February 18, 2025

1971 - April: Rolling Stones “Sticky Fingers”

42 minutes

Sticky Fingers is considered by many to be the greatest studio album the Rolling Stones ever created. This ninth studio album represented a return to a more basic sound for the Stones after several albums with less conventional instrumentation. It was also known for its cover artwork from Andy Warhol which featured a man in jeans with a working zipper. The album won a Grammy for “Best Album Cover” for this innovative design.

This was the first album that was released on their own label, Rolling Stones Records. It was also the first album the group produced without Brian Jones, who had died two years earlier. The members of the band were Charlie Watts on drums, Bill Wyman on bass, Mick Taylor on guitar, Keith Richards on guitar and backing vocals, and Mick Jagger on lead vocals and some guitar and percussion. There were a number of session musicians and frequent collaborators involved in the album, including Bobby Keys on sax, and Billy Preston and Ian Stewart on keyboards.

Sticky Fingers was the band's first album to reach number 1 on album charts in both the US and the UK. It has since reached triple platinum status, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. The album was also the first album to utilize the now-iconic “mouth” for which the group would be known.

Friend of the show Mike Fernandez joins us in Bruce's absence, while Rob brings us this amazing album from one of the giants of the rock world in this week's podcast.

Wild Horses

This softer song with a country bent was first released in 1970 by the Flying Burrito Brothers, and subsequently recorded by the Stones after originally thinking the demo wasn't worth recording. It was originally recorded over a three-day period at Muscle Shoals Studio in Alabama in 1969. The lyrics are about being on the road, and not being where you really want to be.

Brown Sugar

The opening track to the album was also the lead single, and reached the top of the charts in the US and Canada, while reaching number 2 on the UK singles chart. The song sounds like a strong rocking one, but the lyrics discuss slavery and rape, a much more serious topic than most realized the lyrics covered.

Bitch

This track which leads off side two of the album was the B-side to the single “Brown Sugar.” It has a strong brass section — the song originated in a jam, and features Bobby Keys on sax and Jim Price on trumpet. The lyrics are describing love as a bitch but the title probably didn't help the band in its problems with women's groups.

Can't You Hear Me Knocking

This is the longest song on the album, clocking in at over seven minutes. The central part of the song lasts for 2:43, with an extended jam following. The entire track was captured in one take, and the band continued with the jam, thinking that the recording was complete.

ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:

One Tin Soldier (from the motion picture “Billy Jack”)

This counterculture song was a prominent part of the soundtrack to the action drama "Billy Jack" a part Navajo Green Beret and Vietnam War veteran defending his Freedom School students from angry townspeople.

STAFF PICKS:

Get It On by Chase

Wayne starts out the staff picks with a high energy song from an artist known for his jazz trumpet. Bill Chase brought together a band including three other trumpet players, a rock rhythm section, and front man Terry Richards on lead vocals. This jazz fusion rock piece peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye

Lynch brings us a track that has taken on a life of its own as the ultimate romance song. Backed by the Funk Brothers, it is the most successful song Gaye produced on Motown Records. It reached number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and the US Hot Soul Singles chart.

Love Her Madly by the Doors

Mike features the first single from the album “L.A. Woman,” the sixth studio album from the Doors, and the final album with Jim Morrison before his untimely death. Guitarist Robby Krieger wrote this song while experimenting with a 12-string guitar.

It Don't Come Easy by Ringo Starr

Rob finishes the staff picks with a non-album single from the drummer of the recently-disbanded Beatles. Fellow Beatle George Harrison produced the single and helped Starr write the song which peaked at number 4 on the US and UK singles charts.

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:

Main Theme from the motion picture “The Summer of 42”

We exit this week's podcast with the signature song from this Academy Award nominee and coming-of-age movie in the theaters in April 1971.

Thanks for listening to “What the Riff?!?”

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By Rob Marbury, Wayne Rowan, Bruce Fricks, John Lynch

4.9

4747 ratings