‘You Got the Silver,’ from The Rolling Stones’ classic 1969 album Let it Bleed, is arguably the best song to ever feature Keith Richards on lead vocals.
Richards didn’t steal the mic from Mick Jagger very often — maybe once per album — but on some of his tracks it’s hard to imagine anybody else, even Mick, doing a better job.
Closing out my week of favorite upbeat songs is ‘Brown Sugar’ by The Rolling Stones. I wouldn’t call this song “happy,” exactly, but it’s a far cry from the somber notes hit by most of my desert island choices.
‘Brown Sugar’ is raunchy and lusty like many of the best Rolling Stones songs. Mick Jagger’s twisted ode to interracial relations controversially centers on slavers and house boys but he manages to get away with it.
‘All Down the Line’ is one of the greatest songs on one of The Rolling Stones’ greatest albums, Exile On Main Street. It bursts with the energy and attitude of all their best work.
This was the first track recorded for Exile On Main Street and Mick’s pick as the first single, though he was overruled when the band went with ‘Tumbling Dice’ instead.
‘Tell Me’ was the first song co-written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
At the time they were making an ok living recording covers of R&B songs, but their management knew the real money was in publishing. So the boys reluctantly kicked off what would become one of the most prolific and celebrated songwriting partnerships in music history.
In a neat bit of confluence, the first day of 2014 coincides with my 2,000th Song of the Day post. Funny to think that’s been destined to be the case since I posted Song of the Day #1 on July 25, 2008, but I didn’t know it until now.
Meet Me In Montauk 