(Album) Between the Buttons (UK)

Between the Buttons (UK)

Released
January 20, 1967

Between the Buttons, released before the Rolling Stones’ main venture into Psychedelic music and after their releases of Rock and Roll and Rhythm and Blues. It’s an album in a tough spot, and even worse, the album was not even promoted properly. This results in Between the Buttons being almost forgotten, and even worse, without much of a backstory.

The only backstory this album has is that the songs were recorded here and there, and they had overdubs added on over and over again, creating an art easel with so much paint added on that the original idea was lost. However, what we do have is an album with a focus on perfection. Were they close to this idea? According to Mick Jagger himself, they were far from it.

The other part of the backstory comes from the album itself and not the songs. The album art comes from some fancy homemade filters and Brian Jones being a dick and not complying with the camera man. For some reason, the idea of Jones not caring is the exact opposite of what the “ethereal, druggy feel” is supposed to be.

Oh, and Jagger he hates everything about the album except for Back Street Girl, a song that ended up being excluded from the US release. Tough times for Jagger.

Yesterday’s Papers

(Every single song was credited to Jagger / Richards)

Although credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, this song is solely written by Mick Jagger. Supposedly, this song is about Jagger’s ex-girlfriend Chrissie Shrimpton, who broke up after she caught Jagger cheating (she would later attempt suicide through an overdose.. Probably many times. The song also contains a repeating theme for Rolling Stones songs about women, a certain mistreatment and idea that women are disposable.

Finally, we can get to the music. I just needed all the backstory I could get. This song gives us a peek at where The Stones are going to, featuring vibraphones and harpsichords. There’s a couple of things to note on this song: of course the vibraphone with an echo, but also and a semi-solo played by Richards on a distorted guitar. On top of everything is Jagger’s vocals, soft and steady throughout the song (I’ll also mention I love the harmonizing in the backing vocals.) Yes, the harpsichord is there, but it’s not in a big enough role to really mention. All together, it makes for a nice song and a different, fresh sound.

9 / 10

My Obsession

Backstory? Mick Jagger kinda likes this song.

The first thing my ears were drawn to was the heavy bass, that I really wish was a little more prominent in the mix. The guitar mixes well with the bass as well. There’s not much else to say about this song, unfortunately. It has potential. I can see Jagger having fun with this song, but other than that there’s only potential and nothing else.

7.75 / 10

Back Street Girl

It’s a very interesting song in all the good ways. The lyrics can be interpreted as another attempt to put women down, but we’re going to look past that and instead try to explain the feeling of this song. The vibraphone comes into play, but it’s an accordion that makes this song, as well as a soft acoustic guitar. The song is something completely unexpected from the Stones, and instead sounds like something someone would hear in the streets of Italy. It’s peaceful, it’s new, and it involves a peaceful and somber Jagger, and for that I appreciate this song.

9 / 10

Connection

It’s a rock and roll song with a prominent piano and a simple rhyme scheme. As simple as the idea sounds, it works very well, and is a very well done rock song without it getting out of control. And a very good snap back into reality from these different songs.

9.5 / 10

She Smiled Sweetly

The organ this song has cannot help this song. Jagger’s vocals are weak, and the length is where it should be, but other than that the song is pretty average.

7 / 10

Cool, Calm & Collected

This song brings out some neat noises, with a great bass line, a guitar that rides along doing it’s own thing, and the piano that has followed all of these songs brings a kinda ragtime feel, which gets even better when a harmonica comes in and speeds the song up to the end.  Also, kazoo solo. We’re at that point in music where we’re getting kazoo solos, and I love it. It’s a rock song with a foot-tapping beat, and while I don’t care much for the chorus, It’s a fantastic song.

9.25 / 10

All Sold Out

It’s a weird song, to say the least. Weird in the composition sense. The guitar sounds very nice, and the drums finally get a chance to sound good. If only this song wasn’t mixed badly, because I’m sure there was a flute somewhere. It’s also not an impressing song. Good song for filler though.

