There is a recent thread re. IORR that again starts from the premise nothing really happened before Beggar's Banquet. Yes, BB was a HUGE album but it had a lot to do with it's timing. The Stones had gotten off course a little; musically and headwise. But it seems like here on the board it is so often forgotten that befor the erratic Satanic and Flowers there were seven strong albums that all else was built on. The foundations. there were at least 3 very defined eras. The early hardcore Blues, and the many covers. The Stones seemed to heva learned so much in that period. The way to cover a song e.g. No one covers a song better than the Stones LOL. They also learned how to write. Then came that weird era of no exact name. The era of the 45's. From here come Satisfaction. Cloud, Breakdown, Last Time. How can this not be a Golden Era too? A bit of "Now" and OOOH and DC. Much more soul; much that went the wrong way but is very lasting. And 3rd was the original, pop, British period of "Aftermath" and "Buttons".
I don't understanbd why we always assume that the Golden Era only came with Banquet.

An interesting point. Thinking about this, it makes me want to put on some of the older songs and revisit them. Not a bad idea!

yeah, what the way-early Stones were doing gave rise to the whole beautiful avalanche:
they are playing the music they love, and what they love is so splendid!
and that has made all the difference.
listening to that love and faith in the power and glory of rock & roll -
smile smile smile: yeah, that there is - what else?! - the greatest band in the history of everything.




"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

Yes it is strange that most posters seem to think that the Golden era was from 1968 until 1972.
The Stones by 1968 had already scored 3 No 1 albums and the following No 1 singles in the UK -

It's All Over Now (cover) 1964
Little Red Rooster (cover) 1964
The Last Time 1964
Satisfaction 1965 - 1st American No 1
Get of Off My Cloud 1965 - 2nd American No 1
Paint it Black 1966 - 3rd American No 1

In the early/mid 60's having a No 1 single was far more important for pop exposure than albums but the fact that 'Aftermath' in 1966 was the first album with songs
totally written by Jagger/Richards perhaps sways people into thinking that the golden era did not start until 1968..
There was a glorious Stones period from 1963-1966 and the No1 & 2 albums plus Out of Our Heads are definitive with loads of songs to be heard & not over looked. (plus of course 'Aftermath'
Early 1967 brought Lets Spend the Night Together/Ruby Tuesday then it became the year of drug busts/trials/phychedelic style music and at this juncture the Stones blew themselves off course.
This must have been alarming for the Stones as 2 new albums and the single 'We Love You' flopped massively and they were critised heavily for being out of date.
All of this signalled that this could have been the end of the Stones era as the popscene is extremely fickle with a very short shelvelife.
Most pop critics and fans had started to write them off as being past it . (somethings have never changed in the last 40 years)
Fortunately the Stones re-grouped realising that if they wished to continue with their lavish lifestyle they would have to produce the goods big time.
In 1968 the Stones went back to their roots and released the earthy rocker Jumpin' Jack Flash
and we new that they were back bigtime and this was confirmed by the songs on the excellent album 'Beggar's Banquet'
Something similar happened in 2005 with the excellent collection of songs that are on the new album 'A Bigger Bang'

It is difficult to quantify golden periods but -

1963-1966
1968-1976
1978-1981
1989-2005 and still going.

These skinny english cats have been a source of enjoyment and creativity for 5 decades and may the Good Lord continue to Shine a Light on them.

Yeah, good post! It's easy to overlook that there's so much interesting early stuff. Happened to me too. I mean, I've got everyting on vinyl, but on CD I just started with BB, LIB and so on (I do have the London Years Box though). Lately I've rediscovered the beauty of early songs (and of vinyl!) like I'm waiting, All sold out and Yesterday's Papers, the 'Got Live' EP, The Out Of Our Heads album. There's so much and that's why Stones music is perfect for a lifelong addiction!

i agree. the early 63-67 period was great. love em all. after hearing those and liking them as kid. then came begars and sticky finger s and let it bleeed is like icing on the cake. the 70's just made me want the stones more and more . i think your right ChelseaDrugstore timing is everything. let's go hear some mid 60's stones on vinly of course