Forty-five years ago: The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers

Forty-five years ago today The Rolling Stones released their landmark album Sticky Fingers. It's a fantastic and diverse mix of rock and roll with bits of country and lots of blues mixed in as only the Stones can do it. It's considered to be one of the band's best albums and I can't help but agree.

"Brown Sugar" is perhaps the best-known song on the album and it was a staple cover song for many, many bands, most of whom struggle with figuring out and then delivering the lyrics. "Wild Horses" and "Dead Flowers" have become Stones-country classics while "Can't You Hear Me Knocking", "You Gotta Move" and "I Got the Blues" dive into their blues roots. "Bitch" is perhaps my favourite Stones tune. I love the guitar riff, the intensity and the attitude of the song. And those horns!

Check out my favourites from this incredible album:

"Brown Sugar"

"Wild Horses"

"Can't You Hear Me Knocking"

"Bitch"

"Dead Flowers"

Pic from Rolling Stones.

Late to the Party

I'm often late to the party, so to speak, when it comes to new music. Like many people, it can take me some time to get into new music. It can take some time for new music to grow on me. When I first heard Oasis, I frankly didn't think much of them. I was, admittedly, a recovering metal-head and BritPop was not exactly the music that sounded too familiar at first blush. When it did, it sounded a bit too much like The Beatles for my taste.

Do you remember that scene in Pulp Fiction when Uma Thurman's character and John Travolta's character are sitting outside of Jack Rabbit Slims? Uma describes how everyone is either a Beatles man or an Elvis man? I disagree with this. I think that everyone is either Beatles or Rolling Stones. I think that those two bands are much more comparable and are much more contemporaries than the Beatles and Elvis. I've always ended up on the Rolling Stones side of the equation, which explains my reaction to the Beatles-tinged rock of Oasis.

But that was then. A couple of years after What's the Story Morning Glory and Definitely Maybe were released, I found my appreciation for Oasis. About 5 years ago, I had one of my most enjoyable moments on stage playing lead guitar on the track "Morning Glory".

This scenario repeats itself for many other bands. Either I manage to miss their emergence completely or I take a listen, am not really grabbed by what I hear, only to discover months or years later that I really like the band.

Although I'm late to several parties, I'm not usually last to the party. Mention of many of the bands that I've been listing to for quite a while now still elicits blank stares from many friends and acquaintances, even from those who try to keep their ear to the ground for new music.

What does this mean for this blog? Well, it means that there will be many times when I cover an artist that is new to me that may not be new to others. I don't profess to be first to the party, but I hope I'm not last too many times.