The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar
video
I have a feeling that this song is about heroin. I have no idea why. That said, I think it's also about slavery, both literally and figuratively with respect to heroin addiction, something the Stones obviously know nothing about. It's also about sadomasochism and oral sex. Pretty much standard Stones fare then, especially when Mick Jagger describes it as a song about drugs and girls (ever the deconstructionist, our Mick). Reknowned rock journalist Robert Christgau describes it as "a rocker so compelling that it discourages exegesis". Perhaps I thus abandon my attempts to plumb the murky waters of analysis.
Not a chance. I have more grit than Christgau.
The song was performed for the first time at the infamous Altamont concert, which may or may not be an indicator of its effect on people. To be honest, it's pretty up-tempo but bog standard rock and roll in the Mick and Keith tradition of staccato guitar, funky bass and Mick alternately crooning, shouting and making the growly noise that Austin Powers makes, which I find slightly disconcerting. There's also, obviously, an acoustic guitar and electric piano in the mix, along with propulsive, cymbal-heavy drumming courtesy of the drummer voted most-likely-to-be-an-accountant- based-on-dress-sense, Charlie Watts. While I'm not really a huge Stones fan, working my way through the Rolling Stone list has made me appreciate exactly how good they were compared to their contemporaries (Boston, Jackson Browne, The Eagles, take note and stop being rubbish please). This song is far better than any of the other rock songs I've listened to on this mission so far, but is it good enough to take the coveted Best Song Yet title from Smokey Robinson?
Nope, it's good, and it's Rolling Stones down to the ground, but it's not that good. And it doesn't strike me as anything massively original from them, just another four to the floor rocker. Miss You was more original than this and more of a departure from their blues-rock direction.
Verdict: All Hail Keef
Tomorrow: Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
Showing posts with label True Classic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label True Classic. Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Phil Spector meets Goodfellas
The Crystals - Then He Kissed Me
Video
Enter Phil Spector, gnomic production genius and songwriter, notoriously egocentric and difficult recluse (he once, famously, scared the Ramones by locking them in the studio and threatening to shoot them) and accused wife/girlfriend murderer. Despite all of this, his contribution to music is staggering - the Wall of Sound, girl groups, The Beatles' Let It Be, The Ramones' End of the Century (a somewhat dubious honour) and the song that received the most airplay in the 20th century (and ever) The Righteous Brothers' You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling.
Spector pioneered the girl group with group likes the Ronettes and the Crystals, working with Lieber and Stoller and songwriters from the Brill Building, creating his signature sound by putting together large groups of musicians playing orchestrated parts, often with more that one of the same instrument playing in unison, resulting in a Wall of Sound that was fatter and louder than his contempories' efforts.
This is evident in Then He Kissed Me, with it's galloping percussion, soaring strings, slightly distorted guitars, hurrumphing sax and the ubiquitous harmonised vocals. The result is the iconic 1963 song - a huge global hit and used to brilliant effect in movies like Scorsese's Goodfellas.
Like good Motown music, this is a timeless song - the fact that it sounds like it was recorded on a dirty tape player in someone's garage doesn't detract from what is, at it's essence, a beautiful love song sung with emotion and, in further keeping with the Motown essence, energy. The song seems to bounce along, propelled by the percussion and vocals. It never sounds particularly sweet or at all twee, something that a song like this would be pilloried for if it was released now. Basically, it's awesome, but not awesome enough to take the Best Song Yet award from Smokey Robinson.
Verdict: Classic
Tomorrow: Jackson Browne - Running on Empty
Video
Enter Phil Spector, gnomic production genius and songwriter, notoriously egocentric and difficult recluse (he once, famously, scared the Ramones by locking them in the studio and threatening to shoot them) and accused wife/girlfriend murderer. Despite all of this, his contribution to music is staggering - the Wall of Sound, girl groups, The Beatles' Let It Be, The Ramones' End of the Century (a somewhat dubious honour) and the song that received the most airplay in the 20th century (and ever) The Righteous Brothers' You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling.
Spector pioneered the girl group with group likes the Ronettes and the Crystals, working with Lieber and Stoller and songwriters from the Brill Building, creating his signature sound by putting together large groups of musicians playing orchestrated parts, often with more that one of the same instrument playing in unison, resulting in a Wall of Sound that was fatter and louder than his contempories' efforts.
This is evident in Then He Kissed Me, with it's galloping percussion, soaring strings, slightly distorted guitars, hurrumphing sax and the ubiquitous harmonised vocals. The result is the iconic 1963 song - a huge global hit and used to brilliant effect in movies like Scorsese's Goodfellas.
Like good Motown music, this is a timeless song - the fact that it sounds like it was recorded on a dirty tape player in someone's garage doesn't detract from what is, at it's essence, a beautiful love song sung with emotion and, in further keeping with the Motown essence, energy. The song seems to bounce along, propelled by the percussion and vocals. It never sounds particularly sweet or at all twee, something that a song like this would be pilloried for if it was released now. Basically, it's awesome, but not awesome enough to take the Best Song Yet award from Smokey Robinson.
