Welcome to "Muddy's Picks" on Graveyard Blues! Each month, Jerry's dog Muddy... will pick an album that he highly recommends. The record could be a classic, brand new or something in-between! We'll take a 'deep-dive' into the record, and play a track from it, every week during that month!

Suggest an album for Muddy to consider? Send an email to: muddyspick@graveyardblues.com

Muddy's Pick for JUly (2022) is: The rolling stones - "beggars banquet" released: 12/6/1968

Beggars Banquet marked a change in direction for the band following the psychedelic pop of their previous two albums, Between the Buttons and Their Satanic Majesties Request.

Styles such as roots rock and a return to the blues rock sound that had marked early Stones recordings dominate the record, and the album is among the most instrumentally experimental of the band's career, as they use Latin beats and instruments like the claves, alongside South Asian sounds from the tanpura, tabla and shehnai, and African music-influenced conga rhythms.

Beggars Banquet was a top-ten album in many markets, including a number 5 position in the US—where it has been certified platinum—and a number 3 position in the band's native UK. It received a highly favourable response from music critics, who deemed it a return to the band's best sound.

While the album lacked a "hit single" at the time of its release, songs such as "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man" became rock radio staples for decades to come. One of their most acclaimed albums, it is considered the beginning of the band's enduring reputation as the "Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World".

The album has appeared on many lists of the greatest albums of all time, including by Rolling Stone, and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.