My Rolling Stones Top 20 Countdown
The Rolling Stones are called the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band but they don't quite seem to have the same cache and reverence as The Beatles who define the 60s or Led Zeppelin who define the 70s. Whereas those 2 acts broke up during their primes therefore solidifying their reputations The Rolling Stones have kept going for over 5 decades, which means they've not only put out a lot of great material but a lot of mediocre material too. Sifting through their entire discography can present a challenge unlike the nearly perfect body of work left behind by The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. Many people would recommend you start with any of the four albums released by The Stones between 1968 and 1972, which is universally considered their peak years. Others might suggest a really good greatest hits of their early years such as The Hot Rocks compilation. Now that we are in the era of streaming though it's easier to find really good playlists that give you most of the good stuff and cut out the chafe. So consider this list a good primer. Like all my other lists this is just my own personal favorite Rolling Stones songs and not a definitive ranking. Also the Rolling Stones have so much material that there is a lot of great material not present here. That said, like my list for Madonna, if you don't like anything off my list chances are The Rolling Stones are not the band for you. I do find most classic rock and oldies fans are either really into the Stones or they can't stand them. There seems to be very little middle ground except for maybe Gimme Shelter or Paint It Black which almost everyone agrees are pretty great.
20. Let's Spend the Night Together
It's mind blowing to think that a song about spending the night with someone of the opposite sex was scandalous back in 1967! The Stones had to change the lyrics to Let's Spend Some Time Together when they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Times have certainly changed but what hasn't changed is how great that piano riff is. This is the Stones at their most pop which I don't think they ever get enough credit for. They do sleazy rock better than the Beatles but they also do pop a lot better than Led Zeppelin. This one can still get you moving if you let it.
19. Bitch
Sticky Fingers is probably my favorite album by The Rolling Stones hence why it gets 4 songs on this top 20. Bitch sounds like what most people think of when they think of the Rolling Stones: catchy riffs, sleazy lyrics, a danceable groove and as a bonus some hot sax!
18. Hang Fire
Start Me Up is probably the last real Stones classic but my favorite song off Tattoo You is Hang Fire. Those "Do Do Do Do" lyrics are catchy as the flu and the song moves at a frenetic but fun pace. It's a good pick me up type song when you are feeling sluggish.
17. Satisfaction (I Can't Get No)
Most objective lists would rank this as # 1 and it's easy to see why but maybe over saturation and radio play has taken away a little of the thrill from this song. Nonetheless I can only imagine what people thought when they first heard this coming out of their A.M. radios in 1965. That riff must have blown minds back then. It really is one of the most ear grabbing pieces of music ever made. Plus, now that we live in an era where rock and pop do not go hand and hand and haven't for a really long time it's cool to realize that not only does Satisfaction still rock but it's also very danceable. In the 60s rock bands like the Stones still made Bops! Also something that is overlooked with this song is that it's a slam against consumerism. The song says our consumer culture and obsession with material possessions has warped us and controls our identity. I love the line where Mick sings:
"When I'm watchin' my TV and a man comes on and tells me
How white my shirts can be
But, he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke
The same cigarettes as me."
In my opinion this makes Satisfaction relevant now more than ever as consumer culture has truly overtaken our lives even more than it did in the 60s. Satisfaction is a classic that is fun, sexy, political, and rebellious. Man the 60s was a special time for music.
16. Monkey Man
When it comes to Monkey Man it's all about that opening for me with the twinkling piano keys, that memorable bass and the introduction of that riff. After that it's good but doesn't scale those heights again until we get to the bridge. This is a very good song raised to greatness by it's opening and bridge.
15. Can't You Hear Me Knocking
That opening riff is one the Stones' very best and they have no shortage of great riffs. This is the Stones at their best, sleazy and bluesy. The second half is great as well with the sax, Spanish percussion and guitar solos. Mick Taylor's work on this track shows what an asset he was to the group during the early 70s.
