074: The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967)

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“I can remember virtually nothing of those sessions. It's a total blank. We were pretty much the way we look on the cover!”
—Keith Richards

The phrase “so-and-so band needs no introduction” is incredibly overused, but if there’s a single band for whom the phrase holds true... it’s the Beatles. However, if there are two bands that it holds true for, it’s the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Many associate the Stones with “good old-fashioned rock and roll,” but that isn’t really true. Sure, the band has been locked into its trademark style for several decades now, but in the ’60s, they were far more creative than they were often given credit for. And they never ventured further afield than they did on 1967’s Their Satanic Majesties Request, a bizarre, stoned, trippy, psychedelic album, filled top to bottom with strange sounds, experimental song structures, and tons and tons of just-plain-weirdness. Fans and critics hated it and the band quickly moved on, never attempting anything in this style ever again and generally pretending that the album doesn’t exist. Is the album really that bad, though? Phil sure doesn’t think so, and he’s here to make the case to Rich, John, and Dan that it’s a detour in the Stones discography well worth taking.

Miscellany

• Spotify has both the stereo and mono versions of Their Satanic Majesties Request available. Phil has chosen to use the mono version for the playlist since that’s the one he generally prefers.

• We talk in the episode about how certain bands were clearly influenced by this album. The most clear example of this is The Brian Jonestown Massacre, who went so far as to name one of their albums Their Satanic Majesties Second Request. While Phil doesn’t think it’s a particularly good album, he does appreciate that someone thought enough of Their Satanic Majesties Request to make a tribute that explicit.

• While the group very rarely played anything from this album live, they did revive “She’s A Rainbow” on their 2018 tour. There’s no high quality recordings of it on YouTube as of this writing, but there’s several fan-shot videos such as this one. Plus, you get to see Mick Jagger play the acoustic guitar!

• Some direct evidence of “2,000 Light Years From Home” being an influence on space rock is this cover by stoner metal/space rock mainstays Monster Magnet from 2007. They barely have to change the song at all to make it fit neatly into their style.

• Speaking of “2000 Light Years From Home” — the official ABKCO YouTube page posted a quote-unquote “official” music video for it. It’s worth watching if for no other reason than that it’s hilariously cheesy. 

Other links 

• Official Rolling Stones website (rollingstones.com)

• Jon Landau pans Satanic Majesties Request (rollingstone.com)

• John McFerrin reviews Their Satanic Majesties Request (www.johnmcferrinmusicreviews.org)

• The Rolling Stones performing “She’s A Rainbow” in 2018 (youtube.com)

• ABKCO’s “official” music video for “2000 Light Years From Home” (youtube.com)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Their Satanic Majesties Request playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

• Phil Maddox (host)

• Rich Bunnell (moderator)

• John McFerrin

• Dan Watkins 

Their Satanic Majesties Request tracklist 

1. Sing This All Together

2. Citadel

3. In Another Land

4. 2000 Man

5. Sing This All Together (See What Happens)

6. She’s a Rainbow

7. The Lantern

8. Gomper

9. 2,000 Light Years from Home

10. On with the Show

11. We Love You (bonus track)

12. Child of the Moon (bonus track) 

Other clips used 

The Rolling Stones:

• Sympathy for the Devil

• Come On

• Tell Me

• (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

• Ruby Tuesday

• Continental Drift

• Dandelion

• Dead Flowers (Get Your Leeds Lungs Out version)

• Mother’s Little Helper 

Others:

• “Weird Al” Yankovic - The Hot Rocks Polka

• The Beatles - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

• The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

• Ween - I’m Dancing in the Show Tonight

• The Matadors - Get Down from the Tree

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - The Mole from the Ministry

• Kiss - 2000 Man

• The Mothers of Invention - Return of the Son of Monster Magnet

• The Beatles - Within You Without You

• Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets

• The Mothers of Invention - America Drinks and Goes Home

• Hawkwind - Brainstorm (Space Ritual version)

• Hawkwind - Assault and Battery

• The Andrew Oldham Orchestra - The Last Time

Band/album personnel 

• Mick Jagger – lead vocals (all but 3), backing vocals (1, 3-9), percussion (1, 5, 8), maracas (2, 9, 10), glockenspiel (2), tambourine (6)

• Keith Richards – electric guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 7-10), backing vocals (1, 3-9), acoustic guitar (3, 4, 6, 7), bass guitar (9)

• Brian Jones – Mellotron (1-3, 5-10), flute (2, 5, 10), backing vocals (5, 6), percussion (1, 5, 6), güiro (1, 5, 10), saxophone (1, 2, 10), sound effects (3, 9), acoustic guitar (4, 7), electric guitar (6), vibraphone (5), glockenspiel (1, 5), theremin (5, 9), jew's harp (5), brass (1, 5, 7), organ (1, 7), electric dulcimer (2, 8, 9), recorder (8), sarod (8), shehnai (1, 8), harp (10)

• Bill Wyman – bass guitar (1-8, 10), percussion (1, 5), lead vocals (3), piano (3), organ (3), Mellotron (5), oscillator (9)

• Charlie Watts – drums (2-7, 9, 10), tambourine (5, 10), percussion (1, 5, 6), congas (5), tabla (8), claves (10)

• Nicky Hopkins – piano (1, 5-7, 9, 10), organ (4, 8), harpsichord (2, 3), celesta (6)

• John Paul Jones – string arrangement (6)

• Ronnie Lane – backing vocals (3)

• Steve Marriott – backing vocals (3)

• Eddie Kramer – claves (9)

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• The Rolling Stones - 2,000 Light Years from Home (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream Their Satanic Majesties Request and other albums by the Rolling Stones at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.