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Certain Songs #2027: The Rolling Stones – “Under My Thumb”

February 7, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Aftermath
Year: 1966

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When I was first thinking about these Rolling Stones posts — sometime in 2017, truth be told — my original conception was to have a section on every post about what was problematic with the song, as they got away with a lot of things in the 60s, 70s & 80s that would be unthinkable in our more evolved era.

Like, of course, “Under My Thumb,” the first truly famous Rolling Stones song that was never released as a single in either the U.S. or the U.K.

Certain Songs #2026: The Rolling Stones – “Lady Jane”

February 6, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Aftermath
Year: 1966

. . .

While most of Aftermath consisted of uptempo rock songs — sometime colored by Brian Jones, and sometimes not — about how Mick’s relationships were going wrong, there were a couple of exceptions. One was “Going Home,” a mid-tempo song about Mick deciding to come home to his baby, which they somehow stretched to 11:35 without ever reaching, er, a climax.

And the other was the drop-dead gorgeous “Lady Jane,” where Mick pretends he’s a courtly man, I guess, and isn’t fucking everything in sight. Or, I guess, not anymore. So, he’s playing a character, whom — of course — has to stave off the amorous affection of other ladies in favor of the titular Lady.

Certain Songs #2025: The Rolling Stones – “Paint It Black”

February 5, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Aftermath (U.S.)
Year: 1966

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Sometimes you can listen to a song for years and years, and never really hear it, until it suddenly catches you by surprise.

That’s what happened to me with “Paint It Black,” a song that had been on the radio when I was a kid, and, of course was the opening track of Aftermath, which I bought in early 1981, and didn’t like as much as I had expected to.

Certain Songs #2024: The Rolling Stones – “19th Nervous Breakdown”

February 4, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Single, 1966

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The Rolling Stones started 1966 off in fine form, releasing “19th Nervous Breakdown,” the first single not to be on any of their studio albums since “I Wanna Be Your Man” way back in 1963.

An rollicking thrill-ride of a single, “19th Nervous Breakdown” isn’t just a perfect transition song from their early period to their experimental phase, but it also stands as one of their all-time greatest songs, full stop.

Certain Songs #2023: The Rolling Stones – “As Tears Go By”

February 3, 2021 by Jim Connelly

December’s Children (And Everybody’s)
Year: 1965

. . .

There’s a lot of meta going on with the Rolling Stones recording of “As Tears Go By.”

For one thing, they probably never expected to be recording it, as it was not only one of the first songs they ever wrote in 1964, it really really didn’t fit the “bad boys of British R&B” image that they were cultivating at the time.

So, instead, Andrew Loog Oldham gave it to an aspiring singer who only recorded it because she couldn’t figure out how to sing the song that was going to be her first single. That aspiring singer, of course, was Marianne Faithfull, who took a very baroque version of “As Tears Go By” to number nine on the British charts on the strength of her sympathetic vocals, the nostalgic lyrics, and a pretty fucking killer melody. Probably the fact that she looked like a young Marianne Faithfull didn’t hurt, either.

Certain Songs #2022: The Rolling Stones – “I’m Free”

February 2, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: December’s Children (And Everybody’s)
Year: 1965

. . .

One of the things that the Rolling Stones started doing in 1965 is release singles where the b-side gave as much pleasure as the a-side — sometimes more! — and one of the best examples of that is the U.S. b-side of “Get Off Of My Cloud,” the majestic, shimmering “I’m Free.”

While “I’m Free” does suffer from some of the production gremlins that the A-side — the guitars sound both washed out and over-modulated — it comes across as perhaps the Rolling Stones best foray into folk rock. It also has one hell of a rock star lyric.

Certain Songs #2021: The Rolling Stones – “Get Off Of My Cloud”

February 1, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: December’s Children (And Everybody’s)
Year: 1965

. . .

How do you solve the problem of following a massive commercial and artistic success like “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction“? When you only have three months in which to do so? The Rolling Stones solved it in two ways:

One: write a song that’s kinda about dealing with the high expectations and pressures of stardom. Two: have your drummer come up with one of the greatest beats ever recorded.

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

. . .

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.”