The ROLLING STONES: "Sticky Fingers" (New Stereo Mix + Bonus Tracks)

 

Original released on LP Rolling Stones COC 59100

(UK 1971, April 23)

Pieced together from outtakes and much-labored-over songs, "Sticky Fingers" manages to have a loose, ramshackle ambience that belies both its origins and the dark undercurrents of the songs. It's a weary, drug-laden album - well over half the songs explicitly mention drug use, while the others merely allude to it - that never fades away, but it barely keeps afloat. Apart from the classic opener, "Brown Sugar" (a gleeful tune about slavery, interracial sex, and lost virginity, not necessarily in that order), the long workout "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and the mean-spirited "Bitch," "Sticky Fingers" is a slow, bluesy affair, with a few country touches thrown in for good measure. The laid-back tone of the album gives ample room for new lead guitarist Mick Taylor to stretch out, particularly on the extended coda of "Can't You Hear Me Knocking." But the key to the album isn't the instrumental interplay - although that is terrific - it's the utter weariness of the songs. "Wild Horses" is their first non-ironic stab at a country song, and it is a beautiful, heart-tugging masterpiece. Similarly, "I Got the Blues" is a ravished, late-night classic that ranks among their very best blues. "Sister Morphine" is a horrifying overdose tale, and "Moonlight Mile," with Paul Buckmaster's grandiose strings, is a perfect closure: sad, yearning, drug-addled, and beautiful. With its offhand mixture of decadence, roots music, and outright malevolence, "Sticky Fingers" set the tone for the rest of the decade for the Stones. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

Honestly, for rock 'n roll this is the one that captures it. "Sticky Fingers," from it's iconic cover to the guitar crash and bash of Keith Richards and Mick Taylor, is the perfect representation of raw sleazy rock 'n roll. When you've been around as long as the Stones have it's hard for people to remember just why the Stones are so revered. The answer lies in four essential records, 1968's "Beggar's Banquet," 1969's "Let It Bleed," 1971's "Sticky Fingers," and 1972's "Exile On Main St." In this era rock music, to quote Homer Simpson, "achieved perfection." In these four albums lie everything you need to know about rock music, from it's blues roots, to its sexual imagery, its debauchery and rebellion. Of the four aforementioned albums, it's "Sticky Fingers" that sticks out. Most people would pick "Exile" or "Bleed" as the masterpiece, but as great as those albums are, for me it's "Sticky Fingers" that I come to most often. Everyone that listens to classic rock radio or who has purchased a Rolling Stones compilation should be familiar with "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses." However, it's the album cuts that make "Sticky Fingers" a definitive rock album. Many people, including some of the Stones themselves, feel that the line up on this album is the best line up the Stones ever had. (No disrespect to Brian Jones or Ronnie Wood) The reason is the spectacular lead guitar of Mick Taylor, which is on full display on tunes like "Sway," "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" and "Bitch." "Sway" in particular is an excellent showcase for Taylor. The tune is a lament about "that demon life" that's "got you in its sway," and it features two guitar solos from Taylor. The first solo shows off his prowess with the slide guitar, while the outro solo is a dramatic building solo that is complimented by subtle and faintly soaring strings. "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" has an iconic Richards riff to open things up and it closes with a fantastic latinesque jam that feature a great sax solo followed by another classic Taylor solo. "Bitch" is the Stones best use of a horn section. The horns really punch out of the mix as the guitars battle for prominence. Its a great use of musical tension. "I Got the Blues" is the Stones doing Stax and it includes a soulful organ solo from Billy Preston. "Dead Flowers" does a great job of capturing the world weariness of the best country music, as Mick sings in his faux southern American accent, «I'll be in my basement room with a needle and spoon and another girl to take my pain away.»"Moonlight Mile" closes the album on a somber note with some gorgeous string arrangements. The Stones next record continues and expands the sound established here, but no record, rock or otherwise beats it. (Justin Griffin in AllMusic)