screamin' sounds: THE ROLLING STONES

15+ years ago, I wrote an impassioned defense of The Rolling Stones, which I sent to the online music mag Perfect Sound Forever, and which they forthwith published (thanks, Jason). I've gotten a lot of e-mails about that piece over the years.

When I started this blog, I just re-posted the piece. But, since then, I've decided to revisit - to see how I feel about it 15 years later. But before I even start, I should note that I still stand behind every word I said.

15 years later, The Stones remain in the same oddball position. To young pop music fans, they're beyond irrelevant - might as well not even exist, never have existed. To hip rock fans and critics, they're revolting - a disgusting cadre of decrepit old men trying to prove their virility, trading in nostalgia, old-fashioned (i.e. blues-based) music, wallowing in their absurdly filthy material riches which they've enjoyed their entire adult lives, and milking a long-burned-out legend by playing to the nostalgia of aging baby boomers who keep shelling out ever bigger-and-bigger fees for one last chance to relive past glories. Plus they're ugly.

On the other hand - they're still probably the most popular, celebrated, richest, and most profitable rock band in the world (if they're not the most, they're damn close), can collect outrageous and astronomical ticket and event prices (a pay-per-view broadcast of their most recent Madison Square Garden gig goes for $40). And they still hold the fascination of a broad swath of the public. Two feature films in five years. Keef's memoir hit the best seller lists instantly. Let the critics carp and the wags joke - the Stones can cry all the way to the bank. Yet again.

So do I pity them? No, not at all.

But I do feel sorry for the haters. Oh hey, everyone's entitled. If you just plain don't like the Stones music, that's no shame. Plenty of respected artistes I can't get behind. Crossing someone off the list because they just don't do it for you is just fine. But if I do have a point besides the one on top of my head, it's to not let your prejudices blind you. They're old? Yeah - so? They're past their prime? Hell yes - they peaked in the early 70's, for crying out loud! They're trading on nostalgia and past glories? Yepper. So does every act with more than a half-dozen albums behind them who're still touring. They don't need the money? Agreed, and again, so? Too expensive? No argument - but someone's willing to, and they're charging what the market will bear. They're disgustingly rich? No doubt - don't you wish you were?

What is it about the Stones, anyway, that makes them so special to those of us who worship at the Temple of the Lapping Tongue? I thought about this as I was trying to sleep last night. There are those who would argue that we are merely reacting to a legend, a myth. Either trying to hold on to the 60's rock era and thus our youth (if we're old enough), or trying to grab hold of a mythic rock era we missed out on (if we're young enough). That we've simply accepted the concept of the Stones as The Greatest Rock`n'Roll Band In The World instead of questioning it or, more importantly, finding newer artistes to dethrone them. They have it wrong.

If I was to break it into simple, clinical terms, I would put it this way: there is a certain type of music/rock geek (such as myself) and we tend to put a high premium on certain things in rock and roll - things we want to hear if we're to consider it "good," much less "great", rock and roll.

Those things include (but may not be limited to): electric guitars, loud bass and drums. Chicago and Delta blues (esp. electrified). Soul music. Ringing, melodic power chords (as in, say The Who) and roaring, noisy power chords (as in say most punk rock - which is sometimes melodic too, of course). Strong, passionate singing - a conventionally "good" singing voice is not required. Musicianship that is also passionate and rough, but may be idiosyncratic or very limited - again, virtuosity not required. Good, literate lyrics that say a little something, hopefully, and in an interesting way. Grit and dirt and noise. Black funk. The ability to pull off a convincing ballad. Pure noise for noise's sake. Explicit and daring sexual content. Sounding a little (or a lot) drunk and/or stoned. Rebelliousness. A sense that the artists are real, tough, maybe even a little dangerous.

