In which I babble about my relationship to The Stones, their album and their music + my 2 cents about Beatles vs Stones. Oh yeah, I also show my Stones records with emphasis on the 60's UK output.
Thanks Nate for those kind words! I really appreciate that. I love The Rolling Stones. They are the soundtrack of my childhood which I'm sure is the case for numerous others as well. Take care! Nico
Wow Nico, you have a ton of Stones albums and I really enjoyed your tutorial on the Stones and Beatles. Also thought it was quite special that you still had albums from your fathers record collection. That’s why I love vinyl most vinyl albums have history and a story to tell. Take care and stay safe , Cheers Snowy
Hey Sean! Thanks for stopping by and for your kind comment. I seem to remember when and where I got all my albums. I guess it's the same for the most of us. Our collections are the soundtracks of our lives. Some albums are more special than others of course. I still have those old Stones records from my father's collection, but most of the others are gone by now. Take care and stay safe! Nico
Fantastic video and great collection. Definitely an emphasis on 60's Stones. When it comes to Beatles/Stones - the comparison has been done to ad nauseam. I agree with you they are two different sounds and I love them both, have both groups catalog is represented in my collection. I just feel they are two very different groups - The Beatles are a pop rock band, who in my mind were great experimenting with music in the studio, and had extremely great lyrics. When I think of The Stones, they exude their love for the blues and country/western music, as a live show about as great as you can get, and when you listen to them they pushed the envelope lyrics wise. To me The Beatles never did an album like Exile on Main Street and conversely The Stones really weren't good at singing songs like Yesterday. I think what I take pride in my Stones collection is I own all their albums up to Voodoo Lounge - hopefully can complete soon. To me I probably got to invest in new copies of Aftermath, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Get Yer Ya Ya's, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street I play them a lot. I been in an 80's kick lately and not listening to Tattoo You, but more Emotional Rescue, Undercover, Dirty Work, and Steel Wheels and there are some gems in there. Great collection and thank you for sharing.
Hey Kyle and thanks for your elaborate thoughts on The Beatles and The Stones! I agree with you on the individual strengths of the two bands. I have to say, although it may seem I slate the Beatles somewhat, I too love both Beatles and Stones. Even though I ploughed through the more "recent" releases in the video I have to admit I love Tattoo You and Emotional Rescue as well. I'm not too attached to their later material, even though I listened to Undercover, Dirty Works and Steel Wheels quite a bit when they were released. Take care! Nico
Hey Jens! Those 80's reissues really didn't sound that bad after all, even though the vinyl itself was flimsy and (God forbid) they were DIGITALLY remastered...he he. Anyway, those issues are special to me. I remember 12 year old me on my bike, full of anticipation every fortnight, on my way to town with 40 NOK in my pocket. Those Rolling Stones reissues on "Nice Price" was a gold mine to me back then. Take care and stay safe! Nico
"Majesties" is my favourite Stones album,I NEVER tire of listening to it....it is far more psychedelic than "Peppers",which is more a mixture of whimsy and "music hall"sound effects....I love my mono Pepper,my mono Axis Bold as Love and my mono Majesties and never,ever get sick of them 53 years long...Bravo Nico!!
I absolutely agree! In my opinion Majesties is a great album. The songs, the arrangements, the weirdness and the psychedelia makes it a strange and haunting mess of a masterpiece. It’s so underrated, so untypical Stones, yet so Stones sounding. I never get tired of listening to that either. Even the free form jams are interesting. Sounds like avantgarde krautrock years before that term existed. Indeed very much more psychedelic than Sgt. Pepper.
Nico, you are a wise man. Giving the Brian Jones era records the credit they deserve. No doubt the Taylor years are killer, but somewhat one dimensional in its blues rock n roll grooves. But the Jones years went through so many phases. Blues/R&B, Pop, Baroque, Psychedelic, Rock n Roll. While the albums were not as deep as Taylor, the Jones years were solid and far superior singles
Hey Dee G! I agree. I love the Mick Taylor era, but as you say, a bit one dimensional. During the Brian Jones era they were adventurous and evolved from a rythm & blues based sound via psychedelics and back to a more bluesy sound. I think Jones' contributions both in arranging and picking up the odd exotic instrument here and there added very much to their ever evolving sound in the 60's. His contributions have been downplayed quite a bit by Jagger & Richards in later years. Thanks for watching and take care! Nico
Incredible Stones collection there Nico! You certainly have a lot there, very impressive. I agree with you on the comparison crap between Beatles/Stones I like both. Great video take care John:)
Hey John! Thanks for stopping by. Yeah, The Beatles and The Stones are both great in their own right. No comparisons needed :-) Take care and stay safe! Nico
Thanks for watching and commenting Davido! Yeah, that 50+ year old competition and comparison, which never existed between the bands anyway, should be dropped once and for all. People should just enjoy the vast catalogue of great music from both bands. Take care! Nico
Hey there David! Ha ha, you're right. They're not getting any younger, but their music is timeless. Thank god I was brought up on The Stones' music. Thanks for stopping by! Take care. Nico
Wow Nico, what a great Stones collection. I also grew up on Stones, Beatles & Kinks as the cornerstones in my musical upbringing👍🏻 I think the whole Beatles/Stones feud was purely a media created rivalery! Kind of like the britpop feud between Blur/Oasis in the 90s! Also two completely different sounding bands!Anyway thanks for a great video🙏🏻
Hey Christian! Thanks for checking in and commenting. Yeah, the competition between the two bands was purely a journalistic thing back the. The problem is that it's still an ongoing discussion among music lovers and collectors. It's a really stupid debate really as the two bands actually are quite different. I love both bands and don't feel the need to put one above the other. That said, The Stones hold an extra special place in my heart. Take care buddy! Nico
Nico you’re right about these two bands. The Stones were forerunners for the 60s garage scene and the Beatles were forerunners of the psychedelic movement. Both bands are totally different but just as important as each other. They probably thought themselves that the whole hype about which band was better was ridiculous haha. Good vid man!!
