Song 455: This week on the playlist you can hear Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Not long after I began my freshman year at NU in the fall of 1969, I began to hear a lot more of The Rolling Stones than I had previously, thanks, primarily, to Hank Neuberger, who lived across the hall from me at Bobb Hall. Hank had a state-of-the-art stereo system, and an extensive LP collection. During that stretch, a large share of fans considered either The Beatles or The Rolling Stones to be at the top of the rock. In that discussion, Hank and I disagreed, and he even said to me at one point that the reason I put The Beatles at #1 was because I hadn't heard as much of the Stones' music as I had of the Fab Four. Over time, with him introducing me to so many truly impressive cuts, including this one (and all the rest of Beggars Banquet), he did succeed, by the end of our freshman year, in bringing me over to his side. Looking back, I would say that Mick and Co. were at the top of their game then, and John, Paul, George and Ringo weren't, but both bands deserved all the attention they got, regardless of which one the listener might rank as #1. The words on this track certainly do resonate today as much as they did 5 decades ago, introducing a man of wealth and taste who has been around for a long, long year and stole many a man's soul and faith - I think I recognize that face, and those horns.
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