Back to the Blues, Back to Business

The previous two years had not been kind to the Stones — drug busts, court cases, and a lost year wandering through the aimless psychedelia of Their Satanic Majesty’s Request had left the band adrift. From such chaos came Beggars Banquet: a raw, acoustic guitar-driven return to their blues and country roots that also hinted darkly at the path their music was about to take. Abandoning studio trickery and embracing stripped-back simplicity, the Stones rediscovered themselves and produced one of their most enduring records.

The swaggering “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” delivered their first No. 1 in two years and one of rock’s most famous riffs, “Street Fighting Man” embraced the full zeitgeist of 1968’s student protests and civil disorder, and the epic “Sympathy For The Devil” set an infamous lyric to a relentless samba beat that remains one of the most seductive grooves in the band’s entire catalogue. Brian Jones was noticeable largely by his absence, though his slide guitar on “No Expectations” was a poignant reminder of past glories. The dark country blues of Beggars Banquet became a Stones trademark — the beginning of a four-year golden age.

The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet (1968)