Hey Klaus! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Yeah, those two bands are among the greatest ever, in their own right. No need for comparisons. I have read that the competition hype was purely a journalistic thing back then. It surprises me that people still cling to that old nonsense :-) Take care my friend and stay safe! Nico
Nico, I am thoroughly impressed with your Stones collection.... super impressed. I agree with you almost 100% in every outlook on every album and how they were described, as well as the dynamic between the Beatles and the Stones - they were two different bands with two very different musical drives. That is why I said "almost 100%"... where I disagreed is the way that you describes the sub-genre or "style" of the Beatles' psychedelic thumbprint. I agree that the Stones' psychedelic thumbprint was somewhat dark and cynical, but myself, personally; I would never call the psychedelic thumbprint of the Beatles, "sunshine pop psych". I think that totally waters-down the musical-psychedelic-mentality that the Beatles manifest in their music. I think the Beatles portrayed a more "true" mind twisting psych mentality; musically, than the Stones. The Stones were really only doing music that was considered to be "psychedelic" at the request and the presure of the record company and management, in order to capitalize on the "movement". If my knowledge of The Stones serves me correctly, they were relieved to stop doing that kind of music and get back to the hard rocking blues because that was the heart of their musical mind. I believe that, The Beatles, on the other hand, ventured into that style and that sound because that's really who they were musically. Where The Stones wanted to blow your mind with amazing musicianship and cutting edge hard rocking tunes, The Beatles wanted to create music that would make you so mesmerized to try and understand what they were doing, all the while knowing that you'd never truly get it. Anyway, just my 2 cents. Nevertheless, The Stones are, in my book, one of the most fantastic bands ever to walk the face of the earth, and I think your awesome collection represents that 100%. Cheers! - TONE P.S.... I love both the Beatles and the Stones equally for who they are.... and yeah, I can't stand "When I'm 64" LOL
Hey Tone and WOW! Thanks you for taking the time to write such a considerate comment to my characterization of The Beatles’ venture into psychedelia. Where to start? I will try to answer you the best way I can (please look past my spelling and grammar errors! This was written as an immediate response to your comment): I do agree that my characterization was narrow and watered down, but to no offence, it was just off the cuff. Nothing thought through, really. I do love The Beatles, but the point I was trying to make was that Their Satanic Majesties Request doesn’t at all sound like Sgt. Pepper. Those two albums have been compared for 50+ years, and Satanic has always been disregarded as a Sgt. Pepper copy, which is totally unfair and incorrect. The two albums are unlike in how they’re structured. They are totally unlike in how they sound. Whereas Sgt. Pepper has a strong thumbprint of The Beatles’ sound, Satanic has a strong thumbprint of The Stones’ sound. Unlike very many other psych bands of the era, the two maintain their characteristics through the psychedelic years (even though the Stones’ psychedelic output was very limited). Let’s go back to Satanic and why it’s such a great album. This album was very accomplished in many ways. Firstly, the sound production is awesome for its time. (That counts for Sgt. Pepper as well of course, but they always had great sound because of George Martin.) That has of course nothing to do with the boys themselves, but Glyn Johns who was a magnificent engineer. The sound production elevates the songs into a psychedelic atmosphere. Secondly, there are so many good and inventive songs on the album. She’s A Rainbow is a pop psych nugget out of proportions, 2000 Light Years From Home, a dark, eerie and spacy psych masterpiece with an otherwordly use of the Mellotron (courtesy of Brian Jones). 2000 Man is a straight up rocker which blends perfectly between Bill Wyman’s sole contribution to The Stones’ catalogue, In Another Land, and the free form jam (ahead of its time by at least 2-3 years) Sing This All Together (See What Happens). The opening track Sing This All Toghether is very much of its time, but as it fades into Citadel, it has such an effect as a bridge into the heavier and darker psychedelia which was the Stones in 1967. The Lantern has mind boggling lyrics about death and afterlife, while The Gomper starts off as a bit of avantgarde pop psych which slides into total free form, droning, avantgarde free jam. Very bravely done in 1967, when most artists still dabbled in the 3 minute pop tune format. I have already mentioned 2000 Light Years From Home, but man, what a psych masterpiece! The ending, On With The Show, is a lovely bit of pop psych variety, but still with that hard egded Stones sound. A perfect ending to a chaotic, somewhat unhinged, still cohesive psych masterpiece. Thirdly, the arrangements of the songs, not just the running order (which in my ears is perfect), the instrumentation with lots of underlying melodies which serves as counterpoints to the main melody lines make up a dense but still airy sound all the way through which paints a wonderful psychedelic picture. So many different and exotic instruments were used in the