Stone Age (Rolling Stones album)

Stone Age
Compilation album by
the Rolling Stones
Released6 March 1971 (1971-03-06)
Recorded1963–1966
GenreRock
Length34:13
LabelDecca
ProducerAndrew Loog Oldham
The Rolling Stones chronology
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!
(1970) 		Stone Age
(1971) 		Sticky Fingers
(1971)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Stone Age is a compilation album of songs by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in 1971 by Decca Records. Featuring songs that had never appeared on a UK album, it was the first compilation issued by Decca after the Stones had left the label and set up their own record label, and was adamantly opposed by the band. It reached No. 4 on the UK charts.

Background

The 12 songs on Stone Age, all dating from the mid-1960s, were chosen because they had never before appeared on a UK studio album, having been originally released only on singles or on US studio albums up to that point. Four songs made their overall UK debut here: "Blue Turns to Grey", "One More Try", "My Girl" and "Look What You've Done".

This is the first compilation album released by Decca after the Rolling Stones left the label, stemming from dissatisfaction with the amount of royalties they were receiving. The band and label had been feuding since 1968, after Decca rejected the band's original cover for their album Beggars Banquet, which featured an image of a restroom covered in graffiti. This culminated in 1970 when the band recorded the song "Schoolboy Blues", which featured lurid lyrics intended to thwart Decca from releasing it. Stone Age was released by Decca just before the band's new studio album, Sticky Fingers, was to be released by their own new label. Additionally, Decca released Stone Age with a graffiti cover, alluding to the feud over Beggars Banquet.[2]

The band published an ad in several different UK newspapers as a disclaimer for the album:[2]

Beware! Message from the Rolling Stones Re: Stone Age. We didn't know this record was going to be released. It is, in our opinion, below the standard we try to keep up, both in choice of content and cover design.

Decca continued to issue further Rolling Stones releases: Gimme Shelter (1971),[3] Milestones (1972),[4] Rock 'n' Rolling Stones (1972),[5] No Stone Unturned (1973),[6] Rolled Gold (1975),[7] Solid Rock (1980) and Slow Rollers (1981).[8] With the exception of a special version of Rolled Gold in 2007,[9] none of these albums were released on compact disc.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Original release(s)Length
1."Look What You've Done"McKinley MorganfieldUK – no previous release
US – December's Children (And Everybody's) (1965)		2:18
2."It's All Over Now"Bobby Womack, Shirley WomackUK – Non album single (1964)
US – 12 X 5 (1964)		3:27
3."Confessin' the Blues"Walter Brown, Jay McShannUK – Five by Five (EP) (1964)
US – 12 X 5 (1964)		2:49
4."One More Try" UK – no previous release
US – Out of Our Heads (1965)		1:59
5."As Tears Go By"Jagger, Richards, Andrew Loog OldhamUK – B-side of "19th Nervous Breakdown" (1966)
US – December's Children (And Everybody's) (1965)		2:45
6."The Spider and the Fly"Nanker PhelgeUK – B-side of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965)
US – Out of Our Heads (1965)		3:41
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Original release(s)Length
1."My Girl"Smokey Robinson, Ronald WhiteUK – no previous release
US – Flowers (1967)		2:39
2."Paint It Black" UK – Non album single (1966)
US – Aftermath (1966)		3:24
3."If You Need Me"Wilson Pickett, Robert Bateman, Sonny SandersUK – Five by Five (EP) (1964)
US – 12 X 5 (1964)		2:02
4."The Last Time" UK – Non album single (1965)
US – Out of Our Heads (1965)		3:41
5."Blue Turns to Grey" UK – no previous release
US – December's Children (And Everybody's) (1965)		2:30
6."Around and Around"Chuck BerryUK – Five by Five (EP) (1964)
US – 12 X 5 (1964)		3:03

Charts

Chart (1971) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[10] 56
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] 19
Finland (The Official Finnish Charts)[12] 18
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] 30
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[14] 20
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[15] 15
UK Albums (OCC)[16] 4

References

  1. ^ Thompson, Dave. "Stone Age - The Rolling Stones". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  2. ^ a b Mastropolo, Frank (6 March 2016). "Why the Rolling Stones Disowned Their 'Stone Age' Compilation". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  3. ^ Thompson, Dave. "Gimme Shelter [Live] - The Rolling Stones". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  4. ^ Thompson, Dave. "Milestones - The Rolling Stones". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  5. ^ Thompson, Dave. "Rock'n'Rollin' Stones - The Rolling Stones". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  6. ^ Thompson, Dave. "No Stone Unturned - The Rolling Stones". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  7. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Rolled Gold: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  8. ^ Thompson, Dave. "Slow Rollers - The Rolling Stones". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  9. ^ Needs, Kris (20 November 2007). "Rolled Gold - Record Collector Magazine". Record Collector. No. 344. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5387". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Rolling Stones – Stone Age" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  12. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  13. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Rolling Stones – TStone Age" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 30 May 2023. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Rolling Stones".
  15. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Rolling Stones – Stone Age". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  16. ^ "The Rolling Stones | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
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