Beggars Banquet is the seventh British and ninth American
studio album by the English rock band The Rolling Stones. It was released in
December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the
United States. It marked a return to the band's R&B roots, generally viewed
as more primal than the conspicuous psychedelia of Their Satanic Majesties
Request. It also started off a string of four LPs that is usually regarded as
the band's finest work.
Following the long sessions for the previous album in 1967
and the departure of producer and manager Andrew Loog Oldham, Mick Jagger and
Keith Richards hired producer 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 only as a single in May 1968, becoming a major hit.
Beggars Banquet was Brian Jones' last full effort with the
Rolling Stones. In addition to his slide guitar on "No Expectations",
he played harmonica on "Dear Doctor", "Parachute Woman"
(along with Mick Jagger) and "Prodigal Son"; sitar and tambura on
"Street Fighting Man"; mellotron on "Jigsaw Puzzle"and
"Stray Cat Blues", and sang backing vocals on "Sympathy for the
Devil". Jones also played an
acoustic guitar part on Sympathy for the Devil, but it is not audible in the
final mix of the song.
On 7 June 1968, a photo shoot for the album, with
photographer Michael Joseph, was held at Sarum Chase, a mansion in London.[8]
Previously unseen images from the shoot were exhibited at the Blink Gallery in
London in November and December 2008. On 9 September 1968, an WABC Radio News
report stated that the release was delayed due to artwork for the album cover,
a California artist's work was considered "too dirty to release".
In 2003, the album was ranked number 57 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In the same year the TV
network VH1 named Beggars Banquet the 67th greatest album of all time. The
album is also featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
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 in the US rejected
the planned cover design – a graffiti-covered lavatory wall. The band initially
refused to change the cover, resulting in several months' delay in the release
of the album. By November, however, the Rolling Stones gave in, allowing the
album to be released in December with a simple white cover imitating an
invitation card, complete with an RSVP. For those aware of the cover intrigue,
an advertisement in the back of Rolling Stone magazine soon announced that
"the Stones want you to have the banned cover" allowing completests
to buy the original artwork as a full front and back album slick that they
could glue or tape over the released version. Meanwhile, the idea of 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. The similarity garnered
widespread accusations of Beatle-esque imitation when Beggars Banquet was
finally released. In 1984, the original cover art was released with the initial
CD remastering of Beggars Banquet.
All songs written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards except
where noted.
Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Sympathy for the Devil" 6:18
2. "No Expectations" 3:56
3. "Dear Doctor"
3:22
4. "Parachute Woman" 2:20
5. "Jigsaw Puzzle" 6:06
Side two
No. Title Length
6. "Street Fighting Man" 3:16
7. "Prodigal Son" (Robert Wilkins) 2:51
8. "Stray Cat Blues" 4:38
9. "Factory Girl"
2:09
10. "Salt of the Earth"
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