| Let It Bleed | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 28 November 1969 (1969-11-28) | |||
| Recorded | November 1968 – November 1969 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 42:21 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Jimmy Miller | |||
| The Rolling Stones chronology | ||||
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Let It Bleed is the eighth studio album by the English rock bandthe Rolling Stones, released on 28 November 1969 byLondon Records in the United States and on 5 December 1969 byDecca Records in the United Kingdom.[2] Released during the band's1969 American Tour, it is the follow-up toBeggars Banquet (1968), and, like that album, is a return to the group's moreblues-oriented approach that was prominent in the pre-Aftermath (1966) period of their career. Additional sounds on the album draw influence fromgospel,country blues andcountry rock.
The album was recorded during a period of turmoil in the band;Brian Jones, the band's founder and original leader, had become increasingly unreliable in the studio due to heavy drug use, and during most recording sessions was either absent, or so incapacitated that he was unable to contribute meaningfully. He was fired in the midst of recording sessions for this album, and replaced byMick Taylor. Jones contributed to only two songs, playing backing instruments. He died within a month of being fired.
Taylor had been hired after principal recording was complete on many of the tracks, and appears on two songs, having recorded some guitar overdubs.Keith Richards was the band's sole guitarist during most of the recording sessions, being responsible for nearly all of the rhythm and lead parts. The other Stones members (vocalistMick Jagger, bassistBill Wyman, and drummerCharlie Watts) appear on nearly every track, with contributions by percussionistJimmy Miller (who also produced the album), keyboardistsNicky Hopkins,Al Kooper andIan Stewart (himself a former member of the band), and guest musicians includingRy Cooder.
The album reached top ten positions in several markets, including reaching number one in the UK and number three in the US. While no high-charting singles were released from the album, many of its songs became staples of Rolling Stones live shows and on rock radio stations, including "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want", both of which frequently appear on lists of the greatest songs ever. The album was voted number 40 inColin Larkin'sAll Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd edition (2000).[3] In 2005, the album was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame, and is on various iterations ofRolling Stone magazine's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.
Although the Rolling Stones had begun the recording of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" in November 1968, beforeBeggars Banquet had been released, recording forLet It Bleed began in earnest in February 1969 and continued sporadically until early November.[4]Brian Jones, the band's original leader and founder, had, over the course of the recording of the previous two albums, become increasingly detached from the group. Though present in the studio, he was frequently too intoxicated to contribute meaningfully, and after a motorcycle accident in May 1969, missed several recording sessions whilst recovering. Always a talented multi-instrumentalist, Jones had previously contributed extensively on guitar, forming an integral part of the dual-guitar sound that was central to the band's chemistry. He was fired from the band during the recording ofLet It Bleed, having performed on only two tracks: playingautoharp on "You Got the Silver", and percussion on "Midnight Rambler". A month after being fired, Jones was found at the bottom of his swimming pool at his home. The coroner's report stated this was a drowning, later revised to "death by misadventure".
As with the previous album, most of the guitar parts were recorded instead by the band's other guitarist,Keith Richards, during the period of principal recording. Jones' replacement,Mick Taylor, appears on just two tracks, "Country Honk" and "Live with Me", having contributed some overdubs during the May 1969 LondonOlympic Studios recording sessions. He also appears on "Honky Tonk Women", a stand-alone single recorded during theLet It Bleed sessions.
Richards sang his first solo lead vocal on a Rolling Stones recording with "You Got the Silver",[5] having previously sung harmony and background vocals with primary vocalistMick Jagger on "Connection" and shared alternating lead vocals with Jagger on parts of "Something Happened to Me Yesterday" and "Salt of the Earth". Additional vocals were provided by theLondon Bach Choir, who sang on "You Can't Always Get What You Want". The choir distanced themselves from their contribution, however, citing what authorStephen Davis terms its "relentless drug ambience".[6] BassistBill Wyman appears on every track except for two, on which Richards played bass. DrummerCharlie Watts performed on all of the tracks except for "You Can't Always Get What You Want"; he struggled to attain the sought-after rhythm, so producerJimmy Miller filled in for him instead.
