The Rolling Stones

Certain Songs #2085: The Rolling Stones – “Some Girls”

April 15, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Some Girls
Year: 1978

. . .

“Some Girls” is a slow groove, more of a jam with lyrics than an actual song, with Ron Wood and Keith Richard trying out some watery liquid guitar tones while Sugar Blue is back on the harmonica, and Bill Wyman eschews his bass for a synth. And, apparently, it was edited down from a 23-minute jam, as you do.

It’s also yet another provocation by Mick Jagger, who basically lists some of the things he finds wrong with some of the women he’s fucked. So he starts off with all of things they give him: money, clothes, jewelry, diamonds and heart attacks. Oh, and apparently — in a break from the theme of things he’s gotten, which bugs the OCD part of me — he also complains “Some girls I give all my bread to / I don’t ever want it back.”

Certain Songs #2080: The Rolling Stones – “Memory Motel”

April 9, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Black and Blue
Year: 1976

. . .

Black and Blue is a very divisive Rolling Stones album. Given that it’s only eight songs, they cover a lot of ground: rock, funk, reggae, soul, even jazzy blues. Not all of it is great: both “Melody” and “Cherry Oh Baby” are utter misfires and that’s 25% of the record right there. But “Hot Stuff” and “Hey Negrita” groove convincingly, “Crazy Mama” and “Hate of Fate” are better riff rockers than anything on the previous two records, and both of the soul ballads are up there with their greatest slow ones.

That said, I’m guessing that if you don’t love all 7:09 of “Memory Motel,” then you probably don’t like Black and Blue, but I’ve always been fascinated by it, which shocks me as much of anybody.

Certain Songs #2037: The Rolling Stones – “2000 Light Years From Home”

February 18, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Their Satanic Majesties Request
Year: 1967

. . .

As you know, here at Certain Songs, we have a weakness for songs about OUTER SPACE! And “2000 Light Years From Home” is a good one, describing a lonely astronaut who is traveling further and further away–what? Oh, right. Turns out that it’s a metaphor, he really didn’t get the jump on David Bowie and Elton John after all. BOOO!

Certain Songs #2035: The Rolling Stones – “Sittin’ on a Fence”

February 16, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Flowers
Year: 1967

. . .

Flowers was a weird beast. Not quite a greatest hits album — even though it had “Ruby Tuesday,” “Let’s Spend The Night Together” and “Mother’s Little Helper” — but not quiet an odds and sods album, because it contained those songs, it’s one of the few Rolling Stones 1960s albums I’ve never purchased, even though track by track, it’s pretty fucking awesome.

And one of those awesome tracks was the all acoustic “Sittin’ on a Fence,” which combines an absolutely gorgeous melody with some of their most “fuck everything” lyrics.

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 #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.

Medialoper Bebop Episode 24: Steal This Podcast

November 30, 2011 by Jim Connelly

This week, Tim, Kirk, & Jim discuss the the following Rolling Stones-permeated topics.

First off, you’d think that a newly-released Rolling Stones live album from the early 70s would be a cause for celebration, but as it is confined to Google’s Android platform, it’s as cause for consternation and the spur for a long, serious discussion about how music exclusivity — whether via artificially high prices or artifically enforced platforms — encourages piracy.

Not only do artists like U2, Nirvana & Bob Dylan end up burying musical treasures in “Super Deluxe” box sets with exorbitant prices, it’s gotten so bad the Elvis Costello wrote a blog post encouraging his fans not to purchase his recent live album until next year. (2:20 – 23:20)

Then, on the heels of a report that she might be pro-life, we do an interview with the iPhone’s built-in personal assistant, Siri, to try and determine what her politics are once and for all. (23:30 – 30:15)

Finally, even though Kirk’s mix is a bit of a mess, he still has time to talk about the new album from Tom Waits, reissues from the Rolling Stones and the entire Linton Kwesi Johnson catalog. (30:16 – 40:30)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:35 — 66.8MB)

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Medialoper Bebop Episode 21: Harry Potter and the Naked Grab For Cash

October 26, 2011 by Jim Connelly

This week, Jim, Kirk & Tim are not quite as organized as in previous weeks, which is really saying something (really saying something) (bop bop shoobie do wah).

First off, Kirk’s impending trip to San Francisco sparks a discussion about what having the San Francisco Giants being the MLB champions for a year meant to Tim & Jim, and how the Rapture could have kept the Giants champions forever. (3:45 – 7:10)

Then, we discuss the decision by Warner Bros to put the Harry Potter DVDs on moratorium at the end of the year, and wonder what it might mean for the future of digital media vs. physical media. (7:14 – 19:56)

We look at the first world problem of how iPads are affecting bandwidth in hotel rooms, and Kirk’s PROTIP for solving the problem. (19:57 – 25:45)

After that, another voicemail from Medialoper Bebop Commissioner Gordon Loper. Yep, we’re still in trouble over that whole “Hitler” thing. (25:46 – 28:10)

This week, it was Tim’s turn to do “In The Mix,” however, he’d had a busy week, and tried to discuss albums he hadn’t even heard, and we had to bring in the Commissioner to find out if he could even do that. Tim’s controversial and theoretical mix might include Tom Waits, Noel Gallagher and Coldplay. And Peter Gabriel. (28:12 – 33:50)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:18 — 59.5MB)

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The Mess of The Rolling Stones Back Catalog

September 4, 2008 by Jim Connelly

Yesterday, Kassia took issue with a Wall Street Journal article that trumpeted the fallacy that closing off a major avenue of music distribution was somehow a good thing.

One of the examples that the article used to show that selling a lot of music on iTunes was somehow a bad thing was the fact that while The Rolling Stones have sold 6,000,000 songs digitally since January 2006, they’ve sold the fewest amount of back catalog albums among the six top-selling catalog artists.

This, of course, is one of those made-up stats that purports to mean something while meaning very little. How is it not not a good thing to be among the top six selling catalog artists of the past two years? Or sell six million songs, many of which go back decades, and many many of which you’re no doubt reselling to some of the same people you’ve previously sold them to?

However, by using the high songs / low album sales as an example as how digital distribution can harm an artist, it totally ignores two very very important facts about The Rolling Stones.

Since the very start, they’ve been marketed as a singles act.
Their back catalog is a confusing mess, which is a huge factor to its relative — relative! — paucity of sales.

The Rolling Stones – Rewind

September 27, 1984 by Jim Connelly

(Rolling Stones)

What? Yet another Rolling Stones’ “best of” album? Wait, I know! Maybe the Stones signed a pact with their sympathetic friend that requires them to put out an album every year even if Mick and Keith don’t have any songs. That might explain why The Stones have about six greatest hits albums and four live albums in their 20 years. But for a hardcore Stones fan like myself, none of these records are really essential, and the latest album, Rewind, continues in that tradition.

So what I am going to do here is give you a retrospective of the Rolling Stones’ history, mentioning the 11 or so albums that are essential.