recording, but Brian Jones’ saxophone and mellotron are quite evident throughout and in a very inventive way which elevated the songs to the next level of professionality (if that’s a word?). Fourthly, I want to point out that The Stones weren’t at all pressured by the record company or management to venture into psych. In fact, they made sure to make Andrew Loog Oldham quit during the sessions by playing lots of uninspired 12 bar blues jams, much to his dispair. For most of the recording sessions they had no manager and produced the sessions themselves. One must remember that The Stones had dabbled with psychedelia previous to Satanic with such great numbers as Paint It Black, Ruby Tuesday, Have You Seen Your Mother AND of course the wonderfully executed album Between The Buttons, which also is very psychedelic, but with more pop sensibilities than Satanic. Whereas their previous psychedelic efforts were of more pop psych qualities, Satanic is really much more deep psych. Another point is the single tracks We Love You and Dandelion, which were recorded during the Satanic sessions. Now, if those two tracks were put on the album, imagine what that would sound like. Certainly Child of The Moon, which was the b-side to Jumpin’ Jack Flash, is a psychedelic song of high quality as well….and possibly the very last psychedelic output from The Stones. Lastly, this album took a very long time for the band to make. The sessions were scattered through most of 1967. It was a tumultous time for the band with the drug busts and the trials for Jagger, Richards and Jones. They didn’t know if they would end up in jail or not when recording the album. The relations within the band (Richards-Jones) was also starting to deteriorate. With that in mind, it’s mindblowing that they were still able to produce an album which both reflected the atmosphere of 1967 + in some ways reflected the chaos they were going through themselves in such a way as they did. I mentioned earlier that Satanic, to mee, is an unhinged and somewhat chaotic psychedelic masterpiece, but still it has a structure, a red line throughout if you wish, and at the end feels sort of complete. I don’t think The Stones contributions to the psych scene can be just slated as an effort to capitalize on the modern sounds of the time or copying The Beatles. They were early to jump on that scene (1966), which is earlier than most other UK bands. Of course The Beatles were early onto the psych scene as well, but they did just as the Stones. Psych wasn’t even a British «invention». The Beatles were among the first to catch on, but the Stones were just right behind. I think the motivation for both bands was the same, expanding, evolving, developing, not just for the public, but for themselves. Of course The Beatles’ psychedelic output is extremely good and inventive, but the point I’m trying to make is that The Stones’ has always been characterized as copycats, which is totally unfair and not true. Both bands lent their ears to each others music. Of course they were inspired by each other. People should listen to Satanic on its own merits, not as a comparison to Sgt Pepper. My opinion is that Sgt Pepper could have been much better and more psychedelic without tracks such as When I’m Sixty Four and She’s Leaving Home (which is a great song of course, but not very psychedelic). But hey, who am I? Just a listener with my opinion 😊 Revolver has always been hailed as a psych masterpiece, but come on, how much on that album is psych? Certainly Tomorrow Never Knows, Taxman and perhaps a couple more tracks are psych, but most of McCartney and some of Lennon’s contributions on that album is hardly psych by any stretch. To conclude (sorry for my long and perhaps unhinged answer), I think both The Beatles and The Stones were great. I just think The Stones were better in every way. But that’s just a preference. If you have read this far in my comment, Tone, I thank you very much for taking the time. I do agree my points should have been more balanced and that my characterization of The Beatles’ psych was somewhat «lacking», but I will stick to my points on why The Rolling Stones where great and stood their own ground. Take care! Nico
Why do I have two? ... hahaha, very funny part. I guess you never have enough Stones. A few days ago I was lucky enough to find a couple of first pressings of the Stones, including a UK OG from Their Satanic Majesties Request. I'll probably feature them in my next video. Jones era is my favorite as well. I also love that you still have some of your dad's records. Nice video, totally different from your others. Cheers
Ha ha! Yeah, I guess multiple copies is a collector's syndrome. Congrats on finding those Stones originals. To find them in EX shape is getting harder and harder. I'm looking forward to watching you show those. My dad's records, the few ones that have survived, hold a special place in my heart. They were the first records I had access to and most probably shaped my musical preferences. Take care and thanks for the kind comment! Nico
Another great video! You're right. It makes no sense to compare Beatles with The Stones. They are very different in my mind. Respect to a band that still exists (and maybe rocks) after almost 60 years! Had totally forgotten about 'Can't You Hear Me Knocking', That was a very pleasant revisit. Their Satanic Majesties Request and Exile are among my favourite albums. Agree with you on 'When I'm 64' :-) I do listen more to The Beatles than Stones though. Take care!
