Why the Rolling Stones ruled the Seventies

Telegraph UK ^ | 5/13/09 | Neil McCormick

[pissant]

It was in the Sixties that the Rolling Stones first found global fame – but a magnificent new clutch of re-releases from the Seventies confirms it was then that Mick, Keef and the boys struck artistic gold.

Universal Music recently announced the imminent release of "14 remastered classic albums" from the Rolling Stones. It is a laughable claim. They may well be The Greatest Rock And Roll Band In The World (a title they conferred upon themselves when introducing live shows in the late Sixties), but I don't know if anyone but the most rabid fan could name more than a handful of Stones albums still worth listening to in their entirety, particularly when the list of the latest reissues excludes their Sixties heyday.

Yet, the imminent first batch of re-releases from the Seventies (Sticky Fingers, Goats Head Soup, It's Only Rock N Roll and Black and Blue) serve as a potent reminder of exactly why the Stones have endured. For a golden period, they released a series of albums almost untouchable in the pop pantheon as examples of free-flowing, high-spirited, elegantly extemporised blues, country and rock and roll. And, it was the replacement of the increasingly dysfunctional multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones with lyrical, technically audacious, young guitarist Mick Taylor (19 when he joined) that resulted in that golden period.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Thanks for the chuckle!

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Funny you say that because those were considered “go to” songs for tail-chasers. That and the entire Houses of the Holy album.

[pissant]

ZZ Top was the ultimate “tail” band, if I recall.

[Fiji Hill]

I thought the Bee Gees ruled the ‘70’s.

[pissant]

Or Air Supply?

[Revolting cat!]

You all should of seen the Swinging Blue jeans in their prime!

[neocon1984]

"Nah. Zep was stoner music. The Stones were kings of Rock and Roll".

I agree, in the sense that you had to be stoned to enjoy Led Zeppelin. You could get a high from (and actually dance to) the Stones music. Remember the Larry Fishburne scene in "Apocalypse Now"?

[Puppage]

Exile on Main Street

And, Goats Head Soup

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

The Stones have been phoning it in for the last 25 years, but there is a reason they're known as the "Best Rock 'n Roll Band in the World." That reason is their earlier output (from Some Girls on back), especially the albums from Let It Bleed through It's Only Rock 'n Roll.

[Snickering Hound]

The Who playing at the Rolling Stones “Rock and Roll Circus in Dec 69’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlBip8CV1P8

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

“Or Air Supply?”

Air Supply - because two men singing romantic duets is just sooooo manly! ;)

[neocon1984]

"I thought the Bee Gees ruled the ‘70’s".

Only if you wore platform shoes, androgenous clothes and went to discos. That said, they were an excellent group.

[NCC-1701]

“...Why the Rolling Stones ruled the Seventies...”

Because The Beatles weren’t around.

[Fiji Hill]

Zep definitely had some great stuff. But they had too many dirges, like Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Kashmir, etc

Stairway to Heaven? That Neil Sedaka song from 1960 was certainly not a dirge!

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

I’ve seen this entire film. The Who probably turned in the best performance of any act in the movie.

Also, as a point of interest, Tony Iommi is onstage with Jethro Tull during their “performance” (of which only the vocals and flute are live).

[mmichaels1970]

Exile on Main Street.

My favorite as well.

[a fool in paradise]

All killer, no filler:

[trillabodilla]

I just can’t get “Gimme Shelter” loud enough on my ipod. When was that released?

[dfwgator]

Live at the Isle of Wight is the greatest concert on film, ever.

[Skooz]

I didn’t realize that Mick Taylor was only 19 when he joined.

Anyway, they were better with him than before he joined or after he left. No disrespect to Ron Wood or Brian Jones, intended.