Beggars Banquet - "Prodigal Son" & "Stray Cat Blues" Album Reaction (Part 4)

[@trainman5323]

Stray Cat Blues may well be the first ‘grunge’ song. Beatles sang about love and submarines. Stones sang about sex and drugs and more sex. And more drugs.

[@scottlbroco]

Syed, you're crushing it on your reaction videos for this album! I immediately liked your channel when I discovered it, but now that you're doing a deep dive into the Rolling f***ing Stones, I've grown to love it! "Prodigal Son" - one of my favorite Stones cover songs. I love Keith's lively acoustic guitar playing, and that's Keith's "Hey!" at the end of the song. You'll hear him sing a lead vocal before the album ends. The secret to what makes this song work was Charlie's driving bass drum. Charlie Watts was one of the 3 essential members of the Rolling Stones; he always found a way to to serve their songs best, and in rock and roll, you can only get as far as your drummer can take you. "Stray Cat Blues" this all about Keith's snarling twin electric guitars for me, played with the same menace as on "Sympathy for the Devil". Nasty, dirty song. "Beggars Banquet" has a kind of theme to it - it's a look at the human condition. The dark side of mankind throughout history on "Sympathy for the Devil", that moment in time's unrest and rising rebellion against authority in "Street Fighting Man ", and smaller tales of ordinary people living ordinary lives. That this should come from the second most famous rock and roll band the world has ever heard was remarkable. Rock and Roll was a powerful cultural force in the 1960s, and similar to Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards chose to voice the discontentment of their generation. The two of them combined their identities to form a unique singer/songwriter - an introverted guitarist with tremendous musical instincts and an extraverted singer with a gift for communicating emotions. It's rare that you hear an album of an established artist and know immediately that it surpasses everything they created before it, but that's the reaction "Beggars Banquet" received from the public and the press. After the disappointment of the Stones' first ever failure on their ill conceived previous album, "Satanic Majesty's Request", their single "Jumpin Jack Flash" announced to the world that the Stones were back, better than ever, and "Beggars Banquet" kept that promise. And they were just getting started...

[@scottythetrex5197]

These are two of my favorite Stones songs. One is a prime example of how they mastered the blues, the other is an example of how they perfected rock and roll.

[@Diecastclassicist]

A great pair of songs. Prime Stones!

[@anfrankogezamartincic1161]

O yes, i love the albums before, but this sounds like a new start. And i love the "non hit" tracks. Even STRRRAY CAT BLUES was a constant on live shows, Jagger at his sleaziest, but it sounds sooo good. He knows his job

[@sukie584]

I love watching your struggle with the lyrics but loving it at the same time… The Stones cannot be denied.

[@rachelpsmith3129]

The mix is fine. In those days there were giants here on the earth.

[@pablolazaromartinez3541]

Prodigal son....this is the voice Mick puts when singing midway at rehearsals

[@gs8191]

The Prodigal Son's story is as old as the Bible - because it's in the Bible. And Stray Cat just kicks ass, love the sloppy raunchiness of Jagger's voice and the band is also loose and sloppy, but oh so good.

[@ohfour-seven6228]

Wow, I don't know if anyone else has reacted to this song, congratulations! Don't like the content but absolutely love this song, probably the Stone's nastiest song ever. Both in content and actual sound. That guitar is as nasty as the lyrics. This album is one of two desert island albums for me to take as a castaway. The other being Music From Big Pink by The Band. Both albums came out about the same time, and I didn't care for either on first listening. I think they're both masterpieces. Great reaction!

[@ArmandoMPR]

I think everyone’s initial reaction to “Stray Cat Blues” is that Idris Elba meme of him chocking on some hot wings. “Oh, shit.” 😂 Jagger even makes the girl younger in the live version from Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out because why the hell not. Another thing about that song is that Keith’s guitar sound like a screeching cat.

[@lauradetjen1573]

In the original, the girl was 13 years old. I still have that LP

[@deborahdean]

I really like the version on Ya-Yas. Vintage Jagger.

[@glass2467]

What a time to be alive. Beggars Banquet was released precisely 2 weeks after the Beatles released The White Album in 1968.

[@ktrsBklyn]

of course it's Mick! Great track! Of course the Stones have a huge appreciation for American music like the Blues.

[@michele-33]

Tee hee, we were waiting for your reaction to *Stray Cat Blues*. The two Stones songs couldn't be more opposite.

