First published February 2008
Hillside Blues – Vinyl Gang Productions VGP 214 2CD set (1999)
For the true Stones obsessive (and we are many) it is extremely frustrating that Mick Jaggers obsession with proving the Stones continued relevance appears to preclude any reappraisal of their glorious past. Their peers seem to manage it with the Beatles, Who and Led Zeppelin all exhuming their vaults to both critical acclaim and financial benefit.
Where Jagger does have a point is that few bands current output could withstand comparison to the golden era of Beggars Banquet. Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exiles on Main Street. All four were released between December ‘68 and May ‘72, a period of unparalleled creativity for the band. Along the way much good studio material was recorded but not released and it is this treasure trove that VGP have investigated with Hillside Blues. The 30 tracks here are not quite definitive – an inexplicable omission is Did Everybody Pay Their Dues? (an early version of Street Fighting Man) and there are some interesting alternate versions not represented here such as the version of You Got The Silver with Jagger on lead vocals (Keith’s is better). However Hillside Blues represents the most compact and concise over-view of this era to date, and all in stunning sound quality. It certainly dwarfs authorised Rolling Stones collections as Metamorphosis and Rarities, the latter being so uninspired it could be prosecuted under the Trades Description Act.
CD1 is a re-release of the Trident Mixes collection and thus features new-boy Mick Taylor extensively and to great effect. He is all over opening track Jiving Sister Fanny and the guitar interplay on I’m Going Down and Stevie Wonder’s I Don’t Know Why is first rate. The latter has a particular place in Stones history as it is the track that the band were recording at Olympic Studios in Barnes when word came through of Brian Jones death. The other stone-classic on this disc is a 9.46 slow blues version of Two Trains (aka Still A Fool). Originally written by Muddy Waters in 1951 the band turn in a great two-guitars-one-harmonica performance along the lines of Little Red Rooster and too few others. “Essential” opines Martin Elliott in his definitive study ‘The Rolling Stones – Complete Recording Session’ (Cherry Red, 2002). The rest of the disc is largely instrumental, with occasional guide vocals from Jagger on Travellin’ Man. These tracks allow Mick Taylor to stretch out and he is excellent throughout – the track Leather Jacket later popped up again on his solo studio album.
CD2 is a collection of out-takes and alternate versions associated with the Exiles LP. Your companion to untangling the history of these tracks should be John Perry’s essential book in the Schirmer Books Classic Rock Albums series (1999). In general the versions here are simpler and less overdubbed than the tracks that were officially released. The demo for All Down the Line is just Keith Richards acoustic with an occasional guide vocal from Jagger and it totally rocks. Good Time Woman is an early version of Tumbling Dice taken at a faster pace with new lyrics. Loving Cup is a revelation – an exuberant vocal from Jagger (who actually sounds pissed) and terrific interplay between the two lead guitars and Nicky Hopkins sparkling piano. This track really swings. The previously unreleased tracks Hillside Blues, Highway Child and I Ain’t Lying do not disappoint in such illustrious company.
Stones fans should not be denied material of this calibre. We’ve all paid through the nose for records, gigs, travel and (in some cases) ludicrous baseball caps – now is the time for a sensitive re-release programme which pairs each official LP with a companion CD of out-takes and alternates. Get Rhino to do it. I’ll do it. But this stuff demands to be heard.
First published August 2007
The Stones Conquer Slane Castle
So we’ve flown from London to Dublin, driven to some village in the middle of nowhere and stood in a muddy field place packed like sardines for 8 hours in the soft Irish rain…to watch one old geezer touch another old geezer on the neck? Absolutely. And it was money and time well spent. Here’s why.
At this stage in the game going to see the Stones is about many things of which the music is only one strand. What fascinates me is the relationship between the three frontmen – Mick, Keith and Ronnie. It is worth going through the aforementioned to see the drama played out close up and personal.
