Hot Rocks 1964–1971

Hot Rocks 1964–1971
Greatest hits album by The Rolling Stones
Released 20 December 1971
Recorded October 1964 – January 1971
Genre Rock
Length 84:56
Language English
Label London (US), ABKCO (UK)
Producer Andrew Loog Oldham, Jimmy Miller, The Rolling Stones, and Glyn Johns
The Rolling Stones compilations chronology

Gimme Shelter
(1971)		 Hot Rocks 1964–1971
(1971)		 Milestones
(1972)

Hot Rocks 1964–1971 is the first compilation album of Rolling Stones music released by former manager Allen Klein's ABKCO Records (who gained control of the band's Decca/London material in 1970) after the band's departure from Decca and Klein. Released in late 1971, it proved to be The Rolling Stones' biggest-selling release of their career and an enduring and popular retrospective.

After reportedly having been duped by Klein to unknowingly sign over the recording copyrights to all of their material from 1963 to 1970, The Rolling Stones left Decca and formed their own label, Rolling Stones Records, with a new distributor. They recorded Sticky Fingers throughout 1970, releasing it the following spring. Although Klein—and now ABKCO—no longer had The Rolling Stones as clients, their fruitful catalogue was ripe for the picking and, thus, Hot Rocks 1964–1971 was quickly compiled as a double album greatest hits package.

While the album carries most of the band's biggest hits during their first decade, it does drop a few of them to include standout tracks such as "Play With Fire", "Under My Thumb" and "Gimme Shelter" giving listeners a more well-rounded impression of The Rolling Stones' music in this era. Although "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses" are a part of Sticky Fingers, those two songs are co-owned by the band and Allen Klein because The Rolling Stones recorded the songs while they were still under contract to Decca.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic link
MSN Music link
Robert Christgau B− link
Rolling Stone link

Hot Rocks 1964–1971 was unauthorised by The Rolling Stones (as was More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies)). The album spent 246 weeks on the US album charts (between 1972-2015) and peaked at #4.[1] After selling in excess of six million copies, it was certified twelve times platinum, as per RIAA rules regarding double album releases. It has ended up as their best-selling album. The UK release was delayed for many years, coming out on 21 May 1990, to coincide with the Urban Jungle Tour, reaching No. 3.

Robert Christgau rated the album a B-, writing "If you don't like the Stones, this might serve as a sampler... Look, here's how it works. Except for Satanic Majesties, which isn't represented here, all of their '60s studio albums are musts."

In August 2002, Hot Rocks 1964–1971 was reissued in a new remastered CD and SACD digipak by ABKCO Records.[2]

Track listing

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

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Time Is on My Side" (Norman Meade) 2:59
2. "Heart of Stone"   2:49
3. "Play With Fire" (Nanker Phelge) 2:13
4. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"   3:43
5. "As Tears Go By" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards/Andrew Loog Oldham) 2:44
6. "Get Off of My Cloud"   2:55
Side two
No. Title Length
7. "Mother's Little Helper"   2:44
8. "19th Nervous Breakdown"   3:56
9. "Paint It, Black"   3:22
10. "Under My Thumb"   3:42
11. "Ruby Tuesday"   3:16
12. "Let's Spend the Night Together"   3:37
Side three
No. Title Length
13. "Jumpin' Jack Flash"   3:41
14. "Street Fighting Man"   3:14
15. "Sympathy for the Devil"   6:18
16. "Honky Tonk Women"   3:00
17. "Gimme Shelter"   4:31
Side four
No. Title Length
18. "Midnight Rambler (Live)"   9:05
19. "You Can't Always Get What You Want"   7:30
20. "Brown Sugar"   3:48
21. "Wild Horses"   5:42

All tracks on sides one and two were produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. All tracks on sides three and four were produced by Jimmy Miller, except "Midnight Rambler," which was produced by The Rolling Stones and Glyn Johns.

Charts

Chart positions

Year Chart Peak
position
1972 Billboard Top LPs[3] 4
1990 UK Top 75 Albums[4] 3

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
France (SNEP)[5]
Release titled Les Années Stones 1		 Gold 125,500[6]
United Kingdom (BPI)[7] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[8] 12× Platinum 12,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top Pop Albums 1955-1985, Record Research Inc., 1985, p. 183, 492.
  2. ↑ Walsh, Christopher (24 August 2002). "Super audio CDs: The Rolling Stones Remastered". Billboard (Billboard). p. 27.
  3. ↑ The Rolling Stones Album Chart on Billboard
  4. ↑ UK Top 75 Albums
  5. ↑ "French album certifications – Rolling Stones – Les Années Stones 1" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  6. ↑ "Les Albums Or :" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "British album certifications – Rolling Stones, The – Hot Rocks 1964–71". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 27 June 2013. Enter Hot Rocks 1964–71 in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  8. ↑ "American album certifications – Rolling Stones, The – Hot Rocks". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 27 June 2013. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH