Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote four of the songs on the album (including the US single), with the balance composed by American rhythm and blues and rock and roll artists.

If you don't have the bread, see that blind man knock him on the head, steal his wallet and low [sic] and behold you have the loot, if you put in the boot, good, another one sold!

[3] In a retrospective review, music critic Richie Unterberger gave the album AllMusic's highest rating (5 out of 5 stars).

The covers of "Down Home Girl," Bo Diddley's vibrating "Mona," Otis Redding's "Pain in My Heart," and Barbara Lynn's "Oh Baby" are all among the group's best R&B interpretations.

[13] In commentaries on the album, he has called it "classic",[14] "passionate and urgent",[15] and "easily the sharpest of the pre-Aftermath Stones LPs".