The Rolling Stones’ Top 100 Songs/Studio Albums Ranked

The Rolling Stones Top 100 Songs/Studio Albums Ranked

Revered as the world’s all-time greatest rock and roll band. Formed in London, England in 1962. Singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards became childhood friends in 1950 and reconnected in 1961 over their shared interest in Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. The two of them and Dick Taylor (bass: 1962-63), who had been in a garage band with Jagger, started playing together. They connected with Blues Incorporated members Brian Jones (guitar: 1963-69), Ian Stewart (keyboards: 1963-85), and Charlie Watts (drums: 1963-2021). They formed a band focused on playing covers of Chicago blues, naming themselves after a Muddy Waters’ song. They were managed by Andrew Loog Oldham (1963-67) who promoted them as bad boys in contrast to the Beatles. Other members included Mick Avory (drums: 1963), Nicky Hopkins (keyboards: 1967-82), Darryl Jones (bass: 1994-95), Chuck Leavell (keyboards: 1982-), Ian McLagan (keyboards: 1978-81), Jack Nitzsche (keyboards: 1965-71), Billy Preston (keyboards: 1971-81), Mick Taylor (guitar: 1969-75), Ronnie Wood (guitar: 1975-present), and Bill Wyman (bass: 1962-92). Two of their songs (“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Honky Tonk Women”) are featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999. Four of their albums – Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971), and Exile on Main St. (1972) – are featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. Links: DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry DMDB actpage: The Rolling Stones: A Retrospective (1962-1971) DMDB actpage: The Rolling Stones: A Retrospective (1971-2019) DMDB podcast: The Best of the Rolling Stones, 1962-1980 DMDB Podcast: The Best of the Rolling Stones, 1981-2023 Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Awards:

Top 100 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on various charts are noted. (Click for codes to charts.) DMDB Top 1%: 1. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (1965) #1 US, CB, UK, AU 2. Paint It Black (1966) #1 US, CB, UK, CN, AU 3. Honky Tonk Women (1969) #1 US, CB, UK, AU 4. Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1968) #1 CB, UK 5. Sympathy for the Devil (1968) 6. Brown Sugar (1971) #1 US, CN 7. Start Me Up (1981) #1 AR, AU 8. Gimme Shelter (1969) 9. Angie (1973) #1 US, CB, CN, AU 10. You Can’t Always Get What You Want (1969) #1 AU 11. Miss You (1978) #1 US, CB, CN 12. Get Off of My Cloud (1965) #1 US, CB, UK, CN 13. Wild Horses (1971) DMDB Top 2%: 14. Ruby Tuesday (1967) #1 US, CB 15. Tumbling Dice (1972) DMDB Top 5%: 16. Beast of Burden (1978) 17. It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) (1974) 18. 19th Nervous Breakdown (1966) 19. Street Fighting Man (1968) 20. Mother’s Little Helper (1966) 21. The Last Time (1965) #1 UK 22. Let’s Spend the Night Together (1967) 23. Time Is on My Side (1964) 24. It’s All Over Now (1964) #1 UK 25. She’s a Rainbow (1967) 26. As Tears Go By (1965) #1 CN 27. Emotional Rescue (1980) #1 CN 28. Waiting on a Friend (1981) 29. Under My Thumb (1966) 30. Happy (1972) 31. Shattered (1978) 32. She’s So Cold (1980) 33. Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) (1973) 34. Fool to Cry (1976) 35. Mixed Emotions (1989) #1 CN, AR DMDB Top 10%: 36. We Love You (1967) 37. Undercover of the Night (1983) 38. Harlem Shuffle (1986) 39. Heart of Stone (1964) 40. Dead Flowers (1971) 41. Midnight Rambler (1979) 42. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadows? (1966) 43. Love Is Strong (1994) 44. Rock and a Hard Place (1989) #1 AR 45. Far Away Eyes (1978) 46. 2000 Light Years from Home (1967) 47. Ain’t Too Proud to Beg (1974) 48. Bitch (1971) 49. Lady Jane (1966) 50. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (1971) 51. Let It Bleed (1969) 52. Tell Me (You’re Coming Back) (1964) 53. Not Fade Away (1964) 54. Play with Fire (1965) 55. Anybody Seen My Baby? (1997) #1 CN 56. Out of Tears (1994) 57. Hang Fire (1981) 58. Little Red Rooster (1964) #1 UK 59. Out of Time (1966) 60. Dandelion (1967) 61. You Got Me Rocking (1994) 62. One Hit to the Body (1986) DMDB Top 20%: 63. High Wire (1991) #1 AR 64. Saint of Me (1997) 65. Going to a Go-Go (live) (1982) 66. Like a Rolling Stone (live, 1995) 67. Almost Hear You Sigh (1989) #1 AR 68. Monkey Man (1969) 69. Moonlight Mile (1971) 70. She Was Hot (1983) 71. All Down the Line (1972) 72. I Wanna Be Your Man (1963) 73. Living in a Ghost Town (2020) 74. Hot Stuff (1976) 75. Get Your Kicks on Route 66 (1964) 76. Don’t Stop (2002) 77. Memory Motel (1976) 78. Rough Justice (2005) 79. I’m Free (1965) 80. No Expectations (1968) 81. I Go Wild (1994) 82. Rocks Off (1972) 83. Plundered My Soul (1972/2010) 84. Respectable (1978) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 85. I Don’t Know Why I Love You (1969) 86. Come On (1963) 87. Doom and Gloom (2012) 88. Rain Fall Down (2005) 89. Sister Morphine (1971) 90. Terrifying (1989) 91. Sparks Will Fly (1994) 92. Sway (1971) 93. Little T & A (1981) 94. Just Your Fool (2016) 95. When the Whip Comes Down (1978) 96. Good Times, Bad Times (1964) 97. Shine a Light (1972) 98. Just My Imagination Running Away with me (1978) 99. Dance Little Sister (1974) 100. Rip This Joint (1972) The Rolling Stones: Studio Albums Ranked Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by album’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, critics’ ratings, and awards. Also factored in are the status of each album’s songs in Dave’s Music Database for songs. 1. Exile on Main Street (1972) 2. Sticky Fingers (1971) 3. Let It Bleed (1969) 4. Beggars Banquet (1968) 5. Some Girls (1978) 6. England’s Newest Hit Makers (aka ‘The Rolling Stones’) (1964) 7. Aftermath (UK version, 1966) 8. Aftermath (US version, 1966) 9. Tattoo You (1981) 10. Between the Buttons (1967) 11. Goats Head Soup (1973) 12. Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967) 13. Voodoo Lounge (1994) 14. Emotional Rescue (1980) 15. Out of Our Heads (US version, 1965) 16. Black and Blue (1976) 17. A Bigger Bang (2005) 18. Steel Wheels (1989) 19. 12 x 5 (1964) 20. Bridges to Babylon (1997) 21. It’s Only Rock and Roll (1974) 22. December's Children…and Everybody's (1965) 23. Blue & Lonesome (covers, 2016) 24. Undercover (1983) 25. No. 2 (1965) 26. Out of Our Heads (UK version, 1965) 27. Dirty Work (1986) 28. Now! (1965) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for The Rolling Stones DMDB actpage: The Rolling Stones: A Retrospective, 1962-1971 DMDB actpage: The Rolling Stones: A Retrospective, 1971-2019 Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 7/26/2013; last updated 10/25/2023.

