The Rolling Stones are currently out on tour continuing to earn the moniker greatest rock and roll band in the world. While some can argue if they are indeed the greatest, it’s safe to say they are certainly the best live act in rock and roll history. They are also one of the longest running groups of all time. Additionally, they released a quartet of albums between 1968 and 1972 (Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St.) that are as strong a streak of classic and iconic albums as anyone in rock history.
The group also released a string of singles since their inception through the early ’70s that constitute what has come to be known as their Decca/London period. The singles have been celebrated in two massive box sets of 45 RPM vinyl singles. The first was The 7” Singles 1963–1965 box set, released in 2022, and this follow-up is the second. Both are comprised of 18 singles each.
That first box primarily featured the group’s singles since their recording debut in 1963 through 1965. Heavy on R&B, blues, and rock and roll covers, that set’s latter singles boasted the maturation of the new-found songwriter prowess of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction),” “Get Off Of My Cloud,” “As Tears Go By,” and “19th Nervous Breakdown” closing out the box.
This new box picks up where those gems left off. The singles in this set show a further evolution of the songwriting partnership of Jagger/Richards, but also how Brian Jones and his multitude of instrumental talents on a wide variety of instruments helped the group grow and make their music a step above the pop singles of the period. The first seven singles here coupled with the last four on the first box reflect the group’s peak as hitmakers in the 1960s.
The rest of this box marks some major changes. First there is the experimental psychedelic period and inclusion of a single from Bill Wyman. From there the group’s next major surge as hitmakers spotlights a sound that’s leaner, tougher, and moves beyond the subtleties and textures of the key Brian Jones-era singles of the mid-’60s.
Some of the singles in this box give insight into the place and time they were released. “We Love You” is the A-side of a single that has “Dandelion” on the B-side. “We Love You” is the A-side as the song is the group’s message of peace and love to their fans and those supporting them in the middle of the infamous Redlands drug bust of 1967. Bill Wyman gets his own A-side and is credited with In “Another Land,” a trippy, harpsichord-heavy, dark, echo-drenched track, with the equally obscure Stones track “The Lantern” on the B-side. Wyman is aided by Charlie Watts, Nicky Hopkins, and on backing vocals, Steve Marriott of the Small Faces.
The “Street Fighting Man” 45 marks the end of the Brian Jones singles era with the group and the next track, “Honky Tonk Woman,” proudly announces the arrival of 21-year-old Mick Taylor, fresh from John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers to replace Jones. Mick Jagger gets his own solo turn with “Memo from Turner,” from the movie he was working on at the time, the notorious Performance. Recorded in 1968, but only released as a single in 1970, it features a short Ry Cooder instrumental on the B-side from the soundtrack. The track first appeared on a Stones album on the ABKCO grab bag Metamorphosis, released in 1975.
Also, originally from Metamorphosis is “I Don’t Know Why”/”Try A Little Harder” and “Out Of Time”/”Jiving Sister Fanny.” There’s a three-song EP here (to be played at 33 1/3) that, while reflecting this latter ’60s era, oddly enough didn’t get released until 1971. There are several singles originally released well after the recording dates on this set. One of them is “Sympathy For The Devil,” both The Neptunes Remix and the Fat Boy Slim Remix, originally released in 2003.
As with the previous set, we get some singles here from their UK releases, some from their US releases, and even better in some cases both if they were released in both countries and differed in some way. In the case of the picture sleeve for “Street Fighting Man,” that sleeve was immediately withdrawn at the time because it too closely mirrored the youthful unrest and anti-war and anti-nuke rioting that had been breaking then.
For this box, Bob Ludwig did the mastering and the lacquers were cut by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios. As for the sound, like much of the music of the earlier period of this box, the sound is uneven but not bad, considering the mastering was done from digital sources. There are some tracks that are a bit muddy and boomy and have too much mid-range, but that is more a result of the way the original recordings came out.
The Stones always preferred grit and feel in the studio, particularly on their earlier recordings and never set out to make pristine, belabored audiophile records. Once Jimmy Miller stepped in to the producer’s chair with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” the sound became more focused and fleshed out and marked the beginning of the group’s best stretch of album music that would end after Exile On Main St. However, plenty of good, but not revolutionary music would be recorded and released for nearly another 10 years after that time.
The box also includes a poster, five photo art cards and a booklet. The 32-page booklet includes an essay, detailed liner/session/production notes, photos, adverts, tour itineraries, poster replications, album and singles cover art and more.
This box like the previous one, is a must for Stones fans and lovers of great 1960s singles. The quality of these boxes and the mono vinyl album box may preclude the possibility of any further reissues of this magnitude ever from the greatest rock and roll band in the world.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A+
