It recently occurred to me that Beggars Banquet may fit the definition of a concept album, particularly with its originally released white RSVP cover. The cover is an invitation inviting you to a banquet, you open your invitation and see the debaunched stones inside at this banquet. Then the first song greets you "Please allow me to introduce myself" and allows you in, takes your coat, and now you discover yourself in the midst of a satanic banquet. Some of the songs on the album reference this banquet atmosphere, such as Dear Doctor which references a wedding, Prodigal son which features a feast called for the elder son, and Stray Cat Blues which features an orgy:"there'll be a feast if yu just come upstairs" "why dont you bring her upstairs". The album ends with a banquet toast in Salt of the earth: " Lets drink to...". Am I reading into this, has anyone noticed tho before?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-07-30 22:02 by jackflash1129.

It's convenient but, no.

Nice interpretation, though I would say that closer to concept album are Their Satanic Majesties Requestes (musically) and Dirty Work (lyrically).

We first had to recognize the fact that we needed to make a really good album. After Satanic Majesties we wanted to make a STONES album.
- Keith Richards, 1979

[www.timeisonourside.com]

That kind of says it all.

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jackflash1129
Am I reading into this

Yes, absolutely. It's just a great @#$%& album, nothing more, and nothing less.

I think it holds together well, though I'm not sure what concept you could call it. How about the first modern Stones Album? The band on Beggars is the one that rose to the top of the rock world. Beggars Banquet sounds nothing like the albums that came before them, but is very much of what followed. The depth of the songwriting sounds like a whole new band.

There is a difference between cohesiveness and concept. BB definitely has a very cohesive sound and feel, but I don't think that the Stones intended for there to be any lyrical concept throughout... Just my two cents...

"Gonna find my way to heaven ..."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-08-01 21:05 by HonkeyTonkFlash.

I don't see it as a concept album either. The examples you mentioned, refer to banquet or feast in a way that only has the word in common. But within their context take on a very different meaning. Musically the album hangs together really well. As do most Stones albums.

IMO 'Undercover' hangs together in theme.
And then often a theme can be a subjective thing.A certain album can have a them only to you. E.g. to me "Black & Blue" hangs together; and that is because of that inner gate photo of the guys on the beach with the cigs. And the first night I heard the album, I was tripping hard.

DIRTY WORK is a concept album... the concept of how a toilet works.

Leave it to Townshend and the Prog rockers.

SC UK

beggars banquet is one excellent album and should have included on it jj flash and child of the moon.

jigsaw puzzle is the best song on the album and is one very underrated song.

listening to it with headphones on while under the influence of plenty stella lager is my idea of heaven.

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GasLightStreet
DIRTY WORK is a concept album... the concept of how a toilet works.

Can you provide more detail here, Max?

How does Dirty Work relate to lavatorial mechanics?

.....

Olly.

Not sure about the concept but possibly their finest?
Everything went up numerous levels from the 67 albums, especially the vocals.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-08-01 00:26 by Moonshine.

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Moonshine
Not sure about the concept but possibly their finest?
Everything went up numerous levels from the 67 albums, especially the vocals.

Agree with you really. But if grungy country blues rock is a concept then it's a concept album...

I've been upgrading my hifi recently and at the weekend put on my 30+ year old vinyl of BB on. Sounds amazing as it did the first time I played it (well better actually). Before then I just knew the hits from compilations so it was a revelation - then came LIB, Exile, SF etc...

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GasLightStreet
DIRTY WORK is a concept album... the concept of how a toilet works.

DW is a concept album indeed - it´s all about rage, anger, violence, fighting and Keith tells us in the end that we finally should stop this and better get some sleep tonight to calm down.

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JumpinJimF

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Moonshine
Not sure about the concept but possibly their finest?
Everything went up numerous levels from the 67 albums, especially the vocals.

Agree with you really. But if grungy country blues rock is a concept then it's a concept album...

I've been upgrading my hifi recently and at the weekend put on my 30+ year old vinyl of BB on. Sounds amazing as it did the first time I played it (well better actually). Before then I just knew the hits from compilations so it was a revelation - then came LIB, Exile, SF etc...

Yep, got my vinyl copy around 87 in the plain white sleeve, wasn't aware of rhe original until years later.
The gatefold pic I would look at whilst listening.

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Moonshine

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JumpinJimF

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Moonshine
Not sure about the concept but possibly their finest?
Everything went up numerous levels from the 67 albums, especially the vocals.

Agree with you really. But if grungy country blues rock is a concept then it's a concept album...

I've been upgrading my hifi recently and at the weekend put on my 30+ year old vinyl of BB on. Sounds amazing as it did the first time I played it (well better actually). Before then I just knew the hits from compilations so it was a revelation - then came LIB, Exile, SF etc...

Yep, got my vinyl copy around 87 in the plain white sleeve, wasn't aware of rhe original until years later.
The gatefold pic I would look at whilst listening.

technically, the plain white gatefold 'invitation' IS the original.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-08-03 17:36 by treaclefingers.

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Olly

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GasLightStreet
DIRTY WORK is a concept album... the concept of how a toilet works.

Can you provide more detail here, Max?

How does Dirty Work relate to lavatorial mechanics?

What goes in and where it goes...

Beggars Banquet is not a concept album but has a cohesive back to basics country blues feel to it.

There are a few remnants of psychedelia - Sympathy, Jigsaw Puzzzle, Street Fighting Man and Stray Cat Blues but the acoustic songs give a nod to what was going on elsewhere in the pop world.

Dylan had returned to acoustic music with John Wesley Harding and many people followed his lead. The Beatles' White Album has a lot of acoustic songs; The Byrds turned to country when Gram Parson joined the group for Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, The Band brough out their highly influential backwoods music and within a few years we had The Faces/Rod Stewart following suit.

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Silver Dagger
Beggars Banquet is not a concept album but has a cohesive back to basics country blues feel to it.

There are a few remnants of psychedelia - Sympathy, Jigsaw Puzzzle, Street Fighting Man and Stray Cat Blues but the acoustic songs give a nod to what was going on elsewhere in the pop world.

Dylan had returned to acoustic music with John Wesley Harding and many people followed his lead. The Beatles' White Album has a lot of acoustic songs; The Byrds turned to country when Gram Parson joined the group for Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, The Band brough out their highly influential backwoods music and within a few years we had The Faces/Rod Stewart following suit.

Exactly so.

The "concept" was perhaps a conscious "back to the roots" approach following their "me too" daliance with psychodelia and Melotrons

In a way it is a Jimmy Miller concept album.

Is there a reference to 'beggars' in any of the songs on the album? I can't remember off the top of my head.

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nightskyman
Is there a reference to 'beggars' in any of the songs on the album? I can't remember off the top of my head.

'There's a tramp sittin' on my doorstep.'

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24FPS
I think it holds together well, though I'm not sure what concept you could call it. How about the first modern Stones Album? The band on Beggars is the one that rose to the top of the rock world. Beggars Banquet sounds nothing like the albums that came before them, but is very much of what followed. The depth of the songwriting sounds like a whole new band.

Hmm, if you listen to all of their albums consecutively Beggars Banquet has many musical links to all of their previous albums. It's kind of like a best of everything they had learned up to that point.

In a way, Beggars Banquet sounds like a slightly more considered Aftermath with a bit of the experimentation from TSMR thrown in.

I don't think there is a jump in the depth of the song writing though, just a continuation and development... the best writing on Aftermath is easily on par with anything on Beggars Banquet.

Beggars Banquet sounds very 1960's to me, it reeks of that decade.

The jump from TSMR to Beggars Banquet is only really so obvious due to the bringing back of Americana in a notable way. It grounds the otherwise rather experimental tracks.

There is one conept and that is the new Mick Jagger, the 19 th century English poetic embodiment of a serial killer and Satan in 1968 - when he became the Jim Morrison of British rock ( himself the Brian Jones of American rock). When Mick acted Brian, Marianne and Keith, inspired by Jimbo who copied every move by Brian.

You could see BB, LIB, SF and Exile as a concept series, in which Mick and Keith explore Americana blues and country.
After that they stretched out into reggae and jazzy ballads (Keith) and funk and dance music (Mick), but they weren't quite on the same page.

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wonderboy
You could see BB, LIB, SF and Exile as a concept series, in which Mick and Keith explore Americana blues and country.
After that they stretched out into reggae and jazzy ballads (Keith) and funk and dance music (Mick), but they weren't quite on the same page.

But those four albums are so different. IMO, only Exile is Americana. BB and LIB sound very British. SF, too, in places.

I know they tossed in Prodigal Son and You Got To Move, as well as doing pastiches (Dear Doctor, Country Honk, Dead Flowers). Their overall sound, though, was still British, imo.

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DandelionPowderman

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wonderboy
You could see BB, LIB, SF and Exile as a concept series, in which Mick and Keith explore Americana blues and country.
After that they stretched out into reggae and jazzy ballads (Keith) and funk and dance music (Mick), but they weren't quite on the same page.

But those four albums are so different. IMO, only Exile is Americana. BB and LIB sound very British. SF, too, in places.

I know they tossed in Prodigal Son and You Got To Move, as well as doing pastiches (Dear Doctor, Country Honk, Dead Flowers). Their overall sound, though, was still British, imo.

I agree about the British sound, well partly, it's a synthesis.

I see BB and LIB as the gateway drugs to Exile