Well i still Think, the first-one was one of the greatest.
Second, i would say is "around and around"--
Third is Stones no.2

After--"Buttons"---and their Satanic period-- a new era began.


Still like their their early R&B-stuff

Buttons is No1.
2. Aftermath thanks to I am waiting and Brians playing alone.
3. A degree of murder would be great to hear again - love it.
And No 4 is The Rolling Stones and Out of our heads.

Aftermath is the best by far.

I like Out of Our Heads. This album showed Mick and Keith's songwriting abilities starting to take off with The Last Time, Satisfaction and Play With Fire. I also really like the cover tunes on the album with Have Mercy, Cry To Me, That's How Strong... and Good Times.

Toss up between NOW! and Aftermath . . .

That particular era, brief as it is chronolgically, was very vital & has a couple of sub-eras within (all the greats were leaping & bounding during this period - Beatles, Kinks, Dylan, Beach Boys,Otis) - my favorite of the early albums (usually w/ black album covers, & harnessing their own aggression & demands for pleasure as well as self-discipline & generosity to American Blues/r & b/soul covers mixed w/ originals) is "Now!", the first 'old' (pr-Satanic) one I bought in '74 or 75. Less immediately accessable than 12X 5(no hits, or opening rave-up like 'Around & Around'), it feels like the one that most deeply explores their vision of the American south (with humor, wonder, self-awareness, irony) - and takes the listener from Saturday night juke joints, cruising down the New Jersey Turnpike in the wee wee hours, as it delineates the usually unspoken nuances of power & vulnerability in romantic relationships...It rocks, it swings, you can get lost in the sound - its a whole world...Of course Aftermath (& I'm in the minority as preferring the US version) is (like Rubber soul) a whole new era & I love that Buttons/Flowers/Satanic flow, their world getting crazier & the music relecting it...It's all there, for posterity.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2005-06-04 22:26 by john r.

Aftermath for I am goin'home ,Under my thumb and Flight 505, then Out of our Heads

I agree, AFTERMATH but I also love Flowers! They were evolving very quickly during that 4 year period! Amazingly fast , they matured over night!

I love Buttons. It is by far their most british album. Little blues on this one. The ballads are all superb. Back Street Girl and She Smiled Sweetly are very sophisticated as far as arrangment goes. This album IMO in vestigates the other side of the tracks in a more profound and more successful manner than Satanic. Man, is it ever british!
And the very first one is one of my faves. I play this album often to this day. Never has it left the heavy play rotation on my player.

1st one - Decca version.

Blonde on Blonde and Highway 61 Revisited

Too hard to pick.

Out of Our Heads, The Rolling Stones, 12X5, No.2 are my favorite albums of this period and maybe of all the albums ever made!!!

Cheers,
Wuudy

As a kid, it was Aftermath, and to this day, I still regard it as one of the greatest albums of all time by any band. Over time however, I have to say that I have become the biggest sucker in the world for the UK version of Out of Our Heads. Jagger's vocals are brilliant. The band, for that time especially, are simply amazing.

It was the blueprint for the rest of their career.

1. Aftermath
2. Out Of Our Heads (UK version)
3. The Rolling Stones
4. The Rolling Stones - NOW
5. Their Satanic Majesties Request
6. The Rolling Stones #2 (UK)
7. Between The Buttons

1. AFTERMATH
2. THE ROLLING STONES NOW
3. TSMR
4. BETWEEN THE BUTTONS/FLOWERS
5. OUT OF OUR HEADS
6. DECEMBERS CHILDREN
7. THE ROLLING STONES
8. 12X5

THIS CHANGES FOR ME...i do like dec. children a lot, because it has a lot of unstones type tracks...and it was my 1st stones studio record that i got...always loved the album....

Good question, and a particularly interesting era of the band. The time of breathtaking change and experiment, a phase of progress to achieve their matured voice of Beggars Banquet.. All albums are important and interesting in their own rights: first one(s) of their innocent but raw blues british interpretaion of American blues and Chuck Berry. Then coursing through different styles of recent black music (Redding, Cooke, etc.), then the sudden rise of original Jagger/Richard material plus Brian's experimentation with different instruments; the Swingin Sixties of Aftermath, the british pop feeling of Buttons, LSD visions of Majesties.. Wow! The band made an incredible career in those few busy years. And yes, like said above by someone, with "Jumpin Jack" and Beggars Banquet the band somehow re-created themselves, and the result was started the "Greatest Rock and Roll Band In The World".

But retrospectively, I think the best product of that era is US Out Of OUr Heads. It has hits like "Satisfacion" and "The Last Time", a genious gem like "Play With Fire", some wild live material, Jagger greatest soul performances ("THat's How Strong", "Cry To Me") their best own blues original "Spider And THe Fly" - the playing is extremely raw and wild. The band is extremely hot - and some of the awful mixing and production just makes it more "punk" - the band that some day will release Exile is already there.