Let It Bleed was originally scheduled for release in July 1969. Although "Honky Tonk Women" was released as a single that month, the album itself was delayed and eventually released in December 1969, after the band's US tour had completed.[7] The majority of the album was recorded atOlympic Studios in London, with further work taking place atElektra Sound Recorders Studios in Los Angeles, California, while the Stones prepared for the tour.[8] The Los Angeles-recorded portions includedoverdubs by guest musiciansMerry Clayton (on "Gimme Shelter"),Byron Berline (on "Country Honk"),[9] andBobby Keys andLeon Russell (on "Live with Me").[10]
As withBeggars Banquet the previous year, the album marks a return to the group's moreblues-based approach that was prominent in the pre-Aftermath period of their career. The main inspiration during this string of albums wasAmerican roots music andLet It Bleed is no exception, drawing heavily fromgospel (evident in "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want"),Hank Williams andJimmie Rodgers ("Country Honk"),[11]Chicago blues ("Midnight Rambler"),[12] as well ascountry blues ("You Got the Silver", "Love in Vain") andcountry rock ("Let It Bleed").[1]
Don Heckman, writing inThe New York Times, felt thatLet It Bleed was a "heavy" and "passionately erotic" album ofhard rock and blues, influenced byAfrican-American music.[13]Richie Unterberger, writing forAllMusic, said it "extends the rock and blues feel ofBeggars Banquet into slightly harder-rocking, more demonically sexual territory".[14]Mojo magazine's James McNair felt the record had an emphasis on "earthy" country blues.[15]
Through their experimentation during the mid-1960s, the band had developed an eclectic approach to arrangements.Slide guitar playing is prominent (played entirely by Richards, except "Country Honk", which was performed by Taylor), and is featured on all songs except "Gimme Shelter", "Live with Me" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want", giving the album an authentic blues feel throughout. In addition, an array of session musicians embellish the songs with various instruments. Alongside the piano performances (Ian Stewart,Nicky Hopkins), the record included fiddle (Byron Berline),[11] mandolin (Ry Cooder),[16] piano, organ and French horn (Al Kooper),[17] as well as vibraphone (Wyman)[18] and autoharp (Wyman and Jones).[19][20] Of more importance, however, was the debut of both renowned saxophonistBobby Keys on "Live with Me", a musician who was integral at giving the group's arrangements a soul/jazz background, and Taylor, who took on lead guitar duties with technically proficient playing, giving the band a harder rock sound during the late 1960s and early 1970s.[21]
Jann Wenner, in a 1995Rolling Stone interview with Jagger, describes the album's songs as "disturbing" and the scenery as "ugly". When asked if the Vietnam War played a role in the album's worldview, Jagger said: "I think so. Even though I was living in America only part time, I was influenced. All those images were on television. Plus, the spill out onto campuses".[22]
The album was released in the US as anLP record,reel-to-reel tape,audio cassette and8-track cartridge in 1969, and as a remastered CD and chrome cassette tape in 1986. In August 2002, it was reissued in a remastered CD andSACDdigipak byABKCO Records, and once more in 2010 byUniversal Music Enterprises in a Japanese only SHM-SACD version.[23] Amono version was included in the 2016 box-setThe Rolling Stones in Mono.[24] In September 2019, a remastered 50th anniversary edition ofLet It Bleed was announced for release by ABKCO on November 15.[25] It comes with two 180g vinyl LPs with the album in both stereo and mono. Bob Ludwig remasteredLet It Bleed for its 50th anniversary reissue.[26]
Jagger asked artistM. C. Escher to design a cover for the album, but he declined.[27][28]Robert Brownjohn then designed the cover, which displays a surreal sculpture. The image consists of theLet It Bleed record being played by the tone-arm of an antiquephonograph, and a record-changer spindle supporting several items stacked on a plate in place of a stack of records: a film canister labelledStones – Let It Bleed, a clock dial, a pizza, a bicycle tire and a cake with elaborate icing topped by figurines representing the band. The cake parts of the construction were prepared by then-unknown cookery writerDelia Smith.[29] The reverse of the LP sleeve shows the same "record-stack" melange in a state of disarray.[30] The artwork was inspired by the working title of the album, which wasAutomatic Changer.[31]
The album cover was among the ten chosen by theRoyal Mail for a set of"Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.[32][33]
| Retrospective reviews | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [34] |
| And It Don't Stop | A+[35] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [36] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A[37] |
| The Great Rock Discography | 9/10[38] |
| Music Story | [39] |
| MusicHound Rock | 5/5[40] |
| NME | 9/10[41] |
| Rolling Stone | [42] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [43] |
