Any band will have prejudices about its tunes. Even if people want to honor the thousands of guitarists who came before them, it feels better to talk about your impact on music than on everyone else. The Rolling Stones’ newest member, Ronnie Wood, considers Beggars Banquet one of their best albums.
The band was at a creative peak, but it all seemed to stem from pain. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had finally found their footing as composers after years of playing second fiddle to The Beatles, and it looked like they might be a major challenger to John Lennon and Paul McCartney by the end of the 1960s.
As long as you didn’t look at Brian Jones, everything seemed to be improving. For the past few albums, Jones had practically left the group, and his frustration with his role led to him spending half the studio time doing nothing. When a band member prefers napping to playing guitar, they usually leave.
Jones plays some lead guitar on Beggars Banquet, although Richards played most of it until Mick Taylor arrived. Taylor could weave guitar sections like no one else, but hearing the band internalize their roots, coming back to blues music while writing country songs like ‘No Expectations’, is more natural.
This feels like a duo album between Jagger and Richards, with Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman providing a sturdy basis. Other Stones albums have a unique face. Wood may return to this record because of its rootsiness, even though every other album featured fantastic blues rock.
Ronnie Wood wrote on Instagram, “My favourite Stones album without me on it is Beggars Banquet”. Is it unexpected because Wood’s most famous work was with Rod Stewart on his rustic rock and roll?
He’s not wrong either. Beggars Banquet started the great series of albums that led to Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street. However, it may be the best of them individually. Not as much blazing guitar work, but that wasn’t the intention. The band battled for their sanity across ten songs, showing us what it was like to be on the wrong side of the tracks.
