Let It Bleed
Gimme Shelter to You Can't Always Get What You Want: Brian Jones's last album and Mick Taylor's first.
The Rolling Stones, 1969
- Released
- 28 November 1969 (US), 5 December 1969 (UK)
- Recorded
- November 1968 to November 1969
- Studio
- Olympic Studios, London; Elektra Sound Recorders and Sunset Sound, Los Angeles
- Label
- London (US), Decca (UK)
- Producer
- Jimmy Miller
- Length
- 42:21
Sessions ran from November 1968 to November 1969 in London and Los Angeles, with Glyn Johns as engineer. Jones played congas and autoharp on his last Stones album. Taylor played slide and electric guitar on two tracks, and Richards sang lead on You Got the Silver. Miller played drums on You Can't Always Get What You Want after Watts struggled with the part. The guests included Al Kooper, Leon Russell, Ry Cooder, Merry Clayton and the London Bach Choir, with choral arrangements by Jack Nitzsche.
It was number one in the UK and number three in the US, going 2x Platinum there. Rolling Stone ranked it number 32 in 2003 and number 41 in 2020, and it entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005. A 50th anniversary edition appeared on 15 November 2019, remastered by Bob Ludwig.
The author Stephen Davis wrote that no rock record before or since has so completely captured the sense of palpable dread of its era. Gavin Edwards gave it five stars in Rolling Stone in 2004.
Track listing
- Gimme Shelter4:31
- Love in Vain4:19
- Country Honk3:09
- Live with Me3:33
- Let It Bleed5:26
- Midnight Rambler6:52
- You Got the Silver2:51
- Monkey Man4:12
- You Can't Always Get What You Want7:28
Personnel
- Mick Jagger vocals
- Keith Richards guitars, lead vocal on You Got the Silver
- Brian Jones congas, autoharp
- Mick Taylor slide and electric guitar on two tracks
- Bill Wyman bass
- Charlie Watts drums
- Ian Stewart keyboards
- Nicky Hopkins keyboards
- Al Kooper keyboards
- Leon Russell keyboards
- Byron Berline fiddle
- Ry Cooder mandolin
- Bobby Keys saxophone
- Merry Clayton vocals
- Nanette Workman vocals
- Doris Troy vocals
- Madeline Bell vocals
- London Bach Choir choir
- Jack Nitzsche choral arrangements
- Jimmy Miller producer, percussion, drums on You Can't Always Get What You Want
- Glyn Johns engineer
More from The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones (1964), Out of Our Heads (1965), Aftermath (1966), Beggars Banquet (1968), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goats Head Soup (1973), Some Girls (1978), Tattoo You (1981), Hackney Diamonds (2023)
Sources
- Let It Bleed, Wikipedia
- Gimme Shelter, Wikipedia