Lot Essay
At the time of its release in 1967 Their Satanic Majesties Request was widely regarded as being the Rolling Stones' answer to The Beatles' psychedelic album of the same year Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The faces of the four Beatles hidden amongst the flowers on the elaborate 3-D cover, seemed to contribute to this theory, Jagger however defended the work as a product of its time. He said The only similarity.. between Sgt.Pepper and Satanic Majesties ..is that both albums were made in the same year, when the same things were happening in the head... The presence of the Beatles' heads was apparently a reference to Paul and John's contribution to the backing vocals on The Stones' single We Love You. The single, recorded to thank their fans for their support during their recent drugs charges ordeal, was originally intended for inclusion on the Satanic Majesties album, but left off the final version.
This album, the first the group had made without the presence of Andrew Oldham, has split critical opinion but is generally regarded to have suffered from a lack of discipline. It was made at a time when the group were under a considerable amount of pressure, three of them having been charged with the possession of drugs, and when their relationship with Oldham broke down. Writer Stephen Bernard makes an interesting comparison between this situation and that of The Beatles after Brian Epstein's death ..For once the Stones appeared to be anticipating the kind of problems that the Beatles would encounter when Brian Epstein was no longer in charge of their affairs. In fact, despite the superficial similarities with 'Sgt.Pepper', 'Their Satanic Majesties' had far more in common with the Beatles' first post-Epstein recording project, 'Magical Mystery Tour' - a self-indulgent rip into a drug-prevaded fantasy land...
The 3-D cover apparently cost $25,000 to produce, shot by Michael Cooper, it depicted The Stones ...in their alter ego form as a band of sorcerers... Jagger said of the cover image 'It's not really meant to be a nice picture at all - look at the expressions on our faces. It's a Grimm's fairy tale, one of those stories that used to frighten as a child... Critical opinion of the album was generally negative, and the band's own views on it were very mixed. Despite this, Satanic Majesties sold well and in the States was apparently ...taken seriously.. by the ...burgeoning hippie movement.. which was by this time ..taking on a political dimension...
This album, the first the group had made without the presence of Andrew Oldham, has split critical opinion but is generally regarded to have suffered from a lack of discipline. It was made at a time when the group were under a considerable amount of pressure, three of them having been charged with the possession of drugs, and when their relationship with Oldham broke down. Writer Stephen Bernard makes an interesting comparison between this situation and that of The Beatles after Brian Epstein's death ..For once the Stones appeared to be anticipating the kind of problems that the Beatles would encounter when Brian Epstein was no longer in charge of their affairs. In fact, despite the superficial similarities with 'Sgt.Pepper', 'Their Satanic Majesties' had far more in common with the Beatles' first post-Epstein recording project, 'Magical Mystery Tour' - a self-indulgent rip into a drug-prevaded fantasy land...
The 3-D cover apparently cost $25,000 to produce, shot by Michael Cooper, it depicted The Stones ...in their alter ego form as a band of sorcerers... Jagger said of the cover image 'It's not really meant to be a nice picture at all - look at the expressions on our faces. It's a Grimm's fairy tale, one of those stories that used to frighten as a child... Critical opinion of the album was generally negative, and the band's own views on it were very mixed. Despite this, Satanic Majesties sold well and in the States was apparently ...taken seriously.. by the ...burgeoning hippie movement.. which was by this time ..taking on a political dimension...