I totally agree! The Stones and The Beatles are both great. No comparisons needed. Either you like one or the other, or both. I do love The Beatles, but The Stones have always been my go to band whenever I don't know what to listen to. I always come back to The Stones :-) Take care and thanks for your comment! Nico
Oh yeah, those two are just superb! I really can't pin it down to two albums. Aftermath, Between The Buttons, Their Satanic Majesties Request, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street.....man, what a line of excellent albums!
Nice video and collection. I guess the beatles against stones querelle has been well fabricated by the music industry at the time and it did help to boost the selling. Satanic is a great album but it has always been dismissed by the band itself. It was done because 67 was the psichedelic year but definitely not in the stones blood which was and it is bluesy. My favorite albums? aftermath, beggars, bleed, sticky and exiles. After 72 the fire went off.
Hey! Thanks for watching and commenting. I should have responded to you long ago, but I have been rather slow lately. Yeah, I guess you're right. It was very much a media hype and the two bands were buddies more than anything else. I think The Stones did psych very well and up to par with the Beatles. Just think about tracks such as We Love You, Dandelion, She's A Rainbow, Citadel, 2000 Light Years From Home, Child Of The Moon.... all masterpieces in my opinion. I agree with you on the favourite albums, but I must include Their Satanic Majesties Request and Between The Buttons. Take care Fabio! Nico
@@NicoMalcolm no worries that's fine and thanks for the reply. I guess the psychedelic side in the band was pushed by Brian Jones. Jagger liked soul music and Keith blues ,what else 😁 actually if I remember Keith dismissed the satanic album but as you know the pepper's album really pushed the band in that direction , they could not ignore the huge impact that that album made around.
Yes, very different bands musically, Beatles and Stones. Chuck Berry was an influence on both, not many others were. Stones came from the London blues scene. Merseybeat emerged from skiffle, rockabilly, doo-wop and schlager pop. Also, unlike George Martin, Andrew Loog Oldham wasn't really a record producer in a technical sense.
Very well said, dear brother! The points you make are very valid. The whole Beatles vs Stones debate, artificially created by the music journalists back then, should be dropped dead and be long forgotten. I'm also tired of hearing people saying that The Stones and The Beatles are overrated. The sheer fact that those very same people still discuss The Beatles and The Stones shows that they cannot be overrated. They have been too important for the development of the popular music culture. Take care brother! Nico
I enjoyed your video. Nice collection! Absolutely, Between is a great Lp. My favs - She Smiled Sweetly & Who's Been Sleeping Here. Brrrrrigadier! I seem to gravitate towards what's considered the filler. The Taylor & Wood material are also gems but anything after Steel Wheels, the creativity really starts to tumble downhill, minus a couple of decent tracks here and there. Dirty Work, atrocious! Though I do fancy, I Had It With You. The Keith tracks in the later years maintain their punch. Imo... Once Wyman leaves the band, the Stones groove is in a fast decline. Bill was the backbone and deep in the pocket. (No disrespect to Mr. Jones)
Thanks Muh Offended for stopping by and commenting! And thanks for the kind words. I agree, Between The Buttons is awesome. I can never decide which is my favourite 60's Stones album, but Between The Buttons definitely is among them. She Smiled Sweetly is a fave here as well. In my opinion there are no fillers on that album. I agree indeed with you on Bill Wyman too. He and Charlie Watts were crucial in making The Stones' songs sounding unique. They lost an important member when he left. Definitely an underrated bassplayer. Take care! Nico
@@NicoMalcolm Tizz True! I wouldn't consider She Smiled Sweetly etc as filler tracks, I meant those great tracks never received any radio airtime, and that's a good thing. Radio will play certain tracks so often until it loses its longing. At the moment, I'm fixating on the oh so great track.... If You Let Me. What a thousand carrot diamond that one is. Stay Kool, Meine Freund 😉
After "CryTo Me" you might have switched off your record player.....I'm hearing a lot of crap music behind your Stones story 🖐🥴
I could listen to you all day. Love your stories. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Nate for those kind words! I really appreciate that. I love The Rolling Stones. They are the soundtrack of my childhood which I'm sure is the case for numerous others as well. Take care!
Nico
Wow Nico, you have a ton of Stones albums and I really enjoyed your tutorial on the Stones and Beatles. Also thought it was quite special that you still had albums from your fathers record collection. That’s why I love vinyl most vinyl albums have history and a story to tell. Take care and stay safe , Cheers Snowy
Hey Sean! Thanks for stopping by and for your kind comment. I seem to remember when and where I got all my albums. I guess it's the same for the most of us. Our collections are the soundtracks of our lives. Some albums are more special than others of course. I still have those old Stones records from my father's collection, but most of the others are gone by now. Take care and stay safe!