[@shemanic1]

truly a great reaction to a great couple of tunes. Beggars Banquet is my favourite Stones album.

[@vicprovost2561]

More Stones is always a good thing, even their deep cuts can surprise as they do all kinds of tunes, emanating from the blues, country and rock. They just kept making Interesting music. Keep on keeping on! Enjoy. 🎵🎸🎤🎸🎷🎹🎶

[@darkmagus64]

I believe that Jagger admitted in an interview that the song was "inspired" by the Velvet Underground.

[@wadsworthaaron]

One of my favorite reactions of yours, especially on "Stray Cat Blues" (so true, but I still laughed out loud). Keep up the great work!

[@ericanderson8886]

Think the Stones loved their taboo image, sort of like Anti-Beatles. Other great bands were at Woodstock in the summer of love but the Stones said nah, we're going to Altamont and we're gonna get the Hells Angels to be our security lol.

[@jnagarya519]

"The Rolling Stones" image as "bad boys" was fake -- to counter the image of "The Beatles" as "good boys". Brian Jones came from upper class, Jagger was from middle/upper class and attended London School of Economics.

[@w.geoffreyspaulding6588]

Yeah…that worked out well…..🙄

[@jnagarya519]

@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 I've been saying the same thing -- about heir playing with images of "evil": they didn't realize they were playing with the dangerous and destructive. And too many view destructiveness as "freedom".

[@richardjacobs7632]

P. Son good tune, toe tapper! S. cat goes without saying! I had this album when it came out I played it out! Lol! Thanks man!

[@pauljames2017]

If you like the syle of Prodigal Son you would probably like some Mississippi John Hurt...

[@roberttompkins6489]

Prodigal Son is a cover originally done of Rev. Robert Wilkins-your criticism is misplaced. They are trying to cover the song with some authenticity.

[@jurgenschmidt2759]

Stray Cat Blues on full volume on the headphones and your ears are beeping for hours afterwards😉

[@cuebj]

Beggar's Banquet title echoes Beggar's Opera from 1728. Then Brecht and Weill reworked it as Threepenny Opera in 1928. Sleazy low-life London. Popular for school shows, mine did it every few years on rotation with Oliver! and a few others. Revived in London West End in 1972

[@Andre_Louis_Moreau]

Beggars Banquet was one of my first cassettes as a teen, and Stray cat blues was my favorite off that album.

[@stuBdoc]

Country blues, made to sound like one of the old recordings as you point out, from the 20s or 30s, acoustic guitar, open D tuning. Brilliant for the time, most Americans were unaware of this whole genre yet even though it was native. It took the Brits to make White America appreciate the rich history of Black American music.

[@sukie584]

As a 62 year old woman, not saying it’s right, & the onus was and always is on the adults, but we had a lot of fun. We went places because we were free to explore & could travel far from home with little oversight as teens. Did I say we had fun?

[@zeatheist2222]

I love the fact you are covering albums. Too few reactors do that. I mean, I do think Rolling Stones are overrated as hell, but looking forward to great albums like OK Computer, Loveless or Abbey Road.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Great songs and reaction.

[@davescurry69]

Just an all time classic. What an awesome track. Oddly unknown to general music fans. Maybe due to the subject matter I guess. But you nailed it Syed, it's quintessential Stones. And the best part about it is it's still the original line up.

[@RhettAnderson]

The mix is great. 🙂

[@jbstonesfan]

Arguably the greatest album ever. Nice job 👍🏻

[@palacerevolution2000]

Never thought I'd see you playing air drums. Only the Stones. Jimmy Miller's first stand with the Stones.

[@davidbanks736]

Please do Electric Ladyland Jimi Hendrix full album reaction. Will help u understand the compositional genius of Jimi. Not just a guitar show off.

[@motelghost477]

In the live version Jagger changed the lyric to "I can see that you're THIRTEEN years old."

[@jameshanson3759]

The original American cover of this album was an all-white Invitation with RSVP on the lovwer corner

[@alphajava761]

Prodigal Son 👍. Stray Cat Blues sounds more like The Stooges than The Velvet Underground imo.

[@myfavoritedream2149]

The ages could certainly be legal. 😉 18 was the legal age to drink when this song was released in the states. And I first heard it when I was 14, and I'm ok. 😊 Also, some great blues throw off from the Stones.

