70. The Rolling Stones — Aftermath (1966)

They didn’t need no education?

1. US and UK distributors back to their old tricks here, where the US version of the album swaps in “Paint It Black” for “Mother’s Little Helper” and cuts a few other songs. 1001 Albums uses the UK version as reference, so that’s what I’m going with, but hot damn “Paint It Black” is a banger. This is one of the first cases I’ve seen yet of preferring a US release to a UK one.
2. To be clear, I wouldn’t want to lose “Mother’s Little Helper” either — tonally, it kicks off the album in much the same way “Paint It Black” would, a great, dark tune to introduce the world to a more pure Rolling Stones sound. This is their first album of all originals, and it’s a big step up from their earlier work. Compared to the clean cut Beatles or the snarky and sarcastic Kinks or Who, it’s easy to see how the Stones were the British Invasion act to take on the bad boy moniker most strongly.
3. Part of that bad boy moniker, it must be noted, stems from, uh…questionable lyrics toward the ladies. “Under My Thumb” is the standout track here, but at the same time, I could understand someone having a problem with its story of a pushy-turned-submissive girlfriend. Still, I do appreciate Patti Smith’s take on this:

“The Aftermath album was the real move. two faced woman. doncha bother me. the singer displays contempt for his lady. he’s on top and that’s what I like. then he raises her as queen. his obsession is her. ‘goin home.’ What a song … stones music is screwing music.”

4. The Stones do a fair amount of sonic experimentation here but really cling to their blues roots, and I appreciate that. The slide guitar on “Dontcha Bother Me” is dirty and smooth at the same time; “Going Home” is a bit (a lot a bit) overindulgent but a classic traveling blues tune (that this 11 minute tune leads into another traveling blues tune “Fight 505” that sticks to under 3:30 must be an inside joke).

5. On a whole: it’s a very solid album, but I must continue to give The Beatles the lead in the Beatles-vs-Stones debate, which I must continue to embrace, because if I’m going to embrace the history of pop music, I must also embrace the history of pop rivalries.

One Essential Song:

Listen on Spotify (UK Version):