Music Blog

Hotrocks: Best Of The Stones

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for the May 11, 2025 edition
of Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday.
Here’s what I have to say.  

© Discogs

This week for Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday theme, “Apart From Making Money“, the challenge is to pick a song from a compilation or greatest hits album. Choosing from the best of the best is no easy task!

Hot Rocks 1964-1971 is the Rolling Stones’ most successful release, and they had nothing to do with it! Well, not nothing – they made the recordings, after all. But they had no input on track selection or sequencing. The compilation was the result of a split between the group and its infamous manager, Allen Klein, who had worked with them since 1965. When the band’s Decca record deal was up in 1970, it formed Rolling Stones Records and parted ways with Klein – who allegedly tricked the Stones’ members into signing over control of their 1963-70 catalog to him. As the band was working on its first release for Rolling Stones Records – 1971’s Sticky Fingers – Klein was looking for ways to exploit eight years of Stones material. His label, ABKCO Records, now could re-release any of the band’s hits, including the recent “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses”.

Although countless Stones’ compilations have appeared in the decades since, Hot Rocks remains the definitive collection of the band’s early years; it has also become a collector’s item. The album is the bestselling of the numerous Decca/ABKCO releases after the Rolling Stones lost control of their pre-1971 catalogue, becoming the Stones’ bestselling release of their career and an enduring and popular retrospective. Hot Rocks 1964–1971 peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 album chart and, as of July 2024, the album has spent 438 weeks on the chart. The album was certified 12× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

The album artwork depicts five nested silhouettes of the band members’ profiles taken by rock photographer Ron Raffaelli in 1969. A photograph of the band at Swarkestone Hall Pavillion, taken by Michael Joseph in 1968, was printed on the back cover of the vinyl release.

There are 21 tracks on the Hotrocks compilation album and they’re all good; I’ve listened to all of them more times than I can count. Choosing my top three was difficult; choosing my favorite was impossible …. so I didn’t. Here are my top two tracks from Hotrocks by the Rolling Stones.

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“Street Fighting Man” is considered one of the band’s most popular and controversial songs. The tune came to be during an age of socio-political unrest, inspired by the sounds of a violent period that bore outrage and outrage that bore violence. The song’s meaning was shaped by such upheaval, becoming the song that would forever trap in amber the spirit of the late 1960s.

Before “Street Fighting Man,” the Rolling Stones’ music never had much of a political bent. However, riots condemning the Vietnam War had erupted across Europe and North America, and it wasn’t until Mick Jagger attended an anti-war demonstration that suddenly changed. “Street Fighting Man” mirrored the chaos Jagger had witnessed during the protests. The demonstrators marched on the American embassy, which resulted in a clash between protestors and police, ending with hundreds hospitalized or arrested. Fearing that the song would further the tensions already bubbling over, several US radio stations refused to play the song.

Despite the initial poor chart reception and controversy, “Street Fighting Man” was praised by the music press upon its release, and played a role in elevating the Rolling Stones’ reputation as a culturally subversive group. Retrospectively, the song has been praised for its lyrics and production, and is viewed by some commentators as one of the greatest and most important songs of our time.

This is “Street Fighting Man” by the Rolling Stones from the Hotrocks compilation album.


LYRICS

Everywhere I hear the sound
Of marching, charging feet, boy
‘Cause summer’s here and the time is right
For fighting in the street, boy

Well, now what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock and roll band?
‘Cause in sleepy London Town
There’s just no place for street fighting man, no

Hey, think the time is right
For a palace revolution
‘Cause where I live the game to play
Is compromise solution

Well, now what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock and roll band?
‘Cause in sleepy London Town
There’s just no place for street fighting man, no

Get down

Hey, said my name is called Disturbance
I’ll shout and scream, I’ll kill the king
I’ll rail at all his servants

Well, now what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock and roll band?
‘Cause in sleepy London Town
There’s just no place for street fighting man, no

Get down

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Keith Richards/Mick Jagger
Street Fighting Man lyrics © Abkco Music Inc., BMG Rights Management, Songtrust Ave

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As humans, shelter is one of our few physical needs; we all know that we can’t live without the basics of food, water, and shelter. But the concept of shelter can also take on a more abstract meaning. Shelter can come in the form of refuge from danger, a haven from worry, a comforting oasis in a desert of distress.