Have I just described most of the most lionized, and beloved, tough rock and roll bands?
Have I just described the Stones to T? The Stooges, The Who, The Pistols, The Clash, The Replacements - they all had some or most of the above. The Stones had, and (for the most part, have) all of it. And they hold it like a weapon which, at their best, they wield with an expertise that's breathtaking, and, at their worst, with a haphazard sense of aim which still allows them to hit more than they miss. Get the picture. They couldn't be more perfect for fans like me if they'd been made to order. And this is why we find ourselves drawn to their music, again and again, even when they're sucking ass. Because even when they're sucking ass, they make the kind of music we like, and they make it perfectly.

My main impetus for sticking up for the Stones back in `97 was that their then-latest release, Bridges To Babylon, was a quite decent album, as was its predecessor, Voodoo Lounge. Now, I would not argue that either of these scaled the heights of any of their masterworks (pretty much everything they did between roughly 1964 and 1972 - Exile, of course). But I would argue that they were very respectable albums and a match for any of the post-Exile-to-Some Girls releases of the 70's (all of which are underrated and home to several great songs each), and better than anything post Some Girls-to-Steel Wheels. Flat out - if those albums had been released under another name, with nothing to link them to the Stones, hipsters who like gritty rock and roll would hail them as mini-classics.

In fact, let's look at that catalog, because that's one thing that has changed for me over the years - I've come to appreciate the post-Exile period of the Stones a lot more than I used to. I just don't subscribe to the notion that an artist is only as good as his last album, or last twenty or thirty albums. I still rate Rod Stewart a great, or at least a former great, because of his first handful of solo albums and work with the Faces. Thirty-plus years of dreck (and it's all dreck) don't diminish the power of those finer moments. And the Stones have a much richer catalog than Rod.

So, post-Exile, you've got Goat's Head Soup - messy, sloppy, icky big-hit soft-rock ballad ("Angie"); but you've still got "Winter" (awesome, Astral Weeks via the Stones), "Heartbreaker," "Dancing With Mr. D" (classic Stones moves), "Silver Train", "Star Star" (solid Chuck Berry raunch and the last one's dirty, too), "Coming Down Again" (Keef on a ballad, yay!) and "Can You Hear the Music" (stoned jam - sounds good when you're high). A big come-down from previous but still a good album in its own right. You've got It's Only Rock and Roll - great Temptations cover, classic single, two great ballads ("Till The Next Goodbye," "Time Waits For No One" - a genuine departure for them, too), couple more slices of by-the-book-but-hey-its-a-good-book Stones ("Dance Little Sister," "If You Can't Rock Me"), a reggae workout I like ("Luxury"), and a bunch of filler. A weak album with several very respectable highlights. Let's put it this way - you could take the best half of each of those two and make one excellent, first-rate Stones album out of them.

Okay, Black and Blue's a step down. One classic: "Hand Of Fate" (which somehow evokes Warren Zevon

to me - the same way Eddie Money's "Gimme Some Water" always did). But "Crazy Mama" is serviceable, and I like the reggae groove on "Cherry Oh Baby," the soul groove on "Melody," and I have a serious weak spot for "Hey Negrita" (gnarly riff and I like Mick's outfit in the video). A letdown but still has its charms. Most people don't dispute that Some Girls is first-rate all the way (it is). That's the 70's down.

The 80's? Emotional Rescue - mostly a turd but I like the rockers "Let Me Go" (mini-classic), "Where The Boys Go" and "Summer Romance" - nice snotty rockers of the Ron Wood-era Stones (which we are now in with this and Girls). I like "Indian Girl" too cuz it's funny. Tattoo You - most beautiful sleeve of any Stones album. Contents - mostly just grooves, almost like Keith's solo albums. Some good ones. "Little T&A" is a mini-classic. I like "Tops," "Heaven", "No Use In Crying," "Slave." Could live the rest of my life happily without ever hearing "Start Me Up" again. Undercover - hated it when it came out - but now? I like the sleazy cover (it suits them, after all). "Undercover of the Night" is a gem - the Stones tackle Jackson/Prince style funk and make it their own. The video's a classic. The rest of the highlights are all grooves - but good ones ("Too Much Blood" [funny], "Tie You Up," "Pretty Beat Up"). Dirty Work - "One Hit", "Fight", "Had It With You" - good nasty Stones rockers. Nice slinky groove on "Harlem Shuffle." I like Keef's ballad "Sleep" (I usually like Keef's ballads) and "Too Rude." You can trash the rest. Steel Wheels - misfire. I like "Mixed Emotions", "Blinded By Love" (nice ballad) and the Tom Waits-y "Break the Spell" and hate the rest. Not a good decade for the Stones, but still enough fodder for an a very listenable compilation.

And I already talked about their 90's albums (note I'm ignoring live albums etc). I should mention I like Mick's Wandering Spirit album very much as well - it's the best Stones album the Stones never made.

All of that is a pretty respectable showing for a band that's past it's prime. Maybe it only shows how far they had to fall. But just that whole post-Exile phase from 1972 to 1997 is a body of work with an awful lot of highlights - more than many other artists on this blog could muster - and some of those artists are among my very favorites.

Add to that their entire 60's catalog (yes, that includes Satanic Majesties, which is far from awful) and everything up through Exile. Top that, pal. It's the sheer volume of good music they've cranked out over the years that blows me away, especially considering their peak period only covers 1/5 of their career.

Add to that their critical, definitive role in setting in stone the image of the badass rock band, the punk band, the defiant rebel band - bitch all you want kids - they pissed against the gas station wall first; their critical, definitive role in bringing the blues to a wider audience (those who argue that they merely ripped off black blues artists ignore how much they, along with Clapton, et al helped spread the gospel of same black blues artists - I got into Howlin' Wolf because of the Stones - and I bet you did, too) and the simple fact that, as I wrote in `97:

THEY BROUGHT IT ALL BACK HOME Because you see, rock`n'roll was never just the blues. It was the mating of blues and r&b AND country music AND gospel AND latin music AND everything else that happened to be floating around at the time. For all their claims of r&b authenticity, Mick and Keith and the rest all had been inspired by Elvis, and Gene Vincent, and Bill Haley, as much as any of their peers. A pure adrenalin version of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" was an early single. At some point, they had to have a rapproachment with the white rock`n'roll that was their heritage. The earliest Stones albums usually featured an original or two. Usually they were less than stellar -- fairly typical British Invasion-type rock. The closest any originals came to their real inspirations was "Little By Little," a Jimmy Reed-style number that Phil Spector wrote for them. It didn't take long. By the end of `64 the Jagger-Richards songwriting team had taken what they'd learned from blues and r&b and (now) soul music too, and incorporated it into their own idiom. The blues ceased to be their source of material and now was simply absorbed into their own overall sound. Listen to Otis Redding's version of "Satisfaction" and you see how easily that famous riff is adapted as a horn riff (which is what Keith had originally intended it as). Listen to the way later songs like "You Got the Silver" and "No Expectations" manage to take rural blues slide-guitar and blues songs structures and mate it to music that owes as much to Bob Dylan and English folk music as it does to Robert Johnson. Listen to the way their cover of Johnson's "Stop Breaking Down" or their own "Ventilator Blues" draw on everything they learned from Howlin' Wolf while still sounding like nothing so much as the Stones.

What's more, they never stopped absorbing current and even divergent trends. They inhaled country music ("Honky Tonk Woman," "Wild Horses" and many more), Dylan (Mick rapidly absorbed Dylan's lyrical style into his own and the rare b-side "Who's Driving Your Plane" is pure Blonde on Blonde), soul music (numerous covers including an early version of Solomon Burke's "That's How Strong My Love Is" is one of Mick's finest hours vocally and later they would create originals like "Long Long While" and "I Got the Blues" [heavily infuenced by Ike and Tina Turner, I always think] that would have done any 60's soulster proud), gospel ("Shine A Light," and much of Exile on Main Street), latin music ("Sympathy for the Devil"), British folk music ("Lady Jane," much of Aftermath and Between the Buttons), psychedelia (again, much of Between the Buttons and the much-maligned but still intriguing Their Satanic Majesties Request), reggae, and just about everything else as well. They exhaled music that was informed by, influenced by, and shaped by all of these styles but was always their own.

