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We counted down the complete Beatles’ catalog, and now we take on their rivals for title of best rock band ever – The Rolling Stones. This time we’re going to break down the band’s 40+ year career in easily digestible chunks. Because Universal will be reissuing the Stones’ studio albums from the seventies, we figured that would be a great place to start. Besides, it was arguably their most fertile decade, at least in terms of variety. Their output ranged from the ragged brilliance of 1971’s Sticky Fingers to the unbridled energy of 1978’s Some Girls. In between we find the sprawling Exile on Main Street, the decadent Goats Head Soup, the fiery It’s Only Rock and Roll and the soulful Black and Blue. Keep in mind, the countdown only includes studio album cuts, no live or unreleased tracks. Check back each day for the next five songs on the list, prepare to hit the message boards to defend your favorites, and follow the countdown all the way to Number 1.

The complete list to date.

The Last Five:

55. “Respectable” (from Some Girls)

54. “Crazy Mama” (from Black and Blue)

53. “Shake Your Hips” (from Exile on Main St.)

52. “Dance Little Sister” (from It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll)

51. “You Gotta Move” (from Sticky Fingers)

50. “Stop Breaking Down”

From Exile On Main St.

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As Rolling Stones’ cover versions of Robert Johnson songs go, nothing can hold a candle to their stellar version of “Love In Vain.” (Come to think of it, that would be my pick for the group’s all-time best cover song.) But this effort found on Exile On Main St. isn’t chicken feed either.

Johnson’s lyrics are the perfect fit for Mick Jagger’s snarl. And the group takes the time to indulge in some long guitar solos while Jagger’s harmonica wails away. There’s nothing indulgent going on here though; everything included is apropos to the material.

There’s so much good stuff on Exile that a straightforward blues like this can get lost in the shuffle. But give it a chance, and, as the lyrics promise, this “stuff is gonna bust your brain out.”

49. “100 Years Ago”

From Goats Head Soup

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The clavinet of Billy Preston is the dominant sound on this interesting diversion from Goats Head Soup. Much of that album is devoted to pensive tracks like this one, and although songs like these aren’t always the band’s strong suit, they do provide some variety.

“100 Years Ago” finds Mick Jagger lamenting a bucolic youth that he can no longer enjoy. “Don’t you think it’s sometimes wise not to grow up?” The Stones have been answering that question with a resounding “yes” for a long, long, long time now.

I actually read the song as Jagger’s wish to pull back from the hectic responsibilities of his life as a Stone; the group had been churning out material and following it up with tours with little rest since they kicked off in the early 60’s. It’s hard to imagine Mick wanting to be a “lazy bones,” as the song says, and maybe that’s why the track is only partly successful. It also suffers from a schizophrenic musical nature: Half folky introspection and half driving rocker. But it’s an interesting glimpse into the mindset of a weary frontman.

48. “All Down the Line”

From Exile on Main St.

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The Stones get positively locomotive on this churning number from Exile On Main St.. The slide guitar of Mick Taylor is the star here, darting all about the rhythm section and the horns (which have a Van Morrison-type punch) and whining and sighing like a steam whistle.

Kathi McDonald joins Keith Richards in providing the spirited backing vocals, while the group employs both an electric bass (Bill Wyman) and a stand up bass (Bill Plummer). When you throw in the horns, you’ve got quite a ruckus.

Jagger’s opaque lyrics hold this track back a bit. At times it sounds like this train is his salvation and at others his ruination. Maybe it’s a little of both, but the spirited performance is pure celebration.

47. “If You Can’t Rock Me”

From It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll

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The machismo of this song, the opening track on It’s Only Rock N’ Roll, is a little too obvious for my liking. It sounds like a computer program was tasked to create the quintessential Stones song, and didn’t leave out any elements. Effortless riff carrying the song? Check. Lockstep interplay between the rhythm section? Check. Jagger calling out some groupies? Check and double check.

And yet some of that is the reason that we tune in to the Stones in the first place. I would venture a guess that more people have chosen the Stones as the band through which they live vicariously than any other. Calculated or not, it’s the kind of jolt we expect from a Stones record, and what better place to put it than right out front.

As a matter of fact, the song is such a convincing bit of braggadocio that it’s easy to miss Jagger’s brief hint of vulnerability: “I’ve got one heart and it hurts like hell.” Even though there may be a long line of willing female fans at the group’s beck and call, that line can make you think that no amount of groupie love can soothe their souls. Then the guitars kick in again and you catch yourself. It’s the Stones, after all. They’ll be just fine.

46. “Cherry Oh Baby”

From Black and Blue

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The Stones took a one-shot stab at reggae with this cover of an Eric Donaldson song. It fit nicely in with the catch-as-catch-can spirit of Black and Blue, and the group acquitted themselves very well on the new (for them) genre.

Jagger has a blast singing to those island rhythms, and Ronnie Wood’s trebly guitar plays well off the organ fills of Nicky Hopkins and the stuttering bass of Bill Wyman. Charlie Watts stays right on top of that instinctive beat, and, as a whole, the band sounds comfortable.

If anything, they’re a tad too reverent to the genre. I would have liked to see them add their own spin on it, giving it a bit of Stonesian grit and grime. But the bottom of line is that if you can listen to “Cherry Oh Baby” without a smile on your face and your head involuntarily swaying, then you better check those ears, Bub.

The complete list to date.

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