Spike Winch wrote this review for Green Man Review.
While Dave was in Ireland this past summer, reconnecting with his muse, me and his seventeen-year-old son stayed home and went to see the Rolling Stones at their huge outdoor SARS Concert in Toronto. Matt preferred AC/DC; myself, I only went to see that preenin’ #$%^in’ little weasel Mick doin’ ‘is bloody Tina Turner impression all over the stage. I was a bit surprised then to find out that they ‘ad a bit of life in them after all.
I was only a wee sprig livin’ in the orphanage when I heard the Rolling Stones first LP. Or it might have even been before me Mom dropped me there. But somebody was definitely playing “Well, I’m a king bee bayubay buzzin’ around yer hive…” an’ the sound of stingin’ guitars, rock solid drums, thumpin’ bass, an’ a real South Mississippi via South London accent singin’ the blooze gave me an idea…I had to get a guitar. I knew from the day I heard that…however spriggish I was, that guitar playin’ and singin’ in me own voice was in my future.
England’s Newest Hitmakers is a raw, rockin’ debut. Quite punky really, an’ the boys look like right bastards on the front cover. Dave’s been groomin’ me for this review, by teachin’ me a bit about the music I missed by bein’ so focused on makin’ me own; so now I can talk about the Bo Diddley beat of the Stones’ rendition of “Not Fade Away.” Quite neat, actually. They really rock out on tunes like “Route 66,” and “Carol.” @#$% that one drives! It’s all so very Sex Pistols, but in a different generation! The album sounds like they’d been listening to a lot of Chicago Blues…just like what’s been playin’ down ‘ere in the sub-basement since that PBS series was on. Quite authentic, very groovy.
Got Live if You Want It is just what it says. A live album, which sounds like it was recorded on a portable tape recorder under somebody’s jacket. Dave tells me this was criticized as bein’ muddy when it came out…but I found it exciting and real. Sounds like you’re in the club, half deaf, and boozed up. Great! If it’s MUDDY…it’s Muddy Waters! The thing I like about the Stones’ take on the blues is that they never sound like they’re too humbled by it. They speed through the songs, but play ‘em as the originals played ‘em, for the feel. There’s no attempt to add great long boring guitar solos which turned the later British blues bands into the boring old farts Fred and I wuz rebellin’ against.
The double vinyl Hot Rocks…yeah, that’s right…vinyl! We’re listening to records again, on Dave’s new Crosley record player. It looks just like the one we had in the Home…sounds a bit better though. The double vinyl Hot Rocks is a fairly dull collection of hits. Nothin’ extra, or rare but plenty of solid tunes nonetheless. Now More Hot Rocks goes much farther in showin’ what the Stones influences were like. This double album presents some rare sides from EPs. EPs, were apparently 45rpm records, with 2 songs a side. Bonus! Early cover versions played with energy and maybe a few bennies! “Poison Ivy!” “Bye Bye Johnny!” “Fortune Teller!” Awesome!
There’s a whole bunch of Rolling Stones records that just kept them going, that I’m not going to talk about. Two, December’s Children, 12×5, Now all had hits (see Hot Rocks for most of ‘em), and a cover song, a li’l rock, a l’il blues. But then the Beatles put out that over-rated, over-produced, over-decorated, thing they called Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the Stones lost their minds. Was it the drugs? Was it too much competition? Whatever…Their Satanic Majesties Request is a vile piece of sick #$%^. Psychedelic #$%^! It was for records like this that Fred and I had to get into the music business! But enough about us. This collection of treackly gobbledegook dressed up in fancy booties was the bottom. They rebounded by producin’ a string of rockin’, rollin’, vibratin’ classic records which were so @#$%in’ excitin’ that even yours truly don’t mind listenin’ to them!
Beggar’s Banquet was given a plain white cover when it came out, because the morons that ran record companies back then thought people would be offended by the sight of a li’l graffitti on a toilet stall! Gimme a break! The album harkens back to acoustic blues with slide guitars an’ harmonicas. The Stones managed to use acoustic guitars to really rock out. Very effective. Listen to “Sympathy for the Devil,” don’t mind the tough guy stance of the singer, obviously a poseur, but it really rocks. There’s a bit of country with “Dear Doctor,” wherein Mick pulls out his best Tennessee drawl, real blues on “Prodigal Son,” and the new blues of “Stray Cat Blues.” An excellent record filled with some of the best rhythm guitar playing ever. And of course…Charlie’s always good!
Next came Let It Bleed, not to be confused with “Let It Be” (oh no…the Stones were the rough ones, always!) It sort of represents the next step after Beggar’s Banquet. Powerful rock tunes like “Gimme Shelter” and the title cut sit side by side with more blues (“Love In Vain, “You Got the Silver”"), more country (“Country Honk”) and the extravaganza that is “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” By now the Stones were meetin’ their influences head on and the collision was deafenin’.
The live Get Yer Ya-Yas Out is a much clearer recording of a concert than Got Live if You Want It. It places the listener right up close to the stage as the Rolling Stones play slightly looser versions of the big songs from the last two LPs. Relaxed and still potent…Jagger is right when he says “Charlie’s good tonigh’ in’he?” He toys with the young ladies though, with the comment, “I fink I’ve bust’d a button on me trousers!” Oh well, it’s only rock’n'roll!
Sticky Fingers was the last great Stones album. I know, I know, Exile on Main Street, but it’s pointless, and aimless, truly muddy. I don’t like it! Sticky Fingers now, from the real zipper on the cover with a glimpse of some bloke’s carrot ‘n’ onions underneath to “Brown Sugar” an’ “Bitch,” it’s pretty good stuff. The blues is still represented, but now totally Stonesified (“You Gotta Move”). There is a danger of the ol’ long guitar solo which looms its ugly head in “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” but the Stones don’t let it go on TOO @#$%in’ long anyway.
But this was all so long ago. Thirty-two years! And they’ve been dishing up healthy servings of aimless riffin’ with Chuck Berry guitar, and whiny vocals, from their prancin’ prima donna leader ever since. I hate to live in the past, but crikey, that when the Rolling Stones lived. Now they simply exist. These records, (an’ I suppose the CDs that’ve replaced them…although I haven’t got any) are perfect examples of a band that took its influences and turned it into its own unique style. Buy any of the above. You won’t be disappointed!
(London, 1964)
(London, 1971)
(London, 1966)
(London, 1967)
(London, 1968)
(London, 1969)
(London, 1970)
(Rolling Stones/Atlantic, 1971)
(London, 1972)
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