A great Early rolling stones album

The evolution from blues to rock accelerated with the Rolling Stones' second American LP. They turned soul into guitar rock for the hits "It's All Over Now" and "Time Is on My Side". "2120 South Michigan Avenue" is a great instrumental blues-rock jam; "Around and Around" is one of their best Chuck Berry covers; and "If You Need Me" reflects an increasing contemporary soul influence. On the other hand, the group originals are weak and derivative, indicating that the band still had a way to go before it could truly challenge the Beatles' throne.

best of early albums

i bought this album when it first came out (1965?). bought it on cd recently and was reminded how good it was/is. in fact, my friends and i used to consider the stones' first 5 albums a sort of "Old Testament"of 60's british invasion r&b. check out "confessin the blues" and "its all over now" in particular.

Blue Stones

The Stones were probably the best white band in the 60's to play rock n roll/blues and this is quite an example. They could play it with authority, not really trying to copy, but taking those songs and turning them into rolling stones songs, that somehow matched what they were all about: a bunch of ragged and dangerous guys with guitars. Even their ballads sound obscure and not polished. This Cd has some unforgettable tracks, like under the boardwalk, susie q, good times, ect. Probably just a couple of songs do sound like fillers, but this was just their second album.

Brian Jones fan club

Brian Jones. The difference between the Stones and all of the imitators since is the undercurrent of real blues that Brian provided; not rave-up crap, but solid 'Chess'-style backup. For all of the rebelliousness attributed to the band and the man, their long suit is tradition, no matter how much youthful energy is piled on top of it.

Cementing The Early Legend

The Stones 2nd US album, released Oct 23, 1964. It cemented the early blues band legend with tracks from their famous Chess Studios session in Chicago during the 1st American tour (Muddy Waters helped carry their gear into the studio) and tracks recorded at Regent Sound in London. Essentially, this is the album that finalized their status with Chicago blues forever.

The album starts with Check Berry's Around And Around, which the Stones had been doing as a show stopper in the UK, the big hits Time Is On My Side and It's All Over Now, and the great slow blues numbers Confessin' The Blues & Good Times Bad Times. Although they used to do a lot of instrumentals, 2120 S. Michigan seems to have survived as the only memory of this part of the early Stones familiar to most fans. Personally I always liked Congratulations, but never cared for their version of Susie Q, although it was very popular at the time.

The tracks recorded June 10-11, 1964 at Chess Studios in Chicago were (Around And Around, Confessin' The Blues, Empty Heart, Good Times Bad Times, It's All Over Now, 2120 S. Michigan version 2, If You Need Me). Tracks recorded at Regent Sound in London were done on Feb 25, 1964 (Susie Q), June 24-26, 1964 (Time Is On My Side version 1, Congratulations), and Sep 28-29, 1964 (Under The Boardwalk, Grown Up Wrong).

This album was never released in the UK, however the tracks were released in the UK as follows:

6-26-64 It's All Over Now, Good Times Bad Times

8-14-64 Five by Five EP - If You Need Me, Empty Heart, 2120 S. Michigan version 1, Confessin' the Blues, Around and Around

1-16-65 The Rolling Stones No. 2 - Time Is On My Side version 1, Grown Up Wrong, Under The Boardwalk, Susie Q

Congratulations was not released in the UK until 10-5-73 on the album No Stone Unturned

Twelve songs by five lads

This was the Rolling Stones second album. They wrote a bit more original material this time out, with five original songs (three by Jagger/Richards and two by "Nanker Phlege"). The originals are all good, even the "filler" instrumental "2120 South Michigan Avenue" rocks. The rest of the album consists of covers of rock, R&B and blues songs. This is great stuff, especially the obligatory Chuck Berry cover, "Around and Around". The album also features the group's first UK Number One hit, "It's All Over Now". It should be noted that "Time Is On My Side", which was the band's first US Top Ten hit, is not the hit single version. This is a different version of that song, which is most noticeable during the spoken word part, which Mick says more "calmly" than he does on the hit version. Still great, though. Another great album by the Stones, and highly recommended.