7.75 / 10

Please Go Home

It’s an odd mix of blues rock and psychedelic influences. Two guitars play a hard, distorted beat while the drums keep on playing their rock noises. The chorus plays with echo, the verses play with blues, and Brian Jones plays with an oscillator. It’s fun to be had, although it’s nothing to get excited over.

8.5 / 10

Who’s Been Sleeping Here?

I have a question of my own, why does the first guitar sound like it was recorded poorly? The song features a small harmonica, and anything else (like that piano) has been mixed in with everything else. Its got silly lyrics and a bass that begs to be heard, but that doesn't mean it’s interesting.

7 / 10

Complicated

The song starts off with drums before going into a fuzz guitar. The most “psychedelic” sounding song in the album, with an organ that plays something beautiful, but at the same time it’s the quietest instrument in the song, and that’s a shame. Besides that, Watts plays a strong drum beat, the both sets of vocals fit perfectly, and the song flows perfectly.

9 / 10

Miss Amanda Jones

This song is easily compared to the songs that The Stones used to play early in their career, with a guitar playing fast power chords and a second guitar doing short riffs. Once again, an organ comes into play, but it’s hardly noticeable, and once again, that’s a shame. A great song.

8.5 / 10

Something Happened to Me Yesterday

Now this is a magical song. Not because it’s about LSD, no shh ignore that for now. There’s several strange things about this. It contains nonchalant whistling, Brian Jones on an amazing saxophone (accompanied by a bright brass section, and Brian Jones doing vocals on the chorus. It’s quite an amazing composition, with so much things to note. It really plays on the bright LSD-type feeling, both in lyrics and style of the song. And, a shock, everything in the mix works. Even Keith Richards, who fits right in with his lead vocal introduction. And finally, we get a spoken exit, which ends the album in an elegant manner, if only the whole album felt like this.

9.5 / 10

I entered the album with low expectations. Several things were stacked against this album: Jagger hating it, me being told it’s a bad album, and I haven’t even heard of the songs beforehand except for Yesterday’s Papers. What shocked me, however, is finding out this album is an underlooked Stones album sandwiched between two different periods. Their “transition” period, really.

Almost all the songs are unique enough and strong enough to hold their own. Between the dabbles in psychedelic / baroque and heavy filters, the album rose above my expectations going in and had solidified it as one of my favorite Stones albums since Aftermath, and that’s a large statement. The album is not without it’s problems, which mainly stem from the mixes of the song. I guarantee the original, pre-remastered songs were much worse off, but most times certain instruments are just lazily added into the song. The drums, which have been very strong as of lately, are barely noticeable. Interesting instruments, like the harpsichord and the organ, disappear in the mix despite them having an important part in the song.

That being said, the songs are either good or bland. Mick Jagger doesn’t sound as inspired as usual, and everything sounds so one-leveled. This is good for some songs and kills other songs.

92.75 / 120

The album is very nice and unique, but none of the songs really make a lasting impression. At the time of listening, however, it makes for a nice experience. All together, it’s a great mix of songs with a large selection of what to listen to.
I can't say I recommend it, though. The album won't be for everyone, and especially not for the casual Rolling Stones fan (I think, because by that I mean people who only ventured into their hits.) But if you're looking for something new, look no further.

(Single) Ruby Tuesday / Let's Spend the Night Together

Ruby Tuesday / Let’s Spend the Night Together

Released
January 13, 1967
January 14, 1967

Probably the most interesting Rolling Stones release so far for the UK, and I would say the same for the US if it wasn’t for Got Live If Ya Want It!. As bad as it is, you can’t deny that there’s a lot to say about it.

The reason for me saying that is that this release is a double A-side single. An interesting concept, coined by The Beatles for use in their single Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out, is not when both sides are hits, but rather when both sides were predicted to be hits (and promoted as such.) While before Day Tripper there were times when the B-side of a single charted higher than the A-side, they were still promoted as a b-side (but that probably changed when the record company realized they could make even more money from both sides.)

The Rolling Stones have every right to promote this as a double a-side. This single is special, and I’ll try my best to give you every piece of information on it that I care to read.

Ruby Tuesday

(Jagger / Richards [and Brian Jones])

A song written by Keith Richards (with no involvement by Jagger), and composition by Brian Jones,  about his current girlfriend Linda Keith. At this time, she had left Richards and went for Jimi Hendrix of all people, and started to venture with drugs. Richards, whom I’m sure had many encounters with certain  narcotics at this point, decided the best way to get her back is to tattle to her parents. Instead of going up to Richards and expressing her gratitude, like Richards probably expected, it gave her another reason why leaving him was a good idea.

Now we can get into the song itself, and what a song. And how do I even explain the beauty? It’s even harder to explain the way it was made. It involves Keith Richards and Bill Wyman on the same contrabass, accompanied by a piano played by Brian Jones and the Jagger’s vocals (as well as a recorder, also played by Brian Jones.) The song goes between these beautiful, soft verses to a soft rock chorus with drums and a slight 12-string acoustic. The instruments flow so naturally together, even the recorder is played to perfection and never steals the show. The contrabass shares lead to Jagger’s tender vocals during the verses, then makes way for the soft rock chorus (and a real bass.)

Ten out of Ten.

Let’s Spend the Night Together

(Jagger / Richards)

This song contrasts the other song, but has another interesting tidbit - a couple police officers noticed the front doors to the recording studio were open and walked in to see if everyone was ok, and Jagger ended up using their batons for a musical instrument. Finally, radio stations decided not to play this song too much because of sexual implications, but that really should be expected by The Stones at this point (but for some reason in 2006, China banned the use of this song during their performances.)

The song’s main focus is in it’s piano, played by Keith Richards. Sneakily played by Brian Jones is an organ, and despite having a relatively small part in the song, makes the song. The Watts’ drumming is fantastic, as it’s been for a while now, and it really carries the song along in a part as equally important as the piano. And finally, the vocals are as rocking as a rock and roll song should be.

However, I can’t help but feel something is missing. Maybe because it’s being overshadowed by Ruby Tuesday. Even without Ruby Tuesday, it just sounds like a rock song to me. Maybe it’s because Richards plays the bass and Bill Wyman is nowhere to be seen (that’s not the reason, but I just wanted to point that out.) Whatever it is, I just can’t put my finger on it. It’s still a great song, but I wouldn't call it perfect in any means (except in Watts’ drumming.)

9.5 / 10

I can safely call this single the greatest single the Rolling Stones have ever produced to this point. While I prefer several Rolling Stones songs over Let’s Spend the Night Together, the album itself has enough punch and power to be fantastic and trump other Stones singles. The publicity from their Ed Sullivan performance and the #1 spot in the charts for Ruby Tuesday only helped this single tenfold.

19.5 / 10 I would, and will, highly recommend

Also speaking of Ed Sullivan.

January 15, 1967:

The Rolling Stones go onto Ed Sullivan show to perform their recent release, and hit, Ruby Tuesday and Let’s Spend the Night Together. Since the song was too sexual for radio, mean old Ed Sullivan was also in the same boat and asked Jagger to change the lyric. Also, to play the songs with pre-recorded instruments to mime to (but live vocals.)

First is Ruby Tuesday, and he band is dressed to the fashion of 1967, and Brian Jones is forced to mime a recorder and Keith Richards is forced to the piano miming. In all honesty, Brian Jones does not look well. Watts is also not impressed, and I can’t say I like the idea of Jagger doing his flashy performance during this song. But I guess it’s what the people want. Actually, I hate it for this song.

Meanwhile Keith Richards plays his lonely contrabass. By himself. In sub-par synchronization with the music. And everytime the camera shows Charlie Watts, he looks like he wants to kill someone. Or be somewhere else, it’s the same face really. But I’d want to kill someone if I had to pretend to hit the cymbal without actually touching it. It’s hell.

Going into Let’s Spend the Night Together, I feel even more sorry for Charlie Watts. Also, everyone has their instruments again. And Jagger dances, but it’s acceptable now because it’s not a soft, sweet song.

Jagger rolls his eyes when he has to sing “Let’s spend some time together.” Because censorship. But he manages to throw in the original lyric, because  rebels. And the song cuts off and everyone looks silly. Because time restraints.

Finally, while we don’t have this on film sadly, I can tell you the slipped lyric wasn't the reason The Rolling Stones were asked not to return. It was because the next time they went on stage, they were dressed as Nazis. And now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Decided to throw that little bonus in there for reaching this point.
And yes, I call it a contrabass. It's the proper way of calling it, and not a double bass. I've had an orchestra background for 7 years now, so go away.

So Much Younger Than Today (No download links, keep searching my brother)

*This is part of my ongoing, personal project of listening to every Rolling Stones material released, posted onto this blog for everyone to read and for opinions to flourish. The rating doesn't mean much, because I hate ratings, but might as well.*

I died, JP came back, but he caught Liperson’s disease. So here is this piece of nothing,first draft, hot off the google docs(Drive, but not the Cars song)  

(I apologize for breaking the track by track breakdown, I just feel like it would take away from this particular album.So, no rating, I'm sorry)

I am doing a review of a radio broadcast, and just let me give you the gist of the review : I am gushing hard over this on this album.

I have really dug this recording for a very long time. If they released this instead of Got Live, I wouldn't of minded the quality of the recording.

Not to say it is bad, I actually like all the audio fuck ups, like the weird stereo feedback on Mother’s Little Helper, or how you can hear the audio guys move. I dig it. In all honestly, considering the screaming crowd, the limitations of soundboard and speaker/PA systems, it a miracle that this recording is as good as it is.

The performances are actually really good, I would of thought for the final concert of the American tour, The Stones would just phone it in, and I wouldn't blame them for it.

They are energetic, and Keith Richards strums like a mother fucker on Paint It Black, and I love it. Jagger is a dick in a charming  way, he messes with the audience, and when he mocks Charlie Watts, Watts just says they are going to play a song they just played. Unfortunately, Wyman’s bass is a little muted, which really takes away from 19th Nervous Breakdown, but ‘tis life.

I found this recording to be interesting, just for the fact that these are fresh Aftermath tracks ( and if you read my Aftermath review you would know that I have a stiffy for it), so they play a lot of new tracks. They play Paint It Black without a stair,which bugged me for a while, but I wouldn't carry around a sitar just to play one song on it, so it’s fair that Jones plays the main line on guitar. The tone of the guitar is pretty good anyway.They do keep the dulcimer for Lady Jane, thankfully. Mother’s Little Helper is might be my favorite track off this one, Jagger just doesn't care with the vocals and Jones is fucking about with feedback, it’s great.

Tracks:

1.Not Fade Away (Has announcer intro)

2.The Last Time

3.Paint It, Black

4.Lady Jane

5.Mother’s Little Helper

6.Get Off Of My Cloude (That’s just what the track spells Cloud)

7.19th Nervous Breakdown

8.(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

You can say that this is a really brief and short concert, but it adds to the charm for me. Now I won’t lie, it is short, almost to a fault. It is barely half an hour. This was common back then though, and I can imagine that the radio station was only going to broadcast so many songs anyways.

So yeah, I love this broadcast.  

(Album) Got Live If You Want It!

Got Live If You Want It!

Released
December 10, 1966

But recorded all over the place

     This album has a lot going against it. Enough going against it that I’ll have to separate my anger into a number of areas.

