pop & funWikipedia1966 · California, USA and London, England

The Rolling Stones' Aftermath was their first album of entirely original songs, and it used sitars and koto

the gist

Aftermath is the Rolling Stones' fourth British album, released in 1966. It was the first Stones album made entirely of songs written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Brian Jones took on a major role and played unusual instruments including sitar, Appalachian dulcimer, Japanese koto and marimba. The band recorded it in California during breaks between tours. The songs moved beyond their blues roots into pop, folk, country and Middle Eastern sounds. The album topped the British chart for eight weeks and became their first classic record.

so what

Aftermath marked the point where the Stones became songwriters on the level of the Beatles rather than cover-band interpreters of American blues. Its darker, more cynical lyrics helped set the template for later rock.

fun fact

The American edition replaced four songs from the British release with the single Paint It Black, because US labels preferred shorter albums.

more on this

Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Illustrative photo · Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons