Whether the Jagger-Richards combination have any involvement in Paint It Black is unknown, but there’s certainly a glaring lack of liner notes or anything remotely close to information is…well, it ain’t illuminating.

Some of the cuts on Paint It Black are just incredible – it gets off to a rip-roaring start with David Bowie’s “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and Rod Stewart’s “Street Fighting Man”, with the latter from 1969 and just filled with energy. Aretha Franklin’s 1986 cover of “Jumping Jack Flash” has some of the UGLIEST `80s-styled production heard for quite some time, while on the other hand Otis Redding’s “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and Ike and Tina Turner’s “Honky Tonk Woman” (1965 and 1969 respectively) are just awesome.

For the most part, it’s these early covers of the Stones that are the best. Of later interpretations, stand-outs include Bryan Ferry’s “Sympathy For the Devil” (sounding like something from Rocky Horror Picture Show) and Grand Funk Railroad’s “Gimme Shelter”. The glaring omission is Ryan Adams and Beth Orton’s duet of “Brown Sugar”, recorded for Uncut magazine some years back, and an absolutely killer version of the song.