Beggars Banquet

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Beggars Banquet
Studio album by The Rolling Stones
Released	6 December 1968
Recorded	17 March 1968 – 25 July 1968
Genre	Rock
Length	39:47
Label	Decca/ABKCO (UK) London/ABKCO (U.S.)
Producer	Jimmy Miller
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone link
The Rolling Stones chronology
Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967) Beggars Banquet (1968) Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (1969)
Alternate cover
Initially rejected cover of Beggars Banquet

Beggars Banquet is an LP released in 1968 by The Rolling Stones. It marked a return to the band's R&B roots, generally viewed as simpler and more primal than the conspicuous psychedelics of Their Satanic Majesties Request.

[edit] History

This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (April 2008)

Following the long sessions for the previous album in 1967, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards decided that the band needed more direction in the studio and in early 1968 hired Jimmy Miller, who had produced the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic. The partnership would prove to be a success and Miller would work with the band until 1973.

In March, the band began recording their new album, aiming for a July release. One of the first tracks cut, "Jumpin' Jack Flash", was released as a single-only that May, becoming a major hit.

Beggars Banquet was Brian Jones' last full effort with The Rolling Stones. In addition to his slide work on "No Expectations", he played harmonica on "Dear Doctor", "Parachute Woman" and "Prodigal Son", sitar and tambura on "Street Fighting Man", mellotron on "Jigsaw Puzzle" and "Stray Cat Blues". On "Stray Cat Blues", Richards for the first time used the "open G" chord style that became a staple of numerous Stones classics for the rest of their tenure, including "Monkey Man", "Brown Sugar", "Start Me Up", and "I Go Wild".

By June, the sessions were nearly completed in England, with some final overdubbing and mixing to be done in Los Angeles during July. However, both Decca Records in England and London Records rejected the planned cover design - a graffiti-covered lavatory, and the band held back the album. By November, however, The Rolling Stones gave in, allowing the album to be released in December with a simple imitation invitation card cover. The idea for a plain album cover was also implemented by The Beatles for their eponymous white-sleeved double-album, which was released one month prior to Beggars Banquet. This similarity, coupled with Beggars Banquet's later release, garnered the Rolling Stones accusations of imitating the Beatles. In 1984, the original cover art was released with the initial CD remastering of Beggars Banquet.

Critics considered the LP as a return to form.^[1] It was also a clear commercial success, reaching #3 in the UK and #5 in the US (on the way to eventual platinum status).

The original LP pressing did not credit Rev. Wilkins as the writer of "Prodigal Son". His performance of "Prodigal Son" at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival was included on the Vanguard LP Blues at Newport, Volume 2; that performance is similar to the Stones' cover, and this may have been where the band first heard the song, although this is not certain.

On 10 December 1968 and 11 December 1968, the band aimed to promote Beggars Banquet by recording a television extravaganza entitled The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus featuring John Lennon, Eric Clapton, The Who and Jethro Tull among the musical guests. However, the project did not air and would not receive an official release until 1996.

[edit] Sympathy for the Devil

Sympathy for the Devil is also the title of a producer's edit of a 1968 film by Jean-Luc Godard whose own original version is called One Plus One. The film, a depiction of the late 1960s American counterculture, also featured the Rolling Stones in the process of recording the song in the studio. In the film a clip is seen where Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Brian Jones Marianne Faithful and Anita Pallenberg are recording the 'whoo whoo' backup vocals of the song. It was later revealed by Jimmy Miller that this shot was staged, and that the actual overdub was done in Los Angeles with only Jagger, Richards and Miller present.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 57 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2003 the TV network VH1 named Beggars Banquet the 67th greatest album of all time.

In August 2002 Beggars Banquet was reissued in a new remastered CD, LP and SACD digipak by ABKCO Records. This release corrected an important flaw in the original album by restoring each song to its proper, slightly faster speed. Due to an error in the mastering, Beggars Banquet was heard for over thirty years at a slower speed than it was recorded. This had the effect of altering not only the tempo of each song, but the song's key as well. These differences were subtle, but important, and the remastered version is about 30 seconds shorter than the original release.

In 2005, The Yuppie Pricks parodied the album's title and cover with their album Brokers Banquet.

The abbreviation in the album's cover, R.S.V.P., is a French phrase, "répondez, s'il vous plaît", which means "please reply".

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted.

1. "Sympathy for the Devil" – 6:27
   • Keith Richards on bass; Nicky Hopkins on piano; Rocky Dijon on percussion
2. "No Expectations" – 4:02
   • Brian Jones on slide guitar, Nicky Hopkins on piano
3. "Dear Doctor" – 3:26
   • Brian Jones on harmonica
4. "Parachute Woman" – 2:23
   • Mick Jagger and Brian Jones on harmonica
5. "Jigsaw Puzzle" – 6:17
   • Keith Richards on acoustic guitar and electric slide guitar, Brian Jones on Mellotron, Nicky Hopkins on piano
6. "Street Fighting Man" – 3:18
   • Keith Richards on bass, Brian Jones on sitar and tambura, Dave Mason on shehani
7. "Prodigal Son" (Rev. Robert Wilkins) – 2:55
   • Brian Jones on harmonica
8. "Stray Cat Blues" – 4:40
   • Brian Jones on Mellotron
9. "Factory Girl" – 2:12
   • Ric Grech on fiddle, Dave Mason or Nicky Hopkins on Mellotron using the mandolin sound
10. "Salt of the Earth" – 4:51
    • First verse sung by Keith Richards.

[edit] Personnel

• Mick Jagger – vocals, backing vocals, harmonica
• Keith Richards – acoustic and electric guitar, bass, vocals
• Brian Jones – acoustic slide guitar, backing vocals, sitar, tamboura, mellotron, harmonica
• Charlie Watts – drums, percussion
• Bill Wyman – bass, backing vocals, percussion

• Nicky Hopkins – piano
• Rocky Dijon – congas
• Ric Grech – fiddle
• Dave Mason – mellotron, shehani
• Jimmy Miller – backing vocals
• Watts Street Gospel Choir – backing vocals

[edit] Charts

[edit] Album

[edit] Singles

[edit] References

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