Maps of Music

Aftermath (1966)

Where the lyrics of Aftermath take you, and where it was really made.

The title nearly became 'Could You Walk on the Water?' until Decca refused it, and the band settled on Aftermath.

Key places

Recording sessions at RCA Studios, Los Angeles (1966)

Recording site RCA Studios — The recording sessions for Aftermath took place at this studio in Los Angeles on 8–10 December 1965 and on 6–9 March 1966, between the band's tour dates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Aftermath: fourth studio album by the Rolling Stones
• Released 15 April 1966 in the UK by Decca Records; US edition issued in late June by London Records
• Fourth British and sixth American studio album for the band
• First Stones album made entirely of original songs, all credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
• Closely followed a run of international hit singles

Background

• In 1965 the Stones' popularity rose sharply through a series of international hit singles
• Allen Klein became the band's US representative in August 1965; Andrew Loog Oldham remained promoter and record producer
• Klein forced Decca Records to grant a $1.2 million royalty advance to the group
• The October–December 1965 North American tour was the band's fourth and largest there up to that point
• The band had begun responding to the increasingly sophisticated music of the Beatles
• Brian Jones continued to be viewed by fans and the press as the band's leader, a situation Jagger and Oldham resented

Recording

• The group recorded the album at RCA Studios in California in December 1965 and March 1966, during breaks between their international tours
• The album was originally conceived as the soundtrack for a planned film, Back, Behind and in Front; the plan was abandoned
• Jones experimented with the sitar, Appalachian dulcimer, marimbas and Japanese koto
• Richards played most of the guitar parts because of Jones' absences

Cover

• The UK front cover photo was taken by Guy Webster
• The cover design was by Oldham, credited as 'Sandy Beach'
• The US cover photo was taken by David Bailey

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in 1962 as an English rock band; their first stable line-up was Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts.
• Jones named the band after a Muddy Waters song; they were rooted in blues and rock and roll.
• Manager Andrew Loog Oldham encouraged them to write their own songs, and the Jagger–Richards partnership became their main creative force.

Members

• Current: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood (joined 1975).
• Former: Brian Jones (died 1969), Mick Taylor (1969–1974), Bill Wyman (1962–1993), Charlie Watts (1963–2021, died 2021).
• Steve Jordan became their drummer after Watts' death.

Career

• Hits included "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965), "Paint It Black" (1966) and "Start Me Up" (1981).
• Their 1969 Hyde Park show and Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. are key points of their career.
• Formed Rolling Stones Records in 1970, whose tongue-and-lips logo became their band logo.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989; the band has sold more than 250 million albums.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Record Mirror's Richard Green called the album the smash LP of the year in April 1966
• Melody Maker regarded it as the group's best LP to date
• Billboard's reviewer predicted another hit for the Stones and singled out 'Paint It Black'
• Cash Box predicted immediate chart success
• Deseret News's Bryan Gray wrote that the album alienated listeners over twenty
• Robert Christgau wrote in Esquire in 1967 that the Stones' records were the only possible challenge to Rubber Soul

Reappraisal

• Christgau in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll (1976) named Aftermath the first in a series of Stones LPs among the greatest rock albums
• Rob Sheffield in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) preferred the US edition
• Colin Larkin in his Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2011) called it a breakthrough work in a crucial year
• Rolling Stone ranked the American edition at number 108 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2003

Records

• UK: topped the Record Retailer LPs chart for eight consecutive weeks and stayed on the chart for 28 weeks
• UK: fourth-highest-selling album of 1966
• US: entered the Billboard Top LPs at number 117 on 2 July 1966 and reached number 2 by 13 August
• US: RIAA Gold certification for 500,000 shipments in August 1966; Platinum certification for one million copies in 1989
• Paint It Black topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in June 1966
• Pitchfork placed the album at number 98 on its 200 Best Albums of the 1960s (2017)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The US edition replaced four songs from the British track listing with the single 'Paint It Black', in keeping with the industry preference for shorter LPs in the US market.
• The album's release was briefly delayed by controversy over the original packaging idea and title, 'Could You Walk on the Water?'.
• The London label feared the title's allusion to Jesus walking on water would offend Christians in the US.
• Two different photos of the band were used for the cover of each edition.
• The British edition ran 52 minutes and 23 seconds, the longest for a popular music LP at that time, so it was pressed with reduced volume.
• Phonogram Records rush-released the album in the Netherlands in May 1966 in response to high demand from Dutch music retailers.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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