Monday, June 27, 2022

The Second Coming - The Rolling Stones Discography (1968-1976)

Keeping up with my seemingly usual "one post per month" quota, here's yet another band discography for Strawberry Peppers: The Second Coming, focusing on The Rolling Stones. A criticism with the original discography of the David Bowie era of the Stones (1969-1976) was that it was incredibly unrealistic that he'd be given a lot of album space from the get-go. I mean, if you look at the early years of the Beatles, George Harrison didn't really emerge as a songwriter until 1965, save for "Don't Bother Me" on With the Beatles, so it left me wondering how to fix that up. Hopefully this revised discography will be more to your liking.

Before we begin, however, and for those of you who are wondering about David Bowie's solo discography:
  • "Letter to Hermione" and "Janine" are both donated to the Rolling Stones, and "Conversation Piece" ends up in the middle of the second side of his 1969 eponymous album.
  • 1984 is able to be released as he originally intended before came out with Diamond Dogs instead, per Albums Back from the Dead. I might change that up if expectations seem unrealistic, but one can dream, right?
  • The Gouster comes out instead of Young Americans, and "Fame" and "Across the Universe" are released as a standalone single with John Lennon.
  • The Man Who Sold the World, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Aladdin Sane, Pin Ups and Station to Station are unaltered from OTL.
And now, the Rolling Stones discography, post-1967!

Who Killed Christopher Robin? (September 6, 1968)
Side A (22:22)
1. Sympathy for the Devil - 6:18 (Beggars Banquet)
2. No Expectations - 3:56 (Beggars Banquet)
3. Citadel - 2:50 (Their Satanic Majesties Request)
4. In Another Land - 3:15 (Their Satanic Majesties Request)
5. Parachute Woman - 2:20 (Beggars Banquet)
6. Jumpin' Jack Flash - 3:43 (GRRR!)

Side B (23:40)
7. Street Fighting Man - 3:16 (Beggars Banquet)
8. The Lantern - 4:24 (Their Satanic Majesties Request)
9. Stray Cat Blues - 4:38 (Beggars Banquet)
10. Factory Girl - 2:09 (Beggars Banquet)
11. 2000 Man - 3:07 (Their Satanic Majesties Request)
12. Jigsaw Puzzle - 6:06 (Beggars Banquet)

Originally, it was dubbed Lazarus of England, and I liked the original playlist fine, but one of my biggest regrets was excluding "Street Fighting Man", one of the band's most political songs. This revised playlist puts more emphasis on Beggars Banquet as I think it's likely that, following the aborted sessions for Their Satanic Majesties Request, the Stones start from scratch but salvage a few tracks (that is, those that weren't released as singles) for their comeback album. This is their last album to have any involvement from Brian Jones.

Let It Bleed (December 5, 1969)
Side A (19:57)
1. Gimme Shelter - 4:31
2. Janine - 3:25 (Space Oddity)
3. Honky Tonk Women - 3:02 (GRRR!)
4. Live with Me - 3:33
5. Let It Bleed - 5:26

Side B (21:23)
6. Midnight Rambler - 6:52
7. You Got the Silver - 2:51
8. Monkey Man - 4:12
9. You Can't Always Get What You Want - 7:28

One rule that I'm establishing for these albums is to eliminate cover songs as I believe they should've put more emphasis on originals like they did for Could You Walk on the Water? and Aftermath. However, covers could still happen as B-sides. In place of "Love in Vain" is David Bowie's "Janine", and "Honky Tonk Women" is the single version rather than the country version. One minute shorter than the official version, but still solid overall.

Sticky Fingers (November 27, 1970)
Side A (23:07)
1. Brown Sugar - 3:48
2. Sway - 3:50
3. Wild Horses - 5:42
4. Can't You Hear Me Knocking - 7:14
5. Letter to Hermione - 2:33 (Space Oddity)

Side B (23:02)
6. Bitch - 3:38
7. I Got the Blues - 3:54
8. Sister Morphine - 5:31
9. Dead Flowers - 4:03
10. Moonlight Mile - 5:56

Besides releasing the album earlier and replacing "You Gotta Move", nothing about Sticky Fingers has changed. A near-perfect album from start to finish.

Tropical Disease (December 17, 1971)
Side A (24:53)
1. All Down the Line - 3:49 (Exile on Main Street)
2. 100 Years Ago - 3:59 (Goats Head Soup)
3. Changes - 3:37 (Hunky Dory)
4. Let It Loose - 5:16 (Exile on Main Street)
5. Sweet Virginia - 4:27 (Exile on Main Street)
6. Tumbling Dice - 3:45 (Exile on Main Street)

Side B (23:56)
7. Life on Mars? - 3:43 (Hunky Dory)
8. Loving Cup - 4:25 (Exile on Main Street)
9. Sweet Black Angel - 2:54 (Exile on Main Street)
10. Queen Bitch - 3:18 (Hunky Dory)
11. Shine a Light - 4:14 (Exile on Main Street)
12. The Bewlay Brothers - 5:22 (Hunky Dory)

Tropical Disease was a working title for Exile on Main Street, and the track listing is based upon that by The Reconstructor, but with "Silver Train" and "Hide Your Love" held back for the next album (see below) and the removal of "Shake Your Hips" and "Stop Breaking Down". All of these changes were made to accommodate four David Bowie tracks.

