A recent Rock Town Hall poll question may have tipped you off to the inner workings of the Rock Town Hall Research and Development department.
From 1969 through 1976, Rod Stewart, including his work with Faces, released music on par with or better than the Rolling Stones, during that same period.
False: 68% (17) True: 16% (4) Mmmm, I need to think about that…: 16% (4) Total Votes: 25
Coming soon, I will make the case that, I believe, will satisfy those who need to think about this issue as well as support those who think it’s true. Feel free to use this entry to prepare for this potentially mind-blowing examination. Thank you.
In the Comments from our Keith Richards’ Most Memorable Guitar Solos thread, Townsman Dr. John responds to my noting the similarities between the slide guitar solo in “Let it Bleed” and any number of solos Keef would play on Chuck Berry covers, such as “Carol”, with the following:
Uh, I’m not hearing any sluggish Chuck Berry riffs in the solo to “Let It Bleed.” In fact, it’s rather fluid and acts as a call and response to Jagger’s improvised vocals at the end of the song.
I’m starting to worry a bit about the growing disconnect between the imaginary Stones you’re hearing in your head and the Stones EVERYONE ELSE hears.
Or to put it another way, listen without prejudice.
Don’t worry, Townspeople, my skin is thick enough to withstand this attack on my character. More importantly, thankfully, I have digital copies of both “Let it Bleed” and “Carol” handy, which I trust will enable me to prove the FACTS supporting my comparison. I have posted the songs and my clarification on the next page, where I ask you to listen to the solos, in particular, and clarify whether I or Dr. John is the one listening without prejudice. In advance of your support, Dr. John and I thank you. Continue reading »
Help me out here, Townspeople. I don’t profess to keep good track of Who Plays What on even my favorite recordings by my favorite artists. A point of constant confusion is Who Plays What on Rolling Stones‘ recordings. I love the Stones’ twin-guitar attack through all their lineups…well, up to a point. The main strength of that twin-guitar attack is the band’s rhythmic force. They typically don’t need no stinkin’ guitar solos to make a great record. And that’s cool.
Driving in this morning, however, I heard “Sympathy for the Devil”. I’m pretty sure that’s Keef on lead guitar, right? I would think that’s by far his most memorable guitar solo. What are his next most memorable guitar solos? “The Last Time”? “Time Is On My Side”? One of those clunky Chuck Berry covers, like “Carol”?
Keep in mind: by memorable I mean “sticks in your mind.” I’m not looking for the most tasteful, underappreciated solo Keef’s ever played nor am I looking for a particularly memorable riff or series of passing notes. I’m looking for memorable soloing moments when the spotlight is ON! Continue reading »
At Mr. Mod’s suggestion, I am posting a few choice tracks from Mick Taylor’s spottily excellent solo album, entitled simply “Mick Taylor.” I admit to having serious nostalgia-colored glasses as far as this record is concerned; I bought it when it came out, and it was a key part of the soundtrack to most of my high school years. I pumped my fist angrily through the rockin’ numbers, incompetently noodled along to the introspective, jammier pieces — and shed a lonely tear or two to the accompaniment of the treaclier ballads (Carla Boswell, how could you?!). Anyhow, as I said yesterday, the album is pretty good, if a bit dated. Mick’s lyrics are kind of dumb, for the most part, but — like one of the better Jeff Beck albums from the era — the LP is a masterpiece of guitar wankery. All in all, it could have been a lot worse, and I struggle to think of how it could’ve been any better, given what it is and who wrote it. I’m sure Mick Taylor wanted to produce a solid album that put the music first, and that showcased his talents to the best degree possible. To that extent, it’s a winner — and there are a few particular tracks (including those that follow here) for which no excuse or explanation is necessary.
The riff in The Rolling Stones’ “Bitch” promises so much, yet the song never really goes anywhere. It’s like Otis Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Loose” minus the repeating crescendo and the supercharged finale (go to the 1:35 mark of the following clip, if you don’t know what I’m talking about).
After a while, “Bitch”, as great as that riff is, just sits there. The band tries to crank it up to a new level, but they’ve got no firm gimmick, like Otis’ repeating climb. “Bitch” just dies at the finish line. It’s not a bad song – don’t get me wrong – but it’s nohwere near as great as it initially promises. I think even our most ardent Stones fans will give me that much.
On the other hand, there are songs that don’t start out like much but then pick it up and become something special. The following song is one that comes to mind for me.Continue reading »
I wish I could find the hi-def broadcast version of this guest appearance by Amy Winehouse with The Rolling Stones at the 2007 Isle of Wight Festival. It’s really bad, and the camera crew on the hi-def broadcast picked up some very telling looks of varying emotions from the musicians:
An embarrassed glance between that keyboard guy, Chuck Leavell (?), and the Bill Wyman replacement bassist
Keef and Ron discussing real estate in the Bahamas while tossing off beginner blues licks that had nothing to do with the lame performance of the song
Amy-as-desparate-fangirl, clutching to her sole snack sack of tricks in full knowledge of how badly she was being exposed (no wonder she’s throwing down all those drugs)
Mick as Alpha Bitch, blind to how bad the whole scene is, wholly focused on putting on his show, not getting distracted by thoughts of the days when a real guest star could step onstage to match moves with him. Oh, Tina!
If anyone finds a clip of the hi-def broadcast version, please send it our way. Thanks!
I was going to make this a post themed somehow after the notion that — for achieving momentary rock fame as an, um, albino blues guitar whiz — Johnny Winter sure seems to have had all the right friends in all the right places. After all, the prevailing rock lore tells us that he had not one, but *two* songs written for and/or about him, by none other than Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (“Silver Train”) and John Lennon (“Rock and Roll People”). But the more I delved into these factoids, the more they smelled like shit to me.
It is true that Johnny’s version of “Silver Train” came out a few months before the Stones’. But then I read hither and yon that the song was originally demo’ed by the Stones in 1970 and shelved. And the notion that “Silver Train” was actually written *about* Johnny Winter (another oft-repeated bit of apocrypha) just seemed retarded. So what’s the truth? Well, by all accounts, Johnny is/was a really nice guy who seems to have been in the right places at the right times — and he wasn’t shy, actually going so far as to ask Lennon if he had any “rock songs” to give him when he was recording his “John Dawson Winter III” album just downstairs from Lennon, who was working on “Walls and Bridges” at the time. In the case of “Rock and Roll People,” Lennon is quoted all over the place saying that he wasn’t satisfied with his version of the tune, so he was happy to let Winter have a go. I have no idea how Winter got his mitts on “Silver Train,” other than reading in a bunch of places that he heard an early take of it and loved it. I guess the Glimmer Twins were in a good mood or something.
I won’t bore you with a comparison between the Winter and Lennon versions of “Rock and Roll People;” they both suck. But the comparison between the two versions of “Silver Train” is a lot more interesting. I happen to *love* the Stones’ version — it’s one of the Great Stones Deep Trax. But I gotta admit that Johnny brings something really cool to the table as well. See what you think.
