Description
Released 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.