Verdict: Classic
Tomorrow: Jackson Browne - Running on Empty
Monday, February 16, 2009
Supermarket for the future of music
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - Shop Around
Video
Written by Smokey Robinson and Mr Motown himself, Berry Gordy, and produced by Gordy, Shop Around was released in 1960 and became the first Motown song to reach #1 on the US Rhythm and Blues charts, and the first to sell over a million copies. Obviously this is one iconic Motown song and, ironically, it was almost completely different as "Robinson initially thought Barrett Strong [who?] should do 'Shop Around', but Gordy convinced Robinson that he was the right man for the song. After they recorded and released it, Gordy heard it on the radio and found it way too slow. So he woke Robinson at 3 a.m. and called him back to the studio to re-cut it, faster and with Robinson more prominent. That one worked." (Rolling Stone)
As for the song, it sounds like it was recorded on acetate, given the quality (it may have been, for all I know), but there's that classic Motown groove - bouncy bass, harmonised doo-wop backing vocals, swinging horns and brassy piano, all overlaid with Smokey's awe-inspiring high tenor. At points in the song you can hear how it's influenced music in the past 49 years (it's hard to believe that this song is almost 50 years old) - from being covered by countless artists through the years (not sure how much street cred you get from being covered by Captain and Tenille and Georgie Fame, but anyway) to the backing vocals (everywhere from the Motown sound to the pop-punk movement of NoFX and Blink 182) to the outro vocal leap on "I know you can my son" at 2:40, a technique stolen wholesale by Frank Black in the Pixies.
Basically, this song influenced almost everything, directly or indirectly, and it's a telling testament to why Motown is still so damn listenable these days - the songs were honest, energetic and emotive and when you listen to them you pick up subtle cues, hindsight being 20/20 of course, as to where music was headed. This was rock and roll and soul and disco and boy bands and Amy Winehouse and hip-hop, and we have Motown to thank and curse for all of it.
Verdict: Stone Cold Classic, Seminal
Tomorrow: The Eagles - Desperado
Video
Written by Smokey Robinson and Mr Motown himself, Berry Gordy, and produced by Gordy, Shop Around was released in 1960 and became the first Motown song to reach #1 on the US Rhythm and Blues charts, and the first to sell over a million copies. Obviously this is one iconic Motown song and, ironically, it was almost completely different as "Robinson initially thought Barrett Strong [who?] should do 'Shop Around', but Gordy convinced Robinson that he was the right man for the song. After they recorded and released it, Gordy heard it on the radio and found it way too slow. So he woke Robinson at 3 a.m. and called him back to the studio to re-cut it, faster and with Robinson more prominent. That one worked." (Rolling Stone)
As for the song, it sounds like it was recorded on acetate, given the quality (it may have been, for all I know), but there's that classic Motown groove - bouncy bass, harmonised doo-wop backing vocals, swinging horns and brassy piano, all overlaid with Smokey's awe-inspiring high tenor. At points in the song you can hear how it's influenced music in the past 49 years (it's hard to believe that this song is almost 50 years old) - from being covered by countless artists through the years (not sure how much street cred you get from being covered by Captain and Tenille and Georgie Fame, but anyway) to the backing vocals (everywhere from the Motown sound to the pop-punk movement of NoFX and Blink 182) to the outro vocal leap on "I know you can my son" at 2:40, a technique stolen wholesale by Frank Black in the Pixies.
Basically, this song influenced almost everything, directly or indirectly, and it's a telling testament to why Motown is still so damn listenable these days - the songs were honest, energetic and emotive and when you listen to them you pick up subtle cues, hindsight being 20/20 of course, as to where music was headed. This was rock and roll and soul and disco and boy bands and Amy Winehouse and hip-hop, and we have Motown to thank and curse for all of it.
Verdict: Stone Cold Classic, Seminal
Tomorrow: The Eagles - Desperado
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Unmissable
Rolling Stones - Miss You
"New Rule: Airplane black boxes must now be made out of Keith Richards. The man, who has taken more drugs than Whitney Houston, Rush Limbaugh and Robert Downey, Jr., combined, recently fell out of a tree, and then crashed a jet ski. And yet, somehow, that cigarette never fell out of his mouth. What is this guy still running on? I've got to know. Because I'm beginning to think the future of medicine isn't injecting stem cells, it's injecting heroin."
