Only Rock 'n' Roll

This 5 track covers EP on New West Records acts as a  fund-raiser for Slim Dunlap, former Mats guitarist whose stroke last year has left him with big medical bills and no insurance. Whilst original Replacements Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars are all here Chris only plays on an over-produced solo rendition of Slim’s Radio Hook Word Hit, leaving Tommy and Paul backed on the other tracks by Kevin Bowe on guitars and Peter Anderson on drums. The record has an offhand feel, almost like The Mats gigs in their heyday where whimsical cover versions such as If I Only Had A Brain were de rigeur. Here they take a crack at Everything’s Coming Up Roses, possibly the bands none too subtle message to Slim . Producer Ed Ackerson makes the band sound like they’re in their rehearsal space, and it suits them. Slim’s Busted Up gets a Bo Diddley beat and too much piano. The real gem here is Gordon Lightfoot’s I’m Not Saying, where Paul copies Nico’s phrasing and slips in a little Johnny Thunders reference whilst the band reel off the chords in true beat group style. The following Lost Highway by comparison is little bit ragged, a little bit pub-rock. But it’s heart is the right place, it’s in a good cause and the record is worth having just for I’m Not Saying .

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

Keith Richards has repeatedly told the story of how on tour in the USA in May 1965 he awoke one morning in his Florida hotel to find that his tape recorder contained a cassette that had reached its end. When he listened back to the tape he found a snatch of a riff, followed by forty minutes of snoring. He has also claimed the Satisfaction riff was borrowed from Dancing In The Streets by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. Early incarnations suggested a softer, folk-based song but Mick Jagger spotted the potential of transforming the song into an uptempo number. Keith wanted the riff carried by a brass section along the lines of the February 1966 version cut by Otis Redding. The version of Satisfaction played by the Stones on their March 1971 UK tour has something of this – listen to the Get Your Leeds Lungs out version to see what Keith meant. The studio version that the Stones cut at Chess and RCA Hollywood in May 1965 featured Keith using a fuzzbox to replace the horns he heard and it as a guitar-based rocker that Satisfaction is known today. Jagger’s lyrics are intentionally placed low in the mix, bearing out his theory that it’s better if the listener has to work to decipher them. Massively successful, a number one hit all over the world including the UK and the USA.

Get Off Of My Cloud

Very much Son of Satisfaction. Again the track was recorded at Chess and RCA Hollywood, this time during September 1965. The song owes much to Twist and Shout, albeit with an extra chord added in the chorus. Although Andrew Loog Oldham received a production credit it is now widely accepted that the strong studio sound was largely due to engineer Dave Hassinger. Keith Richards has criticised the recording as being rushed and over-compressed, the latter in order to sound good on the radio. The strategy worked in commercial terms – another number one single in both the UK and the USA. Brian Jones played lead guitar whilst Ian Stewart featured on piano. One contemporary review claimed “another wild, far out beat number…rocks all the way with exciting vocal work.” Not played live for many years until in 1976 the track formed part of a medley with If You Can’t Rock Me and appeared in this form on 1977’s Love You Live double LP.

Heart of Stone

The release of this track as a US-only single in December 1964 demonstrated that Jagger and Richards were becoming more confident about their song-writing ability. It was recorded twice: first by Andrew Loog Oldham in London in July-August 1964 and then again by Dave Hassinger at RCA Hollywood in November of the same year. The early version featured Jimmy Page on guitar and was eventually released on the Metamorphosis compilation LP in June 1975. The second version shows Keith Richards effectively emulating Page’s guitar parts, aided by Jack Nitzsche’s piano. The single featured the second, superior recording. Comparing the two versions illustrates the gulf that then existed between UK studios / producers and their US counterparts. The US version appeared on 1965’s LP “The Rolling Stones Now!”, a US-only release that combined seven tracks from the Stones second UK LP with five tracks that were otherwise unavailable in the US.

