Later edition cover of Sticky Fingers LP
Back in college I would listen in on friends debating who was the best band in rock n roll. You know the usual suspects: The Beatles, The Who and The Rolling Stones were often the three mentioned most. I argued for David Bowie, but there was no denying the longevity of the Rolling Stones.
It was easy to appreciate the Beatles contribution to rock n roll. They covered all of the genre’s bases from blues to psychedelically. I was never much a Who fan apart from a few songs. The Rolling Stones was another matter. As the last standing of that trio, they are literally peerless in a age of sync dancing digital pop stars.
Truth be told, it took some time for me to fully acknowledge their contribution. As my awareness of music expanded, so would my appreciation of the Rolling Stones. The band has gone through many evolution’s in it’s 50 plus year history, so they were bound to catch me some where down the line as they morphed from blues, hard rock to near disco and back.
Of all the band’s mutations, the early seventies represents an era where their sound was fully immersed in its blues roots while having the explosive youthful energy of rock. This golden era as it were has defined the Rolling Stones sound on the strength of albums like Sticky Fingers.
The story behind the cover art alone is worth the price of admission. Conceived from Andy Warhol, the original pressings featured an real zipper that could be pulled up and down. The potential of seeing a public penis must have been much more frighting then as now I suppose. The sauciness of the concept forced the band to make alternate covers for some markets. Even though there was no man private behind the zipper, the inner sleeve would remove the jeans to reveal tighty whities hiding the clear outline of someone’s baby maker.
This was the band’s 11th album, but the first on their own label Rolling Stones Records. As clever and controversial as the zipper ploy was, the metal scratched the record during shipping. Later issues removed the actual zipper with just a photograph. It was never confirmed who’s crotch was featured in the photograph, but it was just assumed that it belong to Mick Jagger. In other graphic news, the big lips graphic, a symbol of the band to this day saw its debut with Sticky Fingers.
Sticky Fingers would remind me why the Rolling Stones are considered the world’s greatest rock band. It’s also why years later fans cried foul because of disco leaning albums like Some Girls. In keeping with it’s blues legacy, most of the album was recorded at Muscle Shoals Studio in Muscle Shoals Studio Alabama. Guitarist Mick Taylor debuted as a replacement for Brian Jones (who died of an drug overdose).
Also the pair of Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were becoming the band’s center as a songwriting team. Sticky Fingers was the Stones at their bluesy hard rock best. The album goes from hardcore blues on “Can’t You Hear me Knocking” to gogo girl classics like the iconic “Brown Sugar” and “You Gotta Move”. One of my favorite and often covered songs “Wild Horses” became another of the band’s classic and concert favorites.
Regardless of your opinions of Mick Jagger’s exploits, The Rolling Stones offers something for just about any rock fan. The amazing thing is that the band is still together and sounding great. Recently they took a step back into what inspired albums like Sticky Fingers and Beggars Banquet. 2016’s Blue & Lonesome might have lacked some of the energy and fun of sticky Fingers, but it clearly shows that the Rolling Stones are as much a blues band as a rock n roll one.
Some where some group of college freshmen are huddled around arguing who is the greatest band in rock and roll history. Today that argument has a clear winner more than ever with The Rolling Stones.
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