[@lewstone5430]

I continue to enjoy your exploration of the Stones music. You have a good ear and you’re almost always on target with lyric interpretation. That being said, “Prodigal Son” comes from the Bible, it’s a parable told by Jesus to the Pharisee’s in the Book of Luke 15:11-32. Looking forward to more of your vids Syed.

[@MartinFGayford]

One of my favourite Stones songs is Undercover Of The Night from 1983. It would be really interesting to see what you think of some of the later stuff after you've been through the classics.

[@roberttompkins6489]

Stray Cat Blues-Stones at their dangerous best.

[@AlfredoRoccia]

The voice buried in the mix is the exact representation of the whole RS production. Unfortunately, that's what they liked. Strange you only realised that now, and with a pretty acoustic song. With later works is even more relevant.

[@jimcagney6696]

That's the beauty of the Stones. Their versatility is unmatched and it is why I like them so much more than the Beatles. They can do country better than any of their peers. The Kinks tried with Muswell Hillbillies but could never come close to the Stones. Try the Let It bleed album next. It spot lights the brilliance of Keith Richards.

[@kinksfan9781]

But the Kinks were not trying to authentically cover or reproduce country music. They brilliantly adapted it to the British milieu in which they lived. They were raised in the working-class Muswell Hill neighborhood of London - Muswell hillbillies. It's really a case of apples and oranges here: the Kinks could never have done a song as crude and raw as "Stray Cat Blues" and the Stones could never have done a song as quintessentially English and witty as "Have a Cuppa' Tea."

[@huascar66]

It was deliberate to mix Mick's voice down in the mix. Mick's enunciation on Prodigal Son is incredible. I couldn't believe it was him when I first heard it. As far as Stray Cat Blues goes, back in the day, young girls were shameless in their desire to bed rock stars and it didn't matter how old/young the girls were. Groupies, as they were called, didn't care except to add another rock-star notch to their belts. It's sad that we are all just too, too, too politically correct. Stuff like this goes on regardless of whether anybody wants to think so or not. As the comedian, Joan Rivers, used to say, "Oh, grow up!"

[@richarddefortuna2252]

If you really want to get a flavor for the esthetic they were going for with this album, you should really look up the photo they used for the gate-fold of the album (even though it was a single album, the album itself opened up as a gate-fold to reveal a horizontal double-panel photo of debauchery).

[@jimjam-uy1ou]

In a live rendition a couple of years later the girl would be thirteen years old. That was presumably Wyman's version.

[@w.geoffreyspaulding6588]

Keep in mind, Syed…..at that time…the groupies that hung around these bands on tour were often 14, 15or even younger. (Jimmy Page had a very young tour girlfriend for awhile…with the mother’s consent. In several states back then, you could marry at 14, with parental consent). And they made themselves available. So, really, this is not just talking about a taboo subject for effect. It was actually a part of the world these guys moved around in.. you can hear it in Led Zeppelin’s song Sick Again. It was a rather tawdry scene.

[@alphajava761]

Page, Steven Tyler, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Johnny Paycheck, David Bowie, etc.. all a bunch of pedo dirt bags... it's disgusting. Richards tells a story in his autobiography about one of the touring musicians showing up with two underage girls in his room and Richards said "no way you're doing that" and sent the girls away. Child brides are okay? Nope.

[@Chase57Tx]

I wasn't really into the stones in the day, but was into Johnny Winter who did some fantasic covers, including Stray Cat Blues. You should give it a listen.

[@1967PONTIACGTO]

Stray Cat Blues is one of my favourite Stones songs... a bit overlooked imo

[@w.geoffreyspaulding6588]

This is a retelling of the parable of The Prodigal Son from the Old Testament. It’s not the full story however…..There’s more to it. But ultimately, it is all about the necessity of forgiveness and the importance of each person to God.

[@jacklee5807]

*New Testament

[@DS-er6lz]

The Stones at their most raunchy on Stray Cat Blues. To push their bad boy image even more, on their famous 1969 US Tour Jagger redid the lyrics to make the girl 13 years old. It can be heard on the live recording Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out.

[@furrypurry]

Love Beggars Banquet, my faves are Stray Cat Blues and Jigsaw Puzzle. I love the Stones when there was still a bit of Brian Jones influence. Sure Stray Cat Blues doesn't make the playlist this day and age!

