The Rolling Stones have just released a live video of “Jumping Jack Flash” from their performance at Hyde Park this past summer. I watched it and for starters, as a singer, Jagger really sucks these days. It made me yearn for when his vocals totally knocked me out.

So I searched YouTube and found this video, which I believe is from 1969 when the group toured the U.S. They could really play back then. The sound isn’t the best, but there’s an energy and a wildness in this performance that’s quite amazing.

I thought you too might want to compare then and now. I suggest you start with the video that conveys some of their greatness, then see them in their decline.

The good old days:

It’s a “sad day,” as Mick once sang: