Tim’s Top Stones

1. Stray Cat Blues (Beggar’s Banquet) – To me this is the quintessential Stones song, Keith at his funky best.
2. Child Of The Moon (Jumpin’ Jack Flash B-side) – Wish they’d spent a bit more time on this recording, Keith’s BVs are horribly out of tune, but its still awesome. Great fuzz bass from Bill.
3. 19th Nervous Breakdown (7″) – One of their most original songs before they got too fucked up.
4. We Love You (Flowers 7″) – the poor old Stones take too much flak for their psychedelic stuff – I think its great, and this is a masterpiece. I wish they’d collaborated more with Lennon & McCartney.
5. Gimme Shelter (Let It Bleed) – I think Jagger is the only virtuoso in the Stones (both vocals and harmonica) but what they lack in virtuosity they make up for with feeling/mojo/attitude. This song is 100% mojo – some kind of crossroads-type deal definitely went down to make this song possible. Check the link for the unreleased extended version (though I dig the edit).
6. She Smiled Sweetly (Between The Buttons) – I love the Stones’ intermediate period where they were experimenting with ballads and pop structures. Always loved this song, and expect it to pop up in a Wes Anderson movie someday.
7. Street Fighting Man (Beggar’s Banquet) – Here’s another one that’s all about the feel – what crappy guitar sounds, but what a great song. Particularly LOVE the breakdown at 2:30 where it changes key – Brian hits the Maracas and Jagger honks out that bizarre trumpet-like note on the harmonica – fucking sublime moment. Bill Wyman’s bass is also stunning on this track – a hugely under-rated bassist.
8. You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Let It Bleed) – Perhaps the Stones’ smoothest production, and a gorgeous song. Mick Taylor’s country licks are just killer.
9. She’s A Rainbow (Their Satanic Majesties Request) – Often ridiculed as a weak Beatles rip-off, I think this is actually a natural progression from the Stones’ pop experimentation. In my opinion the concept of this fair lady ‘coming colours’ is about as psychedelic as it gets.
10. Winter (Goat’s Head Soup) – Come down song from a come-down album – listen to this when you’re driving home at 4am.

I love this theme, but when I started searching for supergroups, I realized that I don’t like any of them apart from Cream – and they’d have been better without Clapton. So here’s my slightly-cheaty list which includes pre-fame-collaborations and one ‘featuring’.

1. Hurdy Gurdy Man (Donovan, with session players John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page from a future Led Zeppelin)
2. Over The Top (Motördamn – brief team up between Motörhead and The Damned)
3. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, plus metal super-session player Rudy Sarzo & Simon Wright)
4. Flavor (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion featuring Beck and Mike Diamond from The Beastie Boys)
5. Get The Message (Electronic – Bernard Sumner of New Order, Johnny Marr of The Smitsh with Neil Tennant & Chris Lowe from The Pet Shop Boys and Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk.)
6. Yer Blues (Dirty Mac – John Lennon of The Beatles, Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton of Cream and Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience)
7. I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll  (original demo version by Joan Jett with Steve Jones & Paul Cook of The Sex Pistols)
8. As You Said (Cream – Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton of John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers and Ginger Baker of Graham Bond Organization )
9. Shake Appeal – (Vicious White Kids – Sid Vicious and Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols, Rat Scabies of The Damned, Steve New of The Rich Kids and Nancy Spungen – other line-ups for Sid’s live shows included Mick Jones of The Clash and Jerry Nolan of The New York Dolls)
10. We Love You (The Rolling Stones plus an uncredited John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles)