Disco de The Rolling Stones: “Beggars Banquet [Remaster]”

1968 turned into a very good year for the Stones. Jumpin' Jack Flash and Beggar's Banquet allowed Jagger and Richard to finally emerge from the shadow of Lennon and McCartney. Sure, the Stones produced many great songs before BB, but they were always being compared to The Beatles. The comparison was unfair (both bands had slightly different roots and played a different brand of rock). Beggar's Banquet established the Stones as one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands around (I say one of the greatest because the argument could easily be made for a number of other bands including The Who).

The band had finally found their George Martin. Jimmy Miller's sympathetic production captured the band's raw edge. This is as raspy and as close to the blue as rock ever got. From the stunning opening salvo of percussion, piano and vocals on Sympathy for the Devil to the gospel tinged backing vocals that close out Salt of the Earth, BB proved to be the most consistently brillant album the band would make. Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers followed on the heels of this great album and, while both are great in their own way, they basically use the blueprint of this terrific album to construct those masterpieces. Let It Bleed ranks up there as one of the band's finest moments but it has a little bit of filler. Every track on BB is essential and works.

The sound quality is amazing. Some tracks benefit more from others. The opening track, Jigsaw Puzzle and Parachute Woman all benefit from the razor sharp sound found on this CD/SACD hybird. My only reservation is with the artwork. I really dislike digpaks. They are a bizarre love child of the CD replica of original albums and the CD plastic box format. It's neither fish nor fowl (well, I'd call it foul--if the plastic spindle breaks you can't replace it and it becomes pretty useless as far as storing the CD). The cardboard digipak doesn't stand up to wear and tear very well (then again the original cardboard vinyl sleeves didn't either). I don't know that there's a happy medium here.

It would have been nice to include extras (bonus tracks, out takes or even a booklet with lyrics, comments from the band, etc.). Still, I'm happy with the stunning sound quality (I'm not so happy about the UK/US release format that Abkco has used. Personally I would have preferred having bonus tracks from the US releases and then sequenced them myself). Nevertheless, BB along with Let It Bleed, Aftermath, Between the Buttons and Sticky Fingers are essential Stones albums. I know lot of folks would include Exile on Main Street as well but for me it's an over rated album. The sound is murky, the songwriting sloppy on many tracks and it has too much filler (much like The Beatles' White Album--oops there's that comparison again).

Unquestionably one of the best albums of 1968, this blues-rock masterpiece started off the Stones' best years, from 1968-1972. Although I prefer its sister album, Let It Bleed, Beggars contains Sympathy For the Devil, perhaps the best thing the band ever did. Starting with the opening conga beat, the song rolls into a relentless groove, propelled by Nicky Hopkins' piano and especially Bill Wyman's magnificent bass playing. Keith's slashing solo is icing on the cake, and Jagger writes some of his best lyrics. The ferocious rocker Stray Cat Blues features more of that screeching electric guitar, with a coda to knock your socks off.

The rest of Beggars is primarily acoustic. Also seen are the last flashes of brilliance from the late Brian Jones. On the beautiful ballad No Expectations, he delivers a terrific passage of bottleneck guitar, and there's more of his tasty slide on Jigsaw Puzzle. Soon after, his drug use worsened, and he was found dead in his pool a year later. Moving back to the songs, the 2nd most well-known number here is Street Fighting Man. A hard rock song with vicious acoustic guitars and revolutionary lyrics, this one of the record's best. Also standing out for me are the Dylan-esque Jigsaw Puzzle, and then there's Salt of the Earth, one of the most uplifting songs I've ever heard. Prodigal Son has some great guitar and hilarious singing by Jagger, as does Dear Doctor (the latter cracks me up every time!). Finally, there's Parachute Woman, a raw blues number, and the gorgeous Factory Girl. All in all, a superb album. Buy it today.

After a year of infamous drug busts and a spotty psychedellic release, the Rolling Stones came back with a vengeance on Beggars Banquet (but vengeance was always their specialty)! It seems as if the Stones were influenced a lot by the American sounds (old country and western, acoustic blues, and current folk music) and it wouldn't be long until other rockers would be influenced by the sounds on this album (note that Glynn Johns, the engineer on this album would later work for the Eagles). Here, the original toilet design is restored as well as their performance.

The 1st track is the controversial "Sympathy for the Devil," which started out as a folk song and worked its way into a samba beat. Here, Mick Jagger recalls the history of evil in the world with tongue firmly in cheek, starting with the crucifixion of Christ and recalling the Russian revolution, working its way to the then-recent assassination of Bobby Kennedy ("I shouted out 'Who killed the Kennedys?,' when after all, it was you and me.").

"No Expectations" is a lamenting blues dirge featuring a lovely slide guitar by Brian Jones (Brian's work was supposedly limited on Beggars Banquet, probably due to health problems and drug busts) and some standout bass lines by Bill Wyman.

"Dear Doctor" is a country and western style song, with Mick having cold feet on his wedding (his imitation of his fiancee at the end of the song is a scream, complete with a falsettoed southern accent- "Darlin', I'm sorry if ah hurt yew!").

"Parachute Woman" is a 12-bar blues, with some wicked acoustic and electric guitars duelling and a snare drum march by Charlie Watts.

"Jigsaw Puzzle" has some of Mick's most poetic lyrics starting with a tramp with a "mentholated sandwhich", then leading to a gangster who's really a "family man," adding himself and the Stones into the picture, the anger singer (himself), a shy but flirtacious bass player (Bill), a drummer just trying to keep on top (Charlie), and the guitar players (Keith and Brian), well, they've just been "outcasts all their lives!", then concluding with 20,000 grandmas protesting to the queen.

"Street Fighting Man," one of the 1st songs recorded for this album, features Charlie on a toy drum kit, Brian on sitar and Nicky Hopkins playing a chaotic piano lick at the coda (with Vietnam currently going on in the States, this didn't do so well on the charts).

"Prodigal Son" is an old gospel number (based on the story in Luke 15), with Mick singing in baritone, Keith Richards strumming away on acoustic guitar and Charlie provides an interesting drumbeat (John Bonham was probably inspired by this one, if you listen closely to Led Zeppelin's "Poor Tom" on Coda and "Bron Y Aur Stomp" on LZIII).

"Stray Cat Blues" is one of the raunchiest songs here (lyrically and musically), with Mick singing to a minour "I can see you're 15 years old and I won't want your ID." Bill adds some moody bass lines and Keith lets loose with some raunchy sounding electric guitar licks.

"Factory Girl" is almost a relief, with its downhome country sound, a fiddle, a mandolin and acoustic guitars (Mick wryly sings of a girl with "curls in her hair," "stains all down her dress," "she gets me into fights; we get drunk on Friday nights, she's a sight for sore eyes!").

The closer is "Salt of the Earth." Joan Baez supposedly did a cover version of this song and the chorus of Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do with It" sounds a little like the opening line. Keith sings the 1st verse, toasting the hard working people and the "lonely at birth." Mick takes over, asking us to pray for the common foot soldiers and then comments on the "faceless crowd; a swirling mass of greys, blacks and whites. They don't look real to me!" Then a gospel chorus reprises the 1st verse. Then the tempo picks up near the coda and Nicky plays a honkey tonk piano lick.

All in all, this album is a classic and has earned its status as many Stones fans' personal favourite (it's up there on my list!).

A year after the psychedelic "Their Satanic Majesties Request", the Rolling Stones returned to their blues roots with "Beggars Banquet", the first of an incredible string of five classic rock records ("Beggars Banquet", "Let It Bleed", "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out", "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile On Main Street").

"Beggars Banquet" opens with the Stones' classic aren't-we-evil samba "Sympathy For The Devil", but the bulk of the material is acoustic blues, including the slide guitar-driven pieces "Jigsaw Puzzle", "No Expectations" and "Parachute Woman", and the country-flavoured "Dear Doctor".

The funky "Street Fighting Man" is one of the few genuine rock songs on the album, and one of the best songs as well.

"Prodigal Son" is a traditional country blues (originating with either Robert Wilkins or Josh White), and it is followed by a tough, mid-tempo, three-chord blues-rocker, the raunchy, tounge-in-cheek "Stray Cat Blues", about underaged groupies.

The album then winds down with the slightly silly folkish satire "Factory Girl", and the underrated rocker "Salt Of The Earth", with the first verse sung in a raw, smoke-coarsened voice by Keith Richards.

"Beggars Banquet" is one of the classic Rolling Stones records, and it is among the bluesiest albums they have ever recorded.

Definitely recommended.

I have a SACD player, but even the CD layer is great on this CD. I bought 3 RS remasters, and while playing Beggers in the car (CD layer), I decided to stop at another store and buy High Tide and Green Grass. I will buy more.

Right now, I'm having difficulty deciding which is my favorate of the remasters. It's between Let It Bleed, Beggers Banquet, and High Tide, Green Grass. Aftermath (US)is recorded well, but some of the cuts are not that interesting to me.

I have Beggers in vinyl. I prefer this remaster.

For a week now, I've been playing the Stones in my car, on my computer, and at home on my SACD based Home Theater System. I can't get enough of these remasters.