12 X 5 LP

Album Details

Originally released in 1964, 12x5 is the moment when the Rolling Stones evolved from boys into men. The British veterans' sophomore record finds Mick, Keith, and Co. progressing from a blues covers band into having an identity of their own. The performances within, ranging from a kick-starting cover of Chuck Berry's "Around and Around" to the melancholic Jagger/Richards original "Congratulations," speak to the emergence of visceral versatile, and virtuosic group becoming more deeply versed in R&B acumen. Meticulously mastered from high-res files sourced from the original master tapes, and plated and pressed on 180g LP at QRP, this clear-vinyl edition of 12x5 sounds terrific. It far exceeds the sound quality of conventional CD and digital downloads. No analog lover should be without it. Sometimes, you can always get what you want. Notable for balancing youthful primal bravado with learned rhythmic pace, 12x5 witnesses the Stones putting an individual stamp on soul structures and harnessing their blues-rock roots to a greater extent. The band's rendition of Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now" remains standard-bearing. Its first version of Jerry Ragovoy's "Time Is On My Side" is here, too, with organ backing. Similarly confident and distinctive, the instrumental "2120 South Michigan Avenue" pays tribute to the physical address of Chicago's Chess Records, where several tracks on the record were cut, as well as their heroes. Witness Jagger's Little Walter-like harmonica solo. Having sold at a faster clip than the Stones' hit debut, 12x5 established the band's permanent foothold in contemporary music, the evidence of which resonates in this album's grooves to this very day.