If you like: The Rolling Stones, this album is a great addition to your collection, boasting lots of interesting variations for collectors to take note of–including the controversial “blind man” text on the back cover.
About: By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late ‘60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title. As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of The Beatles in the British Invasion, The Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based rock & roll that came to define hard rock. With his preening machismo and latent maliciousness, Mick Jagger became the prototypical rock frontman, tempering his macho showmanship with a detached, campy irony while Keith Richards and Brian Jones wrote the blueprint for sinewy, interlocking rhythm guitars. Backed by the strong yet subtly swinging rhythm section of bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, The Stones became the breakout band of the British blues scene, eclipsing such contemporaries as The Animals and Them. Over the course of their career, The Stones never really abandoned blues, but as soon as they gained popularity in the UK, they began experimenting musically, incorporating the British pop of contemporaries like The Beatles,
The Kinks, and The Who into their sound. After a brief dalliance with psychedelia, The Stones re-emerged in the late ‘60s as a jaded, blues-soaked hard rock quintet. They had always flirted with the seedy side of rock & roll, but as the hippie dream began to break apart, they exposed and reveled in the new rock culture.*^{via Bruce Eder}
Why it’s worth your time: A quintessential summer album in my book, Rolling Stones No. 2 is a rare document of a very young, inexperienced band. For some, the subtle uncertainty and lack of The Stones’ later signature sharp edge paired with an abundance of blues covers can come off as flat and uneventful–but I think it actually offers a refreshing dousing of charm and vulnerability and youthful optimism that’s absent from consequent efforts. Jagger and Richards’ three originals aren’t necessarily remarkable here, but covers of “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” “Time Is On My Side,” and “Down The Road Apiece” simmer, while “Under The Boardwalk” gains something special, courtesy of Mick’s vocals, and augurs The Stones’ sense of danger.
A favorite track: Under The Boardwalk