Nico
Fantastic video and great collection. Definitely an emphasis on 60's Stones.
When it comes to Beatles/Stones - the comparison has been done to ad nauseam. I agree with you they are two different sounds and I love them both, have both groups catalog is represented in my collection. I just feel they are two very different groups - The Beatles are a pop rock band, who in my mind were great experimenting with music in the studio, and had extremely great lyrics. When I think of The Stones, they exude their love for the blues and country/western music, as a live show about as great as you can get, and when you listen to them they pushed the envelope lyrics wise.
To me The Beatles never did an album like Exile on Main Street and conversely The Stones really weren't good at singing songs like Yesterday.
I think what I take pride in my Stones collection is I own all their albums up to Voodoo Lounge - hopefully can complete soon. To me I probably got to invest in new copies of Aftermath, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Get Yer Ya Ya's, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street I play them a lot.
I been in an 80's kick lately and not listening to Tattoo You, but more Emotional Rescue, Undercover, Dirty Work, and Steel Wheels and there are some gems in there.
Great collection and thank you for sharing.
Hey Kyle and thanks for your elaborate thoughts on The Beatles and The Stones! I agree with you on the individual strengths of the two bands. I have to say, although it may seem I slate the Beatles somewhat, I too love both Beatles and Stones.
Even though I ploughed through the more "recent" releases in the video I have to admit I love Tattoo You and Emotional Rescue as well. I'm not too attached to their later material, even though I listened to Undercover, Dirty Works and Steel Wheels quite a bit when they were released.
Take care!
Nico
Sweet! Those mid 80's digitally remastered reissues were my first Stones purchases back then. Love the multiple copies!! :)
Hey Jens! Those 80's reissues really didn't sound that bad after all, even though the vinyl itself was flimsy and (God forbid) they were DIGITALLY remastered...he he. Anyway, those issues are special to me. I remember 12 year old me on my bike, full of anticipation every fortnight, on my way to town with 40 NOK in my pocket. Those Rolling Stones reissues on "Nice Price" was a gold mine to me back then. Take care and stay safe!
Nico
"Majesties" is my favourite Stones album,I NEVER tire of listening to it....it is far more psychedelic than "Peppers",which is more a mixture of whimsy and "music hall"sound effects....I love my mono Pepper,my mono Axis Bold as Love and my mono Majesties and never,ever get sick of them 53 years long...Bravo Nico!!
I absolutely agree! In my opinion Majesties is a great album. The songs, the arrangements, the weirdness and the psychedelia makes it a strange and haunting mess of a masterpiece. It’s so underrated, so untypical Stones, yet so Stones sounding. I never get tired of listening to that either. Even the free form jams are interesting. Sounds like avantgarde krautrock years before that term existed. Indeed very much more psychedelic than Sgt. Pepper.
@@NicoMalcolm Total agreement Nico...danke gott SOMEONE understands!!
You guys took too much acid. Peppers forever!
@@marcelo_giangrande Hah! Hardly😊
@@marcelo_giangrande MONO only!
Awesome Video, Makes me want to listen To Get Yer Ya's Ya's Out Right Now. - Cheers
Yeah Wizard! In my opinion that's a party starter. Awesome live album all the way! Thanks for stopping by. Take care.
Nico
Nico, you are a wise man. Giving the Brian Jones era records the credit they deserve. No doubt the Taylor years are killer, but somewhat one dimensional in its blues rock n roll grooves. But the Jones years went through so many phases. Blues/R&B, Pop, Baroque, Psychedelic, Rock n Roll. While the albums were not as deep as Taylor, the Jones years were solid and far superior singles
Hey Dee G! I agree. I love the Mick Taylor era, but as you say, a bit one dimensional. During the Brian Jones era they were adventurous and evolved from a rythm & blues based sound via psychedelics and back to a more bluesy sound. I think Jones' contributions both in arranging and picking up the odd exotic instrument here and there added very much to their ever evolving sound in the 60's. His contributions have been downplayed quite a bit by Jagger & Richards in later years. Thanks for watching and take care!
Nico
Incredible Stones collection there Nico! You certainly have a lot there, very impressive. I agree with you on the comparison crap between Beatles/Stones I like both. Great video take care John:)
Hey John! Thanks for stopping by. Yeah, The Beatles and The Stones are both great in their own right. No comparisons needed :-) Take care and stay safe!
Nico
you are SO**** right about your beatles comparisons!! especially sgt. pepper
Thanks for watching and commenting Davido! Yeah, that 50+ year old competition and comparison, which never existed between the bands anyway, should be dropped once and for all. People should just enjoy the vast catalogue of great music from both bands. Take care!
Nico
Hello young man!...I am 70 y.o now.....the surviving beatles and stones are mostly in their 80s...ha,ha,ha!!!....nice collection you have there!
Hey there David! Ha ha, you're right. They're not getting any younger, but their music is timeless. Thank god I was brought up on The Stones' music. Thanks for stopping by! Take care.
Nico
Wow Nico, what a great Stones collection. I also grew up on Stones, Beatles & Kinks as the cornerstones in my musical upbringing👍🏻
I think the whole Beatles/Stones feud was purely a media created rivalery! Kind of like the britpop feud between Blur/Oasis in the 90s! Also two completely different sounding bands!Anyway thanks for a great video🙏🏻
Hey Christian! Thanks for checking in and commenting. Yeah, the competition between the two bands was purely a journalistic thing back the. The problem is that it's still an ongoing discussion among music lovers and collectors. It's a really stupid debate really as the two bands actually are quite different. I love both bands and don't feel the need to put one above the other. That said, The Stones hold an extra special place in my heart. Take care buddy!
Nico
Nico you’re right about these two bands. The Stones were forerunners for the 60s garage scene and the Beatles were forerunners of the psychedelic movement. Both bands are totally different but just as important as each other. They probably thought themselves that the whole hype about which band was better was ridiculous haha. Good vid man!!
Hey Klaus! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Yeah, those two bands are among the greatest ever, in their own right. No need for comparisons. I have read that the competition hype was purely a journalistic thing back then. It surprises me that people still cling to that old nonsense :-) Take care my friend and stay safe!
Nico
Nico, I am thoroughly impressed with your Stones collection.... super impressed. I agree with you almost 100% in every outlook on every album and how they were described, as well as the dynamic between the Beatles and the Stones - they were two different bands with two very different musical drives. That is why I said "almost 100%"... where I disagreed is the way that you describes the sub-genre or "style" of the Beatles' psychedelic thumbprint. I agree that the Stones' psychedelic thumbprint was somewhat dark and cynical, but myself, personally; I would never call the psychedelic thumbprint of the Beatles, "sunshine pop psych". I think that totally waters-down the musical-psychedelic-mentality that the Beatles manifest in their music. I think the Beatles portrayed a more "true" mind twisting psych mentality; musically, than the Stones. The Stones were really only doing music that was considered to be "psychedelic" at the request and the presure of the record company and management, in order to capitalize on the "movement". If my knowledge of The Stones serves me correctly, they were relieved to stop doing that kind of music and get back to the hard rocking blues because that was the heart of their musical mind. I believe that, The Beatles, on the other hand, ventured into that style and that sound because that's really who they were musically. Where The Stones wanted to blow your mind with amazing musicianship and cutting edge hard rocking tunes, The Beatles wanted to create music that would make you so mesmerized to try and understand what they were doing, all the while knowing that you'd never truly get it. Anyway, just my 2 cents. Nevertheless, The Stones are, in my book, one of the most fantastic bands ever to walk the face of the earth, and I think your awesome collection represents that 100%. Cheers! - TONE
P.S.... I love both the Beatles and the Stones equally for who they are.... and yeah, I can't stand "When I'm 64" LOL
Hey Tone and WOW! Thanks you for taking the time to write such a considerate comment to my characterization of The Beatles’ venture into psychedelia. Where to start? I will try to answer you the best way I can (please look past my spelling and grammar errors! This was written as an immediate response to your comment):
I do agree that my characterization was narrow and watered down, but to no offence, it was just off the cuff. Nothing thought through, really. I do love The Beatles, but the point I was trying to make was that Their Satanic Majesties Request doesn’t at all sound like Sgt. Pepper. Those two albums have been compared for 50+ years, and Satanic has always been disregarded as a Sgt. Pepper copy, which is totally unfair and incorrect. The two albums are unlike in how they’re structured. They are totally unlike in how they sound. Whereas Sgt. Pepper has a strong thumbprint of The Beatles’ sound, Satanic has a strong thumbprint of The Stones’ sound. Unlike very many other psych bands of the era, the two maintain their characteristics through the psychedelic years (even though the Stones’ psychedelic output was very limited).
Let’s go back to Satanic and why it’s such a great album. This album was very accomplished in many ways. Firstly, the sound production is awesome for its time. (That counts for Sgt. Pepper as well of course, but they always had great sound because of George Martin.) That has of course nothing to do with the boys themselves, but Glyn Johns who was a magnificent engineer. The sound production elevates the songs into a psychedelic atmosphere.
