19. Emotional Rescue (Emotional Rescue, 1980)
Well, adding Ron Wood to their band certainly brought back some magic. Emotional Rescue was his second album with the band, and it, like Some Girls before it, went to #1. In retrospect, Some Girls was a much more interesting album. Some Girls blended the fads of disco and hard rock—both huge in the late 1970s—and then put a distinctive classic rock spin on them, and then used that formula to experiment with other genres, such as country. The result was a group of songs that felt timely and timeless, and recalled all of the Stones best country/rock/blues songs. Emotional Rescue felt less like an album than a loose collection of singles. Many were very good, others were just good enough to be used on the next album (Tattoo You) and the best was Emotional Rescue.
Emotional Rescue feels a little like disco, but it’s moving into the extremely slick and synth-driven top 40 style that would dominate the charts in the 1980s. The band continued to move away from blues rock and to become increasly “pop.”
Covers:
More coming soon!
18. Salt of the Earth (Beggar’s Banquet, 1968)
The album filled with raw, savage violence (Sympathy for the Devil and Street Fighting Man), statutory rape (Stray Cat Blues), and raw raunch (Parachute Woman), closes with a genuine, touching, borderline Gospel tribute to blue collar workers. I’ve always like this song, but I confess I fell in love with it when I heard Axl Rose sing it in one of the rare live performances of the tune. And then I fell back in love when Bettye LaVette covered it in 2010.
Covers:
17. Ruby Tuesday (Between the Buttons, 1967)
In a lot of ways, this feels like The Stones trying to be The Beatles. In fact, it was even covered by Julian Lennon! It’s also the rare example of a Stones song that Jagger admits was mostly written by Keef.
Covers: Posting some of the lesser known, odder ones—like the French version and one sung by Minnie Ripperton.
16. Wild Horses (Sticky Fingers, 1971)
There are many reasons why people say Sticky Fingers is the best Rolling Stones album. They’re wrong, but they have lots of good reasons. There’s not a bad song on the record, and most are not just “not bad”—they’re great. And not the least of which is this slow ballad.
Random fun fact: Sticky Fingers was the first album to feature the cartoonish lips and tongue that became the band’s logo.
Covers: Gram Parsons helped the Stones work this song out, so it’s fitting that his band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, issued a good cover version. I also liked The Sundays’ version. But my favorite has to be the one led by Jerry Garcia from Old and in the Way.
Come back tomorrow as we start the top 15!
15. Miss You (Some Girls, 1978)
The comeback single from the comeback album, released at a time when the public was more interested in disco than rock. Rather than resist the trend and notwithstanding their status as old-timers in the rock and roll game, Mick and Keith released a “Special Disco” 12-inch remix of “Miss You.” It worked. The song and the album went to #1—the last time the Rolling Stones would top the charts.
As you’ll see, there’s only a handful of post-1960s Stones songs in the top 20. Hm.
Covers:
14. Let It Bleed (Let It Bleed, 1969)
It wasn’t until I started this list that I noticed how fascinated Mick Jagger was with menstruation. He’s got so many songs about it.
Covers: Joan Jett!!!!!!!
13. Get Off of My Cloud (December’s Children (And Everybody’s), 1965)
Coming on the heels of one of their all-time biggest hits, Satisfaction, the Stones released another hard-rocking blues song with powerful drums and a fantastic hook. And the fact that it was about teen alienation and the “you don’t get my generation, man!” message made it perfect for its time.
The album, December’s Children, is one of the bands’ most forgettable, half-full of covers—although it did also include the decent slow ballad, “As Tears Go By.”
Covers:
12. Honky Tonk Women (Single, 1969)
A song so good, even The Rolling Stones covered it—as a country version, on Let It Bleed. But the single version is far superior, full of energy and soul—even if the country version is how it was originally intended.
Covers: The Pogues, man. Amazing. But many other good ones, too. Many country legends. And the legendary Prince.
11. Let’s Spend the Night Together (Between the Buttons, 1967)
A song so beloved, it was covered by everyone from Charo to David Bowie. A song so controversial, Ed Sullivan made the band change the lyric to “Let’s spend some time together.” Knowing that while you watch Mick Jagger sings it makes it clear he’s parodying himself as he stares into the camera and over-enunciates. And then, for their sit-down interview, they wore Nazi uniforms.
Instantly legendary.
And because controversy has staying power, when China opened its doors to The Rolling Stones in 2006, they barred the band from playing this song.
Covers:
