Archives for January 2021

Certain Songs #2020: The Rolling Stones – “One More Try”

January 31, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Out of Our Heads (U.S.)
Year: 1965

. . .

One of ways you could tell that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were getting their songwriting shit together was that they were beginning to kill it with the songs that weren’t on any of the singles.

And so the U.S. edition of Out of Our Heads ended with “One More Try,” which in a weird way, could be a bit of an answer song to “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” which might be why they never put it on a single, which I think it was nearly good enough to be.

Certain Songs #2019: The Rolling Stones – “The Spider and The Fly”

January 30, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Out of Our Heads (U.S.)
Year: 1965

. . .

While Mick Jagger songs about his sexual exploits would become commonplace in later years, “The Spider and The Fly” is probably the first time he told such an explicit story about a specific conquest. It wouldn’t be the last.

A slow blues that almost dips into country, “The Spider and The Fly” was yet another example of just how assured the Rolling Stones had become, as it takes its sweet time from the very start.

Certain Songs #2018: The Rolling Stones – “Mercy Mercy”

January 29, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Out of Our Heads (U.S.)
Year: 1965

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As I think I’ve mentioned, the U.S. version of Out of Our Heads is my favorite early period (1963-1965) Rolling Stones album: an absolutely killer mix of world-beating singles, utterly ace covers and a couple of lesser-known Jagger-Richards gems.

Side one — which kicks off with today’s entry, “Mercy Mercy” — is mostly covers, spoiled only by “The Last Time” square in the middle. Meanwhile, side two kicks off with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and outside of the excellent take on Solomon Burke’s “Cry to Me” features four varied originals: “Play With Fire,” “The Under Assistant West Coast Promo Man,” “The Spider & The Fly” and “One More Try.”

Certain Songs #2017: The Rolling Stones – “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

January 28, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Out of Our Heads (U.S.)
Year: 1965

. . .

In 1975, I bought a single at White Front, the poorly-named department store on Blackstone. On the one side was “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and on the other side was “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” I seem to recall that the label was something like “rock classics” maybe there was like an anvil on it, but looking back on it, I’m not even sure if it was a legally-issued single or if it was a quasi-bootleg or even a flat-out bootleg.

Certain Songs #2016: The Rolling Stones – “Play With Fire”

January 27, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Out of Our Heads (U.S.)
Year: 1965

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Phil Spector was a fucking monster, and he just died in prison serving time for a murder that was an inevitable outcome from his behavior, and yet he also has at least a small part to play in the Rolling Stones saga. Andrew Loog Oldham, the Stones’s mentor/manager/producer definitely wanted the Stones to have a big Spectorish sound, and when the Rolling Stones recorded in Hollywood, Spector was occasionally around, even though Keith was trying to get with the future Ronnie Spector.

And so in what was clearly a late-night session, Phil Spector played what was either a bass or tuned-down guitar on one of the Rolling Stones’s most successful early ballads, “Play With Fire.”

Certain Songs #2015: The Rolling Stones – “The Last Time”

January 26, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Out of Our Heads (U.S.)
Year: 1965

. . .

Welcome to the first great Jagger/Richards Rolling Stones single.

From the opening note, “The Last Time” is an absolute quantum leap from anything else they’d previously written, and a blueprint for the next few years: catchy opening riff, tough-as-nails lyrics, a soaring chorus, cool solo and a coda that adds even more. They’ll be milking this formula for the rest of their lives. And not just them, of course, but all of the bands that would follow in their wake. And why not? It’s an absolutely perfect formula for a rock ‘n’ roll song.

Certain Songs #2014: The Rolling Stones – “Mona (I Need You Baby)”

January 25, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: The Rolling Stones, Now!
Year: 1965

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Because they were so prolific in 1964 – two EPs and two full-lengths plus a handful of singles, London, the Rolling Stones’s record label in the U.S. had a wealth of material from which to choose when they assembled the third Rolling Stones album, The Rolling Stones, Now! in early 1965.

And because the Stones were swiftly learning their shit, The Rolling Stones, Now! was probably their most consistent album to date, even if it it was a bit of a hodgepodge of tracks from their second U.K. album, current singles, and — heaven forfend — a track that was nearly a year old, their cover of Bo Diddley’s “Mona,” which was originally on the U.K. debut, but not the American one.

Certain Songs #2013: The Rolling Stones – “Empty Heart”

January 24, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: 12 X 5
Year: 1964

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The Rolling Stones, of course, started their life out as a rhythm and blues cover band. But, because they happened to be in a time and place where the gravitational pull started falling towards groups composing their own songs, thanks a lot Beatles, very early on their evil genius manager Andrew Loog Oldham locked Mick and Keith in room and told them they couldn’t leave until they wrote songs.

It was kind of arbitrary that he chose Mick and Keith, of course, a decision that was the beginning of the end for Brian Jones, of course, but history shows it was a good decision.

Certain Songs #2012: The Rolling Stones – “Around and Around”

January 23, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: 12 X 5
Year: 1964

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It almost goes without saying, but the Rolling Stones covered a lot of Chuck Berry songs in their first decade: their first-ever single of course was Berry’s “Come On,” and they even stuck a live version of “Let it Rock” as the b-side to “Brown Sugar” as late as 1971.

And out of all of those covers, my favorite is their rendition of “Around and Around,” which originally graced the b-side of “Johnny B. Goode,” making it a pretty great single.

Certain Songs #2011: The Rolling Stones – “Time Is On My Side”

January 22, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: 12 X 5
Year: 1965

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Like New Order’s “Ceremony,” there are two distinct recordings of “Time is On My Side”, and like “Ceremony,” while I like the first recording slightly better, it’s the second version that’s better-known these days, which, as we’ll learn, is kinda weird.

The original version, recorded in London in June, 1964, was shorter and more raggedy, and de-emphasized Keith’s lead guitar during the monolog in the middle. It was released as a single in the U.S. and ended up on my beloved 12 X 5. The second version, recorded at Chess was slightly longer, tighter, and featured Keith’s guitar solo at the beginning of the song, and ended up on the U.K.’s The Rolling Stones No. 2