Exile on Main Street (August 11, 1972)
Side A (22:46)
1. Rocks Off - 4:31
2. Rip This Joint - 2:22
3. Eight Line Poem - 2:55 (Hunky Dory)
4. Torn and Frayed - 4:17
5. Casino Boogie - 3:33
6. Quicksand - 5:08 (Hunky Dory)

Side B (24:26)
7. Happy - 3:04
8. Silver Train - 4:27 (Goats Head Soup)
9. Andy Warhol - 3:08 (Hunky Dory; edit)
10. Turd on the Run - 2:36
11. Hide Your Love - 4:12 (Goats Head Soup)
12. Velvet Goldmine - 3:10 (Re:Call 1)
13. Soul Survivor - 3:49

Again, I follow what The Reconstructor did with his single Exile on Main Street album, albeit by excluding the bonus tracks from the 2010 reissue as well as "Ventilator Blues" (a co-write with Mick Taylor), and even throwing in "Velvet Goldmine", one of David Bowie's most popular tracks despite not appearing on an album. Since it was recorded in 1971, I think it fits well.

Goats Head Soup (August 31, 1973)
Side A (26:43)
1. Dancing with Mr. D - 4:53
2. Tops - 3:45 (Tattoo You)
3. Song for Bob Dylan - 4:12 (Hunky Dory)
4. Coming Down Again - 5:54
5. Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) - 3:26
6. Angie - 4:33

Side B (26:05)
7. Oh! You Pretty Things - 3:12 (Hunky Dory)
8. Winter - 5:30
9. Can You Hear the Music - 5:31
10. Kooks - 2:53 (Hunky Dory)
11. Star Star - 4:25
12. Waiting on a Friend - 4:34 (Tattoo You)

As Goats Head Soup was robbed of a few tracks, I filled the gaps with a couple of outtakes that were eventually included on Tattoo You along with the leftover tracks from Hunky Dory. The resulting album runs at six minutes longer than OTL, but still works pretty well.

Diamond Dogs (October 18, 1974)
Side A (14:49)
1. If You Can't Rock Me - 3:46 (It's Only Rock 'n Roll)
2. Diamond Dogs - 5:56 (Diamond Dogs)
3. It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It) - 5:07 (It's Only Rock 'n Roll)

Side B (15:44)
4. Till the Next Goodbye - 4:37 (It's Only Rock 'n Roll)
5. Time Waits for No One - 6:37 (It's Only Rock 'n Roll)
6. Rebel Rebel - 4:30 (Diamond Dogs)

Side C (13:08)
7. Luxury - 5:00 (It's Only Rock 'n Roll)
8. Rock 'n' Roll with Me - 3:57 (Diamond Dogs)
9. Dance Little Sister - 4:11 (It's Only Rock 'n Roll)

Side D (15:32)
10. If You Really Want to Be My Friend - 6:16 (It's Only Rock 'n Roll)
11. Short and Curlies - 2:43 (It's Only Rock 'n Roll)
12. Fingerprint File - 6:33 (It's Only Rock 'n Roll)

The official It's Only Rock 'n Roll is quite a lengthy album at 48 minutes, and even if we cut "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", a few songs are still pretty long, running at least five minutes. Including leftover tracks from Diamond Dogs that didn't make 1984, it causes the album to run at about an hour, which is why I made it a double album rather than a single. Depending on reaction, I may revert to leaving OTL's Diamond Dogs as is and replace the three tracks with holdovers from Hunky Dory (namely "Life on Mars", "The Bewlay Brothers" and "Velvet Goldmine") that I included on Tropical Disease and Exile on Main Street, and then replace those with a few 1971-1972 outtakes. Ideally, I'd like the 1971-1976 albums to have around two or three David Bowie tracks each. Speaking of which...

Red and Black Blues (April 13, 1976)
Side A (28:12)
1. Hot Stuff - 5:20 (Black and Blue)
2. Hand of Fate - 4:28 (Black and Blue)
3. Slave - 6:33 (Tattoo You)
4. Win - 4:44 (Young Americans)
5. Memory Motel - 7:07 (Black and Blue)

Side B (25:37)
6. Hey Negrita - 4:59 (Black and Blue)
7. Worried About You - 5:16 (Tattoo You)
8. Fascination - 5:45 (Young Americans)
9. Fool to Cry - 5:03 (Black and Blue)
10. Crazy Mama - 4:34 (Black and Blue)

The Rolling Stones' only album as a sextet, and their first with Ronnie Wood. "Cherry Oh Baby" and "Melody" have been left aside in favor of the later-released "Slave" and "Worried About You", along with a couple of leftovers from Young Americans.

What happens next?
With David Bowie's solo career in full swing, along with the release of Station to Station and his controversial persona the Thin White Duke, he had been planning for a while to depart the Rolling Stones, especially with the arrival of Ronnie Wood. But then, tragedy struck on May 19, 1976, when Keith Richards was involved in a car crash on the M1 under the influence of cocaine and LSD. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Rumors circulated that David Bowie had left because of Richards' death, but he and the surviving members of the Rolling Stones have denied this claim. However, Bill Wyman would leave the group due to his grief, and it would be years before he re-entered the spotlight.

Come 1977, David Bowie would put out his first post-Rolling Stones album Low, the first in what would be called the Berlin trilogy. Meanwhile, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood would form a new group dubbed the Phoenixes, which also included Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin (who had broken up following Robert Plant's death from a car accident in 1975) and Terry Kath and Robert Lamm from Chicago (who had broken up due to a mix of burnout and creative differences in 1974). The Phoenixes would put out their first album in 1978, dubbed Rise from the Ashes.

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