The Rolling Stones Top 75 Countdown (#42-40) & This Week's Statistics

At #42 of the Rolling Stones Top 75 songs Countdown, here's another song from what most critics call their greatest album ever: Exile On Main St (1972). In my personal Rolling Stones' Top Albums list it's at #2.

Stop Breaking Down is an old song. It was originally recorded by Robert Johnson in 1937. For those who haven't heard of him, if you ask the Stones, Clapton and so many other superstars as to who's their biggest influence they will say "Robert Johnson". The man who is rumored to have sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads to achieve success. Whether it's true or not, it was short-lived, since he died at 27, yet another prominent member of the 27 Club. In 2010 Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at #5 of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Here is his version of Stop Breaking Down:

The Rolling Stones interpreted the song somewhat differently from the earlier versions, with prominent slide guitar work by Mick Taylor and Mick Jagger providing the harmonica and guitar. Here they are with their version:

The White Stripes recorded a version in their 1999 debut album:

On his 2004 album, Me and Mr. Johnson, Eric Clapton covered this song along with several other Robert Johnson tunes.

At #41 is yet another cover, this time of a hit of one of the greatest R&B vocal groups of all time. The Temptations released Ain't Too Proud to Beg in 1966, with lead vocals by David Ruffin and harmony vocals by Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, and Otis Williams. The song peaked at #13 on the US Hot 100, and was a #1 hit on the Billboard R&B charts for 8 non-consecutive weeks. Here it is:

The Rolling Stones recorded the song for their 1974 album It's Only Rock 'n Roll. It was their 2nd single from the album after the title track and it peaked at #11 in France and at #17 in the US. Their version had an extra layer of bravado: if The Temptations were begging, the Stones were actually demanding. See for yourselves:

We are now inside the Top 40. At #40 we find a song that follows in the tradition of the more politically minded songs by the Stones, like Gimme Shelter and Street Fighting Man. Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) was recorded for the album Goats Head Soup (1973). It was the album's second single, right after Angie, but it was only a hit in the States, peaking at #15.

The song's lyrics relate two stories: one is a story of New York City police shooting a boy "right through the heart" because they mistook him for someone else, and the second of a ten-year-old girl who dies in an alley of a drug overdose. Neither of these events are known to be factual. However, it is certainly possible that Jagger incorporated into the lyrics some elements of a notorious police shooting that took place around the time the song was released.

In April of 1973 a ten-year-old boy named Clifford Glover was with his father when plainclothes police stopped them at gunpoint in Queens, in New York City, supposedly having mistaken the two for suspects in an armed robbery (the robbers were described as being about one foot taller than the boy). The boy and his father ran, fearing that they were about to be victims of a robbery. The police chased them and one officer shot the 10-year-old boy in the back, killing him. The bullet entered Glover's lower back and emerged at the top of his chest (i.e., went through his heart). The case resulted in riots and a murder indictment against the officer, who was later acquitted in a jury trial.

It's sad that after 43 years, things haven't really changed. Here's the song:

... And here's a live version from 2003:

Now, on to this week's statistics. Every week there comes a country which surprises us with a plethora of visits, more than the usual. Sometimes this phenomenon last for a few weeks before going back to normal (i.e. Russia), sometimes the visitors from this country then disappear for weeks, only to come back en masse at another time (i.e. Ireland), but more often they peak for a week and then go back to normal (i.e. Italy, Spain, Portugal). This week it was Canada's turn to show an increased number of visits. In fact 90% of them happened in a single day. It was a couple of days after the Celine Dion presentation, which may be of significance or not.

Cyprus also had a good week, while for the other Top 10 countries and the runners up it was "business as usual", except for Ireland, which once again was AWOL.

The full Top 10 is as follows (there is a 2-way tie at #3, #5 is just 1 visit behind, #6 is 2 visits behind #5, #7 is 2 visits behind #6, and #8 is 3 visits behind #7):

1. the United States

2. Greece

3. Canada

3. France

5. Germany

6. Russia

7. the United Kingdom

8. Cyprus

9. China

10. Spain

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence this week (alphabetically): Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Happy to have you all!

As far as the all-time list is concerned, Canada has distanced itself from Ireland, and Cyprus slightly increased its difference with Portugal. The rest of them are more or less the same.

1. the United States = 47.2%

2. Greece = 19.6%

3. Russia = 11.2%

4. Germany = 3.4%

5. France = 2.2%

6. the United Kingdom = 2.0%

7. Canada = 1.18%

8. Ireland = 1.05%

9. Cyprus = 0.67%

10. Portugal = 0.48%

That's all folks. I wish you all a healthy and happy new week!