     First: The name of the album has already been used. By them. Nineteen months ago. Any relation to the previous album, a live EP, is just in name and the idea of “live.” This is not a case of small differences between a UK and a US release; both are different albums, with somewhat similar album art. It’s a serious case of laziness on the part of the US side of Stones record releases. Let’s not get hasty though; it’s not the Rolling Stones’ fault, it’s their record company.

     Second: Overdubs. There’s enough here to split into two.

                One: Studio overdubs. They fix the problems and make a live album seem pointless. At least for me. In my opinion, a live album only works if it’s, you know, live. Fixing a live album is to ruin its raw magic, and create a sort of pseudo-music. If you really want perfection, we have studio albums for that.

                Two: Audience overdubs on studio tracks. No. No, that’s wrong in so many levels. Trickery is wrong. Passing these tracks as live, to the unsuspecting buyer, is very wrong. Those are tracks that could be used on a real album. Instead, you’re going to go ahead and put crowd noise over it and ruin the magic that could be an album track. The worst part is that at least one of those songs that are studio tracks sound pretty good. It’s a shame they had to ruin it just to put out a “live” album. They said they had live, and they aren't even delivering.

     Third: Even The Rolling Stones don’t agree with this album. They didn't want it, and have since disowned the album. When even the band themselves hate an album, what does that say about it? Nothing good at all.

     Fourth: Not a big problem, and maybe not a problem at all, but the large jumps of time between recording of the songs. Ranging from mid-1965 to late 1966, and even 1963 for the songs recorded in studio. The problem with this is that it doesn't properly represent the Stones’ live repertoire. Some of the songs have since been dropped from the live setlist. This is easily looked past, as the album didn't promise a full live concert of live songs in any sort of chronological order. They also promised live songs and they only partly succeeded on that promise.

     I think I've pushed out enough anger into these paragraphs to actually listen to this album now. I feel like I wrote more here than I could about the songs themselves.

Under My Thumb

·          Recorded: October 1, 1966 (or October 7, 1966, as the re-release states)

·          Overdubs: Possibly Lead vocal.

     This songs turned into a hard rocker, instead of the soft, beautiful songs I used to know. However, it somehow works live. They did a very good job with this, with Charlie Watts giving 110%.

8.75 / 10

Get Off of My Cloud

·          Recorded: October 1, 1966

·          Overdubs: Lead vocals, and Backing vocals by Jagger & Richards.

     Average performance, nothing too flashy. Comparable to the studio version, just faster. However, I’ll stick to the vocals at the studio version.

7.5 / 10

Lady Jane

·         Recorded: October 7, 1966

·         Overdubs: Lead vocal, and guitar by Richards.

     Unlike Under My Thumb, this stays quiet, which is very rare for rock concerts of this time. Luckily, Jagger was able to hold off his signature crazy energy to stay soft with this song. Also, they overdubbed both lead vocals and guitar, which pretty much makes this pointless, but I promised myself I wouldn’t talk about stuff like that here.

8.5 / 10

Not Fade Away

·         Recorded: October 7, 1966

·         Overdubs: Lead vocal

A very weird transition from the last song. A quick song and quick performance, which just makes this song sound like a time killer. But, it was a fast performance and everyone stayed in line, and for that I thank them.

8/10

I've Been Loving You Too Long

·         Recorded: May 11-12, 1965

·         Overdubs: It’s a studio track, so audience.

     When The Stones gets blues right, they hit it dead on. This is a beautiful blues rock ballad with touches of electric, which sounds like a Bob Dylan fan’s nightmare. I’m going to ignore the fact that this isn’t even live.

9/10

Fortune Teller

·         Recorded: July 9, 1963 + 1966 overdubs

·         Overdubs: It’s a studio track, so audience.

     I probably could care less about this “performance” of the song. Maybe it’s the audience. Maybe not. I’ve always been pretty hard on early Stones for some reason.