Beyond the sheer volume, it's the sheer breadth and resilience of their music - the way they've absorbed everything that came their way and managed to forge it into Stones music. Greil Marcus recently said:

the Rolling Stones—and Andrew Loog Oldham, who as their manager was a brilliant publicist—set up a context, their own pop world, where breaking rules and hiding forbidden messages in plain sight were the currency. But what that really did, I think, was create a situation in which it was less the Rolling Stones against the limits that the world at large meant to put on their music (or anything else) than a matter of the band against its own limits, in terms of how it could sound, what it could say, how, finally, the sound could say everything. And that’s what they found with “Gimmie Shelter,” the way it sets itself up for an explosion the Rolling Stones themselves could never quite set off—which is why they brought in Merry Clayton, who grasped what the song needed, and found it: “I’m going to blow them out of the room”—and with the expanding, never-ending final choruses of the London Bach Choir in “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” (stolen from the Greil Marcus blog, without permission)

Now, what came after? I was non-plussed by "Don't Stop" and the other tracks from Forty Licks, and A Bigger Bang left me cold, too. It was all very decently-done but nothing really grabbed me. But, just as I prepared to file them under "done," "Doom and Gloom" showed up and knocked me out. Yeah, I think it's easily their best single since the 70's. It rocks.

So, yes - the Stones are a disgustingly rich, over-the-hill, past-their-prime, ugly, sexist, dated relic. But they've produced a stunning body of work (isn't Lou Reed still celebrated almost entirely for his 60's catalog, which is a third the size of the Stones?), they still usually produce a decent song or two on any project they emit, and they can still kick it onstage (I've seen them three times - 1981, 1994, and 1999 - the last was the best, an absolutely great show, `94 was a near miss and `81 was a fun party if not great musically). As far as I'm concerned, they can keep going forever.

Rolling Stones Allmusic
Rolling Stones Wiki
Rolling Stones Official Site
Time Is On Our Side an essential and fascinating archive for any Stones-freak

Essential Listening:

R&B Phase: Dave Marsh once said the Stones in this era were the greatest white r&b band in history, and that this was not opinion, but fact. He was right. The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hitmakers) is the opening volley and a glorious one, working Buddy Holly, Bobby Troup and Muddy Waters into near-Ramones tempo ravers, good soul covers ("Walking the Dog"), an amusing stab at Merseybeat-via-Arthur Alexander ("Tell Me") and "Little By Little," an original that already encapsulates their image. 12 x 5 is more of the same, with Irma Thomas' "Time Is On My Side" as a highlight. The Rolling Stones, Now is THE classic of this phase, "a sexual tour of the deep South" as Greil Marcus called it. Cobbled from British EP's and singles, it holds together perfectly as an album. Soul covers, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Otis Redding. If you own only one album from this period, this is the one. Out Of Our Heads is almost all soul and almost all golden, and its got "Satisfaction." Even better, it's got Mick's best vocal ever on Solomon Burke's "That's How Strong My Love Is". December's Children is an oddity, another cobbled-together comp. For a long time I didn't bother with it, but as a hardcore fan I just couldn't be without "Talkin' Bout You," "Gotta Get Away," "Blue Turns To Grey". Essential if you're a fan (obviously, I am). More Hot Rocks contains some early and essential sides from this phase, too ("I Can't Be Satisfied", their best Muddy Waters cover). The oft-maligned Got Live If You Want It is a good live disk that represents a transition between this and the next phase. There's also a good live radio broadcast from Paris in 1966 that's worth hearing (look it up). For viewing, their performance in The T.A.M.I. Show is a must-see.

