rolling stones

You Think You Can’t Get No Satisfaction?

Feb 222007

Townsman Trolleyvox hipped me to the following performance of a young Billy Preston doing a version of the song your Moderator believe best satisfies the objectives of rock ‘n roll:

Billy Preston, “Satisfaction”

That’s right, if you haven’t heard me on this already, I believe that no song better satisfies the objectives of rock ‘n roll than The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction”. Every now and then I stumble across another version of this classic, and when I’m not dazzled by the outrageous treatment of the song (eg, both The Residents‘ and Devo‘s versions) or horribly offended (Cat Power‘s version), I’m usually about as unimpressed by versions such as Billy Preston’s as I am Otis Redding‘s version.

I know, I know, rock nerds – Mick and Keef wrote the song for Otis – but the black artists I’ve heard cover “Satisfaction” can’t get to the song’s cool and sly teenage rage. Otis belts it out like he’s expecting the exhaltation of a heavyweight boxer who’s gone the distance against The Champ. Here, Billy Preston just has fun with what the song has to offer. He’s satisfied. He’s not fooling me. Granted, those sorority girls who come out to dance in front of him and the band don’t help matters.

I can say that it’s a good thing the following dynamic duo is not documented having covered “Satisfaction”:

Half Assed Rant: The Stones Suck Live!

Posted by andyr

Feb 162007

When the whole discussion about The Rolling Stones’lackluster performance in “Rock & Roll Circus” came up on RTH recently, it got me to thinking, Are The Stones ever good live? I’ve seen firsthand the “mach schau” they put on in concert (September 1981 at Philly’s old JFK stadium). No frontman before or since one moved like the nancy-pants Mick Jagger did. No one looked less pleased to be playing live than Bill Wyman. No one looked smaller on the big stage than Charlie Watts did at that show. Only Ron Woodand Keith Richards seemed up to the task of rocking the 100,000 or so fans in attendance. The only thing that saved me from completely hating the show was getting high for the second time in my life (the first time being the night before on my 18th birthday).

So they may be over-the-top live – too much so for my taste – but some fans counter that they are a “great live band” in a musical sense. The People must be right? They have released at least 8 live albums so the thinking could go, They must be doing something good live. But do people actually like these albums? I had Got Live if You Want It and Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out and I could never get into them. You know what always bummed me out? All the songs were sluggish! It’s like Charlie Watts thought he could get some extra oomph in the songs by playing them 15% slower. No thank you! I want to see some ENERGY live. I want to hear some ENERGY live.

Jagger’s vocals also bum me out. I know it is hard to sing when you are shaking your butt like Charo and skipping across the stage but some of fans actually want to hear the melodies and hear the tone of the singer’s voice they’ve grown accustomed to hearing on record.

Am I alone in this half-assed rant? Anyone care to back me up? What does RTH think?

Rock Crimes

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jan 152007

Rock ‘n roll is rife with ambitious failures and outright flops, and the marketplace has its way of dealing with artists who produce such works. One of the things we keep watch over at Rock Town Hall is Rock Crimes. In some cases, Rock Crimes are bitterly debated, but every effort must be made to guard against their spread, even at the risk of unfairly bringing charges against an otherwise fine and groundbreaking artist for inspiring countless bad imitators. Rock Crimes can be committed in the form of songs, live performances, videos, or even stage dress or cover art. Typically, they are the work of critically acclaimed, influential artists. Recently voted, ROCK CRIME OF THE CENTURY by our good townspeople is the 1985 video for Ja-Bo’s (Mick Jagger and David Bowie’s) cover of “Dancing in the Street”. Over the course of the video, the duo manage to offend and betray all sense of cool rock decorum, from the first ass-kissing geographical shoutouts and Jagger’s matching Day-Glo green sneaks and blouse to both men’s Zuba pants and Bowie’s longcoat – not to mention dance moves out of a Dr. Pepper ad and the gated drums necessary for any generic attempt at cashing in on Live Aid. All that was cool about Jagger and Bowie headed straight for the dumper; to this day, their greatest works are tarnished by memories of this collaboration. You will find that many Rock Crimes are self-directed, and you may ask, “What’s the big deal?” Listen, we need a few artists to remain larger than life. It’s part of what fueled the genre in the first place. The more time you spend in the Halls of Rock, the more you will become aware of the Rock Crimes around us. We trust that you will do your part in bringing these possible crimes to our attention.

Newer Entries