Everybody MUST get Stoned!

I'm about halfway through the Rolling Stones during my inexorable trek through my CD collection.  I'll spare the documentary stuff on these guys—y'all know their story by now—and just share a few thoughts on the band.  "Satisfaction" is probably the first song I ever recall hearing on AM radio when I was little, along with Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody To Love", and every time I hear "Brown Sugar", I think of that magical summer of '71 when I was seven and TOTALLY grooving on Top 40 radio in WHB ("World's Happiest Broadcasters") in Kansas City.  Of course, it went right over my 2nd-grade head that Mick Jagger was singing about black prostitutes and such on that song, but it didn't matter.

I have to admit I got rather burned-out on the Stones when I first started listening to Album Rock in the late '70s/early '80s ("Emotional Rescue" didn't exactly help, either), but one night in the Winter of '80-'81, someone on KY-102 played 1965's "The Last Time", which oddly enough, I was hearing for the first time, and I was absolutely floored by that ringing guitar riff, which led me to "re-discover" the band.  This was also about the time Tattoo You came out, which featured "Start Me Up" and "Waiting On A Friend" (great sax solo from Bobby Keys, btw), and I've been a fan ever since.

My first and only Rolling Stones concert was in 1994 at Faurot Field in Columbia, MO on the Voodoo Lounge tour, and it was a damn good one.  Certainly one of the best light shows I've ever seen at any concert, and Mick and the boys were in top form.  Shockingly enough, they can still bring it today, even at their advanced ages.  I'm still mystified why Keith Richards continues to wear that fishing tackle in his hair, but I swear, ol' Keef's gonna outlive us all!

My all-time Rolling Stones Top 15 (10 ain't enough):
15) "Fortune Teller" (1964)  Early classic that sounds rather primitive at times, but you gotta love the punchline, "Now I get my fortune told for free!"
14) "Monkey Man" (1969)  Rather underrated guitar work from Keef on this one.
13) "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965)  Apart from Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water", is there not a more recognizable guitar riff in Rock history?
12) "Gimme Shelter" (1969)  Very appropriate song to close out such a tumultuous decade.
11) "One Hit (To The Body)" (1986)  I was rather partial to the Dirty Work album, even though most fans and critics weren't.
10) "The Under-Assistant West Coast Promotion Man" (1965)  The flip-side of "Satisfaction", and yes, the title's a mouthful, but it's a damn funny song with a great riff.
9) "Had It With You" (1986)  Love the attitude on this one.  Snappy little riff from Richards too.  The title track from that album, "Dirty Work", was pretty good too.
8) "Rock And A Hard Place" (1989)  Very underrated song from the very underrated Steel Wheels album.
7) "Brown Sugar" (1971)  True, this one's been played to death on the radio, but I still love it to death...
6) "Bitch" (1971)  Fucking nasty riff on this one.
5) "19th Nervous Breakdown" (1966)  A veritable classic.  Could've been written about Maris on "Frasier"...
4) "Far Away Eyes" (1978)  The Rolling Stones meet "Hee-Haw" and live to sing about it!  One of the funniest damn songs you'll ever hear, and a great sing-along during the choruses.
3) "Mean Disposition" (1994)  If you didn't know any better, you'd swear this was a Chuck Berry song.  Keith sure sounds like him soloing toward the end of the song.
2) "The Last Time" (1965)  See above.  I've always wondered how Journey got away with stealing the line "I told you once and I told you twice/But you never listen to my advice" on "Walks Like A Lady".
1) "Hold On To Your Hat" (1989)  Totally hidden gem on the Steel Wheels album that just cooks!  Jagger even plays guitar on it.