The Stones' movement between labels--Decca (UK)/London (US) in the sixties, then their own Rolling Stones Records in the seventies--further separates the eras and apparently made it impossible for them to mix and mingle too much. Aside from "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses," songs recorded during the Decca/London era that were not released until the RS Records one, none of their songs crossed the labels' Iron Curtain whenever it came time to assemble yet another Stones compilation throughout the twentieth century.
This finally changed for the band's fortieth anniversary when ABKCO, the current owners of the Stones' sixties catalog, and Virgin, then the owners of their post-sixties work, made nice-nice and went halfsies on Forty Licks. It was the first time "Satisfaction", "Angie", "Ruby Tuesday","Miss You", "Paint It Black", and "Start Me Up" all appeared on the same collection, though the two eras were segregated onto their own discs of this double-CD set. For the occasion, the 2002 Stones also hacked out four new songs.
For the comp's twenty-first anniversary, ABKCO and Universal Music, which absorbed Virgin ten years ago, are putting out Forty Licks on vinyl for the first time, and a lot of care clearly went into the sound and presentation. ABKCO's recent Stones vinyl reissues have been a bit of a mixed bag in terms of mastering, but everything on Forty Licks' debut in the format sounds peachy keen. The music is sufficiently loud and crisp without being overbearing and the vinyl is flat and quiet, though the printed inner sleeves are a bit of a tight fit into the cover.
I also can't help but feel as though the Stones' sixtieth anniversary of putting out records would have been a great excuse for an updated compilation instead of a straight reissue of Forty Licks. How about a Sixty Licks 6-LP set that includes essentials absent from the original set, such as "Tell Me", "Time Is on My Side", the UK number-one hit "Little Red Rooster", "Heart of Stone", "As Tears Go By", "We Love You", "Dandelion", "2000 Light Years From Home", and "Waiting on a Friend"? The fact that Universal currently distributes ABKCO probably would have greased the wheels. I will also go to my grave complaining every time ABKCO trots out that anemic alternate version of "19th Nervous Breakdown" on a new release, but this set should please any vinyl enthusiast with a casual interest in a band who have at least a dozen must-own albums for more dedicated fans. I mean, if you don't have "2000 Light Years From Home" in your collection, you are nowhere.
