February 17 – Monday – The Rolling Stones – Let it Bleed

This is the first Stones album I ever bought and it was because of a guy, you know, that guy from back in the H’s – the one that taught me to kiss. Read the Hassles post if you don’t remember. He and his friends were big Stones fans and liked to debate the fate of Brian Jones and who played what on which album. This may well be the only record I bought because of a guy (though I still can’t explain Poco), and even though we just heard a few of the songs on Hot Rocks like “Gimme Shelter,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Midnight Rambler,” it was well worth it. This also includes the rude “Live With Me,” which, like with “Under My Thumb,” I’m not terribly proud of liking so much, and has appearances by Leon Russell and Al Kooper. The sleeve says – This Record Should Be Played Loud – and I agree, but as a responsible adult and apartment dweller, consideration for others must come first. It was not exactly played softly, however.

I can’t put my finger on what it was about the Stones that kept me from being a bigger fan, the rudeness maybe, but I will admit they did put out some good stuff. When I saw them last year on the televised 12/12/12 concert, I was amazed that any of them could remain vertical. We all know about Keith Richards and his imitation of a corpse, but Mick Jagger and Ron Wood also look like their faces are being sucked into themselves. They looked fine from the waist down, all wearing black jeans and actually lifelike, lively even. So, while I myself wouldn’t call them the world’s greatest band, I just might refer to them as the most astonishing. Perhaps one of my problems with them was what they did to Marianne Faithfull. Seriously, listen to her version of “As Tears Go By” in the 1960s, and compare it to “Broken English” some 15 years later. I hold them responsible.

So, I didn’t not exercise for three days in a row, I got some Ram in last night. I just didn’t feel like writing, or thinking. Not eating’s not been a problem though.