[@Markrealguy51]

I believe the song prodigal son comes from the Bible

[@cuebj]

Extremely loosely based on a parable told by Jesus of Nazareth. The father was the village big man, not poor. One son asked for half inheritance while father still alive, travelled far away, lost the money, came home. Older son stayed home. The parable has both sons lost in different ways and massively insulting their father. What's interesting is to read it in Greek through perspective of Middle East peasant communities.

[@Markrealguy51]

@@cuebj interesting and I like your comment both sons lost..

[@michele-33]

@@Markrealguy51 I see the Father in the parable as God. The younger son that left for a sinful, worldly life didn't think of the consequences of his actions... He was lost but in the end he was found The older son at home forgot how to and why he was living. He worked for his keep and to buy his Father's Love but in the end he learned that love isn't earned but given. It doesn't matter how long we are away from God, we're still His children. With repentance He always welcomes us home, as both sons learned. ps: (We are both of the sons) 💙

[@Markrealguy51]

@@michele-33 I agree Michele..And what attracts us to lyrics as these bare some personal experiences similar to this

[@cuebj]

​@Michele There are problems with equating the father too closely with God. It makes the parable into allegory. There's an element of carelessness in the first two, and, in this one, the father has failed to win his sons' affection. The immediate challenge to the hearers is to those who think they were being faithful to their heritage religion and wrote off those who went further away (gentiles, Samaritans, tax farmer quislings). The elder son hadn't asked for party funds whereas the Torah has religious events as communal parties sharing food and celebration with the alien, orphan, widow, and other impoverished people. It's primarily a challenge to the religious community to examine themselves and their attitudes to people and God. By the way, the father running out to younger son is probably to save him from a lynching by villagers. He'd lost a lot of collective village asset (he'd have inherited land then sold it for cash, likely to an absent landlord from city). Kenneth Bailey describes such scenarios from Middle Eastern cultures. Father can represent Father God, but jumping straight there can lose the impact of the parable

[@racinnut77]

These are two of my favorite songs by the Rolling Stones, and two of the least known.

[@seanjockel43]

Prodigal Son was incorrectly credited to Jegger/Richard but was eventually corrected to show the songs author Robert Wilkins kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2i2dZeDpJ51irc

[@davidbanks736]

Loving the full album deep dives. Albums aren't listened to in full anymore. Such a great experience to capture a moment in time of a band. Love this album and sticky fingers but my favourite is exile in main street. Recorded in the basement of Keith's chateau in France after UK tax went up to something stupid like 80%. Please correct me on that if I'm wrong. Not full of hits, but as a full piece of work it is amazing. Shine a light, sweet black angel, loving cup,tumbling dice, all down the line, rocks off etc. Dirty stones rhythm and blues and Country all the way. They had lots of visitors to the chateau and guests playing. Usually inside the top 20 of albums ever charts u see. Apparently was so hot down there in the summer, that's when mick realised straight whisky/bourbon would give his voice an extra 10 mins for laying down vocals before the heat killed it. Apparently lennon was carried out of there after visiting with yoko. According to Keith, John always felt the need to try n keep up with Keith. No chance!😂

[@michele-33]

Those are 2 of my fav Stones albums, Exile and Sticky Fingers. When my older brothers moved from home I inherited their massive record collection... which I'm grateful for to this day I haven't heard anyone mention *Black -n Blue* ... pretty cool album.

[@michele-33]

I appreciate this channel for more than Syed's reactions. Reading comments are better entertainment than anything on cable TV .. which is why I haven't had cable TV in 8 - 9 years

[@emeraldcity_]

Gotta keep going with Let It Bleed

[@bobgable2691]

That’s why they were the bad guys and the Beatles were the good guys according to parents

[@danielperezcabezas109]

Funny to see the expression in your face listening to those non political. correct lines in Stray cat blues.Nowadays nobody writes or even wants to hear such things,but I guess in the late 60es and early 70es a bunch of teenage girls were gathering around rock musicians and that was part of their lives.Things have changed.Nice dirty muddy sound to it but lyrically I prefer Prodigal son

[@jumblechaos9035]

I think this contrast between this album and Led Zeppelin I - released the next year - is quite interesting. Both English bands paying homage to the source of the blues in their own way. I think that Led Zep achieved what the Stones didn’t, by building on top of it rather than trying to re-create the original. But at the same time I think there’s no denying that the Stones were better at tapping into the authentic blues feel. I guess I’m trying to say this album is less white maybe? IDK

[@paulhagger3895]

The story told in Prodigal Son is lifted from the Bible

[@gilbertorodriguez5344]

Jagger sing and play tge guitar as well🎼🎩🎸🎶🎶🎶📻🤌

[@shaunmccaul1695]

have you done monkey man from let it bleed??

