24 - The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet - 1968

Side One
Sympathy For The Devil
No Expectations
Dear Doctor
Parachute Woman
Jigsaw Puzzle

Side Two
Street Fighting Man
Prodigal Son
Stray Cat Blues
Factory Girl
Salt of the Earth


DISCOVERY; The second non-Beatle album to make the collection from Mr Smith's Box. It's hard to describe my reaction on first hearing it. Otherworldly and out of time spring to mind. If you're following the sequence of discoveries bear in mind how judiciously I avoided the torture device called radio. So any exposure to the Stones had been minimal. Beggars Banquet was the first time sitting down with a complete Rolling Stones song let alone a complete album. Surprise turned to fascination. Not only did I listen to the entire album in one setting, it was the only album I came back to and played again before returning it to Mr Smith.

I had the impression of a superb piece of art though much of the subject matter went over my head. I was impressed by the serious way they presented their overtly decadent subject matter. It all seemed somehow steeped in the old world yet timeless and modern. Extraordinary and compelling theatre. It moved me. Captivated... but just that afternoon.

The gatefold, inside... you have been invited!

WHERE & WHEN; Beggars Banquet fired my imagination but for some reason I failed to put it on tape. When I was 13, after some 20 plus Beatles albums, I was ready to expand my horizons but maybe not all at once. Maybe I didn't have that much tape? Maybe I didn't want to hear it a third time? I'm funny that way. Whatever reason I put it back in the box and The Stones went out of my head until the following year when I saw them on Don Kirchner's Rock Concert. Still armed with my little cassette recorder, that's when I taped them and that's when they stuck in my consciousness. I can credit this album with picking the lock.

Cover art is supremely important to me. I found the cover art for the US release a perfect compliment to the music inside. The toilet cover we're presented with these days is shabby and tasteless. Not indicative of the masterpiece inside.

HIGHLIGHTS; Every blinkin' note of it!

STATUS; Temporary MP3 copy --- Must Have