Reports of recent gigs have put Mick in the ascendent with Keith subdued and Ronnie doing most of the guitar work. Tonight Keith certainly came roaring out of the traps with an extraordinary high kick that accompanied the first chords of set-opener ‘Start Me Up’ but then after staking out his territory he rather laid back until a beautifully judged version of ‘Dead Flowers’. Here Mick played effective acoustic, Ronnie played lead and Keith provided those flaky harmonies we so rarely hear now the touring band includes more ‘professional’ back up singers. (photo in Pictures section). By some bizarre coincidence I’d rented The Big Lebowski two days earlier, which features ‘Dead Flowers’ over the end-credits. I love it when synchronicity kicks in like that
What happened next was that Keith metaphorically woke up, shook himself down and drove the band into a rocking version of ‘All Down The Line’ which would not have disgraced the legendary ’72 USA tour. Suitably challenged Mick delivered his best vocal of the evening – every word clear, no pointless running around or faux-ballet moves – totally focused on the job in hand. Charlie was good tonight. Kudos all round.
The next act in the drama came during the band intros. It used to be Charlie whose name was chanted endlessly by the crowd. Now it’s Ronnie and you could see Mick getting more pissed off as the chanting goes on. Ronnie plays up to it and eggs the crowd on. Mick has a quiet word. Ronnie looks totally unabashed (has Ronnie ever looked abashed in his life?). Very visible proof of his new-found importance in the band.
Which was emphasised by the two Keith solo songs that followed. This is traditionally the time when those present to hear the Greatest Hits go for a piss. With 70,000 people between us and the nearest latrine that wasn’t an option tonight. Plus to me Keith’s solo spot is usually a show highlight. And so it proved tonight. ‘You Got The Silver’ emphasises Keith’s current limitations in that he played no guitar but he sang, and sang quite beautifully. Last time I saw Keith do this song he sang and played guitar, suggesting that his accident and subsequent surgery have taken their toll. Whatever, Ronnie took up the slack and played magnificent acoustic slide country blues, even waiting for Keith to come on vocals a couple of times in order to keep the song on track (photo in Pictures section)
And just as the song was finishing Keith reached out to Ronnie – I thought Keith was going give Ronnie a kiss but instead Keith touched the side of Ronnie’s neck, briefly – a sort of “after everything we’ve been through you’re still here to help me” thing and a touching moment of tenderness between two of the craggiest blokes on the planet.
There was a final act in the soap opera that is the closing stages of the Bigger Bang tour. With no ‘Gimmie Shelter’ in the set Lisa Fishers vocal showcase is a call and response session with Mick on a (very good) cover of James Brown’s ‘I’ll Go Crazy’. Mick is doing the whole JB thing of finishing the song, then singing another bit, then stopping, then singing another bit and so on. To 69,999 people this is good fun. To one person it’s too much. That one person is Keith Richards and he’s carrying a Les Paul Junior. Mick’s working up to another ‘I’ll Go Crazy’ when a maximum r’n’b riff from Keith kicks the band into ‘Tumbling Dice’ and a visibly surprised Mick has to reconsider his options. Funniest thing I saw all night.
To be continued (concluded?) at the 02 on Sunday….see you there
Full review and setlist at http://www.iorr.org/tour05/slane.htm
First published September 2009
I imagine that most movies look pretty good when you’re lounging in a very capacious seat in the screening room of the Soho Hotel, cold Mexican beer in hand. And thanks to the largesse of Warner Home Video I had to review the new version of Gimme Shelter under this handicap. However Gimme Shelter would still be a great movie if you watched it on my steam-driven portable telly on nothing stronger than PG Tips.
The new version improves considerably on what’s gone before – the cinema release from the early 70’s (saw it on Shaftesbury Avenue for 2/6) and the Criterion DVD release from 2000. The remastered sound allows the Stones concert performances to leap out of the speakers – the closing live version of the title track is about the most savage version I’ve ever heard them do. But the improved definition also allows greater separation and clarity so that the melodicism of Mick Taylor’s solo on Love In Vain (accompanied by some slo-mo shots of Jagger at MSG) really comes through.
Picture quality is further improved over the Criterion release altho we are still a long way from HD. Filmed on the run by the Maysles brothers using hand-held 16mm film the grainy quality of much of the footage works in favour of the film, giving it a cinema verite that makes the final denouement even more effective.
MSG ‘69 concert performances of Jumping Jack Flash and Satisfaction get the film off to a rousing start and made me want to start moving my feet and clapping my hands. Thirty-six years later it is amazing how low was the stage and how casual the security – Jagger gets regularly molested by girls just jumping out of the audience. Then to a press conference where Jagger, stung by criticisms of excessive ticket prices on their current tour, rashly announces the date of a free concert (without having a confirmed venue). From there we see the increasingly frantic negotiations that culminated with the highly-unsuitable Altamont Raceway ending up as the venue by default, interspersed with great footage of the Stones recording at Muscle Shoals – a cool alternate Wild Horses soundtracks a close-up of Keith’s outrageous snakeskin boots.
Even the enjoyment of the earlier live songs has been undermined by our knowledge of the terrible things to come. Cosy Woodstock-y shots of the stage being hastily erected and the freak-flag crowd beginning to arrive are undermined by Jagger being hit by a fan en route from helicopter to Portakabin and then the arrival of the Visgoths, aka the San Francisco branch of the Hells Angels. The Angels had been paid $500 in beer to guard the stage. In the aftermath of Altamont the Stones took a lot of stick for this decision, but they had used UK Hells Angels at Hyde Park earlier in the year very effectively. The relationship between the Angels and the Stones and their audience was clearly uneasy from the start – one of the most arresting images is of Angels Leader Sonny Berger looking at Jaggers onstage prancing with a sneer of total contempt. Under the circumstances the Stones performance is remarkably good –the infamous murder of Meredith Hunter happens during a taut Under My Thumb. The response from the Stones defines their power base – Jagger starts wittering on about “Brothers and Sisters’ to no discernible effect whilst Keith Richards tells the Angels to cut it out.
We see the footage of the murder in the company of Jagger and Watts, who are shown reviewing the edits made by the Maysles and director Charlotte Zwerin. Charlie is clearly rattled and attempts to put things in perspective but Jagger has no words and leaves the editing suite as soon as he can. To see a control-freak like Jagger ineffectual onstage and speechless thereafter is a rare glimpse of his human fallability.
The paranoia, hostility and downright unpleasantness means that Gimme Shelter has dated little (compare and contrast to the new edition of Woodstock). However for the keen Stones fan there is wonderful behind the scenes footage of their first tour with Mick Taylor, some rousing onstage performances and a great sense of atmosphere. But not exactly stardust or golden.
Just too late for Christmas but just in time for the Only Ones new tour comes the first ever DVD release of ‘Faster Than Lightning’, the only official visual record of the Only Ones first incarnation (1977-1981). Originally released under dubious circumstances on video in 1991 – see Nina Antonia’s excellent book for full gory details – this DVD combines footage from live television performances with CBS promos, the songs being linked by interviews with laconic frontman Peter Perrett. Some minor edits means that the DVD appears to flow better than its video predecessor.
The audio re-mastering work done by bass-player Alan Mair has paid off and the sound is considerably improved over the video release. Picture quality is marginally improved throughout and is significantly better on the four live tracks recorded for Dutch cable TV. The improved sound emphasises the crispness and economy of the band on-stage, emphasising that the Only Ones are first and foremost a live band. ‘Planet’ appears twice – mimed as a promo and then live for Belgian TV, the latter also providing a sturdy version of ‘The Beast’. John Perry switches from smoking lead guitar to piano and smoking on ‘Someone Who Cares’ whilst a brace of blonde sirens entice on ‘Out There In The Night’.
The band’s individual fashion sense delights throughout. Peter Perrett favours a hippy-punk-waif combo, all cheesecloth and leather jeans whilst John Perry moves from Bond villain (mirror shades, cream blazer and a red rose) to rocking the gentleman farmer look (tweed suit and Fair-Isle sweater). Alan Mair looks dapper throughout as does drummer Mike Kellie. No wonder the punks never knew what to make of them.
Incidentally the title ‘Faster Than Lightning’ is a line from ‘As My Wife Says’. Needless to say the song itself does not feature here. The DVD is available at gigs or direct from the bands website (www.theonlyones.biz). It makes an excellent companion to the ‘Live At Shepherds Bush 2007’ DVD (released by Cherry Red) and demonstrates that the bands songwriting and performance abilities are timeless. Now how about putting out that Minneapolis gig ?