[@gabrielkourieh5920]

Awesome track, rock-'n'-roll at it's best, this track reminds of another track of the stones called 100 years ago, from their album Goat head soup,epic stones music, i believe you will love it, check it out.

[@manuelmdemarco]

Prodigal Son has some very beautiful lines about family. Stray Cat blues musically speaking is amazing, love how they make the guitars sound like cats, i'm not sure wheter the lyrics are for real or just an edgy song

[@BlueSky...]

Stray Cat Blues, the Stones never sounded better musically than on that track. Very dark subject matter. I'm amazed the album was released with it.

[@bobguitarlearner8007]

No kidding. I read that the BBC banned I am The Walrus ('67 ish?) for the lyrics where John sings about the girl "letting her knickers down".

[@marymargaretmoore9034]

Story from the Bible, Prodigal Son. Sounds like Mick singing to me. Also, there are Stones songs much naughtier than Stray Cat Blues.

[@michaeldezego340]

Prodigal son is a loose telling of the parable told by Jesus in the gospel of Luke chapter 15 verses 11 to 32

[@markeuringer8106]

Can’t do stray cat lyrics nowadays

[@m06een00]

This album has to be listened to more than once to fully appreciate it. It's a real grower and one of the Stones's greatest. The other is Sticky Fingers, which also improves on repeated listens. Late 60s - early 70s, the Stones were going through a purple patch musically. After 1974, it all started to go downhill for them in my view, especially once Mick Taylor left. Street Fighting Man was the B side to their No.1 single, Jumping Jack Flash. Can't hear anything wrong with the mix on Prodigal Son. I hear Mick's vocals quite clearly.

[@olibertosoto5470]

👍🏼

[@GrandmaMoysis]

I’m not saying it was right, but the underage thing not unusual back then.

[@pamelah848]

This a an array of beggars, right?

[@seanlibbey4499]

Start cat blues is about groupies

[@stickman1742]

While they may be singing about things that you say are so wrong in Stray Cat Blues, there isn't a thing in that song that all those rock stars didn't regularly participate in. The stories out there are endless.

[@garybalranald6323]

Yep, he's talking about 15 year old groupies who throw themselves at rock stars. While it's illegal, and absolutely and rightly frowned upon today, it wouldn't have been that big an issue in the 60s. These are girls who are in control of their decisions and seeking it. 1968: Seek rock star, stalk rock star, throw yourself at rock star, have happy memories. 2013: Seek rock star, stalk rock star, throw yourself at rock star, sue rock star for grape 10 years later. Times have changed.

[@richarddefortuna2252]

"Prodigal Son" simply tells the tale of Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 15, verses 11 to 32 (Luke 15: 11-32). "Stray Cat Blues" is most definitely NOT derived from the Bible.

[@teresastephenson84]

Do you seriously not know the parable of the Prodigal Son?

[@davidgagne3569]

Yup - Stray Cat is no fantasy. There's an infamous film call C-cksucker Blues by Robert Frank. He did the cover of Exile On Main Street. In the film two 15 year old girls are picked up and and engage in some pretty wild sexual activity on the plane ride from one gig to the next. A lot of the groupies were underage. Rock and Roll was music for, and by, young people. In 1968 Rock had not broken through to the mainstream culture. So stuff like this could go under the radar. When did rock/pop break through and become big business? Woodstock - in the Summer of 1969. But let's be clear. This is not an exaggeration. It's not a metaphor. This kind if stuff really happened. As far as the Stones singing nasty somgs - LOS of groups were doing that. For instance the Doors, a year before this song, regularly performed "The End"- their great opus. In that song Jim Morrison murders his father and rapes his mother. Stray Cat Blues pales in comparison. The Stones were nasty and scary for middle class kids that couldn't handle REALLY crazy stuff.

[@stephensuddick1896]

Nope. Prodigal Son is perfect. The album is perfect, one of the few albums that has a great feel throughout. If they had done Prodigal any other way, it would not have been consistent with the feel of the album.

[@danielcraig3987]

This is early too 68 it only gets better the next 5 albums it’s mind boggling