19th Nervous Breakdown

The Autumn 1965 tour of the US was referred to by Mick Jagger in jest as his ’19th nervous breakdown’, a phrase the band turned into a possible title and then into a frantic maelstrom of a song. On release in February 1966 the single only reached number 2 in the UK charts, breaking a run of four successive number 1’s. The track was recorded at RCA Hollywood in December 1965. Jack Nitzsche got a co-production credit with Loog, but even Dave Hassingers engineering skills were insufficient to clarify the sound. The most notable sonic feature was Bill Wymans  semi-accoustic Framus bass which dive-bombs through the mix. Disc magazine were not impressed: “Technically, especially when straining to hear Mick’s voice surface from the backing, it’s not the best.” Glyn Johns did a remix of the song which brought out Mick’s vocal more but Oldham rejected it.  The track was played on the October 1966 UK tour but since then has only rarely been attempted live.

Paint It, Black

“Don’t ask me what the comma in the title is for – that’s Decca’s” (Keith Richards). Another track recorded by Dave Hassinger at RCA Hollywood (March 1966) and another chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic. The track showcases Brian Jones’ ability to master a wide variety of musical instruments, here the sitar.  Brian sat cross-legged on the floor on the Ed Sullivan show to give his sitar greater visual prominence. Jagger sings the first two lines in an almost subdued tone before hollering the rest of the song. The single got great reviews with Melody Maker calling it a “glorious Indian raga-rock riot”. The song was rarely played live until the Stones revived their 60’s classics and began to include it in setlists from 1989 onwards. These days Ronnie Wood plays the (electric) sitar part, as shown on the version from Twickenham Stadium in August 2003 included on the Four Flicks DVD

Under My Thumb

Taken from the Stones LP Aftermath this song featured Brian Jones on marimba, which gives the track an African feel. The song noticeably speeds up at the end courtesy of Ian Stewart’s piano. Overall a very poor track: the lyrics are yet another variation on Jaggers “dumb chicks” putdown as he charmingly refers to an ex as a “squirming dog who’s just had her day”. Keith Richards’ guitar solo is aimless. Played extensively on the 1969 American tour: a version is included on the expanded edition of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!. After the infamous June 1967 Redlands drug-bust the Who released a version of Under My Thumb as a single to demonstrate their support for the Stones.  John Entwistle was on his honeymoon so Townshend played bass as well as guitar. There was just time to get the record out before Jagger and Richards were released on appeal. The recording failed to improve on the Stones version  and the B-side cover of The Last Time was no better.

Let’s Spend the Night Together

The Stones at their poppiest, released as a double A side single with the equally catchy Ruby Tuesday. “Produced” by Andrew Loog Oldham at Olympic Studios in London during November 1966 although most of the heavy-lifting was done by engineer Glyn Johns. The melody was written by Keith Richards at the piano, and he also played bass. Jagger’s vocal caused some controversy, particularly in the US where Ed Sullivan demanded a lyric change to “spend some time together.” The NME commented “a super disc for dancing.” The song was resurrected for the 1981US tour and became the title of Hal Ashby’s concert film, the version used therein having been recorded in Tempe, Arizona on December 13.

Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Peace and Love did not sit well with the Rolling Stones. After the mixed critical reaction to 1967’s trippy Their Satanic Majesties Request LP a return to their roots was strongly indicated. Joining the Beatles (Get Back) and the Move (Fire Brigade) the Stones went Back To Basics to stunning effect. Enter Jimmy Miller as the bands best-ever producer. Bill Wyman came up with a basic musical idea, whilst Jagger and Richards came up with words and riffs, based on Jack Dyer, Richards gardener at Redlands. The extraordinary guitar textures were created by part-recording accoustic guitar on a cassette recorder with so much overload that it sounded electric. Special mention should go to the extraordinary coda, Nicky Hopkins playing a rising Hammond organ line that was direct injected into the mixing board so as to almost sound like another guitar. A promotional film was shot by Michael Lindsay-Hogg where the band were all heavily made-up and exuded menace. Roy Carr regards the recording as “as near perfect as any rock record should ever possibly be”. Played at virtually every Stones concert since then. Innumerable live versions exist but the definitive performance was recorded on November 27, 1969 at Madison Square Garden and included on the Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! LP.

Honky Tonk Women

Producer Jimmy Miller returned to his drumming roots by playing the cowbell introduction to this track, after receiving permission from Charlie Watts to do so. Charlie actually enters on the “wrong” beat of the cowbell, but everyone loved the push-pull effect so it stayed. Jagger and Richards wrote the song during a South American holiday in early 1969. Early versions of the song feature Brian Jones but the finished version showcases Mick Taylor, Brian’s successor. The basic Stones line-up was augmented by brass-players Jim Horn, Bobby Keyes and Jim Price. Another number 1 in both the UK and the US, backed by You Can’t Always Get What You Want – surely the Stones best value-for-money single release. A studio out-take shows Jagger experimenting with different lyrics so that Paris takes over from New York. The NME decided that the disc “bounces along with an irresistible beat that’ll have the kids jigging about uncontrollably.” A consistent fixture in the live set, the song has been played at most gigs since its creation. It did not feature on a contemporary LP, although Let It Bleed features an acoustic prototype called Country Honk. In 1976 at Knebworth Fayre a snippet of Country Honk was busked in front of 200,000 people causing Jagger to enquire of Ronnie Wood “Did you play on that one? Could you learn it?”

Track By Track: Tattoo You by the Rolling Stones

Context: Transforming Base Metal Into Gold…

“There is a big difference in Keith’s personality” commented Tattoo You associate producer Chris Kimsey in the autumn of 1980. “His attitude towards the band is much more relaxed. He’s more secure. And of course he’s in love” (to new squeeze Patti Hansen). However what should have been a positive time for Richards degenerated into rows with Jagger and the Glimmer Twins only managed to write three new songs for the LP. Ronnie Wood was little help as he was heavily into freebasing cocaine and in no state to write new material.

Accordingly the decision was taken to comb through the archives to see what previously recorded songs could be used. Stephen Trousse called Jagger and Kimsey the “rock’n’roll Frankenstein and assistant, frantically scouring the tombs and catacombs for signs of life in dusty old performances they might stitch together and reanimate”. Key here was Bob Clearmountain who somehow took this disparate grab-bag of studio leftovers and via his mixing transformed it into a coherent LP that sounded like it had been recorded at the same session despite 9 years between the oldest and most recent tracks. Clearmountain made a further two crucial production decisions: he mixed Charlie Watts’ drums way up front and also brought the dual guitars of Keith Richards and (predominantly) Ronnie Wood more to the fore. The result was the Stones first stadium-friendly LP and eight tracks that were played live on the US and European tours that followed its release in 1981-2.

The album was noticeable for the absence of sleeve credits:  A disingenuous Jagger claimed “I just got fed up with writing all those credit lists out and everyone wants one above the other one, and then I couldn’t remember who is playing so I thought ‘Oh everyone got paid anyway’ “. This was certainly not true of Mick Taylor who sued.  The reality was that disclosing full credits would have shown just how ancient was some of this material.

Released in August 1981, Tattoo You was rated highly by the bands fiercest critic “Sixth Stone” and pianist Ian Stewart, who apparently claimed the LP to be “free from filler” . In retrospect Jagger was more equivocal: “I think it’s excellent. But all the things I usually like, it doesn’t have. It doesn’t have any unity of purpose or place or time.”

The critics were less impressed. “Tattoo You does offer a glimmer of what once was, and more important, what could be. It proves the snarl is still there even if the bite has gone” said Patrick Humphries in Melody Maker. Charles Shaar Murray of the NME was more dismissive: “Tattoo You is the Rolling Stones standing exposed as a rock band with severe musical limitations and a collection of well-worn mannerisms as all that stands between them and oblivion.” Veteran Stones associate Nick Kent reckoned “too little creative sparkle and too much raunch-by-rote for any kind of long-term satisfying listening experience.” However the commercial response was very different: Tattoo You was the last Stones LP to hit number 1 in the US, a position it held for over two months.

Side One

Start Me Up

Start Me Up was the first single from the LP and its immediate international success was instrumental in re-establishing the Stones as a valid commercial entity. Jagger claims credit for recognising the possibilities of this tune, which started life during the 1975 Munich Black & Blue sessions as a lengthy Keith Richards reggae track entitled Never Stop. ” I found it, put it together, wrote the lyrics and put it on and Keith said ‘I can’t believe it, it’s just wild’ “. The track had received a less enthusiastic reception when it was revisited during the 1978 Some Girls sessions – Richards sighed “Oh it’s Brown Sugar again” and ordered it to be wiped. Final studio touches were applied in New York in December 1979.

