I’m not the only fan of the Stones who was worried that the band had been shying away from what made them so special on their great recordings through Let It Bleed. Check out this telling quote from Keef in 1976:
By the time of Goats Head Soup and It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll, people had to contend with Exile for real and that’s why I say that Mick Taylor wasn’t particularly good for the group. He joined at a time when with any other band he wouldn’t have been forced out of England, forced to live that kind of life that was alien to him… He was really an odd man out. There was no way he could feel part of the whole thing as much as the rest of us… Mick Taylor wasn’t good for the Stones. It was a sterile period for us ’cause there were things we had to force through. Maybe it’s just me. It was a period we had to go through. Also Mick is such a LEAD guitarist, which completely destroyed the whole concept of the Stones, that is, the idea that you don’t walk into a guitar store and ask for a lead guitar or a rhythm guitar. You PLAY a fuckin’ GUITAR. You are a GUITAR player. If you just want to fuck about with three strings at the top end, well, alright, but that’s not what the Stones are about. – Keef, 1976
“Fingerprint File” is a good example of what Keef’s talking about. It’s a cool enough song, but it sounds more like a mid-70s Isley Brothers track.
Meanwhile, 1974 was a miserable year for Rod and the Faces. Following the release of 1973’s Ooh La La, Ronnie Lane left the band. He was replaced by Tetsu Yamauchi, a shark-jumping, rock ‘n roll Ted McGinley. The band released a horrendous live album, Coast to Coast: Overtures and Beginners. If you’ve never heard it, keep it that way. It’s much worse than anything we’ve been picking away at through this series. It may be among the worst albums ever discussed in the Halls of Rock. The band recorded a final, respectable studio single, “You Can Make Me Dance, Sing, or Anything” (go to the 3:56 mark of the following clip), before slowly winding down until Stewart would announce his departure from the band in 1975. By this time, however, Woody had signed on for a “temporary” gig with the Stones (see Fox in the Henhouse: 1974 Shocker!).
It’s going to get uglier before it gets pretty.
BigSteve’s at a conference starting today, I believe, so one of your more implacable critics on this thread may be out of the picture for a bit.
But while my count is 5-1, I believe you have a 3-3 tie? And with only two years to go?
Yes, Mwall, it’s tied at 3-3. What’s most surprising to me is how few Townspeople have gone public and backed the judges on their decision on every round. Here, the judges have awarded the Stones with a resounding victory, yet your Out-of-Office reply and continued whining about the scoring of past rounds is all the Comments we’ve received. Don’t think I don’t appreciate them, but I am curious to see more whining and be informed of other Townspeople who would be whining if they weren’t tied up in a conference.
Those of you who support the judges’ decisions on this or any round are also welcome to share your thoughts.
With only 2 more years left, perhaps backers of each artist will look ahead and care to suggest final strategies.
Hey, Mod —
Two things:
1. That Wyman clip should be required viewing for everybody in the Hall. It says much.
2. There’s a Vanda-Young composition on that reputedly lame Rod LP, isn’t there? It’s called “Hard Road,” I think. I have it by Stevie Wright. Any chance you might post the Rod version? Does it suck, too?
Curious mind wants to know —
FS
HVB, I’ll see if I can dig up a clip of that Vanda-Young cover. The fact that I have not been posting Rod-related mp3s in these years reflects my lack of actual vinyl copies of these albums, although I think I still own that lousy live Faces albums.
Glad you dug the Wyman clip.
Yes, I’ve been traveling all day, and I am now ensconced in a splendiferous Super 8 in Anaheim. It’s right outside of Disneyland, and it’s an alternate universe worthy of Philip K. Dick.
I wanted to mention a couple of things. One is that Kenney Jones is credited with drums on the song It’s Only Rock & Roll, so Ron Wood wasn’t the only defector is this Battle Royale. Maybe 2k can explain more about that track. I’ve always been fascinated by the weird promo video for it where the band is miming in sailor suits and soapsuds are pumped in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhHODhTIvgo
What I find interesting is that the version of the song in the video is audibly different from the album version. Different lead vocal, and different lead guitar. What’s up with that?
Another thing … As someone who bought the Stones albums from this era as they came out, I can say that *at the time* me and my friends didn’t feel that they represented a huge drop off in quality. As with Goats Head, I liked It’s Only at the time, and I like it today.
I’m not saying that we should not be constantly re-evaluating how we judge the music of the past, and I will acknowledge that, since we’re talking now about the period when I was in college (71-75), this music has for me an aura that may not be transferable to other listeners. But I think it’s worthwhile to recognize that Exile acquired its status as a masterpiece *very* slowly. My circle of friends liked it fine at the time, but it took a long time for its stature to sink in. It’s not like contemporary listeners were begging for another Exile every time a new Stones release was announced.
So from today’s perspective the Stones may seem to have started sucking in the 70s, but I see this run of albums as more of a piece, and I find it hard to judge them too harshly.
Rod Stewart on the other hand has a worm in his satin pants, and the hammer of justice goes splat.
How did I not see this “Monkey Grip” video until now?! Zow! What a hearty ovation for the theory that, unlike the other motionless bass player of a sixties supergroup, this one was always a soulless nimrod who, had I seen this during my formative years, could have seriously endangered my sense of what was required to get hot little glittery girls to run on and do moves like that while I played. What a giganto turd!
The Monkey Grip clip is amazing. I’d love to know what Mick and Keith’s reactions were the first time they saw that, perhaps with a proud Wyman standing close by, with his beaming one-third of a smile. Who do you think gave him the hat? And do you think it was his idea to really go nuts and stand up hunched over the piano making partial eye contact with the camera at the end, as his best approximation of rockin’ out?