The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed- 1969
RMR Album Rating- 10

On Let it Bleed, The Rolling Stones created an album of songs built on the same foundation that they constructed on their previous album Beggars Banquet, but this time they include three signature songs rather than two, and they push the boundaries of sleaze rock even further.

All the songs here are unquestionably classics, but “Gimme Shelter,” “Let it Bleed,” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” rise above the rest and have become synonymous with true classic rock.

Click here to Listen to Gimme Shelter
Click here to listen to Let it Bleed
Click here to Listen to You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Let it Bleed also shows the Stones’ further cementing their signature sound and style: Sleaze Rock. For me, Sleaze Rock really has to have three critical elements, regardless of who is playing it. First, the music has to be very riff oriented, so the rhythm guitar tone usually creates the core of the sound. Second, the lyrics and vocals have to be a bit sleazy, and they are usually hedonistically suggestive. Third and lastly, the whole package has to be delivered with swagger and attitude.

Most of the songs on Let It Bleed have the sleaze rock sound and feel, but the best examples of the sound comes from the songs “Country Honk,” “Live with Me,” and “Let it Bleed,” which follow each other in sequence on the album. The riffs, lyrics, and attitude are really drenched in sleaziness. In terms of lyrics, The Rolling Stones tested the water of sexual suggestiveness on Beggars Banquet with songs like “Stray Cat Blues,” but they really take the suggestiveness a step further on “Let it Bleed” with these three songs. Here are some great lines from each of these sleaze rock classics.

Country Honk
“She blew my nose and then she blew my mind” (click here to listen to Country Honk)

Live With Me
“Whoa, the servants they’re so helpful, dear/ The cook she is a whore/ Yes, the butler has a place for her/ Behind the pantry door/ The maid, she’s french, she’s got no sense/ She’s wild for crazy horse/And when she strips, the chauffeur flips/ The footmans eyes get crossed/ Doncha think there’s a place for us/ Right across the street/ Doncha think there’s a place for you/ In between the sheets?” (Cick here to listen to Live With Me)

Let it Bleed
She said my breasts they will always be open/ Baby, you can rest your weary head on me/ And there will always be a space in my parking lot/ When you need a little coke and sympathy…/ Yeah, we all need someone we can cream on/ And if you want to, well you can cream on me” (Click here to listen to Let it Bleed)

All in all, the album is a complete winner, and it is the centerpiece album of The Stones’ golden trilogy of albums, which many people consider three of the greatest classic rock albums of all time.

Post Script:
There are two versions of the song “Country Honk”: “Country Honk” and “Honky Tonk Women.” “Country Honk” was written first, and it is the version of the song that is included on this album. Keith Richards said they included “Country Honk” rather than “Honky Tonk Women” “because that’s how the song was originally written, as a real Hank Williams/Jimmie Rodgers, ’30s Country song.” However, the “Honky Tonk Women” version has really become the most popular version. Richards has also said that Mick Taylor is the one responsible for the transformation of “Country Honk” into “Honky Tonk Women” by electrifying its sound and turning it into a rock song.  (Click here to listen to the live version from ‘Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!’ of Honky Tonk Women)

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(4 reader ratings, average: 4.50 out of 5)

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