Episode 62: Harry Khachatrian / Rolling Stones [Part 1]

07/22/19 • 205 min

Scot and Jeff discuss The Rolling Stones (Part 1, through LET IT BLEED) with Harry Khachatrian.

Introducing the Band:
Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Harry Khachatrian. Harry is a contributor at The Daily Wire and his writing also can be found at harrykhachatrian.com. Harry is on Twitter at @harry1T6.

Harry’s Music Pick: The Rolling Stones
The fog of war is thick and heavy, and the storm is threatening my very life today, so allow the Political Beats look at the Brian Jones era of The Rolling Stones send you all looking for shelter. And a beverage. And perhaps headphones, if you’re in a crowded area. You’ll want to crank this one. Scot, Jeff, and Harry lead you through the first eight years or so of the band, starting with its origins as an R&B/blues cover outfit, through the singles era, into THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST, and out the other side as the greatest winning streak in rock and roll history begins with BEGGARS BANQUET and LET IT BLEED. We do our best to explain the divergence between the US and UK versions of the Stones’ early discography, and Jeff makes an impassioned plea for all of you to pay attention to how special the Jones era was and how important his contributions were throughout this time. If you want to talk about Mick, Keef, Brian, Bill, Charlie, and even Stu. . . then without further ado, let’s just get right down to it. And this is just Part 1; there’s 50 years to go in Part 2!

Scot and Jeff discuss The Rolling Stones (Part 1, through LET IT BLEED) with Harry Khachatrian.

Previous Episode

Episode 61: Matt Welch / The Beach Boys [Part 2]

Scot Bertram and Jeff Blehar discuss the second part of The Beach Boys’ career with Matt Welch.

Introducing The Band:
Your hosts Scot Bertram (@scotbertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Matt Welch, former editor-in-chief and current editor-at-large of Reason, and co-host and self-described “provost” of “The Fifth Column” podcast. Follow Matt on Twitter at @MattWelch and check out The Fifth Column podcast (whose members Political Beats likes so much that we’ve had literally every single one of them on as a guest) here.

Matt’s Music Pick: The Beach Boys
The Summer Spectacular continues as Political Beats wraps up its coverage of The Beach Boys’ career with Part Two: The Beach Boys Get Weird. Beginning with the legendary 1966 #1 hit single “Good Vibrations” and the equally legendary lost album Smile (now at least somewhat ‘found’ since the 2004 release of Brian Wilson’s solo take on the project and archival Smile Sessions boxed set), the Beach Boys rapidly shift from “fun in the summer sun” to a bizarre, uniquely Southern California morass of bad drug trips, transcendental meditation albums, Manson family hijinks, and the occasional guest appearance by John Stamos.

This was the period of their great commercial collapse, and Brian Wilson’s concurrent mental collapse, but here’s the paradox: both Jeff and Matt believe THIS phase of the band’s career to contain much of their most fascinating and rewarding music. From Smiley Smile and Wild Honey all the way through to Holland and the weirdness of the man-child directness of The Beach Boys Love You, the boys’ later career reveals equally as much amazing music as their earlier, more famous material.

And yes, everyone hates “Kokomo.”

Next Episode

Episode 63: Jeff Dufour / Rolling Stones [Part 2]

Scot and Jeff discuss The Rolling Stones (Part 2, from 1969 through to the present day) with Jeff Dufour.

Introducing the Band:
Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Jeff Dufour. Jeff is the Editor-in-Chief of National Journal. Jeff is on Twitter at @dcdufour.
Jeff’s Music Pick: The Rolling Stones
This week the gang somehow manages the nifty trick of covering a full FIFTY years of musical history in under three and a half hours as they discuss the post-Brian Jones era of The Rolling Stones’ career, encompassing everything from their legendary U.S. 1969 tour, the Mick Taylor era, the addition of Ronnie Wood, and Keith’s infamous drug bust in Toronto to their fracturing and reunion in the 1980’s and subsequent career as stadium-rocking megastars (still selling out 60,000-seat venues to this very day). In between all of these things they also happened to put out several of the most famous and critically acclaimed rock albums of all time, which is more than just an important footnote. From Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! all the way to Blue And Lonesome, Scot, Jeff and Jeff take you on an epic journey just about a moonlight mile down the road. Click play and start it up.