Classic Albums: Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones
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Track Six: Midnight Rambler:
To say that Gimme Shelter is edgy and unsettling then n the Midnight Rambler is that times ten. The swagger and t he bravado of this song always sends a chill down my spine with Keith Richards thick, overdriven guitar and Watts’ menacing drumming that somehow manages to mimic the killers foot steps. The song is about the infamous Boston Strangler and this song gives the album it’s dark streak and like Gimme Shelter starts off slowly to build momentum as Mick Jagger’s amplified harmonica erupts giving a slight nod to Little Walter in the process and as I’ve said before that Jagger’s voice has a tendency to mimic and emulate his heroes nobody could sing this the way that Mick does with all of it’s striking tone and menacing aggression. The line ’I'll Stick my knife right down your throat” is the icing on the cake and is probably one of the greatest ending lines to a song. One could listen to this eight minute epic of a song and it would show in great detail to why The Rolling Stones are so widely respected and considered the worlds greatest rock n roll band. The perfection of this song and of the whole album is striking and at it’s most controversial and nobody else could do it but them.
Track Seven: You Got The Silver.
Those who say that Keith Richards can’t sing obviously have not been listening and to think about whether or not that Mick should sing this masterpiece is a fucking ludicrous though and if honesty is permitted then I think it would have ruined this wonderfully melancholic ballad. Keith and Ry Cooder are at there most unified as Keith sings with such passion and warmheartedness. There are alot of questions surrounding the recording this album and the strength of the relationships between the band mates who recorded it and one of the many stories revolving around Mick and Keith is when Jagger was filiming the movie Performance but that is of no importance to why this is such an important album. Keith plays brilliant and has said on many occasions that he has alwys been a big softy for ballads and this song shows his love for that more then any other, all in all this song is what give this master album it’s soul while Gimme Shelter adds the danger and edge. This album would have suffered without this track and it’s nice song for the audience to hear Keith sing for the first time on his own. If I ever meet the band in person then I will shake them warmly by the hand and thank them for this strikingly heartfelt song.
Track Eight: Monkey Man:
The funky staccato riff and the tumbling, bruising drumming are what makes this such a great track, the lyrics are amusing with lines such as : ”All my friends are junkies, but that’s not really true”. It’s a sexually charged bluesy number and owns the same style of Stray Cat Blues and takes all of the rumours issued by the press like Satanism, sex and drugs and shoves it right back up the publics assess.n If you mix Jumping Jack Flash with Stray Cat then you get Monkey Man to me this is one of Jagger’s finest vocal performances with it’s power directed from Keith Richards Rhythm guitar and the whole band feeding off of the songwriting duo. This is the only song on the album that has all of the members at that time involved in the recording and performance of this song with the addition of Nicky Hopkins playing a jangling piano. If anything this should have been the swan song to the album been that it is in the same vain as the beckoning opener but they managed to do one better to close the album.
Track Nine: You Can’t Always Get What You want:
It’s a corny and overly - predictable song to be played at a funeral long with In My Life by The Beatles or We’ll Meet Again by Vera Lynn but this song has a strange essence about it been been it was [placed on such a hard hitting and gritty album but it adds to the soul that You Got The Silver granted to this album. Another reason why it’s such a strange choice is that they had a hat full of songs to choose from to end the album, songs of which would appear on future albums like Brown Sugar, Sway which were written around Altamont as well others like Rip This Joint and even maybe Angie. As like the other songs on this album it starts off slowly then manages to pick up speed and have a riveting crescendo, from the opening voices of the choir to the point of Jagger’s voice reaching it’s peak. Thus song has manged to remain apart of the bands live set and has become a greatest hit choice, ending up on mostly every compilation put together of this group. Personally it’s not my favourite, in fact I find it a disappointing end to such a strong album and I feel they should have either left it Monkey Man or have chosen something out of the vast majority of classics which would appear soon after this album was rel;eased instead of acting all philosophical and self righteous.