Side A
Artist	Song
The Rolling Stones	It's All Over Now
The Rolling Stones	(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
The Rolling Stones	Get Off My Cloud
The Rolling Stones	Paint It, Black
The Rolling Stones	Miss Amanda Jones
The Rolling Stones	Back Street Girl
The Rolling Stones	Ruby Tuesday
The Rolling Stones	Jumpin' Jack Flash
The Rolling Stones	Stray Cat Blues
The Rolling Stones	Street Fighting Man
The Rolling Stones	Sympathy for the Devil
The Rolling Stones	You Got the Silver
The Rolling Stones	Gimme Shelter
The Rolling Stones	Monkey Man
The Rolling Stones	Honky Tonk Women
The Rolling Stones	Wild Horses
The Rolling Stones	Can't You Hear Me Knocking [edit--I kept 0:00 to 2:58 and ditched the rest]
The Rolling Stones	Loving Cup
The Rolling Stones	Happy
The Rolling Stones	Rocks Off
Side B
Artist	Song	Buy
The Rolling Stones	Coming Down Again
The Rolling Stones	Angie
The Rolling Stones	Beast of Burden
The Rolling Stones	Before They Make Me Run
The Rolling Stones	All About You
The Rolling Stones	Little T & A
The Rolling Stones	Wanna Hold You
The Rolling Stones	Sleep Tonight
Keith Richards	Take It So Hard
Keith Richards	Make No Mistake
The Rolling Stones	Slipping Away
Keith Richards	Wicked as It Seems
Keith Richards	Hate It When You Leave
The Rolling Stones	Thru and Thru
The Rolling Stones	The Worst
The Rolling Stones	Thief in the Night
The Rolling Stones	Losing My Touch
The Rolling Stones	This Place is Empty

Comment:

I have so much to say here that I don't even know where to begin. In a nutshell, this is a heartfelt tribute to the Human Riff/Laboratory, Keith Richards--who is not only my all-time favorite guitarist but is also one of my favorite songwriters, dark-horse vocalists and all-around figures in music history. His reluctance to hog the spotlight has often left him relegated to playing second fiddle to Mick Jagger (I'm always surprised when I hear friends of mine who have very similar tastes to mine proclaim Mick to be the primary reason that the Stones are--traditionally, anyway--the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World), and, as a result, I compiled this mix in support of my adamant contention that he is far and away the most compelling figure in the Rolling Stones' 44- or 45 (depending upon whom one asks)-year history. Although these selections are arranged chronologically, they are intended to present an appropriate mosaic of his talents: riff-meister ("Satisfaction," "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," "Happy," "Rocks Off," "Beast of Burden"); soloist ("It's All Over Now," "Sympathy for the Devil"--I actually prefer the Ya-Ya's version of the latter as an overall guitars-and-band performance, but it doesn't include THAT SOLO); vocalist ("You Got the Silver," "Make No Mistake," "Thru and Thru," his backing vocals on "Loving Cup" that MAKE the song as utterly spine-tingling as music gets); songwriter [as the primary musical force behind "Paint It, Black," "Wild Horses" and "Angie," as well as the near-sole composer (with Brian Jones, no less) of "Ruby Tuesday"]; elegantly dissipated balladeer (see any Keef song on any post-Some Girls Stones album, but "All About You" and the last four tracks on disc 2 in particular); and one third of the most tightly-yet-loosely-locked rhythm section in rock 'n' roll's history ("Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Street Fighting Man," "Gimme Shelter," "Monkey Man," "Honky Tonk Women"--really, have there been any rock songs with better intros than those songs? I think not). There were plenty of tracks cut: "Brown Sugar" (because it is essentially a Jagger composition, even if Keith's playing takes it to another level), "Torn & Frayed" (whose first chord is responsible for my wanting a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic more than any possession in this world), "Luxury" (as a consummate lesson in Keef-style rhythm playing), "Memory Motel" (where his short vocal stint makes the entire song worthwhile), "Dead Flowers" (for his backing vocals), "Play with Fire," "As Tears Go By," "Sister Morphine," "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (again, the intro and general level of accompaniment), "Under My Thumb" (passed over despite its title as my favorite Stones song because it's the entire band's performance that renders it immortal instead of just Keith and/or Charlie) and "Out of Time" (see my last comment, amended to "one of my very favorite" Stones songs). I wish Keith continued good health and a long life, especially his by-now-standard "Keef ballads" (whose slowness does drag the pacing of disc 2 down a bit despite their uniform level of quality) are the only reasons I'd ever listen to a modern Stones album. I'm keenly interested in hearing my fellow music geeks' comments on my discussion above, so, by all means, fire away. Thanks to hemizen for tracks 12 and 13 of Disc 2.

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