The result is a remarkably sparse dance groove that highlights the central guitar riff, underpinned by propulsive handclaps. All backing vocals are provided by Jagger, doing his best Richards impersonation.

A live version can be found on the Still Life 1981 tour LP, whilst a video version features in the tour movie Lets Spend The Night Together, filmed at Brendan Byrne Arena, New Jersey on 5-6 November 1981. For many fans it remains the last “real” Stones single and it has been played at virtually every Stones gig since 1981. Microsoft licensed Start Me Up to soundtrack the launch of Windows 95 and the track featured extensively throughout the London 2012 Olympics.

Hang Fire

This was the third and final single released in the US. It had originally been written as Lazy Bitch with different lyrics. The original track wasrecorded for Some Girls at EMI Pathe Marconi studios in Paris between January 1978 and October 1979. The track was shelved as Some Girls already had a preponderance of fast numbers. Musically Hang Fire is as close as the Rolling Stones have ever got to doo-wop inspired surf music. A six minute outtake exists with extended guitar solos by Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, interspersed with piano solos by Ian Stewart. Played frequently on the 1981 US and 1982 European tours but not thereafter.

Slave

First recorded during the 1975 sessions in Rotterdam, this song had variously been known as Black And Blue Jam and Vagina. Finishing touches were applied between October 1980 and June 1981 in Paris and New York. The finished version features Sonny Rollins on tenor sax. Sonny Rollins had played with Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie so his presence would have been warmly embraced by jazz fanatic Charlie Watts. Jeff Beck is allegedly on this track. He was rumoured to be the replacement for Mick Taylor and this track was a tryout see how he got on with the band in the studio. Pete Townshend’s presence on the track is harder to understand, or indeed hear. Out-takes exist which run up to nine and half minutes, and when Virgin remastered the Tattoo You CD in 1994 they added another minute and half to the familiar take.

Little T&A

T&A = Tits and Ass. This solo Keith Richards number was originally called Bulldog and contained the lyric “She’s my little rock’n’roll, my tits and ass with soul ” which offended some people who found it sexist: one who did not was its inspiration and Keith’s new love, NY model Patti Hansen. They met in December 1979 and were married exactly four years later. Musically we are in familiar Chuck Berry territory, although the song has a more playful feel than some of its predecessors such as Star Star. A breakdown towards the end reveals the biscuit-tin sound of Charlie’s drums. The track was released as the B side of Waiting On A Friend where it contains the production credit ‘Chris Kimsey for Wonder Knob’. The song was played frequently on the 1981 US and 1982 European tours, and again on Keith’s solo tours when he was backed by the Xpensive Winos. Is the line ‘the pools in but the patio ain’t dry” coded language for something salacious or a complaint about shoddy decorating? Only Keith knows. Possibly.

Black Limousine

This is a Jagger-Richards song started in 1973 in Munich. Ronnie Wood was given a rare songwriting co-credit in credit in exchange for relinquishing his writing credit to the song It’s Only Rock’n’Roll (one wonders how he feels about the deal today). The track was finished in Paris between January 1978 and October 1979. Ronnie Wood described its traditional structure and arrangement as a tribute to Muddy Waters or Jimmy Reed. Ian Stewart reluctantly joins in on piano but termed the result  “bloody Status Quo music”. A live version was recorded at the ‘small club’ Brixton Academy gig on July 19 1995, and it was released on the UK CD Like A Rolling Stone.

Neighbours

An ode to Keith Richards’ domestic problems, this raucous track alludes to the problems caused by his liking for loud music late at night. It was released as the B-side to Hang Fire in the US. Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s witty video featured copulating couples and the gory hacksaw disintegration of a missing wife. Unsurprisingly it was banned by MTV, which may have been the point. Played frequently on the 1981 US and 1982 European tours: a version recorded at the Paris Olympia features on the Four Flicks DVD.

Side Two

Worried About You

One unusual feature of Tattoo You is that the songs were separated into a noisy side and a quiet side. After the preceding six rockers the soulful Worried About You provides welcome sonic relief.

