Most fans of the group feel that the band peaked between the years 1965 and 1972, a run that included “Aftermath”, “Let It Bleed”, “Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!” and “Sticky Fingers”. After this string of raw genius, the band became more corporate, more protected after the disaster of Altamont, the drug busts and the loss of Brian Jones. These incidents could only force the band to back track and see if they could still come out swinging.
Lester Bangs wrote a great review of “Goat’s Head Soup” entitled “1973 Nervous Breakdown” (a reference to an earlier hit by the band and their general state of mind after the aftershock of the sixties). It stood out to me, reading it many years later, noting that it referenced the year I was born (no commentary on my mental state at the time is available). I arrived after the sixties; after Altamont, the Beatles, the rise and fall of the counterculture, Trudeaumania and the dashed hopes of a generation. I did inherit disco, Watergate, OPEC, pet rocks and the years that fashion forgot. I also had Mick in my blood.
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