6/10

The Last Time

·         Recorded: October 1, 1966

·         Overdubs: Lead vocal, backing vocals by Jagger & Richards, and possibly a tambourine.

     They kinda did satisfaction before this song, or maybe it was Valleri by The Monkees. You know, two years before it was released by The Monkees. Then it randomly cut into The Last Time. I really life the feel of this song. It’s rushed, but it adds some extra power to it.

7.5/10

19^th Nervous Breakdown

·         October 1, 1966

·         Overdubs: Lead vocal ON TOP OF the original vocals, backing vocal by Jagger & Richards.

     Well, the rhythm started out pretty shaky. Their fast speed is finally catching up to them. It does go back to normal, though, so the whole song isn’t ruined and awkward. You can’t blame them, it’s hard to hear certain instruments right now, so it was impossible to hear anything when you’re there. Some fancy bass work, and hard rocking drums. However, even disregarding the rhythm mistake, the extra speed added onto this song hurts it in my opinion. Also, the volume of drums really hurts this song the most, as although I like drums, I also like to hear other instruments.

6/10

Time Is on My Side

·         Recorded: March 5 – 7, 1965

·         Overdubs: Lead vocal over the original.

     Unfortunately, the guitar is soft in the mix, even during the guitar solo. It’s not lost, just I’d prefer it louder. I’ll be fair with this; I didn't like the performance, but they kept themselves well.

7/10

I’m Alright

·         Recorded: March 5 – 7, 1965

·         Overdubs: Lead vocal over the original

     A screeching guitar that tries to reach the surface of the mix. Good performance, although Jagger is a bit lacking in my opinion.

7/10

Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?

·         Recorded: October 7, 1966

·         Overdubs: According to the Internet, this is most likely another studio track. We’ll keep that in mind.

     It’s loud. It’s an average performance, nothing bad about it, but I can’t really pick out anything. I can say that there’s a nice bass on this song.

7.25/10

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

·         Recorded: October 7, 1966

·         Overdubs: Lead vocal, Backing vocal by Richards

     It’s a hard rocking song, and I’m surprised they didn't rush this song too much. It’s straight ahead, and a very good closer. However, a fade out? Really?

8/10

                The album is full of fixing up. If the album’s goal was to make money, then maybe it succeeded. If the production’s goal was to fix an album up out of scraps, they succeeded. More than likely, this album sounded better than the raw concert. What I heard sounded pretty good.

                But it’s anything but a live album. An overdub to fix sound issues? I can look past that. Editing to create a Frankenstein of an album? You keep your hands off. Back then, maybe all the fans didn't care, but everything here is just plain wrong. The worst is the usage of studio recordings, with audience overdubs to fool us. That’s not right.

     A live album is supposed to bring the live experience into your home. This is not that. In case you didn't realize by now, I hate everything behind this album.

     However, the performances themselves sound really good. The mix has the drums dominating, which works well until about halfway through, where they even start to drown out the guitar. Vocals range from average and uninspired to very good. In my opinion, the b-side of the album is the weak point.

                Everything was performed at a faster pace, which brings a new spin to some and hurt others. It’s a hit or miss. Even through this, the band keeps together (except for the beginning of 19^th Nervous Breakdown), despite the odds being stacked against them.

                Finally, despite the editing attempts to make this album as perfect as possible, there are random cuts that sound unnatural, and as I said, the drums dominate too much.

                And finally, if you’re going to promote this as a pure live album, don’t have Mick Jagger overdub his vocals on top of himself. Having two Jagger’s is not live.

                I will hate this album for the foreseeable future. A pity, because the performances themselves are very nice and rose far above my expectations at times.

     Suddenly the songs’ individual ratings don’t matter, because I’m giving the album a 30/100.

The performances themselves I give an 86/100.

And finally, if you do count the songs’ ratings, It would be 75%, which is just a little too low for me.