It’s Here Luv! Rolling Stones Live 1965-66

Let The Airwaves Flow 1 : Live At Olympia , Paris 1965-66 – The Rolling Stones

Side One

1. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Russell, Burke, Wexler)
2. Around and Around (Berry)
3. Off The Hook (Nanker, Phelge)
4. Carol (Berry)
5. Little Red Rooster (Dixon)
6. Route 66 (Troup)
7. I’m Alright (McDaniel)
8. Crawdad (McDaniel)

Side Two

1. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Russell, Burke, Wexler)
2. The Last Time (Jagger, Richard)
3. The Spider And The Fly (Jagger, Richard)
4. 19^th Nervous Breakdown (Jagger, Richard)
5. Hang On Sloopy (Berns, Farrell) / Get Off My Cloud (Jagger, Richard)
6. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Jagger, Richard)

Recorded live at the Olympia, Paris for RTL Radio

Side One 1-8 and Side Two 1-2 First Show April 18th 1965

Side Two 3-6 Second Show March 29^th 1966

Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica

Brian Jones – guitar

Keith Richard – guitar, backing vocals

Bill Wyman – bass

Charlie Watts – drums

Sleeve Notes

The lengthy career of the Rolling Stones divides fairly neatly into three eras, each defined by the identity of their second guitarist. So 1962-1969 is Brian Jones: 1969 – 1974 Mick Taylor and 1975 to date Ronnie Wood. Whilst we have an abundance of good quality live releases from the Taylor and Wood years there are virtually no good quality live recordings from the Jones period. Admittedly there is the Got Live If You Want It EP from 1965 and a selection of BBC Sessions, released in 2017 as On Air: both are welcome but the former is primitively recorded and the latter lacks an enthusiastic audience. So the real value of the record you have in your hands is that it is well-recorded and delivers an accurate representation of the mid-60’s Stones live set delivered to a very vocal and largely female audience. It is simply the most exciting live record of the Brian Jones era yet to emerge.

A brief snippet of Everybody Wants To Someone To Love acts as the introduction to a rockin’ Around And Around, Jagger’s vocal exuberance matched by the Richards / Jones guitar team tearing into the solos. The loping rhythm of overlooked B-side Off The Hook highlights the dexterity of Watts and Wyman. Carol kicks off with an electrifying intro from Keith Richards, whilst  Brian Jones’ slide guitar is the focus of Little Red Rooster (introduced here by the rarely-vocal Charlie Watts). Sheer punk energy drives Route 66.

A lengthier Everybody Needs Somebody To Love kicks off Side 2, Jagger really testifying here. The Last Time features Richard’s distinctive backing vocals. Then it’s a flashback to the Crawdaddy club in Richmond for two rarely-played Bo Diddley covers I’m Alright and Crawdad itself, both of which have the desired effect of making the crowd go completely bonkers.

Finally we have four Stones originals from their return to Olympia the following year. The wry Spider And The Fly is the second ace B side to receive an airing. Next up is a driving 19^thNervous Breakdown that features more Keith Richards harmonising, giving the middle eight a country feel. Get Off My Cloud is preceded by the intro to Hang On Sloopy but it is a momentary distraction. The intertwined twin guitars really come into their own here, beautifully complementing the call-and-response vocals. Finally the unmistakable riff of Satisfaction brings the set to a close, a role the song is still performing 52 years later!

The NME review of the 1965 gig was published on April 24^th. Jack Hutton reported that he band performed “exceptionally well and they got wild acclaim”. That was it for the music – the remainder of the 600 wordarticle was spent criticising French bouncers, although the Stones are described as “producing mild pandemonium” and Jagger’s “latest innovaton in the leaping and jumping department brought ecstasy and uproar”. Nicole Portier in Disc (April 24^th) was more circumspect in her assessment that “four days in Paris with the Stones seems like a couple of years”. Paris would remain a Stones stronghold, with audience reaction at their most recent shows in October 2017 proving equally adulatory.

Sleeve notes: Elmo Lewis