Today in Music (1969): The Rolling Stones charted with “Honky Tonk Women”

Honky Tonk Women The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Mick Jagger, Keith Richards (see lyrics here) Released: July 4, 1969 First Charted: July 12, 1969 Peak: 14 US, 14 CB, 13 HR, 1 CL, 15 UK, 2 CN, 15 AU, 3 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 5.0 radio, 25.7 video, 157.83 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Nothing says surefire hit like highly suggestive lyrics about a prostitute. Luckily, the words were just subtle enough to avoid uniform banning by radio stations. SF Besides, this was really about the vibe. A sing-a-long chorus gives the song the feel of “mates at a bar or pub getting together for a bit of a shout,” AMG understandably making the tune a bar band favorite. AMG If the chorus didn’t accomplish that, surely the cowbell would. Added by producer Jimmy Miller, it helps shape the “strip-club bump and grind” RS500 feel of the song. Perhaps the most revelatory aspect of “Honky Tonk Women” is how the Stones used it to essentially create “heavy metal country.” PW In fact, the band thought enough of the more countrified version to release it a few months after the single as “Country Honk” on the Let It Bleed album. The tune originated while Jagger and Richards were on vacation in South America. RS500 As Richards recalls, the pair were lounging on the front porch of a ranch house playing around with Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonk Blues” and “by some metamorphosis it suddenly went into this little swampy, black thing, a blues thing.’” SF Also significant to the final performance was who was no longer there. With drug abuse rendering founding member Brian Jones virtually worthless, SF Mick Taylor stepped in for his Rolling Stones’ debut on “Honky Tonk.” The band drove to Jones’ house after they’d finished recording this song and fired him. SF Jones was found dead in his swimming pool on July 3, 1969. SF “Honky Tonk Women” was released as a single a day after the funeral. FB Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Rolling Stones DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Mick Jagger DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Keith Richards FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 257. PW Paul Williams (1993). Rock and Roll: The Best 100 Singles. Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc.: New York, NY Page 142. Related Links: Last updated 9/15/2023.