Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert holds the distinction of being the first live album by any artist to have reached #1 on the UK charts. Recorded at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on November 27 and 28, 1969, Ya-Ya’s is considered the Stones’ finest live album. It was the band’s first release to feature guitarist Mick Taylor, who had joined several months earlier. Ya-Ya’s includes hits such as “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Street Fighting Man,” and “Sympathy for the Devil” but is most notable for an 9+ minute version of “Midnight Rambler” with extended harmonica solos, thought by many to be the best version of the song.

This legendary 1969 Rolling Stones masterpiece includes, among others, the classic “Gimme Shelter,” “Midnight Rambler” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” Let It Bleed marked the last time the band recorded with Brian Jones who died five months before its release, to the studio entree point for guitarist Mick Taylor. The album served to transition the band from the basic rock and blues feel for which it had been so well known to a whirlwind of hard rocking frenzy. The featured songs are amongst the band’s all time best: “Gimme Shelter,” with its shimmering guitar lines and apocalyptic lyrics, the harmonica-driven “Midnight Rambler,” the druggy party ambience of the title track and the always stunning masterpiece “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” which is a triumph of the early period Stones’ art: epic structure, philosophical lyric, vibrant horn backing and a swelling choral refrain. Also of note is “You Got the Silver” which marked Keith Richards’ first lead vocal and the band’s take on Robert Johnson’s classic “Love in Vain.” Full blown production and down-home acoustic roots all in the same package as only the Stones could offer. Let It Bleed was recorded and mixed at Olympic Sound Studios in London and Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles between November 1968 and October 1969. The album was produced by Jimmy Miller and engineered by Glyn Johns. Released in December of 1969, Let It Bleed reached #1 in the UK, knocking The Beatles’ Abbey Road out of the top slot, and #3 on Billboard’s Top Pop Albums chart in the US, where it eventually achieved RIAA multi-platinum status. The album was the Stones’ last to be released in an official mono version and was also sourced from the first generation stereo master tape. The album also features a number of notable guest musicians and vocalists, including Ian Stewart, Nicky Hopkins, Jack Nitzsche, Ry Cooder, Leon Russell, Al Kooper, Bobby Keys, Byron Berline, Rocky Dijon, Merry Clayton, Madeline Bell, Doris Troy, Nanette Newman and The London Bach Choir.

The Rolling Stones returned to their blues roots on Beggars Banquet, which was immediately acclaimed as one of their landmark achievements. A strong acoustic Delta blues flavor colors much of the material, particularly their definitive interpretation of Robert Wilkins’ “Prodigal Son” and their own Jagger/Richards original, “No Expectations” which features some beautiful slide guitar work by founding member and multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones. Basic rock ‘n’ roll is not forgotten, however: “Street Fighting Man,” a reflection of the political turbulence of 1968, was one of their most innovative recordings. “Sympathy for the Devil,” with its fire-dancing guitar licks, leering Jagger vocals, Samba rhythms, haunting back-up vocals and explicitly satanic lyrics, was an image-defining epic. On “Stray Cat Blues,” Jagger and crew began to explore the kind of decadent sexual experimentation that would foreshadow the ’70s era of celebrated debauchery. At the time, the approach was fresh, and the lyrical bite of most of the material ensured Beggars Banquet’s place as one of the top blues-based rock records of all time. The album reached Top Ten on the U.S. and U.K. album charts in 1968 and 1969 and was recorded at Olympic Sound Studios in London and Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles from February to July 1968. Originally produced by Jimmy Miller, this re-release was sourced from the first generation stereo master tape at the correct speed. It features guest musicians and vocalists: Nicky Hopkins, Rocky Dijon, Ric Grech, Dave Mason and The Watts Street Gospel Choir. The album achieved Platinum status.

It’s the rare greatest-hits album that takes on a life of its own. Generally, best-of collections are superseded by updated retrospectives. Hot Rocks 1964-1971 is the exception to the rule: a classic comprised of classics. Originally released in December 1971, this two-LP set is The Rolling Stones‘ first anthology and one of the band’s all-time best sellers. Upon release, it remained on the Billboard album chart for an amazing 243 consecutive weeks with the highest chart position reaching #4. Hot Rocks has been certified 12X platinum by the RIAA. The album carries most of the band’s biggest hits; the 21 tracks featured represent seven years of dizzying growth. While the emphasis is on the hits, Hot Rocks also includes several iconic album tracks such as “Play With Fire,” “Under My Thumb” and “Gimme Shelter.” This gives listeners a well-rounded impression of The Rolling Stones’ music and their ever-evolving sound during this critical period. You hear them change from a loud R&B-inspired rock ‘n’ roll band covering their mentor’s hits and making them their own, such as Erma Thomas’ “Time Is on My Side,” to true musical innovators with breakthroughs like “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Get Off of My Cloud,” “19th Nervous Breakdown” and, finally, into self-actualized, rebel-poets with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” and “Midnight Rambler.” From “Time is on My Side” through “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” on to Sticky Fingers’ “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses,” Hot Rocks 1964-1971 never lets up! The album tracks were produced by Andrew Loog Oldham, Jimmy Miller, The Rolling Stones and Glyn Johns. Hot Rocks 1964-1971 garnered 11 Top Ten U.S. and U.K. hits and 7 No.1 hit singles.