Released in 1969, Let It Bleed was The Rolling Stones’ eighth studio album and tenth in the USA. The second in a sequence of four consecutive records that comprised their creative peak, it is considered by many to be their best. After a period of turmoil culminating in drug busts, the enforced departure and sudden death of founding member Brian Jones, they delivered a powerful set of nine tracks that encompassed hard rock, blues, country, folk, gospel, and even funk. From the eerie ‘Gimme Shelter’ to the epic ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’, with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and the band plus an array of guests including Al Kooper, Ry Cooder and The London Bach Choir, it was a set that captured the uncertain prevailing mood at the end of the 1960s and the era that produced the Woodstock and Altamont festivals. Number one in Britain and number two in America, it still sounds just as fresh, urgent and challenging more than half a century later.
This account examines in detail the background, inspiration and recording of the songs, the reception of the work as a whole, and its legacy and influence on subsequent generations of bands and performers to this day.
The author
John Van der Kiste has published over seventy books, mostly historical biography and music, including titles on The Beatles, Jeff Lynne/ELO, Led Zeppelin, Lindisfarne and Steve Winwood. He has also reviewed books and records for the local and national press and fanzines, and co-founded and edited the 70s fanzine Keep on Rockin’. He has performed with groups, run mobile discos, and written booklet notes for CD reissues from EMI and other labels. An occasional musician and songwriter, he also co-wrote one track on Riff Regan's Milestones (2015) and played harmonica on London's The Hell for Leather Mob (2020). He lives in Devon, UK.