14. Get Off My Cloud
Charlie Watt's drumming is what makes this an all time classic. Yes it has one of the group's best choruses that everyone can sing along to and the riffs are great as per usual but it's Charlie's drumming that drives this song forward. It's his drumming that makes it one of the best Stone's songs to dance to. Remove Charlie's drumming and this song is nothing.
13. Winter
This is THE hidden gem in the Rolling Stones' vast catalogue. Goat Head Soup in general is highly underrated. Winter is an absolutely gorgeous ballad that captures the depression winter can bring after the holidays are over. When Mick Jagger sings: "And I wish I been out in California when the lights on all the Christmas trees went out" I felt that! Everyone wants a white Christmas but after New Year's the thought of 3 more months of winter is really depressing. Yet the song has a melancholy beauty to it that keeps it from feeling like a drag. The way the strings swirl in and out of the song sounds like snow flakes blowing past you. You can practically feel the snow on your face. Mick Taylor's guitar solo in the middle is definitely an emotional high point in the entire Stone's catalogue. Mick Taylor was the best thing to happen to the Rolling Stones during the 70s. This song deserves a lot more attention than it gets.
12. Ruby Tuesday
1967 was the year the Stones went pop and Ruby Tuesday proves that they could pull of Beatlesque melodies when they wanted to. This is a beautiful ballad with lush production that definitely feels like 1967 but in all the best ways.
11. Brown Sugar
Few songs are as iconic as Brown Sugar. It features one of the groups best riffs, best sax solos and best choruses. Of course the lyrical content is not very PC and would never fly today but it was pretty risky for 1971. It showed how The Rolling Stones were the band that kept pushing against good taste time and time again to see how much they could get away with. The fact that Brown Sugar has become a classic rock staple has taken away some of the edge over the years but this is still the Stones at their best.
10. Tumbling Dice
This one has really snuck up on me over the years. I wasn't too into the song when I first got 40 Licks in 2002 but over the years I have come to realize it's brilliance. It's got at least 3 different hooks between the "you got to roll me" "Call me the tumbling dice" and the use of "Baby" throughout. Exile on Main Street is usually singled out as the best Stone's album and while I think it suffers from some obvious filler it's a great album but the songs on it are best experienced as a part of a larger whole. Tumbling Dice is the exception as it sounds great in any context.
09. She's a Rainbow
This is the peak of the Stones' brief flirtation with psychedelic pop in 1967. It reminds me of songs from that year like Penny Lane. Really when people think of The Rolling Stones they don't think of songs like She's a Rainbow but they should because it's great. The production and the layering of instruments is flawless. I love the strings, piano and the percussion that sounds like horse hooves. Like most of the great music of 1967 it transports you to a different time and place that never really existed except in songs like this one.
08. Angie
My dad HATES Angie with every fiber of his being like I hate Arms Wide Open by Creed. I can never play this song around him. When I got into the Stones' he convinced me at first that this song was terrible but soon enough I began to love it. Yes it's sappy but it has a real sense of mystery and atmosphere to it that sucks me in every single time I hear it. I especially love the part where strings swell around the 2:10 mark and then it's joined by a piano before the 2:40 mark. I just love this song and I am not gonna apologize for it. Sorry I’m not sorry Dad!
07. Heartbreaker
Goat head Soup is the most underrated Stone's album and Heartbreaker is the most underrated Stone's single. It wasn't on 40 Licks and my local rock station didn't play it so it wasn't until 2004 that I finally heard it on a classic rock station in upstate New York. I love the keyboards which give the song a very early 70s funk feeling. Then the horns join in for the second chorus and the song goes up a notch and then Mick Taylor's guitar work takes it to a whole other level. This is a song that is both funky and rocking and also has interesting social commentary about how minorities are mistreated and even killed by police. Sadly the lyrics on this song still hit close to home today.
