Did the Stones really ever top Paint It Black ?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Scott S., Mar 6, 2015.

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  1. Monosterio

    Monosterio Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Florida
    Well, the last few of those 25 you don't really have to consider. :D
     
  2. JoeF.

    JoeF. Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    They topped "Paint It, Black" many times--and some that came before ( "Satisfaction?", "Get Off My Cloud?") that single was released top it as well. But it's a great song--one of so many great Stones songs. I've always believed that as popular as The Stones were--and still are as a live act--they won't get the the true respect and appreciation they deserve until they are no longer active as a working band....
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2015
  3. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    My favorites are Gimme Shelter & Jumpin' Jack Flash
     
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  4. Guy E

    Guy E Senior Member

    Location:
    Antalya, Turkey
    It would be nice if someone could agree with the OP, but I won't be the generous one.
     
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  5. vivatones

    vivatones Forum Resident

    Hmmmm. Maybe with "Under My Thumb" or "Out Of Time."
     
  6. quadjoe

    quadjoe Senior Member

    I love "Paint It Black," it was my favorite for a number of years, but "Gimme Shelter," "Sympathy for the Devil," and "Under My Thumb" eclipse it, IMO. That said, I read a bio of the Rolling Stones waaaay back in 1972 that really left me with a huge impression of Brian Jones. In that book the author relates the story of how, the day before the recording sessions for "Paint It Black," Brian picked up the sitar for the first time, so the sitar you hear in the song is Brian playing after one day of figuring the instrument out. I don't know if it's really true, but it's a great story. I do know that the story was related again in the bio of Jones titled Golden Stone, a great read for fans of the early Rolling Stones. Anyway, that's getting off topic. But the Rolling Stones output is huge, and picking a "best" song is difficult at best, and diminishes their achievement at worst. Having a favorite is one thing, but it would be difficult to define just what is meant by "best."
     
  7. ralphb

    ralphb "First they came for..."

    Location:
    Brooklyn, New York
    Among others...

    Ruby Tuesday
    Child Of The Moon
    Dandelion
    We Love You
     
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  8. dirtymac

    dirtymac Forum Resident

    Location:
    Exile, MN
    Of course they did. Many times over. Christ.
     
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  9. michael landes

    michael landes Forum Resident

    A very curious response....... I like it! :)
    (even though I'm a stones fan AND love the song personally)
     
  10. old school

    old school Senior Member

    Paint it Black is a awesome song. but there are many from that era that are great. Gimme Shelter and Have You Seen Your Mother Baby are my favs.
     
  11. mds

    mds Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    For that time period, '64 to '67 I believe both "Paint it Black" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" are top rate and hard to beat. These two songs highlight what the Stones grew to before making a wild change in sound and subject matter with "Beggars Banquet". These two songs were still from an innocent period and for this reason are hard to compare to the mid period Stones, which in my opinion starts with "Beggars Banquet" and ends with "Exile on Main Street". This mid-period has such a different sensibility and it is impossible for me to compare the songs from the end of the British Invasion/Begin of the Psychedelic Movement to the collapse of the Peace and Love movement and the beginning of a drug drenched sound, which was far from the innocence of "Satisfaction" and "Paint it Black".
     
  12. LandHorses

    LandHorses I contain multitudes

    Location:
    New Joisey
    For me, they never topped "19th Nervous Breakdown."
     
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  13. quadjoe

    quadjoe Senior Member

    I agree with you, mostly, but "Satisfaction" is hardly a song that I'd call innocent. Even in those early days the Stones were considered the "Bad Boys" of Rock 'n' Roll. Heck, my dad wouldn't let my buy their records because even as early as '67 their drug use was no secret.
     
  14. Monosterio

    Monosterio Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Florida
    If all the examples of better songs here are right, Paint It Black is worse than I thought.
     
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  15. mds

    mds Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    Yes they were bad boys and even in an age of innocence there were bad boys, James Dean. The period when Satisfaction and then Paint it Black came out was the transitional period, end of innocence, but still very innocent. Drug use was in swing but people who were using it really did not understand the power and destruction it could bring. This was prior to the wide use of heroin and cocaine. Pot and psychedelics were in vogue and thought to be harmless by many users.
     
  16. Propinquity

    Propinquity Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gravel Switch, KY
    I'll say this: Paint It Black is one of maybe 3 Stones songs that I would never turn off if it came on the radio. I think it's great.
     
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  17. pinkrudy

    pinkrudy Senior Member

    i dont think they topped it.....but they matched it many times

    gimmie shelter
    jumping jack flash
    wild horses
    can you hear me knocking
    sweet virginia
    angie
     
  18. Jonboy

    Jonboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cape Town
    Many times. It's a great song, but many times.
     
  19. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    I like it better when it has a comma in the title.

    It may be the best superfluous comma song ever recorded.
     
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  20. eelkiller

    eelkiller One of the great unwashed

    Location:
    Northern Ontario
    Probably not. ;)
     
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  21. old school

    old school Senior Member

    Brian and Mick are in perfect tandem. Awesome Sitar and Mick's killer humming.
    And Mothers Little Helper with Bills awesome bass.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2015
  22. quadjoe

    quadjoe Senior Member

    True. But then there's the last verse of "Satisfaction" that really got to my folks (and didn't make sense to an 11 year old):

    "...
    When I'm ridin' round the world
    And I'm doin' this and I'm signing that
    And I'm tryin' to make some girl
    Who tells me baby better come back later next week
    Cause you see I'm on losing streak...."

    I think something like that is more of an innocence lost kind of thing as well. The funny thing to me now is that The Beatles maintained a fairly "squeaky clean" image, at least until '68 or so, while doing the same kind of things that the Stones did (at least pot and hallucinogens).
     
  23. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    Indeed they did. They topped it with JJF which was topped by Honky Tonk Women which was topped by Brown Sugar. With the latter, the all-significant peak had arrived. They never matched that level of potency ever again.
     
  24. Sparky

    Sparky Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, England
    I went to a Stones show in 1990 with a friend who wasn't particularly into them and the song he was most looking forward to hearing was Paint It Black. It does seem to be the favourite Stones song for people who aren't fans, i've seen it often. Maybe because it doesn't sound too Stonesy. Plus Tour of Duty gave it renewed exposure a generation or two later.

    Personally, it's ok but it wouldn't come close to being in my top 50, top 100 even.
     
  25. eelkiller

    eelkiller One of the great unwashed

    Location:
    Northern Ontario
    If Bono likes it who are we to say it is not the best? :shrug:

     
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