A VC

Back in November of last year when I decided to put together a list of my 50 favorite record albums, I started with The Rolling Stones' Exile On Main Street.

It is my all time favorite record by my all time favorite band.

And now its time to end this journey.

I made up my mind back in November of last year to end it the same way it started, with Mick, Keith, and the gang.

So I've spent the past week listening to these Brian Jones era records (all on vinyl):

Englands Newest Hitmakers
Out of Our Heads
December's Children
Aftermath
Between The Buttons
Beggars Banquet

These are not all the records that the Brian Jones era Stones put out.

These are, however, my favorites of that period.

And it is so tough to pick one from this list.

I love their debut record, England's Newest Hitmakers.  The Rolling Stones covered R&B, blues, and soul music like no other rock band. And this record is the best example of that.

December's Children showed the begnnings of the dark side of the Stones that they were to develop fully in the brilliant Mick Taylor era.

Aftermath is most everyone's favorite from the Brian Jones period and is the first Stones record that had no covers, just Mick and Keith's songs.

Between the Buttons is where the Stones do Dylan and features Brian Jones at this best on the harmonica and acoustic guitar.  I love that record.  It is by far the most underrated Stones album (even Mick hates it).

But the two records that I kept putting back on the turntable were Out of Our Heads and Beggars Banquet.

Out of Our Heads is simply fantastic.  It is pure Rolling Stones, still doing covers like Mercy Mercy, That's How Strong My Love Is, and Good Times brilliantly. 

But then you flip to the B side and they whip out Satisfaction, the greatest rock and roll song ever.  Then you get Play With Fire, The Under Assistant West Coast Promo Man and The Spider and The Fly, three great early Jagger/Richards tunes.

And Beggars Banquet. Wow.  What a record.  Sympathy for the Devil starts the A side.  Street Fighting Man starts the B side.  Mick describes the band the way I always think of them in Jigsaw Puzzle.  And they end it all with a prayer for the Salt of the Earth.

So I am going to do what everybody who tries to keep a list to a set number does.  I am going to go one over.

I am adding Out of Our Heads and Beggars Banquet to my top 50(1) list.

And this is it.  I am done.

I have created a separate page on this blog for my top 50(1) list and in a week or so, it will stop being blog bling and move to the back pages.

It's been a blast, as Rod predicted in his comment to my first post.

I hope you've all enjoyed it as much as I have.