{"id":143475,"date":"2019-09-23T05:09:47","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T09:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=143475"},"modified":"2019-09-03T19:01:16","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T23:01:16","slug":"143475","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=143475","title":{"rendered":"50 Best Albums, by Brendan O\u2019Malley, #14. The Rolling Stones, Beggar’s Banquet<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"

My talented brother Brendan O’Malley is an amazing writer and actor. He’s wonderful in the recent You & Me<\/i>, directed by Alexander Baack. (I interviewed Baack about the film here<\/a>.) His most recent gig was story editor\/writer on the hit series Survivor’s Remorse<\/i>. Brendan hasn’t blogged in years, but the “content” (dreaded word) is so good I asked if I could import some of it to my blog. He did series on books he loved, and albums he loved. I thought it would be fun to put up some of the stuff here. So we’ll start with his list of 50 Best Albums. I’ll put up one every Monday. <\/p>\n

Brendan’s list of 50 Best Albums<\/a> is part music-critique and part memoir and part cultural snapshot. <\/p>\n

I have always loved these essays, because I love to hear my brother talk. I am happy to share them with you!<\/em><\/p>\n

50 Best Albums, by Brendan O’Malley<\/h1>\n

14. The Rolling Stones – Beggar’s Banquet<\/i><\/h2>\n

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\nStones fans will most likely take issue with this choice and I understand. They have better albums. Exile On Main Street<\/i> is like a time machine. It prefigures about 8 different musical genres. It is like its own cottage industry. Some Girls<\/i> is probably my favorite with a sound that is like the collective energy that accumulates from every stripper in New York City the split second before they start their burlesque.<\/p>\n

But Beggar’s Banquet<\/i> is the one that came first for me. <\/p>\n

In high school, as I’ve repeatedly said, I was a punk. I rejected a lot of the mainstream music I heard, a prejudice which was retroactive to hits of the ’60’s. Anything that wasn’t written and recorded in a teenager’s basement by angry 1980’s punks was a golden oldie for me.<\/p>\n

Into that wall of judgment came Beggar’s Banquet<\/i>. At this point I knew “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and didn’t like it. I probably knew “Start Me Up” and didn’t like it. And I especially didn’t like “Sympathy For The Devil” which was the ULTIMATE establishment rock song. They played it 3 times a day on the classic rock station. Everyone knew the “woo-woo” bit and everyone over-inflated the depth of the thing itself.<\/p>\n

How I wound up with the cassette is a story that has escaped my memory. Why I delved in at all when I considered The Stones to be hopelessly passe…this too has flown into the mists of the past. <\/p>\n

I’ll tell you what I do remember.<\/p>\n

Our station wagon didn’t have a tape deck so I would pile 27 gigantic batteries into my boom box and tote the thing around with me wherever I went. Usually it held The Replacements<\/a>, or 7 Seconds, or Minor Threat<\/a>, or H\u00fcsker D\u00fc<\/a>, or The Descendents<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But every now and then I’d pop in Beggar’s Banquet<\/i>. Usually the second side. I have a giant streak of the contrarian in me so ‘Street Fighting Man’ is something of a touchstone. <\/p>\n

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