Now! [Remaster] (CD - 1965)

The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger (vocals, harmonica); Keith Richards (guitar, background vocals); Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica); Bill Wyman (bass); Charlie Watts (drums).

Additional personnel: Ian Stewart (piano, organ); Jack Nitzsche (piano).

Recorded at Chess Studios, Chicago, Illinois; RCA Studios, Hollywood, California; Regent Sound, London, England. Includes liner notes by Andrew Loog Oldham.

Additional personnel: Ian Stewart, Jack Nitzsche (piano).

Audio Remasterers: Jon Astley; Bob Ludwig; Steve Rosenthal; Teri Landi; Paschal Byrne.

THE ROLLING STONES, NOW! is a masterpiece of early British R&B, Rolling Stones style. Things start off with a powerful rendition of Solomon Burke's signature tune "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love." Elsewhere, the Stones take a tour of American music, from Bo Diddley's "Mona," complete with choppy, reverbed guitar, to a slow, churning version of Willie Dixon's blues evergreen "Little Red Rooster," probably the first version of the song to feature fuzz bass.

Amid all this esteemed company, though, the standout tracks are the Jagger-Richards originals. With its heartbreaking lyrics and poignant accompaniment, "Heart of Stone" could have been a classic soul ballad appropriated from some great, obscure American singer. On "What a Shame," the Stones prove that they don't have to look to outside sources for their blues. Keith's penetrating slide here, as on "Little Red Rooster," foreshadows greater things to come. minimize