06. Wild Horses
My pick for the best Rolling Stones ballad. Wild Horses is a beautifully low key ballad with light country elements that explores the fragility of love and the human body. A lot of people say it's about Marianne Faithful's drug over dose when she was dating Mick Jagger but Mick has since denied that. Mick has stated though that he was very emotionally invested in Wild Horses and that definitely comes through in his vocal delivery. Sometimes Mick can't convey sincerity as well as say Paul McCartney but here it feels like his heart is spilling out for all the see. Not to be outdone Keith's guitar work on this song is some of his most emotional and beautiful especially around the 3:00 minute mark. This one never gets old for me.
05. Miss You
The Rolling Stones did a Disco song! The shock and awe in 1978 must have been palatable but it didn't stop Miss You from going all the way to # 1 and helping the album Some Girls become the biggest selling studio album of their career. I flat out love this song. It might even be my favorite disco song of all time. The bass is great of course because this is Disco and the bass has to be memorable and funky, but the fact that Miss You also features 2 of my favorite instruments in one song, the harmonica and the sax, just puts it over the top for me.
4. Street Fighting Man
I just love the way this song sounds. It's a hard rock song done acoustically and the layers of piano, sitar and other exotic instruments on it reminds me that this is one of the best produced songs in the Stone's catalogue. This is a song I get lost in every time I listen to it yet it can also pump me up too. The moment Mick sings get down at 2:28 and the music explodes into a cacophony of horns, pianos, sitars and who knows what else is honestly one of my favorite moments ever in music. I turn it up every time I get to that part. I live for the last 45 seconds of Street Fighting Man.
03. Gimme Shelter
Gimme Shelter is the soundtrack to the apocalypse. That eerie opening truly sounds like a storm is coming which is exactly what Mick sings at the start. The backing vocals by Mary Clayton are hauntingly beautiful at the start and emotionally devastating by the end especially when her voice cracks when she sings "Rape! Murder! They're just a shot a away." Looking back Gimme Shelter feels like it's the death of the 60s dream where free love gave way to pessimism, people being taken advantage of and yes even death. There was the Vietnam War, the Charles Manson murders and the tragic death of a young black man at the infamous Rolling Stones concert Altamont. In the late 60s The Rolling Stones truly came into their own as they became the antidote to Flower Power exposing the darkness and hypocrisy that was hiding underneath the counterculture all along. Yet while Gimme Shelter reflected the times it also feels out of time. Gimme Shelter still resonates 50 years later and is the Stones song that everyone loves even those who hate the Rolling Stones. Gimme Shelter is more than a song, it's an experience that speaks to darkness that lies in wait within all humans. This one still gives me goosebumps.
02. Paint it Black
Nobody in the 60s did darkness better than the Rolling Stones and Paint it Black is a testament to that. From that famous opening guitar cord, to the rush of Charlie Watt's drumming to Brian Jones frantically playing the sitar, Paint it Black grabs you from its first note and never lets go. A huge # 1 hit on both sides of the Atlantic, Paint it Black announced that not only were the Stones grittier than the Beatles but were also darker and therefore sexier for some. Paint it Black feels like forbidden fruit that you shouldn't eat but you can't resist it no matter how hard you try. The darkness of this song would influence generations of musicians in metal, punk, goth, industrial, grunge, emo and beyond but no matter how big it's influence Paint it Black remains a one of a kind experience that still feels ahead of its time.
01. Jumpin' Jack Flash
This is the song that put the Rolling Stones back on top after their excursion into psychedelic pop throughout 1967 didn't pan out like they had hoped. This is the Rolling Stones getting back to basics doing what they do best but doing it even better than before. This is the song that kick starts their most classic period which for me is 1968-1973. It's hard for me to describe why I love this song so much but I do. Everything just works about this song where every instrument and performance from each band member clicks perfectly into place. It's really the perfect Rolling Stones song and the one I go back to over and over and over again. A top 5 contender for my favorite song of the 60s. Also shout out to that harmonica at the end.