Secondly, there are so many good and inventive songs on the album. She’s A Rainbow is a pop psych nugget out of proportions, 2000 Light Years From Home, a dark, eerie and spacy psych masterpiece with an otherwordly use of the Mellotron (courtesy of Brian Jones). 2000 Man is a straight up rocker which blends perfectly between Bill Wyman’s sole contribution to The Stones’ catalogue, In Another Land, and the free form jam (ahead of its time by at least 2-3 years) Sing This All Together (See What Happens). The opening track Sing This All Toghether is very much of its time, but as it fades into Citadel, it has such an effect as a bridge into the heavier and darker psychedelia which was the Stones in 1967. The Lantern has mind boggling lyrics about death and afterlife, while The Gomper starts off as a bit of avantgarde pop psych which slides into total free form, droning, avantgarde free jam. Very bravely done in 1967, when most artists still dabbled in the 3 minute pop tune format. I have already mentioned 2000 Light Years From Home, but man, what a psych masterpiece! The ending, On With The Show, is a lovely bit of pop psych variety, but still with that hard egded Stones sound. A perfect ending to a chaotic, somewhat unhinged, still cohesive psych masterpiece.
Thirdly, the arrangements of the songs, not just the running order (which in my ears is perfect), the instrumentation with lots of underlying melodies which serves as counterpoints to the main melody lines make up a dense but still airy sound all the way through which paints a wonderful psychedelic picture. So many different and exotic instruments were used in the recording, but Brian Jones’ saxophone and mellotron are quite evident throughout and in a very inventive way which elevated the songs to the next level of professionality (if that’s a word?).
Fourthly, I want to point out that The Stones weren’t at all pressured by the record company or management to venture into psych. In fact, they made sure to make Andrew Loog Oldham quit during the sessions by playing lots of uninspired 12 bar blues jams, much to his dispair. For most of the recording sessions they had no manager and produced the sessions themselves. One must remember that The Stones had dabbled with psychedelia previous to Satanic with such great numbers as Paint It Black, Ruby Tuesday, Have You Seen Your Mother AND of course the wonderfully executed album Between The Buttons, which also is very psychedelic, but with more pop sensibilities than Satanic. Whereas their previous psychedelic efforts were of more pop psych qualities, Satanic is really much more deep psych.
Another point is the single tracks We Love You and Dandelion, which were recorded during the Satanic sessions. Now, if those two tracks were put on the album, imagine what that would sound like. Certainly Child of The Moon, which was the b-side to Jumpin’ Jack Flash, is a psychedelic song of high quality as well….and possibly the very last psychedelic output from The Stones.
Lastly, this album took a very long time for the band to make. The sessions were scattered through most of 1967. It was a tumultous time for the band with the drug busts and the trials for Jagger, Richards and Jones. They didn’t know if they would end up in jail or not when recording the album. The relations within the band (Richards-Jones) was also starting to deteriorate. With that in mind, it’s mindblowing that they were still able to produce an album which both reflected the atmosphere of 1967 + in some ways reflected the chaos they were going through themselves in such a way as they did. I mentioned earlier that Satanic, to mee, is an unhinged and somewhat chaotic psychedelic masterpiece, but still it has a structure, a red line throughout if you wish, and at the end feels sort of complete.
I don’t think The Stones contributions to the psych scene can be just slated as an effort to capitalize on the modern sounds of the time or copying The Beatles. They were early to jump on that scene (1966), which is earlier than most other UK bands. Of course The Beatles were early onto the psych scene as well, but they did just as the Stones. Psych wasn’t even a British «invention». The Beatles were among the first to catch on, but the Stones were just right behind. I think the motivation for both bands was the same, expanding, evolving, developing, not just for the public, but for themselves.
Of course The Beatles’ psychedelic output is extremely good and inventive, but the point I’m trying to make is that The Stones’ has always been characterized as copycats, which is totally unfair and not true. Both bands lent their ears to each others music. Of course they were inspired by each other. People should listen to Satanic on its own merits, not as a comparison to Sgt Pepper.
My opinion is that Sgt Pepper could have been much better and more psychedelic without tracks such as When I’m Sixty Four and She’s Leaving Home (which is a great song of course, but not very psychedelic). But hey, who am I? Just a listener with my opinion 😊 Revolver has always been hailed as a psych masterpiece, but come on, how much on that album is psych? Certainly Tomorrow Never Knows, Taxman and perhaps a couple more tracks are psych, but most of McCartney and some of Lennon’s contributions on that album is hardly psych by any stretch.
To conclude (sorry for my long and perhaps unhinged answer), I think both The Beatles and The Stones were great. I just think The Stones were better in every way. But that’s just a preference.
If you have read this far in my comment, Tone, I thank you very much for taking the time. I do agree my points should have been more balanced and that my characterization of The Beatles’ psych was somewhat «lacking», but I will stick to my points on why The Rolling Stones where great and stood their own ground.
Take care!
Nico
@@NicoMalcolm Your response to me needs to be published as a short article in a music magazine. Well written!
Why do I have two? ... hahaha, very funny part. I guess you never have enough Stones. A few days ago I was lucky enough to find a couple of first pressings of the Stones, including a UK OG from Their Satanic Majesties Request. I'll probably feature them in my next video. Jones era is my favorite as well.
I also love that you still have some of your dad's records.
Nice video, totally different from your others.
