Let It Bleed (50th Anniversary Limited Deluxe Edition)

Let It Bleed, the eighth studio album by the legendary English rock band The Rolling Stones, arrived at the tail end of 1969, a year that was tumultuous for both the world and the band. Released on November 28 in the United States and December 5 in the United Kingdom, it was the follow-up to their 1968 album Beggars Banquet. Like Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed marked a return to the band’s earlier blues roots, though it also blended in elements of gospel, country blues, and country rock. The album’s distinct sound and its raw, poignant reflection of the times made it a defining moment in the Stones’ storied career.

The recording of Let It Bleed was fraught with personal and professional turmoil. Brian Jones, the band’s founding member and former leader, had been increasingly unreliable due to his escalating drug use, and by the time recording sessions began, he was frequently absent or incapacitated. His departure from the band came in the midst of these sessions, and he was replaced by Mick Taylor, who contributed to the album by recording overdubs on two tracks. Jones’s final contributions were limited, and he passed away just a month after being fired. Keith Richards, the band’s sole guitarist for most of the sessions, was responsible for nearly all of the album’s guitar parts, both rhythm and lead. The rest of the band—vocalist Mick Jagger, bassist Bill Wyman, and drummer Charlie Watts—played on nearly every track, while additional musicians, including Ry Cooder, Nicky Hopkins, Al Kooper, and Ian Stewart, added their talents to the mix.

Despite its troubled production, Let It Bleed is widely regarded as one of the Rolling Stones’ greatest albums. It reached number 1 on the UK Albums Chart and number 3 on the US Billboard Top LPs chart, eventually being certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA. The album featured no major chart-topping singles, but many of its tracks, including “Gimme Shelter” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” became iconic staples of the Stones’ live shows and rock radio. Both of these tracks are frequently included on lists of the greatest songs of all time, with “Gimme Shelter” being particularly lauded for its haunting atmosphere and relevance to the era’s political and social climate.

Critically, Let It Bleed received widespread acclaim upon release. Greil Marcus, writing for Rolling Stone, remarked on the album’s middle tracks as being particularly memorable, though he emphasized the significance of “Gimme Shelter” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” for their ability to “reach for reality and end up confronting it.” The album’s powerful and evocative performances were also praised by other critics, such as Robert Christgau, who named it the fourth-best album of 1969. In later commentaries, Christgau would refer to the album’s playing as “fantastic” and noted that every song “stands up.”

In 2003, Let It Bleed was ranked number 32 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” (a ranking it held in a 2012 revision, before dropping slightly to number 41 in 2020). The album’s influence extends far beyond its immediate critical success. As Stephen Davis noted in his 2001 biography of the band, Let It Bleed “completely captured the sense of palpable dread that hung over its era,” reflecting the cultural anxieties of the late 1960s. The album’s legacy also ties into the “greatest run of albums in history,” a period in which the Stones released Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main St.—four albums that are often hailed as the band’s creative peak.

Tracks such as “Gimme Shelter,” with its explosive energy and background vocals by Merry Clayton, and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” with its profound yet hopeful message, have left an indelible mark on both rock music and popular culture. The record’s unique blend of gritty rock, social commentary, and emotional depth has ensured its place in the pantheon of great albums. Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005, Let It Bleed continues to be celebrated as one of the most influential albums of all time, showcasing a band at the height of its creative powers, despite (or perhaps because of) the personal upheaval that accompanied its creation.

In summary, Let It Bleed encapsulates a critical moment in rock history, defined by both the band’s artistic excellence and the turbulent environment in which it was made. It remains an enduring testament to the Rolling Stones’ ability to distill the emotional and political essence of its time into powerful music that resonates to this day.