Out of Our Heads

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.”

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

. . .

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.