The track is another relic from the January and February 1975 Rotterdam Black and Blue sessions and features Wayne Perkins on lead guitar, a track recorded during his audition for the vacancy subsequently filled by Ronnie Wood. Also prominent is Billy Preston on electric piano, sympathetically backing up Jagger’s falsetto croon which is deployed more effectively here than on Fool To Cry from the same sessions. Subsequently the track was worked on in Paris between June and October 1979.

The song was only occasionally played live, although an embryonic version with a lyrical Ronnie Wood solo can be found on bootleg recordings of the Toronto El Mocambo gigs from March 4^th 1977. These small club gigs were recorded for the 1976 double LP Love You Live, but only one side came from the El Mocambo so the live version of Worried About You remained unreleased. The band clearly like the song since a version recorded at the Paris Olympia features on the Four Flicks DVD

Tops

This track was started at Dynamic Sounds in Jamaica in late 1972. Even the most cursory listen reveals the presence of Mick Taylor on lead guitar . Despite this Taylor was forced to sue for royalties and for credits. In lyrical terms Jagger is unusually honest as he reviews the casting couch mentality prevalent in showbiz.  Billy Preston’s electric piano provides a suitably sleazy support. The band tried playing Tops on the opening dates of the 1981 US tour but it did not persist in the live set beyond this.

Heaven

Heaven is the least Stones-like music on Tattoo You. It is an eerie ambient piece, begun relatively recently in Paris (October 1980) and finished in Jimi Hendrix’s  Electric Ladyland  studio in New York during June 1981. Jagger plays guitar, Chris  Kimsey plays piano, Bill Wyman plays synthesizer. Amidst delicate percussion and whispered vocals this track could have become a chill-out classic had it not been completely forgotten. Never played live although recently remixers such as CJ Jeff and Mr Jools have put a dance beat under the track to good effect.

No Use In Crying

Ronnie Wood gets another co-writer credit on song that was released on the B side of Start Me Up. Originally recorded in Paris during summer 1979 the track was subsequently remixed between April and June 1981 at Electric Ladyland. At least four different outtakes exist, each with minor differences in piano, backing vocals and echo. A charming if slight song it has never been played live.

Waiting On A Friend

The final track on the LP began its life in Dynamic Sound Jamaica towards the end of 1972 and features Mick Taylor on guitar and Nicky Hopkins on characteristically delicate piano. Sonny Rollins’ saxophone was added to the song’s coda during later overdubs in New York. Michael Lindsey-Hogg filmed a touching video promo for the track in June 1979. Compadres Jagger and Richards saunter down to St. Marks Bar and Grill in New York where the rest of the band await, Keith with spliff in hand. The promo was made available on the highly entertaining  “Video Rewind – the Rolling Stones Great Video Hits “, scandalously never released officially on DVD. The track was played live consistently throughout the 1981 US tour but did not make the transition to the European tour of the following year. Jagger is in reflective mood on the line “making love and breaking hearts – it is a game for youth.” It would be interesting to get his perspective forty years later…

Track By Track: It’s Only Rock’n’Roll  by the Rolling Stones

Side One

1. If You Can’t Rock Me

On November 13 1973 the Stones entered Musicland Studios in Munich to start work on their new album. They finished on November 24, broke for Christmas then returned on January 14 1974 for another 2 weeks. If You Can’t Rock Me was the second track recorded and it gets It’s Only Rock ‘n’Roll off to an uncertain start, trying a bit too hard to rock out. “The band’s onstage and it’s one of those nights…the drummer thinks he’s dynamite”. Certainly the latter is true of Charlie Watts throughout, despite the slightly muddy mix. Regular producer Jimmy Miller had been sacked: Jagger and Richards produced the LP under The Glimmer Twins soubriquet. They would do better on subsequent records. Keith Richards played bass and treated himself to a rare solo during the breakdown in the middle of the song. In live performance the song segued into Get Off My Cloud, a medley performed at London Earls Court on May 27 1976 and released on the double LP Love You Live.

