“Rip This Joint” by The Rolling Stones

Two songs into Exile on Main St., the Rolling Stones' 1972 album, "Rip This Joint" hits the gas and never touches the brake. It's among the fastest things the Stones ever cut, rockabilly to the bone, and Keith Richards has said it keeps you on your toes. Mick Jagger rattles off the words at breakneck speed, spinning a rambling tale across America as seen through a foreigner's eyes, with Bill Plummer on double bass. Jagger and Richards wrote it, and Jimmy Miller produced it for Rolling Stones Records.

Critic Bill Janovitz heard a pace close to what hardcore punk bands would be playing about a decade later, and pegged the song as the start of the album's trip across the whole map of American music, a modern "Route 66" that runs from Birmingham to San Diego.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.