Description
AftermathReleased in April 1966 by Decca Records,nbspAftermathnbspwas the Rolling Stonesrsquo fourth British studio album. It was issued by London Records in the US in June 1966. Recorded at the RCA Studios in California, it was their first album released in true stereo.It is also one of the first lsquopopularrsquo albums to eclipse the 50minute mark, and contains one of the earliest rock songs to exceed 10 minutes the blues jamnbspGoinrsquo Home. The albumrsquos release was briefly delayed by controversy over the original packaging idea and title ndashnbspCould You Walk on the Waternbspndash due to London Reocordrsquos fear of offending Christians in the US.The album was considered an artistic breakthrough for the band, being the first to consist entirely of JaggerndashRichards compositions, after their maverick young manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, had shut them in the kitchen of their flat until they had written some more original songs.It also featured strongly the immaculate guitar work of Brian Jones and the remarkably wry, observant songwriting of JaggerndashRichardsJones played a variety of instruments not usually associated with their music, including sitar, dulcimer, marimbas and Japanese koto, as well as guitar, harmonica and keyboards, though much of the music is still rooted in Chicago electric blues. The burgeoning influences of psychedelia, Bob Dylan and the tensions around the world, are evident in classics likenbspPaint It Black, an eerily insistent number one hit, available on the US version of the LP.Other classics included the jazzynbspUnder My Thumb, where Jones added exotic accents with vibes, and the delicate Elizabethan balladnbspLady Jane, with distinctive dulcimer, the wry observationalnbspMotherrsquos Little Helpernbspwith its unashamed lyrical drug references, and the overlooked gem ndash the brooding, meditativenbspI Am Waiting.The American edition was issued with a shorter track listing, substituting the singlenbspPaint It Blacknbspin place of four of the British versionrsquos songs, in keeping with the industry preference for shorter LPs in the US market at the time.Between The ButtonsReleased in the UK in January 1967 by Decca Records and February by London Records in the US ndashnbspBetween The Buttonsnbspwas the Stonesrsquo fifth British and seventh US studio album. Released as the followup to Aftermath, this album marked a high point in the bandrsquos career, continuing their ventures into psychedelia and baroque pop balladry, it is among the bandrsquos most musically eclectic works. Brian Jones sidelined his guitar on much of the album, instead playing a wide variety of other instruments including organ, marimba, vibraphone, and kazoo.Piano contributions came from two session players former Rolling Stones member Ian Stewart and frequent contributor and studio legend Jack Nitzsche. It was the last album produced by Andrew Loog Oldham, the bandrsquos manager and producer of all of their albums to this point.The album has one of the most striking sleeves of the period, featuring a classic Gered Mankowitz image on the cover. The photo shoot took place at 530 in the morning following an allnight recording session at Olympic Studios. Using a homemade camera filter constructed of black card, glass and Vaseline, Mankowitz created the effect of the Stones dissolving into their surroundings ndash according to Mankowitzhellipldquoto capture the ethereal, druggy feel of the time that feeling at the end of the night when dawn was breaking and theyrsquod been up all night making music, stoned.rdquoThe songs continued Aftermathrsquos lyrics of acute social observation and savage insight, their earlier raw, rootsy power enhanced by other influences of the period ndash notably The Beatles, The Kinks, and again Dylan. It is one of their strongest, most varied LPs, with many great songs that remain unknown to all but Stones devotees.The inventive arrangements and innovative instrumentation on brooding nearclassics likenbspAll Sold Out,nbspMy ObsessionnbspandnbspYesterdayrsquos Papersnbspbrought a new dimension to the music.nbspShe Smiled Sweetlynbspshows their hidden romantic side at its best,nbspConnectionnbspis one of the recordrsquos few pieces of more conventional driving rock and album closernbspSomething Happened To Me Yesterdaynbspincludes Keithrsquos first solo vocal.The US version includes contemporaneous hits ndash the two songs that gave the group a doublesided number one in early 1967 the shameless and controversialnbspLetrsquos Spend The Night Togethernbspand the beautiful, melancholynbspRuby Tuesday.