- Real Time with Bill Maher, 12 May 2006 (Season 7, Episode 9)
"...how come Keith Richards still walks? Explain that Mr. Surgeon General! You never mention Keith do you? Aah, a lttle hole in the theory there! Surgeon General says "Drugs are bad -drugs are evil!...except for that guy, they work real good for him -but the rest of you..."
and
"Keith Richards is shooting heroin into his eyeballs and still touring alright! I'm getting mixed signals! I picture nuclear war and two things surviving; Keith and cockroaches! *does Keith Richards impression* "Where did everybody go-o? I saw a bright light and thought we were ho-ome..."
- Bill Hicks, 'Dangerous' audio 1990
Ah, the Stones, the (barely) living embodiment of rock and roll. It's difficult to argue that there has been a more influential duo in rock history than Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, or that there has been a cooler human being than Keef. Sure, there's Lennon and McCartney, but the Stones have the advantage of longevity, something pondered by Bill Hicks, Bill Maher and almost everyone who's seen the leathery visage of Mr Richards.
Ironically, the song is almost disco-y, reflecting the Stones in 1978 when it was released. Mick does his breathless, whispery-vocal thing, the ever-dependable Charlie Watts remains as reliable as ever pumping out a four-to-the-floor beat, Keith picks out his signature legato augmentations over an acoustic rhythm guitar and Bill Wyman gets all hella funky on the bass. All this while one of the most recognisable backing vocal harmonies hoots out of the speakers. There's also an electric piano and a harmonica in there. Rolling Stone, as enlightening as ever, say "With Charlie Watts channeling a disco groove, 'Miss You' became the band's first Number One hit in five years. "It's not really about a girl," Jagger said. 'The feeling of longing is what the song is.'"
And it's absolutely great, catchy as chlamydia and with more grooves than a well-plowed field. It's not even embarrassingly disco-y, more a channeling of Sly Stone funk into the body of Howling Wolf with almost a pre-emptive nod towards G-funk hip-hop and bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This is the sound of the Stones doing something different, but still remaining absolutely, unimpeachably, The Stones. It's one of many arrows in an embarrassingly big quiver, one of an oeuvre of true greatness that could have three generations of a family shaking their booties to it. In short, it sounds like something you would actually want to hear on classic radio.
Taxonomy: Disco Inferno, All Hail Keef
Tomorrow: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Shop Around
"New Rule: Airplane black boxes must now be made out of Keith Richards. The man, who has taken more drugs than Whitney Houston, Rush Limbaugh and Robert Downey, Jr., combined, recently fell out of a tree, and then crashed a jet ski. And yet, somehow, that cigarette never fell out of his mouth. What is this guy still running on? I've got to know. Because I'm beginning to think the future of medicine isn't injecting stem cells, it's injecting heroin."
- Real Time with Bill Maher, 12 May 2006 (Season 7, Episode 9)
"...how come Keith Richards still walks? Explain that Mr. Surgeon General! You never mention Keith do you? Aah, a lttle hole in the theory there! Surgeon General says "Drugs are bad -drugs are evil!...except for that guy, they work real good for him -but the rest of you..."
and
"Keith Richards is shooting heroin into his eyeballs and still touring alright! I'm getting mixed signals! I picture nuclear war and two things surviving; Keith and cockroaches! *does Keith Richards impression* "Where did everybody go-o? I saw a bright light and thought we were ho-ome..."
- Bill Hicks, 'Dangerous' audio 1990
Ah, the Stones, the (barely) living embodiment of rock and roll. It's difficult to argue that there has been a more influential duo in rock history than Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, or that there has been a cooler human being than Keef. Sure, there's Lennon and McCartney, but the Stones have the advantage of longevity, something pondered by Bill Hicks, Bill Maher and almost everyone who's seen the leathery visage of Mr Richards.
Ironically, the song is almost disco-y, reflecting the Stones in 1978 when it was released. Mick does his breathless, whispery-vocal thing, the ever-dependable Charlie Watts remains as reliable as ever pumping out a four-to-the-floor beat, Keith picks out his signature legato augmentations over an acoustic rhythm guitar and Bill Wyman gets all hella funky on the bass. All this while one of the most recognisable backing vocal harmonies hoots out of the speakers. There's also an electric piano and a harmonica in there. Rolling Stone, as enlightening as ever, say "With Charlie Watts channeling a disco groove, 'Miss You' became the band's first Number One hit in five years. "It's not really about a girl," Jagger said. 'The feeling of longing is what the song is.'"
And it's absolutely great, catchy as chlamydia and with more grooves than a well-plowed field. It's not even embarrassingly disco-y, more a channeling of Sly Stone funk into the body of Howling Wolf with almost a pre-emptive nod towards G-funk hip-hop and bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This is the sound of the Stones doing something different, but still remaining absolutely, unimpeachably, The Stones. It's one of many arrows in an embarrassingly big quiver, one of an oeuvre of true greatness that could have three generations of a family shaking their booties to it. In short, it sounds like something you would actually want to hear on classic radio.
Taxonomy: Disco Inferno, All Hail Keef
Tomorrow: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Shop Around
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