- Doxa

Between the Buttons is absolute bloomin pants! I bought the first album at a booty for 50p and that got me into the Stones so that must count (was that before 64?).
Albums by other artist....where do you start
My Generation - The Who....superb album, Rubber Soul Beatles, Peter Greens Fleetwood Mac.....you could go on and on and on.....

Debra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I agree, AFTERMATH but I also love Flowers! They
> were evolving very quickly during that 4 year
> period! Amazingly fast , they matured over night!

Debra, my pet... "Flowers" is a kind of pastiche put together by Andrew Loog Oldham during the post '67 busts; just like '77, nobody knew if those legal charges would spell the end of the band.

How have you been? How's the B&B? Listening much to the CDRs I've sent you? I've got a new '72 one on its way. Email me if you're interested, darling. You know there's always a space in my parking lot for you...

Out Of Our Heads

"Out Of Our Heads" does it for me as well. A great collection of songs, both originals and covers.

I've come to realize it was a bit of an odds'n'sods collection but I've always loved "12 x 5" because it starts with "Around And Around."

"A&A" and "Soul Suvivor" are my two 'holy grail' songs for this tour.

R Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've come to realize it was a bit of an
> odds'n'sods collection but I've always loved "12 x
> 5" because it starts with "Around And Around."

My first LP from the era mentioned is German (?) one called Around And Around, released 1964 I think. I think it also opens with the title song. Anyway, it's the best collection of early Stones: just the first singles and first 2 EP's included, made for Continental markets. Me, stupid, sold it away later (and not for a good money), as I thought is not 'original' in the sense of UK and US albums.

Yeah, I also think that "Around Around" is a definitive Stones 'Berry'-number. They made that song one of their own ones.

- Doxa

i can't do this - there's just too much too good in this time frame, and such different phases too. i thought about trying to choose "essential albums" for each year but even then - look at just 1965, so much that's so unearthly good -
my gawd, people - this must be the greatest rock & roll band in the history of everything!
say hallelujah. :E



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

All of the albums the Stones released in this period were simply outstanding with perhaps Flowers a tossout because the band didn't want it out. Same with Dec. Children although both albums are great in their own right. I was happy to get the full SACD collection to easily and quickly compare the contrasting track lists on the dual released UK vs US versions. For me the UK Decca mono lps sound best, any of em. This band simply got better and tighter as the albums kept coming. Really a shame that Stew wasn't treated well, but his piano work is huge on some tracks and really swings . His contributions on piano as well as those of Brian on guitar go unnoticed by many people. Brian had some hot licks on guitar in the early days and was dismissed way to easily as a multi-instrumentalist that had no focus. He and Keith trading lines back and forth was the classic signature Stones guitar sound. Brian playing rhythm on Get off My Cloud is very powerful and with Charlies drums the mono mix thankfully dominates the song. When I was a young boy I always thought this was Keith. Brian and Keith also had the Stax soul sound down pat. I am not dissing Keith here, but Brian was right in there in the early years guitar wise. From Aftermath on from there it was all Keith on the guitar. I loved the mixes from Ron Malo at Chess and Dave Hassinger at RCA. Not that they lost much with Glyn Johns. These early albums cemented a life long love and loyalty for this band. Hard to believe I was so into music back when I was 10 years old in 1964, but when you think about it there was SOOO much out there.

Brian plays the lead riff and Keith the rhythm chops on Get Off Of My Cloud. But, yes, Brian's guitar playing was excellent from '63-'66, and gets lost in his multi-instrumentalist labelling . . .

i said---Its the first--one.

Aftermath.

Milo, NYC
On bended knee, my love

SATANIC MAJESTIES.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-06-08 10:04 by Nikolai.

This thread is killin´ me; it´s like choosing between your kids - which is the "best".
Different different days. I come back here if I find out.
The perfect or sublime Stones record is yet to come...
Probably the new one will get the closest to be the perfect one
(but Jeeeezuz how bleedin´ smashing the hbm 72, US Soundboard 1969 & Out On Bail [78] & El Mocambo [77] are !!! )... But 64-67... To say at least something I say the very first recordings are just wonderful, Satanic is a masterpiece according to me (yes, yes, I know you´re soon on again all you Satanic-bashers) but I adore also December´s... 12*5 ...Sorry, have to stop before all records are mentioned...

I´m into a real deep old-Stones period;
just 'got over' Rolling Stones-now! which I havent heard since the 80´s.
Its really groovy & contains pure r&b, blues & r&r...
Lucky me!

---Chuck Berry Down The Road A Piece lyrics---

Now if you wanna hear some boogie like I'm gonna play
It's just an old piano and a knockout bass
The drummer man's a cat they call Kickin' McCoy
You know, remember that rubber-legged boy?
Mama's cookin' chicken fried and bacon grease
Come on along boys it's just down the road apiece

...[etc]
---- "



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-06-11 11:17 by Baboon Bro.