How 'Honky Tonk Women' and 'Let It Bleed' Were Received by Critics Right After Brian Jones Died

The timing was brutal. “Honky Tonk Women” dropped in July 1969, just two weeks after Brian Jones was found dead in his swimming pool. Critics were already predisposed to treat anything the Stones did as a eulogy, but the single’s swaggering, cowbell-driven sound felt like a deliberate statement of survival. Rolling Stone called it “the best single they’ve ever made,” and it shot to No. 1 in both the UK and US, though some reviewers noted the eerie contrast between the party lyrics and the band’s real-life grief.

When Let It Bleed arrived that December, the press was split. NME praised the album’s ragged, apocalyptic energy, while Melody Maker wondered if the band had lost some of its edge without Jones’s multi-instrumental flourishes. The most common thread in reviews was that the Stones were now a harder, leaner band—Mick Taylor’s slide guitar added a new blues texture, but the shadow of Jones hung over tracks like “You Got the Silver,” the only song he actually played on. Most critics agreed the album was a worthy follow-up to Beggars Banquet, but few predicted it would later be considered one of their best.