Cheers
Ha ha! Yeah, I guess multiple copies is a collector's syndrome. Congrats on finding those Stones originals. To find them in EX shape is getting harder and harder. I'm looking forward to watching you show those. My dad's records, the few ones that have survived, hold a special place in my heart. They were the first records I had access to and most probably shaped my musical preferences. Take care and thanks for the kind comment!
Nico
Another great video! You're right. It makes no sense to compare Beatles with The Stones. They are very different in my mind. Respect to a band that still exists (and maybe rocks) after almost 60 years! Had totally forgotten about 'Can't You Hear Me Knocking', That was a very pleasant revisit. Their Satanic Majesties Request and Exile are among my favourite albums. Agree with you on 'When I'm 64' :-) I do listen more to The Beatles than Stones though. Take care!
I totally agree! The Stones and The Beatles are both great. No comparisons needed. Either you like one or the other, or both. I do love The Beatles, but The Stones have always been my go to band whenever I don't know what to listen to. I always come back to The Stones :-) Take care and thanks for your comment!
Nico
Btw. ‘Between The Buttons’ and ‘Exile’ is my favorite albums🙌🏻
Oh yeah, those two are just superb! I really can't pin it down to two albums. Aftermath, Between The Buttons, Their Satanic Majesties Request, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street.....man, what a line of excellent albums!
Nice video and collection. I guess the beatles against stones querelle has been well fabricated by the music industry at the time and it did help to boost the selling. Satanic is a great album but it has always been dismissed by the band itself. It was done because 67 was the psichedelic year but definitely not in the stones blood which was and it is bluesy. My favorite albums? aftermath, beggars, bleed, sticky and exiles. After 72 the fire went off.
Hey! Thanks for watching and commenting. I should have responded to you long ago, but I have been rather slow lately. Yeah, I guess you're right. It was very much a media hype and the two bands were buddies more than anything else. I think The Stones did psych very well and up to par with the Beatles. Just think about tracks such as We Love You, Dandelion, She's A Rainbow, Citadel, 2000 Light Years From Home, Child Of The Moon.... all masterpieces in my opinion. I agree with you on the favourite albums, but I must include Their Satanic Majesties Request and Between The Buttons. Take care Fabio!
Nico
@@NicoMalcolm no worries that's fine and thanks for the reply. I guess the psychedelic side in the band was pushed by Brian Jones. Jagger liked soul music and Keith blues ,what else 😁 actually if I remember Keith dismissed the satanic album but as you know the pepper's album really pushed the band in that direction , they could not ignore the huge impact that that album made around.
Yes, very different bands musically, Beatles and Stones. Chuck Berry was an influence on both, not many others were. Stones came from the London blues scene. Merseybeat emerged from skiffle, rockabilly, doo-wop and schlager pop. Also, unlike George Martin, Andrew Loog Oldham wasn't really a record producer in a technical sense.
Very well said, dear brother! The points you make are very valid. The whole Beatles vs Stones debate, artificially created by the music journalists back then, should be dropped dead and be long forgotten.
I'm also tired of hearing people saying that The Stones and The Beatles are overrated. The sheer fact that those very same people still discuss The Beatles and The Stones shows that they cannot be overrated. They have been too important for the development of the popular music culture. Take care brother!
Nico
I enjoyed your video. Nice collection!
Absolutely, Between is a great Lp.
My favs - She Smiled Sweetly & Who's Been Sleeping Here.
Brrrrrigadier! I seem to gravitate towards what's considered the filler.
The Taylor & Wood material are also gems but anything after Steel Wheels, the creativity really starts to tumble downhill, minus a couple of decent tracks here and there. Dirty Work, atrocious! Though I do fancy, I Had It With You.
The Keith tracks in the later years maintain their punch.
Imo... Once Wyman leaves the band, the Stones groove is in a fast decline. Bill was the backbone and deep in the pocket.
(No disrespect to Mr. Jones)
Thanks Muh Offended for stopping by and commenting! And thanks for the kind words. I agree, Between The Buttons is awesome. I can never decide which is my favourite 60's Stones album, but Between The Buttons definitely is among them. She Smiled Sweetly is a fave here as well. In my opinion there are no fillers on that album.
I agree indeed with you on Bill Wyman too. He and Charlie Watts were crucial in making The Stones' songs sounding unique. They lost an important member when he left. Definitely an underrated bassplayer.
Take care!
Nico
@@NicoMalcolm Tizz True! I wouldn't consider She Smiled Sweetly etc as filler tracks, I meant those great tracks never received any radio airtime, and that's a good thing. Radio will play certain tracks so often until it loses its longing. At the moment, I'm fixating on the oh so great track.... If You Let Me. What a thousand carrot diamond that one is.
Stay Kool, Meine Freund 😉
All that comps and no Tattoo You?
Yep, I have a copy of Tattoo You, but there's a reason I whip through the 80's and onwards stuff.
He vuelto, pues lo necesitaba/ I m back cause I was un need!