 
|
|||||||||
              
|
10 albums that owe a debt to the Stones
Sunday, March 07, 1999
Ten great moments in the history of Stones-indebted rock 'n' roll (in chronological order):
1. The Pretty Things, "Get a Buzz: The Best of the Fontana Years" (1992 collection of early '60s material) - Having left an early version of the Stones after giving Keith Richards some pointers, guitarist Dick (not Mick) Taylor formed the Pretty Things in '63 with Phil May, a snotty young singer who even looked a bit like Jagger. "S.F. Sorrow," a pre-"Tommy" rock opera, stands as their crowning achievement, but this is the place to find the classic Stones-inspired R&B of "Rosalyn."
2. Rod Stewart, "The Rod Stewart Album" (1969) - The odd reworking of "Street Fighting Man," with future Stone Ron Wood on slide guitar, is actually among the weaker cuts on Stewart's debut solo effort. The folkier moments are better, with the man who gave you "D'Ya Think I'm Sexy" adopting a "Beggars Banquet" vibe on tracks like "Man of Constant Sorrow" and bringing in the orchestration on "Handbags & Gladrags."
3. The New York Dolls, "New York Dolls" (1973) - This timeless debut effort finds the Jagger and Richards of punk at the top of their game on cuts like "Personality Crisis," a classic rocker cut from the same cloth as "Exile on Main Street." Anyone who claims to like the Stones and not the Dolls is living in denial, plain and simple.
4. Mott the Hoople, "Mott" (1973) - The most consistent album from a band that took its swagger from the Stones and topped it off with Ian Hunter's vocal and lyrical tribute to Dylan. If "All the Way From Memphis" were any more indebted to the Stones, I'd swear it was the Faces.
5. The Faces, "Snakes & Ladders" (1976) - The Faces took the Stones fixation hinted at on Stewart's early solo efforts and ran with it, resulting in some of the most refreshingly sloppy rock of the '70s. I know there are those who don't count greatest hits, but this is the only place you'll find the classic Stones-inspired groove of "Pool Hall Richard," and it's nice to have "Cindy Incidentally" and "Stay With Me" in one convenient package.
6. The Pontiac Brothers, "Fiesta En La Biblioteca" (1986) - A band that only got together in the first place 'cause its members felt like playing Stones songs, the Pontiac Brothers had grown, by the time of "Fiesta," into a glorious booze-fueled rock 'n' roll band more than capable of writing classics all its own, which it does here on "She Knows It," "Doll Hut," "Look Out for That Train" and "Be Married Song" (a rare lead vocal for guitarist Ward Dotson, who would later abandon the Stones fixation as the guiding force behind the Liquor Giants).
7. Liz Phair, "Exile in Guyville" (1993) - OK, so the music has nothing to do with the Stones. But as the title suggests, this album stands as one trash-talking honky tonk woman's answer to "Exile on Main Street." As great as it is, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't have a healthy appreciation of the f-word.
8. The Chesterfield Kings, "Let's Go Get Stoned" (1994) - A spirited tribute album (of sorts), with artwork cribbed from "Aftermath" and adrenalized covers of "Street Fighting Man" and "Can't Believe It." And it's dedicated to Nanker Phelge, an early Jagger-Richards pseudonym.
9.The Crumbs, "Low and Behold" (1998) - I never saw the Stones in '63 while I was drunk and the band was on speed, but if I had, I can practically guarantee that the sloppier moments of "Low and Behold" would be giving me flashbacks. This is rock at its most essential - blues-soaked, down 'n' dirty and played with the blistering punk-rock abandon of "Never Mind the Bollocks" and/or "Rip This Joint."
10. Black Crowes, "By Your Side" (1999) - A riff-rocking treasure on which the boys seek only to recapture the rapture of "Shake Your Money Maker," their initial distillation of the sound the Faces borrowed from the Stones. As clear-cut a case of returning to form as anything this side of Dylan on "Time Out of Mind."
- Ed Masley
|
||||||||
