My Top 2000 Songs #1081: Child Of The Moon

The Rolling Stones' 1968 single "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was celebrated at the time as a return to their bluesy rock & roll roots after the Sgt. Pepper-flavored psychedelic diversion of Their Satanic Majesties Request--a record maligned at the time but which has come to be recognized as a pretty excellent document of the times. "Jumpin'" repurposed the "Satisfaction" lick (or maybe Buffalo Springfield's "Mr. Soul"), and it's a great song--one that would probably be here on the list but for the decades of classic rock radio overplay--which signaled their return-to-roots Beggars Banquet.

But I'm partial to the b-side, "Child Of The Moon." It's much more the Stones in psychedelic mode, sounding like an outtake from Satanic Majesties (and, indeed, including it in a reworked version of the album along with the 1967 "We Love You"/"Dandelion" single results in a far stronger record). "Child" is the Stones at their most Beatlesque, with some colorful melodies and chiming guitars and slithery harmonies. Like much of Satanic, it's further confirmation that, while the Stones may not have been fully comfortable in psychedelic garb, they adapted surprisingly well.

The Fleshtones live (incomplete):

The Feelies side project Yung Wu:

The Grip Weeds: