Beggars Banquet is a typical 60s Rolling Stones album: some good-great singles (Sympathy for the Devil, Street Fighting Man, No Expectations), and other tracks that are in essence simple filler with a twinge of special sauce on top making them a little better than usual. This is not the Rolling Stones return to their "roots". There is the leering psychedelic sound of "Child of the Moon" from the same sessions that is somewhat hidden all these decades later as the B-side to "Jumpin' Jack Flash". A lot of, if not every major artist, dipped into the psychedelic craze of '66/'67, which most dropped by '68. Either way they stripped away the effects for the most part (the Nashville tuning on "Jumpin' Jack Flash"--from the same sessions--pushed through a tape deck or some intermediary to create a claustrophobic intro) playing the songs in a traditional rock band setting of guitars, bass, and drums, laced with some piano.
"Sympathy for the Devil" is on the list of great songs Jagger sings, "Dear Doctor", "Parachute Woman", "Factory Girl", "Stray Cat Blues", and especially "Jigsaw Puzzle", are devoid of the magic Jagger can conjure up on a couple singles per year, all of which inversely succeed instrumentally. The lyrics sound improvised to some intriguing country blues instrumentals at a party--in that setting they are impressive, but boring put up against Richards compositions and the Watts & Wyman rhythm section, which shines more brilliant here than any other release from the Stones 60s albums.
When the Rolling Stones decide to be great they are one of the best. The nervous boogie of "Sympathy for the Devil", with the lethargic chorus, a detached guitar solo, and phrases like "Who killed the Kennedys? / …it was you and me" and "Use all your well-learned politesse / Or I'll lay your soul to waste" can send shivers down your spine. It is the history of violence recounted throughout the song referencing all of humanity as "Lucifer in need of restraint". The greatest quality to the lasting power of the song is probably the piano played by Nicky Hopkins, and anywhere else that he crawls in.
Richards shows a high competency to play and compose the American country blues that most English bands fail to properly put together. The guitar parts of "Parachute Woman" and "Jigsaw Puzzle" succeed in updating the 50s sound to the late 60s era of hippies and junkies: a split personality of the band and of their lost member after these sessions, Brian Jones. A contradiction of sorts since most hippies become junkies in one way or another, and most junkies are hippies at heart. Richards, and Jones to a lesser degree, play with precision instead of overindulgence.
Brian Jones is probably the greatest foil/ancillary member of a rock band. He brought a special personality to so many songs up to Beggars Banquet playing all of the unconventional rock instruments that added the flair to the band's sound that really set them apart more than any other aspect of their sound. The great songs that the Rolling Stones recorded from '65-'68 may have been great without Brian Jones but that can never be known. As soon as he was pushed out of the band, during and after these sessions, the rest of the musicians had to rely on their jamming which they are not particularly great. Richards in particular is best in short bursts, and when limited to the simple pop-rock song format he is one of the best of all times. Another great short burst from Richards is "Street Fighting Man", which is up there with some of his all-time great riffs (Satisfaction, Jack Flash, Gimme Shelter, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Brown Sugar). Along with "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Street Fighting Man" is probably his best: it is powerful, all heart, relentless, simple, and pure rhythm. On top of that, Watt rumbles along with the soul awakening rant by Jagger.
Another interesting song, because of what the music means on a superficial level, "Stray Cat Blues", sounds like a response to the Velvet Underground's friendly thievery of the Rolling Stones's jam to "Hitch Hike" for the song "There She Goes Again" off of the debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico a year before with the little tapping on the low E-string and slow entry into the song like "Heroin" off of the same album. Back then they called it creativity; in the 90s they called it stealing ("Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve/Jagger/Richards); or it is only stealing when you make loads of money unlike anything the Velvet Underground ever made. There is also a little more borrowed with I-V chord progression played with the body instead purely for the mind like with "Heroin". And there is a hint of "Sister Ray" at the end as “Stray Cat” falls apart, but that may be reaching, with the addition of "Factory Girl"--The Factory was where the VU were playing when the Rolling Stones probably wrote some of these songs.
The most memorable thing about the album is sadly the cover. The above cover that is released today with the picture of the toilet and back wall riddled with hippy messages is the original that the band chose. And what is most memorable about it is not the art work, it is that the Rolling Stones were not big enough by this point to put out anything they want and get away with it. The record company is too scared of supposed bad publicity instead of letting their artists be…artists. The most memorable aspect of the album will be the loss of Brian Jones in "devilish" form. It was a highly hypocritical move. Everyone in the band was drugged out and all over the place like Jones, who died a year later. Jones probably needed to leave, not for the band, but for his own survival.
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