WHAT A DRAG IT IS GETTING POLLED – ILM Artist Poll #16 – The Rolling Stones (Extended deadline: April 1st)

WHY WOULD YOU SCRAP SWAY

In the early-'70s, my grade-school friend Pat Hutchinson's family had a boarder named Heather living with them. She was a total hippychick, and I still remember seeing the words "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday" painted on the wall of her room in very elaborate and colourful script. I knew next to nothing about the Rolling Stones at the time, and while I may have heard "Ruby Tuesday" on the radio, I didn't associate the song with them or the words on the wall with the song.

where is heather now and does she know you loved her

She does now (pitter-patter)...probably Communications Director for Michelle Bachmann or something.

I don't think I fully appreciated Exile til I was in my post-grad year of uni doing my teaching degree, hanging out with jaded 30 year olds who smoked and drank with an abandon I'd never known (I was about 21). This particular night the whole group of us hung out at this one guy's apartment listening to Exile on his record player, chain smoking and drinking red wine out of coffee mugs. everyone was singing and getting wasted and it was fucking brilliant.

It's a good drinking album.

^^ yeah, i've drunk a lot of red to Exile.

really dig some of the gems tucked away right at the end of the album. "all down the line" is a totally unhinged good-time killer track and "soul survivor" just has perfect flow, despite being made up of seemingly disparate parts. they are both going to get some love from me in this poll.

dang those are both songs i wish i had voted for. exile is the stones album i enjoy listening to the most, but my favorite songs of theirs cluster around the late 60's period.

i wound up with something like exile 10 tracks on my short list, far more than any other single album, but wound up "only" including three in my top 20. two begin with the word "sweet" and the other involves what can be accomplished only while asleep. struggled bitterly with "soul survivor", "ventilator blues" and "turd on the run", but eventually let them go. flirts with being my favorite record of any kind, ever.

listen to "100 years ago" if you haven't yet

― Fozzy Osbourne (contenderizer), Friday, March 23, 2012

it's a van morrison song, i'n'it? until it isn't.

― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Friday, March 23, 2012 7:48 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

idgi. it's credited to jagger/richards. you saying it sounds like a van morrison song? i guess i don't know VM well enough...

That Jagger/RS interview was really interesting.

Never really took the time to appreciate Jagger's, um, economy of words. Like, he doesn't want to say a lot but he's very good at succinctly drilling to the heart of something when he wants to. His thoughts about the cross-dressing/male-female appeal was really interesting, and his thoughts about him as a 'rock star' now vs when he was starting out, the whole thrill of forging a new road in still very new style of music vs doing it now where it's pretty much the standard.

And I admire his early rebellion, given the environment he grew up in, it must have taken some balls to just put his foot down and forge ahead.

I dunno, I came away with a slightly better view of him than I've had in a while. I like him as a performer, I just never always liked him, but I guess he never really wants anyone to know him so..

My top-rankIng Exile track is Rip This Joint. Not sure they ever rocked that hard before or since.

Left all sorts of insanely great things off, including Satisfaction and Sway. And I guess I can understand hating Ruby Tuesday, but it was the first Stones song I ever loved, when I was about 9 and got into my dad's copy of Flowers, so is a sentimental #1. Love the pummeling snare drum lead-in to the chorus. (also have Lady Jane on the ballot -- soft spot for baroque Stones)

I don't dislike "Ruby Tuesday," but I love other songs on Between the Buttons so much more that I sometimes forget "Ruby Tuesday" is even on that record. So if you're out tonight, don't forget, if you're on your bike, wear white.

It's no surprise Jagger's smart as a whip but it was also refreshing to read that interview in '95 or whatever and realize he remains the least sentimental major rock and roller ever.

I put together a playlist of 61 songs, all the way up to Little T&A and She Was Hot, heh. The first 19 were pretty easy, but #20 is a showdown between 19th Nervous Breakdown, Moonlight Mile, Happy and Ventilator Blues.

Ventilator Blues! It's the most fun to strut & pout to. Whatcha gonna *do* 'bout it?

Such a wide range of recording/engineering quality in the earliest material... "Come On" is crystalline, "I Wanna Be Your Man" is overdriven mud.

Listening to Dirty Work for the first time just to make sure I didn't leave anything important off my ballot. "One Hit" was a contender, but ended up getting cut. This being the first time I've heard "Winning Ugly" in 20+ years, I'm shocked at how not-horribly it's aged. I kinda dig it.

you saying it sounds like a van morrison song?

― Fozzy Osbourne (contenderizer), Friday, March 23, 2012

Yes. But then it goes somewhere Van wouldn't.

Oh! The other thing I liked about the Jagger interview was the little quip about Altamont: he said something like, oh you journalists talked about the death of innocence, I was just upset that a person had died, for her family. YEAH JANN.

WENNER: What about the contribution of Mick Taylor to the band in these years?

JAGGER: I think he had a big contribution. He made it very musical. He was a very fluent, melodic player, which we never had, and we don’t have now. Neither Keith nor [Ronnie Wood] plays that kind of style. It was very good for me working with him. Charlie and I were talking about this the other day, because we could sit down – I could sit down – with Mick Taylor, and he would play very fluid lines against my vocals. He was exciting, and he was very pretty, and it gave me something to follow, to bang off. Some people think that’s the best version of the band that existed.

WENNER: What do you think?

JAGGER: They’re all interesting periods. They’re all different. I obviously can’t say if I think Mick Taylor was the best, because it sort of trashes the period the band is in now.

WENNER: Why did Mick Taylor leave?

JAGGER: I still don’t really know.

WENNER: He never explained?

JAGGER: Not really. He wanted to have a solo career. I think he found it difficult to get on with Keith.

WENNER: On musical issues?

JAGGER: Everything. I’m guessing.

Volumes here, when you think about Jagger/Taylor tracks like "Sway," "Moonlight Mile," "Winter" etc.

Reading that interview in 199-whatever confirmed my suspicions about where Keith wasn't (i.e. "Sway" and "Moonlight Mile").

that inteview was great. thanks Alfred!

Part of me wonders if Jagger says that stuff about Taylor knowing that Keef is reading...

Not that Taylor isn't great, but Keef is your guy whether you want him or not, dude.

my friend in college had this whole ritual she went through every year - when she was 16 her best friend committed suicide, and so on the anniversary of her death my friend would wear this girl's favorite color (yellow), buy a bunch of her favorite flowers (daffodils), and listen to her favorite song (Ruby Tuesday). She would play that song ALL day. ALL DAY.
And it drove me crazy because by then I had found out about Exile On Main STreet, and Let It Bleed; she had bought the Hot Rocks cd soley for RT, and it was the ONLY song she ever listened to on it bc of this bloody ritual.

it was all just kind of weird and annoying

Loved this btw - I guess it's maybe not something to be especially proud of, but I can totally relate to hating on someone's memorial for spoiling this shiny new album you just bought.

Part of me wonders if Jagger says that stuff about Taylor knowing that Keef is reading...

Not that Taylor isn't great, but Keef is your guy whether you want him or not, dude.

according to an interview Keef gave last fall, there's no hard feelings. He invited Taylor and Wyman to join him, Ronnie, and Charlie to jam.

Vegemite Grrl otm abt the catty subtext of Jagger on Taylor, esp "I obviously can’t say if I think Mick Taylor was the best, because it sort of trashes the period the band is in now." Uh, except you just said exactly that, dude.

And I wouldn't expect there to be any hard feelings between KR and Taylor. It's more that Jagger's statements suggest tensions between Richards and himself.

Interesting to note that songs we like to think of as classic Jagger-Richards compositions like "Brown Sugar," "Sympathy...," and "Miss You" are Jagger-only songs.

Ruby Tuesday is gonna be waaaay up near the top of my ballot--it's a bit tainted by all the boomer love, I suppose, but that melody, my god, so beautiful

What Jagger rather artfully elides in the interview -- artfully because he does suggest it -- is that Taylor left in large part b/ he was fed up with not getting songwriting credit on stuff like "Sway" and "Moonlight Mile" -- for all those "dreamy" lovely lead lines Jagger raves about.

