"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

Beat of the Day

And it hurts…

[Photo Credit: New York Shitty]

12 comments

1 Normando   ~  May 18, 2011 11:42 am

Hot damn!!

2 Alex Belth   ~  May 18, 2011 11:46 am

Such a bad ass record, even after all these years.

3 Matt Blankman   ~  May 18, 2011 12:05 pm

Amazing how high a level they were operating at then. It's absurd to expect them to live up to that '68-'72 standard all the time, just treasure that it happened and its on record.

Also, Alex, have you ever read Stanley Booth's "The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones?" Probably the best thing written about the Stones and among the best about rock'n'roll in general.

4 Alex Belth   ~  May 18, 2011 12:25 pm

No I have not. Sounds great. I know this is unfair but it popped into my head this morning anyhow. You know how people of a certain generation pitted the Stones vs. the Beatles? It was more than just a music thing but a "scene" thing. Anyhow, I love them both and can't compare them but as I was listening to this tune I thought, "Man, the Beatles never made a record like this!"

5 Matt Blankman   ~  May 18, 2011 12:47 pm

[4] Well, there are tracks like Helter Skelter and I Want You (She's So Heavy), but generally that's true. The Stones were always a bit more sinister and the flip side is that they sounded silly doing stuff in the vein of say, Penny Lane or Good Day Sunshine, which the Beatles could do brilliantly.

I've never bought into the idea that you're a Stones person or a Beatles person, but I do think I have Beatle moods and Stones moods.

The Booth book really details (among other things) the final overdubs and mixing of Let It Bleed in LA in '69, just before the tour. Keith was a one-man dynamo, essentially doing all the guitar parts himself. Booth documents that '69 tour while using alternate chapters to talk about Brian Jones and the band's history to that point.

6 Alex Belth   ~  May 18, 2011 1:31 pm

Yeah, Stones could never do "Martha My Dear."

7 Normando   ~  May 18, 2011 2:09 pm

Lady Jane and She's a Rainbow tread close to Martha My Dear territory, but The Beatles get the nod on quality in that territory. You could argue that The Stones were just trying to copy and keep up with The Beatles on those tracks. That said, I can't picture The Beatles being able to copy or keep up with anything on Get Your Ya-Ya's. Hell, from the train-crash endings on that album, The Stones could barely keep up with themselves!

8 Alex Belth   ~  May 18, 2011 2:27 pm

She's a Rainbow works, Lady Jane, I love but it doesn't have that lightness that Paul is so gifted at.

9 Normando   ~  May 18, 2011 2:54 pm

[8] Definately not. Interestingly, Paul could be heavy (Helter Skelter) as well as light. Hearing Helter Skelter, especially the remastered version and the outtakes, makes me wish there were power trio recordings of Ringo, Paul, and someone like Clapton or perhaps Townshend. That said, I think Lennon actually played the bass on Helter Skelter.

10 Matt Blankman   ~  May 18, 2011 4:16 pm

[9] Paul can do heavy very well and he's also an underrated rock'n'roll singer. Yeah, he does beautiful harmonies and great pop stuff, but he can sing the hell out of Little Richard-type material, and always could.

[8] Lady Jane is kind of baroque-y, but it's definitely got that dark Stones vibe. Great track - gotta love Brian on the dulcimer.

Dandelion is another Stones attempt at an upbeat flower-powery tune. Not my favorite.

11 Normando   ~  May 18, 2011 5:41 pm

[10] I'm not a big fan of The Stones' flower-powery period, with exception of "Citadel."

Paul's vocals on "Run, Devil, Run" cover a lot of that rocker territory, and does so very well. It's a great album. David Gilmour playing rave-up rockers? With Ian Paice on drums? I guess all those British guys really did have r-n-b roots.

12 Matt Blankman   ~  May 18, 2011 6:10 pm

[11] That's an excellent McCartney record.

I like a lot of the stones '67 output, actually - Between The Buttons is a great album. Satanic Majesties has a couple gems, one really boring track and is otherwise just sort of a fun curio in their catalog.That said, it's to everyone's benefit they moved on to Beggar's Banquet pretty quickly.

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