Released in December,Let It Bleed reached number 1 on theUK Albums Chart (temporarily demotingthe Beatles'Abbey Road) and number 3 on theBillboard Top LPs chart in the US, where it was eventually certified2× platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In a contemporary review forRolling Stone magazine, music criticGreil Marcus said that the middle of the album has "great" songs, but "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" "seem to matter most" because they "both reach for reality and end up confronting it, almost mastering what's real, or what reality will feel like as the years fade in."[44]Robert Christgau named it the fourth-best album of 1969 in his ballot forJazz & Pop magazine's annual critics poll.[45] In later commentaries, he has said the album "still speak[s] to me with startling fullness and authority",[46] with the quality of the "playing" alone "fantastic",[35] and that despite some "duff moments" on side two, every song "stands up".[47]
In a retrospective review,NME magazine said that the album "tugs and teases" in various musical directions and called it "a classic".[41] In his 2001 Stones biography, Stephen Davis said of the album "No rock record, before or since, has ever so completely captured the sense of palpable dread that hung over its era."[6] In a five-star review forRolling Stone in 2004, Gavin Edwards praised Richards' guitar playing throughout the album, and stated: "Whether it was spiritual, menstrual or visceral, the Stones made sure you went home covered in blood."[42] Jason McNeil ofPopMatters wrote thatBeggars Banquet andLet It Bleed are "the two greatest albums the band's (or anyone's) ever made".[48] InSteven Van Zandt's opinion,Let It Bleed was one in the Stones' series of four studio LPs—includingBeggars Banquet (1968),Sticky Fingers (1971) andExile on Main St. (1972)—that was "the greatest run of albums in history".[49]
The album was included in a "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published inChristgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[50] In 2000,Q magazine ranked it at number 28 in its list of "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[citation needed] In 2001, the TV networkVH1 placedLet It Bleed at 24th on their "100 Greatest Albums of R 'n' R" survey.[citation needed] In 1997, it was voted the 27th-best album ever byThe Guardian.[citation needed] In 2003,Rolling Stone ranked it at number 32 on the magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[51] It maintained the rating in a 2012 revised list,[52] and was ranked at number 41 in a 2020 revised list.[53] It was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame in 2005.[54]
The track listing on the back of the album jacket did not follow the one on the album itself. According to Brownjohn, he altered it purely for visual reasons; the correct order was shown on the record's label. Additionally, "Gimme Shelter" is rendered as "Gimmie Shelter" on the jacket. Most releases have "Gimmie Shelter" on the cover, the inner sleeve and the LP label, until 2019.
All tracks are written byMick Jagger andKeith Richards, except "Love in Vain" byRobert Johnson. Early US editions of the album credit the song to Woody Payne, a pseudonym used by a music publisher of the songs of Robert Johnson.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Gimme Shelter" | 4:31 |
| 2. | "Love in Vain" | 4:19 |
| 3. | "Country Honk" | 3:09 |
| 4. | "Live with Me" | 3:33 |
| 5. | "Let It Bleed" | 5:26 |
| Total length: | 20:58 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Total length: | 21:23 | |
Track numbers noted in parentheses below are based on the CD track numbering where the titles of the second side are numbered from 6 to 9.[55]
The Rolling Stones
Additional personnel
Technical personnel
| Chart (1969–1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[57] | 2 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[58] | 4 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[59] | 1 |
| Finland (The Official Finnish Charts)[60] | 12 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[61] | 3 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[62] | 7 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[63] | 11 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[64] | 2 |
| Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[65] | 5 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[66] | 1 |
| USBillboard 200[67] | 3 |
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[68] | 37 |
| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| French Albums (SNEP)[69] | 138 |
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[70] | 112 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[71] | 128 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[72] | 64 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[73] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[74] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| Netherlands (NVPI)[75] | Gold | 25,000[75] |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[76] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[77] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