Legend has it that Wood was their first choice before Taylor. The story goes that someone from the Stones' camp called during a Faces rehearsal. Ronnie Lane (or Ian MacLagan, depending on the account) answered the phone and said, "Nope, he doesn't want to join the Stones; he's happy with the Faces." Wood didn't find out about this until years later.

convenient legend that. agreed with alfred that mick is quite forthcoming when you read between the lines.

a bit torn on "memo from turner"... like, ry cooder's stuff is just filthy and maybe that alone warrants a place on the ol' ballot but... hm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbyrm9q_bvM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2wttYva1AQ

another thing I really liked about that Jagger interview was how candidly he broke down the 'what it's like on stage' question. AI really respect how much of a student of his own craft he is, and that it's no accident that he became "Mick Jagger". I mean, as Alfred said he pretty much invented the rock n roll frontman, and from that interview there's little doubt that he pretty much knew from the beginning what he was doing up there.

Also, when he talks about music, it's 100% clear to me why he and Keith work together so well. If they dabble in a certain style Keith knows how to play it, how to arrange it, Mick knows already how it's supposed to sound, and lyrically how to write it...might sound a bit soppy/misty eyed but I like to think that maybe when they write together that that's how they manifest their friendship now. They maybe can't BE friends the way they were in the old days, but those times might be like their own time-machine, where things are easy and they can communicate in a more familiar way.
McCartney said something similar about the few times he was able to write with John later on when things were not so great between them, that in those moments it was like nothing had changed.

another thing I really liked about that Jagger interview was how candidly he broke down the 'what it's like on stage' question.

That was a great part of the interview, and not one that I expected Jagger to seriously tackle. It's amazing to me that he can be something of a micromanager while simultaneously setting the pace for, and being the focal point of, the stage show.

I'd like to thank whomever posted that clip of "I Am Waiting"--I never really paid attention to that song. My new favorite deep cut from the "twee" period

Obv I need to read that interview. That timeisonourside.com site is pretty sweet too, once you get past the horrible design and navigation. All the Tracktalk sections are in Section 1, Database.

yeah the layout is awful, but the content is pretty interesting

VOTED

*collapses in heap*

I'm gonna need the rest of the week, listening to mono vinyl Out Of Our Heads right now, "The Last Time" sounds MASSIVE.

it was driving me mental, I had to just do it and be done with it, another week would have had me with another 50 more songs on the shortlist.

I ginned up an excuse to go out driving tonight so I could take Exile with me and howl along at top volume. I sound like Tallulah Bankhead now. Greatest karaoke album ever, especially "Sweet Virginia" -- "got to scrape the shit right off your SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooees"

also, "judge and jury walk out hand in hand" would be a funny title for the results thread, but I'll bet roger m already has titles in mind that have that beat

especially "Sweet Virginia" -- "got to scrape the shit right off your SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooees"

this line is why SV made my ballot

The latest round of remasters shifted my focus to their first three years...if I did this three years ago, my ballot would've been all of Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers...now It's gonna be 1/2 pre-68. Feels weird...

The Rolling Stones Now! is serious heat.

That timeisonourside.com site is pretty sweet too, once you get past the horrible design and navigation.

It's still in a 2001-era design.

I ended up with a lot of Sticky Fingers, and only a couple of Exile...but it's more because Exile's such a, I dunno, tapestry or something it feels weird picking out individual threads.

But this thread was crucial for me to revisit Let It Bleed, Beggars Banquet, and Goat's Head in particular, as well as stuff I'd never really looked at like Between the Buttons. I think my poll is a lot more well rounded with all the homework listening I've been doing, compared to my first, fairly myopic list of 20.

Poor Ian Stewart--didn't cut a good enough profile to get in, right? He's all over those early records and adds a lot.

I love the credits for "Heaven":

http://www.timeisonourside.com/SOHeaven.html

Stewart appears on 3 of my picks, according to wikipedia

or about "Respectable"

It's important to be somewhat influenced by what's going on around you and on the Some Girls album, I think we definitely became more aggressive because of the punk thing. On this track, I was banging out three chords incredibly loud on the electric guitar, wich isn't always a wonderful idea but was great fun here. This is a punk meets Chuck Berry number. The lyric carries no fantastically deep message, but I think it might have had something to do with Bianca.
- Mick Jagger, 1993