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Beggars Banquet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Beggars Banquet | |||||
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| Studio album by The Rolling Stones | |||||
| Released | 6 December 1968 | ||||
| Recorded | 17 March 1968 – 25 July 1968 | ||||
| Genre | Rock, blues | ||||
| Length | 39:47 | ||||
| Label | Decca/ABKCO (UK) London/ABKCO (U.S.) |
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| Producer | Jimmy Miller | ||||
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| The Rolling Stones chronology | |||||
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| Alternate cover | |||||
Initially rejected cover of Beggars Banquet
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Beggars Banquet is an LP released in 1968 by The Rolling Stones. It marked a return to the band's R&B roots, generally viewed as simpler and more primal than the conspicuous psychedelics of Their Satanic Majesties Request.
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Following the long sessions for the previous album in 1967, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards decided that the band needed more direction in the studio and in early 1968 hired 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 as a single that May, becoming a major hit.
Beggars Banquet was Brian Jones' last full effort with The Rolling Stones. In addition to his slide work on "No Expectations", he played harmonica on "Dear Doctor" and "Prodigal Son", sitar and tambura on "Street Fighting Man", mellotron on "Jigsaw Puzzle" and "Stray Cat Blues".
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 rejected the planned cover design - a graffiti-covered lavatory, and the band held back the album. By November, however, The Rolling Stones gave in, allowing the album to be released in December with a simple imitation invitation card cover. The idea for a plain album cover was also implemented by the Beatles for the White Album, which was released one month prior to Beggars Banquet. This similarity, coupled with Beggars Banquet's later release, garnered the Rolling Stones accusations of imitating the Beatles. In 1984, the original cover art was released with the initial CD remastering of Beggars Banquet.
Critics considered the LP as a return to form.[1] It was also a clear commercial success, reaching #3 in the UK and #5 in the US (on the way to eventual platinum status).
The original LP pressing did not credit Rev. Wilkins as the writer of "Prodigal Son". His performance of "Prodigal Son" at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival was included on the Vanguard LP Blues at Newport, Volume 2; that performance is similar to the Stones' cover, and this may have been where the band first heard the song, although this is not certain.
On 10 December 1968 and 11 December 1968, the band aimed to promote Beggars Banquet by recording a television extravaganza entitled The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus featuring John Lennon, Eric Clapton, The Who and Jethro Tull among the musical guests. However, the project did not air and would not receive an official release until 1996.
Jean-Luc Godard filmed some of the recording sessions showing the band recording "Sympathy for the Devil", the lead off track for the album. The film is widely available on DVD.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 57 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2003 the TV network VH1 named Beggars Banquet the 67th greatest album of all time.
In August 2002 Beggars Banquet was reissued in a new remastered CD, LP and SACD digipak by ABKCO Records.
In 2005, The Yuppie Pricks parodied the album's title and cover with their album Brokers Banquet.
The abbreviation in the album's cover, R.S.V.P., is a French phrase, "répondez, s'il vous plaît", which means "please reply".
In 2007, "No Expectations" was covered by the electronica duo Soulsavers with Mark Lanegan on the album It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land, as well as by the Detroit garage rock band The Dirtbombs in 2005, on their singles collection If You Don't Already Have a Look.
All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted.
- "Sympathy for the Devil" – 6:27
- Keith Richards on bass; Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Marianne Faithfull, Anita Pallenberg and Jimmy Miller on backing vocals; Rocky Dijon, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts on percussion
- "No Expectations" – 4:02
- Brian Jones on slide guitar, Nicky Hopkins on piano
- "Dear Doctor" – 3:26
- "Parachute Woman" – 2:23
- "Jigsaw Puzzle" – 6:17
- Nicky Hopkins on piano, Keith Richards on acoustic guitar and electric slide guitar, Brian Jones on Mellotron and slide guitar, Bill Wyman on bass
- "Street Fighting Man" – 3:18
- Dave Mason on shehani, Keith Richards on bass, Brian Jones on sitar and tambura
- "Prodigal Son" (Rev. Robert Wilkins) – 2:55
- "Stray Cat Blues" – 4:40
- "Factory Girl" – 2:12
- Rik Grech on fiddle, Dave Mason on Mellotron using the mandolin sound
- "Salt of the Earth" – 4:51
- First verse sung by Keith Richards.
- Mick Jagger – vocals, backing vocals, harmonica
- Keith Richards – acoustic and electric guitar, bass, vocals
- Brian Jones – acoustic slide guitar, slide guitar, backing vocals, sitar, tamboura, mellotron, harmonica
- Charlie Watts – drums, percussion
- Bill Wyman – bass, backing vocals, percussion
- Rocky Dijon – congas
- Rik Grech – fiddle
- Nicky Hopkins – piano
- Dave Mason – mellotron, shehnai
- Jimmy Miller – backing vocals
- Marianne Faithfull - backing vocals
- Anita Pallenberg - backing vocals
- Watts Street Gospel Choir – backing vocals
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | UK Albums Chart | 3 |
| 1969 | UK Albums Chart | 3 |
| 1968 | Billboard Pop Albums | 27 |
| 1969 | Billboard Pop Albums | 5 |
| 1980 | Billboard Pop Albums | 169 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | "Jumpin' Jack Flash" | UK Top 50 Singles | 1 |
| 1968 | "Jumpin' Jack Flash" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
| 1968 | "Street Fighting Man" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 48 |
| 1971 | "Street Fighting Man" | UK Top 50 Singles | 21 |