Flashpoint - Rolling Stones (The) (CD 1998)

It s a long way from London s seedy Crawdaddy Club to the largest, most prestigious venues in the world and the title The World s Greatest Rock n Roll Band, yet The Rolling Stones have made that journey and continue to go strong after forty-plus years in the spotlight.

The Rolling Stones were in the first wave of the famous British Invasion of 1964 along with The Beatles and The Dave Clark Five. By 1965, with the release of the world renowned single Satisfaction, the Stones had firmly eclipsed their British rivals and won a place in the hearts of rock n roll fans who like their music a bit on the rough side. I can remember the ragged, driving unmistakeable sound of The Rolling Stones coming from the tinny AM radio receivers that was all we had in those days!

I was a teeny bopper then, and the Stones soon became my favorite group, especially when I heard their full length LPs, like Flowers, the immortal Beggar s Banquet, and the life changing Let it Bleed. Who has not been driving down the road when the eerie strains of Gimme Shelter come on the radio only to glance down and notice the speedometer is suddenly 20MPH faster than expected?

The Stones were the original bad boys of rock and literally hundreds of famous bands have patterned themselves after Jagger, Richard, and Company. The Stones, of all major groups, have retained their connection to their pure blues roots dating from ancient Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, and Rev. Gary Davis recordings, grafting on eclectic influences like country and celtic riffs, as well as a heavy dose of Reggae dating from their highly acclaimed Exile on Main Street LP. Still the Rolling Stones have one of the most identifiable sounds in popular music: there in no mistaking a Rolling Stones tune!

Flashpoint is a single CD compilation of recordings off the Steel Wheels Tour of 1991. Many of them seem to be from Tokyo, as lead singer Mick Jagger notes that it s nice to be in Tokyo and speaks a bit of Japanese to the audience, too.

It is my pleasure to report that the Stones are in fine fettle and play their all time hits as well as more recent material with all the gusto you d expect from the group who shamelessly goes by the title World s Greatest Rock n Roll Band. A recent London newspaper headline proclaimed, These Old Devils Still Play the Best Music, to describe their phenomenal popularity on the tour circuit to this day. By the way, for you trivia buffs, they got their name from a Muddy Waters song, not Bob Dylan.

The playlist consists of the following cuts:

1. Continental Drift - (Intro)
2. Start Me Up
3. Sad Sad Sad
4. Miss You
5. Rock And A Hard Place
6. Ruby Tuesday
7. You Can't Always Get What You Want
8. Factory Girl
9. Can't Be Seen
10. Little Red Rooster
11. Paint It Black
12. Sympathy For The Devil
13. Brown Sugar
14. Jumpin' Jack Flash
15. Satisfaction (I Can't Get No)
16. Highwire - (studio)
17. Sex Drive - (studio)

A few notes on some of the more interesting cuts.

Start Me Up Jagger talking dirty and everybody loves it; such a good song that Microsoft licensed it for their Windows operating system.

Miss You In the middle of the mostly forgettable disco inferno, the old timey Rolling Stones managed to snag the number 1 album and the number 1 disco song. Not bad, eh?

Ruby Tuesday an uncharacteristically introspective number for The Stones, piquant enough to name a restaurant after.

You Can't Always Get What You Want a highly layered number complete with choir backing vocals and a dynamite horn section. I believe it concerns the phenomenal shooting star Jimi Hendrix, but only Jagger knows for sure and he ain t talking.

Factory Girl a song that shows the pure roots of country music as interpreted by the Stones. From Beggars Banquet and not to be missed.

Little Red Rooster a Howling Wolf number that the Stones made their own. Special guest Slowhand Eric Clapton does the honors in serving up a mess of complicated and tasty Chicago style electric blues licks that will please even the most discriminating blues connoisseur.

Paint It Black an interesting Eastern-flavored tune showing the faint influences the Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi had on the Stones, who never recorded in this style again. Purported to be inspired by multiple instrument master Brian Jones, who played the original studio cut on a sitar; current guitarists Richard and Wood do just fine mimicking the effect with their electric guitars. Two thumbs up!

Sympathy For The Devil based on a Samba rhythm, SFTD illustrates the wonderfully wry and cynical sense of humor of the Stones. When it is remembered that it came at the same time as The Beatles psychedelic phase Magical Mystery Tour and saccharine numbers like All You Need is Love it becomes doubly delicious. Not to miss!

Of course, the crowd pleasing Jumpin Jack Flash, Brown Sugar, and Satisfaction are included. If you are a rock n roll fan, these songs need no introduction and will be popular as long as rock survives. The live audience can be heard singing right along with Mick, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Oooh! How come ya, how come ya taste so good?

High Wire and Sex Drive are a couple of studio cuts of latter day Stones material that are well worth hearing. Hot guns, and cold, cold knives is a line from High Wire I picked up.

All in all, Flashpoint is an excellent CD for those who need that one perfect Rolling Stones album in their collection as well as the die hard fanatic who needs them all. Get your copy today!

Thanks for reading!