2. Ain’t Too Proud To Beg

The Stones have always been adept at covers but this version may just be their best. Originally recorded by the Temptations the Stones’ version relied upon Billy Prestons electric piano and clavinet and the taut guitars of Richards and Taylor. The track also featured Elton John’s percussionist Ray Cooper on bongos and Eddie Leach on cowbell. Nick Kent compared it to the first “gangbusting” J.Geils band LP, and when it comes to supercharged rhythm and blues retreads there is no higher praise. The end result was so successful that it was released as a single in Europe and in the US. In August 1974 Michael Lindsay Hogg made a promotional film using the recorded backing track and a live vocal. The abrupt ending of the track creates a dramatic space before the entry of…

3. It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I like it)

The title track had a complicated birth, having been started by Ronnie Wood and David Bowie in the former’s home studio. Keith Richards takes over the story. “That’s where I first heard Only Rock’n’Roll, in Ronnie’s studio. It’s Mick’s song and he’d cut it with Bowie as a dub. Mick had gotten this idea and they started to rock on it. It was damn good. Shit, Mick what are you doing it with Bowie for? Come on, we’ve got to steal that motherfucker back. And we did, without too much difficulty. Just the title itself was so beautifully simple. “ Willie Weeks played bass, Kenny Jones played drums and Ronnie Woods acoustic guitar supplied the hook, with Keith subsequently overdubbing Ronnie’s electric guitar parts. On the sleeve Ronnie is merely credited with “inspiration” after he ill-advisedly dropped his claim for songwriting in exchange for a credit on the track Black Limousine, which would not be released until it appeared on the Tattoo You LP in 1981.

When released as a single It’s Only Rock’n’Roll only reached No 16 in the US and No 10 in the UK, making it the lowest charting Stones single since the 60s. This was despite an extensive “’teaser’ campaign that the saw the title spray-painted all over London (the Stones denied responsibility) . Lindsay Hogg produced a memorable promo film of the Stones in sailor suits performing the song in a perspex tent that filled up with foam. This meant that anyone sitting down was likely to be engulfed with foam: exit Charlie stage right looking Not Amused . The film also highlighted the appalling state of Keith’s teeth. Despite Mick Taylor’s description of the song as a pastiche of a Stones classic It’s Only Rock’n’Roll has gone onto become one of the Stones warhorses, trotted out at innumerable gigs.

In a welcome break from tradition the B-side of the single was the previously unreleased Through The Lonely Nights, a leisurely mid-paced ballad with country inflections left over from the Goats Head Soup sessions and rumoured to feature Jimmy Page on guitar.

4. Til The Next Goodbye

Mick Taylor was also becoming increasingly concerned with the Glimmer Twins notorious reluctance to give songwriting credit where it was due. He therefore decided that It’s Only Rock’n’Roll would be his last LP with the band prior to a (disappointing) solo career. Til The Next Goodbye was the final studio track he recorded and his restrained slide guitar effectively reinforced the mood of sadness, a mood reinforced by Nicky Hopkins’ piano which carries the track and ends on a tongue-in-cheek triplet. Jagger delivered  a sensitive vocal about starcrossed lovers which convinced until he started going on about “yer Louisiana recipes”. A track that was never attempted onstage.

5. Time Waits For No One

This track has always divided Stones fans. Those who favour Stones Mk 1 (Brian Jones era), or Stones Mk 3 (Ronnie Wood) will find this track elongated to little purpose. The relationship between Richards and Taylor was a more formal rhythm guitar / lead guitar divide than had been the case with Jones and would be the case with Wood. Freeing Taylor up to play lead guitar played dividends here, with the long, fluid solo Taylor takes at the end of this song representing the highspot of his studio work with the Stones. Taylor was also responsible for the admirably restrained synthesiser featured here, and contributed to the writing of the song. Nick Kent writing in the NME: ‘Mick Taylor was involved in the actual composition of Time Wairs For No One, even though the writing credits will go to Jagger and Richards as ever. It also turns out that Taylor has made creative inserts into other tracks such as Til The Next Time We Say Goodbye and If  You Really Want To Be My Friend. Still no credit.”

