Flowers (Rolling Stones album)
Flowers is the second compilation album by the Rolling Stones, released in the summer of 1967. The group recorded the songs at various studios dating back to 1965. Three of the songs had never been released: "My Girl", "Ride On, Baby" and "Sittin' on a Fence", the first of which was recorded in May 1965 during the sessions for "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," and the other two of which were recorded in December 1965 during the first lot of "Aftermath" sessions. The rest of the album tracks either appeared as singles or had been  omitted from the American versions of "Aftermath" and "Between the Buttons". The title refers to the album's cover, with flower stems underneath the portrait of each of the band members. Bassist Bill Wyman claims that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards deliberately arranged the stem of Brian Jones's flower so that it had no leaves, as a prank. The portraits are from the British version of "Aftermath". "Flowers" reached number three in the US during the late summer of 1967 and was certified gold. In August 2002 it was remastered and reissued on CD and SACD digipak by ABKCO  Records. Critical reception. Because of its assorted compilation, "Flowers" was originally disregarded by some music critics as a promotional ploy aimed at American listeners. Critic Robert Christgau, on the other hand, suggested that managers Andrew Loog Oldham and Lou Adler released the album as a "potshot at "Sergeant Pepper" itself, as if to say, 'Come off this bullshit, boys. You're only in it for the money." He wrote in 1970 in "The Village Voice": In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Richie Unterberger gave "Flowers" four-and-a-half out of five stars and said that the music it compiles  is exceptional enough not to be dismissed as a marketing "rip-off": "There's some outstanding material you can't get anywhere else, and the album as a whole plays very well from end to end." Tom Moon gave it five stars in "The Rolling Stone Album Guide" (2004) and wrote that "it holds together as one of the Stones' best records, a concept album about the social scene that gathers around five rich young men with an appetite for sex, drugs, and gossip." Track listing. All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except "My Girl" by Smokey Robinson  and Ronald White.