Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) Released: September 12, 1969

Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) in depth

It was 1969, the greatest decade in the history of mankind was coming to an end, and, “as Presuming Ed has so consistently pointed out, we have failed to paint it black”.

In fact, the ravers had painted it psychedelic shades of sky blue pink and green tangerine by the time the end of the party finally rolled around, so, race issues apart, black wasn’t really the issue. Except, possibly, for a band of musicians named The Rolling Stones, from whose US and UK chart topping 1966 single Presuming Ed took the phrase, and aspects of whose own story had indeed turned darker; though not as dark as Brian Jones' own personal world, in which the lights were about to go out completely and permanently.

On May 21, The Stones held their last ever photo shoot with Brian Jones, for the cover of the forthcoming greatest hits album – their second, after 1966’s Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass). On June 8, Charlie, Keith and Mick fired Brian from the band. On July 2, Brian was found dead in his swimming pool. On September 12, the greatest hits album whose cover Brian posed for, Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2), was released, dedicated to Brian.

The whole dark side of The Stones thing had been a running gag in the band’s war with the press for a while - for ever, really, given their artful, Loog Oldham-designed positioning as the bad guys (to The Beatles’ goodies) back in the early part of the decade. But 1967’s provocatively titled Their Satanic Majesties Request had stoked the fires of fear and loathing in the hearts of The Moral Majority. A number of high profile drug busts didn't help. And 1968’s magnificent Sympathy For The Devil took The Rolling Stones way beyond the pale in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Daily Mail.

It was all a bit of a joke to The Stones, naturally, albeit a sour one, as the forces of law and order began to weigh against them. But the loss of a band member, however inevitable, first to the band, and then to life itself, tends to quiet the urge to laugh too much or too loud.

Through The Past, Darkly is a fine and fitting tribute to Brian Jones and his contribution to the band, however diminished his influence and contribution had become by the end. If not writing off or accounting for the high price Brian Jones paid for being the wrong guy, living the wrong life, with the wrong band, at the wrong time; the record - on which some of Brian's best work can be heard - certainly sheds light on why The Rolling Stones were now cruising in high gear, and about to step it up a couple of notches further to become The Greatest Rock and Roll Band In The World. Sam Cutler would use the phrase for the first time introducing The Rolling Stones at the free concert they played to an audience of 250,000 in Hyde Park on July 5, a performance theband also dedicated to Brian Jones.

The thing about Through The Past, Darkly, is that, despite the moody title and the shades of darkness and death around its release, it's an absolute stormer of an album. As with its predecessor, Big Hits (Green Grass and High Tide), pretty much every song here is a winner; although, also as with Big Hits (Green Grass and High Tide) – and largely as a consequence of the split US/UK split on that record - the muddle over US and UK versions makes a true hearing difficult.

Then again, consistency and comparisons aren’t always necessary to understand what you're hearing. From Paint It Black (Brian Jones on sitar), the sinister, splendid song about depression and nihilism that summed up the sixties’ failure for Presuming Ed; to Street Fighting Man (Brian Jones on sitar and tamboura), a sardonic, double-edged tribute to the creative violence that made and marred the decade in its death throes; the whole record rocks like only The Rolling Stones can.

Highlights are as hard to find in the noonday sun as shadows are at midnight, and picking the best bits from Through The Past, Darkly is pretty much impossible. Try it, and you just end up listing the whole album, track by track, because they’re all stunning pop, rock and roll artefacts, absolutely the equal and arguably better than the greatest hits of any other band of the period, including The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Bee Gees, The Monkees, Jimi Hendrix, The Who… It was quite a period, and The Rolling Stones were punching their weight and more. You need to play this one end to end to get the full effect of the Stones’ trajectory as a singles and songs band, 1966-1969, and you are encouraged, implored, urged and ordered to do so at your earliest convenience.