Happy 50th Anniversary to the Rolling Stones’ eighth British (and tenth American) studio album Let It Bleed, originally released December 5, 1969.
One of the most recognizable clatters on the guitar with a slight echo creeps in. Keith Richards wrote it next to an open window. Simply, it’s about running from the English rain. Go deeper and there’s the volcanic Vietnam War and its violent chaos of cultural and political upheaval. And also at the time, Mick Jagger was away shooting a movie, Performance, in which he played an oddball rock star, with his girlfriend played by Anita Pallenberg, Richards’ then-girlfriend. Richards was jealous of Jagger’s “possible” philandering. Performance is a weird mix of a film—part acid trip, part noir, heavy on the blood, sex, and fantasy—and it’s bizarrely compelling.
But when I hear the opening chimes of “Gimme Shelter” an entirely different movie fills my head. I think about Henry Hill and Jimmy Conway and of the Boston police force staffed by Alec Baldwin and Marky Mark. It’s Sharon Stone in thick furs and diamonds and Joe Pesci with a high “A” in his Chicago accent. I think about gangsters and crime bosses who take women, money, drugs, cities, and want even more.
Martin Scorsese has been using the music of The Rolling Stones so fluidly throughout his films that “Gimme Shelter” sometimes just acts as a backing track for multiple scenes. Exile On Main St. (1972) might be his favorite—it’s the jewel case (spoiler!) containing the disc that proves Vera Farmiga’s new live-in boyfriend, Matt Damon, is the enemy in The Departed. You can hear The Stones throughout his films, they are the John Williams to his Spielberg.
It actually used to frustrate me. Confessionally, I’ve seen many of these films too many times and could reenact a few. Lines of dialogue have found their way into my everyday inner narration. Over decades of exploring stories, true and false, of what it’s like to watch a powerful man rise and fall, Scorsese’s use of The Rolling Stones has created a very certain cinematic universe. And it’s those rattling notes of “Gimme Shelter” that transport me there.
A bend of the wire strings, distant backing “oooo’s,” a quietly hovering piano, and the sound of something that’s about to come down. It gets you at the forty-second mark when Charlie Watts kicks down your door: the cops are here. “But, when I heard all the noise, I knew they were cops,” Henry Hill says. “Only cops talk that way. If they'd been wiseguys, I wouldn't have heard a thing. I would've been dead.
As an album opener, “Gimme Shelter” (“Gimmie” on the jacket) is tricky because you aren’t sure what it’s promising. What actually follows is the Stones’ most country LP. And because they’re a blues band, it’s not so ridiculous a theory. The blues, jazz, and folk informed what used to be formally called Country & Western Music after its name was changed from Hillbilly Music to avoid offensive stereotypes. (If you haven’t watched any of Ken Burns’ Country Music series on PBS yet, you are missing out.)
“Love In Vain,” “Country Honk,” “Midnight Rambler,” and “You Got The Silver” all move with instruments that are the lifeblood of country music. “Vain” is slow turning, adding overall depth to the record and features the mandolin. The fiddle on “Country Honk” is supported by slide guitar. Richards sings lead on “You Got The Silver” and the timbre of his voice is lower than Jagger’s pulling us further into The Stones’ galaxy. The autoharp on “Silver” lends a hand to a more down home country sound and it was, after all, the instrument of Maybelle Carter, the Godmother of country music who brought the autoharp to the forefront of country music’s popularity (her daughter, June Carter, carried on the tradition).
“Live With Me” is an electric barn burner. Richards plays bass on it and his heavy hand, used to lead and rhythm guitar, injects the song directly into your bloodstream. The saxophone is here to remind us that, yes, this is a traditional Stones record. Slide guitar on the title track backed by piano and led by Jagger’s knowing, sarcastic swoon settles the sound into a foundation of blues right at the center of the record.
I knew “Monkey Man” before I knew Let It Bleed. In Act III of Goodfellas, Henry Hill is backed into a corner trading cocaine and wild with paranoia from using it. Every time I hear the opening piano riff I see Ray Liotta’s sunken, purple eyes watching the copters from behind the wheel. Bill Wyman is on vibraphone, and the percussive, melodic nature of key instruments and Jagger’s chants keep the monkey on your back.
And here we are. We’ve arrived at “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” The title and story within is so classic to the human experience that it has never not been relevant. Not released as a single until 1973, its popularity straddles two decades. And because my personal play count is somewhere around one million, I’m guessing yours is too. For me, it’s never not been there and it’s a song that probably won’t ever go away. Eleven people are listed on the personnel, not including the infamous London Bach Choir. There are a lot of Rolling Stones songs, but this one solidified them with a certain royalty.
As 2019 comes to a close, we’re rounding out a year of remembering the 1960s with 50 years of distance. The Rolling Stones waited until 1971 for their next release, Sticky Fingers, which ushered in the Mick Taylor era (he plays on Let It Bleed but really shows up on Sticky Fingers). It marked the beginning of their proto-punk blues and heroin-soul blues period, highlighted by Exile On Main St. Following Let It Bleed, The Stones’ next eight records charted at number one in the U.S.
I believe Scorsese’s particular brand and craft of filmmaking cemented the Stones into the collective unconscious. He was probably originally drawn to them because their music is the most traditional representation of rock & roll: its backbone, rhythm and blues. Afterall it was the blues that brought the boys together to play music in the first place. The earliest Stones’ LPs are picturesque love songs to the genre. The band as a global sensation is thanks to country music—one of the oldest, most relatable genres. They might not be the best blues band or your favorite, but I maintain that The Rolling Stones are the most popular blues band. Let It Bleed’s depth of country covers every shade of blue. Its obvious staying power seals my deal. Rave on.
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