Swingin' London Phase: This is the period in which they (mostly) abandoned covers and joined The Beatles at the top of the sixties rock pantheon. Aftermath, is the key and the masterpiece - a sinister, dark, blues/soul/folk/Dylan/Beatles hybrid, all snaky guitars, thundering drums and dark, sexy imagery - "Paint It Black" was the hit, "Under My Thumb", "Stupid Girl" cemented the image. I'm partial to the eerie choral "I Am Waiting" and the masturbatory ramble of "Going Home". The film it was supposed to have been the soundtrack to never materialized, but it would have looked a lot like Repulsion, Seance On A Wet Afternoon, Bunny Lake is Missing - crossed with A Hard Day's Night. Between the Buttons is their rather elegant folk-rock follow up - by now their music has lost the b&w/chiaroscuro of Aftermath and is in vivid, psychedelic colors. File this next to Revolver, A Quick One, Face To Face and Surrealistic Pillow. Despite its touches of British whimsy ("Something Happened To Me Yesterday" - greatest song ever about a first LSD trip), the bulk of it ( "All Sold Out", "Yesterday's Papers", "Connection") carry on the musical and lyrical themes of Aftermath, this time in technicolor, and "Who's Been Sleeping Here" is their best folk-rock number ever. Flowers is another singles/b-sides/UK album tracks compilation. Much of their best music from this phase came out on singles and the tracks here are all essential ("Ruby Tuesday", "Back Street Girl", "Mother's Little Helper"). Their Satanic Majesties Request is the often-reviled flower power album, the anti-Sgt. Pepper. For all its bad rep, it's not that bad an album. The jams are amusing, "2000 Man" rocks, and "2000 Light Years From Home" stomps early Pink Floyd like a grape. Classic. More Hot Rocks also contains "We Love You" and "Dandelion", both sides of a pre-Satanic single, and worth having. Missing from all of these is the also very essential "Who's Driving Your Plane", their take on the Blonde On Blonde sound, and the less essential but still enjoyable "Sad Day". For these you'll have to go to Singles 1965-1967 or The London Years. Another Paris radio broadcast, this time from `66, shows them doing a very cool medley of "Going Home"/"Satisfaction" that's well worth hearing, as is the `67 broadcast, which has a similar medley plus "Get Off My Cloud"/"Yesterday's Papers", "Paint It Black" and other goodies.

Jimmy Miller Phase: this is where the Stones left their 60's daze behind and became the sinister, "salacious" hard rock band (Dave Marsh's [accurate] term) they're best known as. Innocence gone and mired in explicit drugs`n'sex imagery, but with Miller behind the boards, Brian Jones out and Mick Taylor's genius soloing flying over Mick and Keith's matured songwriting, they sounded better than ever. This is their peak. Kicking off with "Jumping Jack Flash" and the equally glorious psychedelic country-rock of "Child Of The Moon" - you'll have to go to either Singles 1965-1967 or The London Years to get both. London Years also has the essential "Honky Tonk Woman" single from `69. Then into the stunning Beggar's Banquet - post Music From Big Pink - evil folk, Delta blues, country, raga-rock and the Velvets, all wrapped up in the sleaziest cover ever seen (the bathroom wall, once-censored but now restored on the CD). Not a single less-than-great track. Some consider Let It Bleed even better. Not me but its got "Gimme Shelter" and "Monkey Man" and "You Got the Silver" and more great stuff. Get Yer Ya's Ya's Out is a great live album that covers this period, and their epochal 1969 tour that ended in Altamont. Some swear by the bootleg Liv'r Than You'll Ever Be but I find it less than essential. Bootlegs of the Altamont show can also be found and they don't sound half bad, despite obvious problems. The film Gimme Shelter is absolutely essential viewing for anyone interested in the Altamont thing, or just wanting to see great footage of them on their greatest tour. It's a great film, period. Also worth seeing is The Stones in the Park, Brian's funeral/Mick Taylor's coming out party. Good, raunchy performances. The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus has them running through an intense mini-set including a fine "You Can't Always Get What You Want." There's an audio version, too. The Who's crazed "A Quick One" and John Lennon's performances are also essential stuff. Oh, and the legendary "Cocksucker Blues" (there's two versions - one acoustic and one rocker) is worth hearing even if Shane MacGowan ultimately told the story more effectively. Mick's "Memo From Turner" from the film Performance is also a classic.

After the Altamont debacle, they continued to make great music without a blip. Sticky Fingers carries on nicely, and has "Sway" and "Moonlight Mile", two of my all-time favorites. Then they drop the bomb with
Exile On Main Street, an album that's a legend itself. And deservedly so. I've already talked about the worthy Goat's Head Soup, which closes off this phase on a good note. All the boots I've heard from this later period are pretty weak, although the Leeds show from `71 is pretty good, and their Winterland `72 show is still sworn by among those who witnessed it. Most of what I've heard they sound sloppy, wasted, out of tune and even out of time(!). The same goes for most of their performances in the infamous Cocksucker Blues, which is really a pretty boring film, albeit at times amusing for its sheer nastiness. They sound pretty decent in what I've seen of Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones, the concert film they released in lieu of the still-controversial Cocksucker.

Sucking in the Seventies: Things get spottier here. It's Only Rock and Roll I've talked above. Look for a cheap copy. Same goes for Black and Blue. Some Girls I can recommend unequivocally. Also worth a hear are never-released bootleg tracks "Claudine" (two versions), "Fiji Jim" and Keith singing Arthur Conley's "Let's Go Steady". Nothing else of much interest here. Essential viewing is their 1978 appearance on Saturday Night Live. Look for their performances of "Beast Of Burden," "Respectable," and "Shattered" and Mick's bit with Dan Ackroyd as Tom Snyder - classic!

After That: A very mixed bag. I've given my opinions above. I've found their 80's albums good for compilation-fodder. I like Keith's Talk Is Cheap very much, and also Mick's Wandering Spirit, and I stand by Voodoo Lounge, Bridges to Babylon and the new single "Doom and Gloom." Explore for yourself. I highly recommend the back-to-the-roots video Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones Live At The Checkerboard Lounge, which features Mick, Keith and Ron jamming with Muddy in Chicago. Great stuff.

Essential Reading:

There's hundreds. Some have been highly regarded but many of those I don't care for. The best all-around I've read is Stephen Davis' Old Gods Almost Dead. I also highly recommend David Dalton's The Rolling Stones: The First Twenty Years, which has some great writing and great coffee-table potential as well. Similar is According to The Rolling Stones which is straight from the mouths, and has lots of good pics. Same goes for Mojo's 2003 special edition which has a good critical discography, interviews, and other valuable items. Keith's Life is a delightful romp. Up And Down With The Rolling Stones by Tony Sanchez is good for sheer dirt. For more great early photos, I recommend The Early Stones: Legendary Photographs of a Band in the Making 1963-1973 by Terry Southern, Michael Cooper and Keith Richards. If you want some laughs, check out Tony Scaduto's absurd Everybody's Lucifer, a fanciful bio of Mick that's heavy on comedy and condemnation - highlight - a brutal knife fight between a drug-crazed Brian and Mick over a bad dinner.

Essential Viewing:

Aside from what's mentioned above...

The recent Crossfire Hurricane has some great footage, but the one to get is the out-of-print 25x5, which, even though old, covers their career up to 1989 (and hey, it's the 60's and 70's you're interested in anyway) and is brimming with insightful interviews with all five members. Unequivocally recommended. It has never had an official DVD release but un-official ones are not difficult to find. The recent Shine A Light is a good concert film.