Sleaze, Misogyny And Signs Of The Times

For a band with such a very long career and such elevated status ( I don't like to overuse terms like legendary and iconic ) The Rolling Stones are an odd case as far as recordings are concerned. Ostensibly a blues rock band, they lack the virtuosity that others with those roots exhibit and the ego of Keith Richards has tended to inhibit more talented soloists who have passed through the band such as Mick Taylor. What Richards does offer of course is rock star attitude to the nth degree and a masterclass in the underrated art of the rhythm guitar. This is on show throughout Let It Bleed, one of the trio of albums made as the sixties merged into the seventies that represent the very best of the Stones's patchy recorded output. It holds together very well as a coherent album with a consitent feel both musically and in lyrical content. Preoccupations seem to be a glorification of the slightly sleazy bad boy image of the Stones, with the misogyny that the band is often accused of being much to the fore. For all that, there is a drive and energy that is irresistible and those preoccupations were very much of the time and could apply to much in blues history. Musically, Jagger offers telling harmonica breaks, there is fine mandolin work from Ry Cooder on the Robert Johnson song Love In Vain and distinctive and invaluable work from the two pianists on board, Ian Stewart and Nicky Hopkins. One of the other highlights is the bold use of the London Bach Choir on the inexorably building You Can't Always Get What You Want.