Jagger sings an arch lyric about the temporal nature of beauty with more compassion than might be expected from someone who has increasingly dated much younger women. An out-take exists that is described as an extended version: technically this is true, but the major difference is that you hear Charlie stop his metronome drumming at the end of the track rather than hear him faded out. This stellar track has never been played live, but now that the band have mastered the lengthy coda of Can’t You Hear Me Knocking this should be possible and it would make a lot of Stones Mk 2 fans very happy. The epitaph on Stones Mk 2 was delivered by the telegram that Keith sent Mick Taylor on hearing of his resignation: “really enjoyed playing with you for the last five years. Thanks for all the turn-ons. Best wishes and love”. According to his wife Rose, when he read this Mick Taylor burst into tears.

Side Two

6. Luxury

The opening track on Side Two shifts the instrumental focus from Taylor to Richards. The Stones have recorded some thoroughly dull reggae in their time with Cherry Oh Baby, the original Start Me Up and Too Rude particularly lame examples (although Keith’s solo The Harder They Come was good). Here the Stones respectfully interpreted the rhythm of reggae and transformed it into a neo-classic which would have made a great single. It seems ironic that they could record the entire Goats Head Soup LP in Jamaica with no discernible effect, but they come up with this rhythmic tour-de-force in Munich. Although Jagger’s lyric is about the oppression of the working man he managed a Jamaican patois without sounding too corny. When Virgin released a remastered It’s Only Rock’n’Roll on CD in 1994 Luxury was extended by 30 seconds. Should have been a great live track but in reality only played on the first seven dates on the Tour Of The America’s in August 1975.

7. Dance Little Sister

Dance Little Sister is the second Keith Richards-dominated rocker in a row with his raw guitar tone and prominent backing vocals driving this song. The Stones had been checking out the New York Dolls with a view to signing them to Rolling Stones Records, and this track replicated their appeal as a garage band deluxe. Relegated to the B-side of Ain’t Too Proud To Beg the single would more accurately be described as a Double A side. Ian Stewart provided some grungy piano low in the mix. Jagger sounds totally convincing in this tale of young lust. Rarely played live although an excellent version can be found on an acetate recorded at the El Mocambo  Club in March1977 but inexplicably excluded from Love You Live.

8. If You Really Want To Be My Friend

The versatility of the band in general and Jagger in particular was emphasised by this smooth and soulful recording. The sumptuous backing harmonies of Philadelphia soul group Blue Magic provided a backdrop against which Jagger could emote. Throughout this LP the Stones played in a wide variety of styles and it is a testament to their conviction that the tracks cohered to make a credible collection rather than a grab bag of odds and ends. Keith Richards said at the time “ Rock and roll can’t be planned or prepared. Goats Head Soup to me was a marking time album. I like it in many ways but I don’t think it has the freshness this one has.”

9. Short and Curlies

This track was a rejected outtake from the Goats Head Soup sessions and it is hard to see why it was thought worthy for inclusion on It’s Only Rock’n’Roll Ian Stewart’s boogie-woogie piano was great but the song itself was undistinguished (what can you expect from a song that is named after pubic hair?). There were better songs recorded in Munich such as Living In The Heart Of Love or the relaxed groove of Dobie Gray’s Drift Away. However the odd duff track did not reduce the enthusiasm shown by the music press. Allan Jones wrote in Melody Maker “quite simply this album is indispensible” whilst for NME Nick Kent wrote “Boy, do I love this album. I love it because it delivers exactly what all the other biggies we invest so much blind faith in only promise

10. Fingerprint File

The closing track exhibited further stylistic diversity. The longest song on the LP, Jagger’s vocal reeks of paranoia, emphasised by his incisive rhythm guitar. Mick Taylor played bass, Bill Wyman switched to synthesiser, Hopkins and Preston sparred on piano and clavinet and Keith Richards played Superfly-style wah-wah guitar throughout. Charlie Watts was supported by tabla player Jolly Kunjappu. This atmospheric track pointed the way forward  for the Stones, who would return to its themes in future songs such as Shattered and Undercover Of The Night. Despite its minimal structure the song featured throughout the Tour Of The Americas. A version recorded at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on June 17 1975 was included on Love You Live. Jaggers final lyric “good night…sleep tight” provided a succinct sign-off to It’s Only Rock’n’Roll. As veteran Stones watcher Roy Carr opined “more to this album than first meets the ear”.