Greetings.
In my opinion, the greatest Rolling Stones song of all time is "Gimme Shelter." The first time I heard this song, I was in high school, and, though I had heard other Stones tunes before, I was never completely sold on them until I heard this one. This was the song where I finally said, "Ok, now I see what all the fuss is about." The chord progression seems so simple - it's just a basic walk-down from C#m to A - but the way these guys pull it off is so powerful. It blows my mind every time. And Lisa Fischer's vocal solo in the middle of the song is one of the best showcases of a "background" singer I've ever heard. For me, it's right up there with Claire Torry's performance in Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig in the Sky," which is saying something. The intro to this song, too, with that eerie tremolo guitar sound just sets the stage so perfectly for the lyrics. And, speaking of lyrics, these are so simple, yet so powerful: "War, children, is just a shot away," but later, "Love, sister, is just a kiss away." It's definitely a 60's anti-war thing, but it's so universal that it is still completely relevant today. This song has a lot of baggage, too. It's the title track for the film that chronicled the Stones' 1968 American tour - the one that ended with the violence at Altamont. This song is the stuff that all the mythology surrounding the Stones is made up of. I hope you enjoy it, and come back next week when I'll have picked out a whole new band, and five new songs to showcase.
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