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The Rolling Stones
 
 

Exile On Main Street No Brit band ever absorbed the musical influences of black Americans more thoroughly or better than the Stones. Everything Mick and Keith ever learned about the blues, gospel and soul is on display here, and the performances are so masterful it's almost embarrassing to listen to their early efforts to cover tunes like "Little Red Rooster".  And even if I somehow forget the music as I get old and senile, I don't think I'm ever going to get that picture of the guy with the billiard balls in his mouth out of my head.

Sticky Fingers A more rough-hewn ode to Americana than Exile..., influenced more by country than soul, Sticky Fingers rocks hard ("Bitch"), soft ("Wild Horses") and with humor ("Dead Flowers"). The album finds the Stones at the peak of their cocky excessiveness - easier to appreciate if you can find the original album cover, complete with the working zipper, designed by Andy Warhol.