“I had been sitting by the window of my friend’s apartment in London with an acoustic guitar when suddenly the sky went completely black and an incredible monsoon came down. It was just people running about looking for shelter – that was the germ of the idea. We went further into it until it became rape and murder are ‘just a shot away’”, Keith Richards told Harper’s Bazaar.

The guest vocalist on the track is soul and gospel singer Merry Clayton. Her part on “Gimme Shelter” solidified the song as one of the greatest rock anthems of the ’60s. Her emotive, near-screaming vocals added a layer to the track that the Stones simply couldn’t provide themselves. 

“Gimme Shelter” was released on December 5, 1969, and remains one of the most recognizable songs from the Rolling Stones’ catalog. The song itself was never released as a single, however, it was the opening track for the Stones’ LP Let It Bleed which charted as the #1 album in the UK and #3 in the US. 

This is “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones from the Hotrocks compilation album.


LYRICS

Ooh, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter
Ooh yeah I’m gonna fade away

War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

Ooh, see the fire is sweepin’
Our streets today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way

War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

Rape, murder, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Rape, murder, yeah, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Rape, murder, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

Mmm, a flood is threatening
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I’m gonna fade away

War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

I tell you love, sister
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Mick Jagger/Keith Richards
Gimme Shelter lyrics © Mirage Music Int. Ltd. C/o Essex Music Int. L

Apart From Making Money

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week and every week. Be sure to follow the link and check out Jim’s site.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to some tunes.

That’s all she wrote, kids. See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2025

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy’s Notes 🖊️🎶, The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, The Rhythm Section, et al., and are not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.

49 thoughts on “Hotrocks: Best Of The Stones”

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  12. Allen Klein was a real piece of work with his dealings with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones led to widespread accusations of financial mismanagement and exploitation, resulting in years of legal battles and a negative legacy.  Two really great songs today, Nancy thanks for sharing your music and starting my day off.

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    1. Thank you, Jim! I didn’t want to spend too much time on Allen Klein; a POS like him doesn’t deserve the attention but his part in the Stones’ history can’t be ignored. Even if these songs weren’t included in a greatest hits album, they’d still be on my list of best Stones songs. Their ballads are great but you can’t do better than the Stones for hot rockin’ songs. Thanks!

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  14. Excellent choice. I have heard Mary Clayton tell the story of the night they called her to lay down that track. She was like in bed, way pregnant and had her hair in rollers, but hey its The Rolling Stones calling- so you go! Excellent choice Nancy.

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    1. That’s the way it happened, Jodi. If I got a call from Jagger, you know I’d be there in a NY minute! There’s one part where her voice cracks on the high note and you can hear Keith say “Whoa” (or something like that). I’m glad they didn’t edit that part out; it’s authentic and shows how into the song Merry was. It’s a classic. Great to know you dug both songs. Thanks!

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  17. You had a difficult task selecting the “Best & Fairest”, no matter which Stone’s song you rolled out, there was another one stream rolling along just behind it … oh well, full steam ahead … It’s Mother’s Day here in Australia, mum’s birthday was on Friday, and it was Carole’s funeral day, so appropriately, I’m choosing “As Tears Go By” … this music/video, show’s Mick and Keith at their musical best … 😍💕🌏

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    1. So many memories attached to these songs! I sang this one with my high school band before we got banned for singing White Rabbit and Ode to Billie Joe! LOL!

      You’re right about it being a difficult task but the time spent listening to these great songs was the most enjoyable part of my day. It’s Mother’s Day here also and it’s a beautiful day! Thank you, dear Ivor. 🎶♡

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      1. I would certainly have picked “Gimme Shelter” if I had gone with the Stones, but I have already used Rolling Stones songs so often for SLS. So I decided to go with Hendrix instead this time. It’s such a shame that he died so young.

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