Russell Reising is Professor of American Culture and Asian Studies, University of Toledo, Ohio

Russell Reising: Introducton: "Just trying to do this jigsaw puzzle"

Part I: What can poor boys do, except to sing (and play and produce) in a rock 'n' roll band?

John Covach: Jimmy Miller, the Rolling Stones, and Beggars Banquet

Steven Baur: 'And the drummer, he's so shattered': the percussive core of Beggars Banquet

Akitsugu Kawamoto: 'And the bass player, he looks nervous': progressive elements in the bass lines of Beggars Banquet

Jim LeBlanc: 'Too much is never enough': Beggars Banquet and the decline of Brian Jones

Stephen D. Christman: "Five strings, three notes, two fingers, one asshole": Keith Richards's use of open G tuning

James McGrath: Doctor, I'm damaged: medical and cultural mythologies of Nicky Hopkins and the Rolling Stones

Part II: "What's puzzling you is the nature of my game": some ideas

Ruth Tallman: Condemned to be free: the frightening uncertainty of a world without morality

Norma Coates: How can a smart chick like me listen to the Stones and not throw up? A speculative exploration of Beggars Banquet and misogyny

Brian Goodman, Woo Woooo: Beggars Banquet's new aesthetic

Part III: Some songs

Kimberly Mack: Please allow me to introduce myself': autobiographical blues self-fashioning in 'Sympathy for the Devil'

Peter Mills: "Ghost at the banquet : the enigma of 'Child Of The Moon'"

Jacopo Conti: The 'old' and 'new' Rolling Stones in aural staging and chord changes of 'Street Fighting Man'

Part IV: The Rolling Stones, live if you want it

Steve Waksman: On the Road to Altamont: the Rolling Stones on Tour, 1969

Kimi Karki: 'I've been around for a long, long year': the spectacular evil in the Rolling Stones' live performance career