue stated)

3. Jumpin' Jack Flash (1968 Promo)

4. Sympathy For The Devil (The Neptunes Remix Video) (Filmed 2003)

The 32-page glossy booklet features some great picture sleeves from around the globe and the liner notes giving a history of every song are pleasingly detailed and to the point. As with the stunning Volume 2 covering 1967 to 1967, this third instalment has had the Tape Transfer, Sound Restoration and Remastering involve a trio of great names - STEVE ROSENTHAL, TERI LANDI and BOB LUDWIG. They've done a great job given the notorious and wildly differing sound sources.

As far as I'm aware this is the only place to get the rare edit of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" while fans will probably have the "Let It Bleed" outakes on their SACD of "Metamorphosis". The less said about the "Sympathy For The Devil" remixes from 2003 - the better. "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Street Fighting Man" and "Honky Tonk Women" still amaze - even after all these years. And those rare picture sleeves most of us of modest means will never be able to afford - how cool is it to have a few - albeit in repro form.

The 4 DVD films are fabulous too (and Region Free so no playback issues) while the foldout colour poster (black and white shot on the flip side) and art-cards give the whole thing a classy feel. And who will complain about those four corkers off "Sticky". Even "Memo From Turner" rocks - as does that rare Ry Cooder instrumental B-side.

"If you try sometimes...you might just get what you need..." Well look no further...