The Top 20 Rolling Stones Deep Cuts: #19, “Monkey Man”

Updated:

September 28, 2019 9:58 pm

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If you only listened to the Rolling Stones’ singles, you’d have a blueprint for rock and roll in all its glory. But for every “Miss You,” “Satisfaction” or “Sympathy For The Devil,” there are five album tracks that are equally worth your time. Here’s twenty of the best; may they gather no moss. (Check out the January/February Legends Issue – on sale now – for the full list.)

19. “Monkey Man”

Featuring one of the band’s most evocative intros ever, with Nicky Hopkins’ plinking piano giving way to Bill Wyman’s bass and Keith Richards’ chunky riffs, this mesmerizing rocker found on Let It Bleed has been a godsend to TV and movie directors looking for just the right music to symbolize decadence and debauchery of the highest degree. Jagger does his very best simian impersonation in the fade-out and also delivers some of his most hilariously accurate lyrics, including this memorable mouthful: “Well, I hope we’re not too messianic/Or a trifle too Satanic.”