First published July 2011
The Faces, Polo Rocks! Hurtwood Park Polo Club,
Mick Hucknall? Mick Hucknall?? How can it be that the two best gigs of 2012 thus far have featured the spiral-haired Simply Red serial shagger? Yet at both the Ian Stewart tribute at the Ambassadors and now fronting a rejuvenated Faces, Mick Hucknall has proved himself a soulful and understated vocalist and an effective frontman.
The audience at this outdoor gig was clearly divided between polo fans and Faces fans, each with their own strict dress code. Relations between the two tribes were generally good, although the presence of picnic chairs and wicker hampers directly in front of the stage caused some consternation as the band bounded on stage just after 9 o’clock on a fine summer evening somewhere on the Surrey/Sussex border. This version of the Faces comprised Ronnie Wood on lead guitar, his son Jessie on unobtrusive rhythm guitar, Ian ‘Mac’ Maclagan on piano and organ, Glen Matlock on bass, Kenny Jones on drums (it’s his polo club) and the aforementioned Mick Hucknall on lead vocals. Traditional opener Miss Judy’s Farm was followed by the band’s mission statement Had Me A Real Good Time. At this point the sound man responded to the many shouts of “we can’t hear the vocals” and from this point on the gig developed its own momentum.
Ronnie Wood dedicated songs to the memory of Amy Winehouse and to Ronnie Lane. The latter was ably represented by long-term Faces fan Glen Matlock who not only plays like Lane but even stands like him, sideways-on and leaning back into the microphone. Ooh La La and (especially) Debris honoured Lane’s contributions. Mick Hucknall handled covers of I’d Rather Go Blind, I Wish It Would Rain, Maybe I’m Amazed and (I Know I’m) Losing You beautifully. As usual the latter contained Kenny Jones’ drum solo, which was mercifully brief. Mac shone on his co-written Cindy Incidentally, a prescient Silicone Grown and a driving Too Bad. Ronnie showcased his veteran black-and-silver Tony Zemaitis during a slide solo framed by the ancient Plynth and incorporating snatches of That’s All You Need and Mona. Sobriety has sharpened his playing considerably and this was the best performance I’ve seen from Ronnie since the Stones at Wembley Arena in 2002.
The encores were special. Two blasts of vintage Small Faces (a mighty Tin Soldier and an All Or Nothing that was 95% audience participation) were capped by a fine Stay With Me which was as compulsively un-danceable as ever and sent everyone home with a grin. These Faces will make you dance sing and do any old thing.
First published December 2007
A welcome re-release on CD for a record that makes more sense now than when it first came out in 1988. Thunders’ first solo record ‘So Alone’ had received good reviews and lousy sales – it’s successor ‘Que Sera Sera’ just managed the lousy sales. So by third LP ‘Copy Cats’ Thunders was under pressure to deliver some professional product that would sell. His response was a covers collection, in the vein (sorry) of John Lennon’s 1975 collection ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’.
Crucial to the success of ‘Copy Cats’ were long-term Thunders associates Patti Palladin (ex-Snatch) and John Perry (ex-Only Ones). Patti helped select the songs, shared the vocals and acted as producer. The arrival of John Perry some weeks into the sessions salvaged the project, as he assumed the role of musical director as well as contributing extensive guitar and synth strings and brass.
The resultant record is a triumph, a loving recreation of the soundtrack to Johnny and Patti’s teenage years. Thunders trademark overdriven guitar is absent here, and his vocals are carefully underpinned by others, including Patti and Chrissie Hynde (the latter guesting on a sensuous version of the Shirelles ‘Baby It’s You’). Only a shrill take on Screaming Jay Hawkins ‘Alligator Wine’ fails to convince. Covering less obvious songs had me combing second-hand record shops for the original versions of ‘Can’t Seem To Make You Mine’ (Seeds) and ‘He Cried’ (Shangri La’s).
Reviews were positive – Sounds called it the best Thunders project to date, NME gave it 9/10 and even John Peel described ‘Copy Cats’ as “one of those rare albums of covers where the versions are actually better than the originals”. The record ended up wildly over budget, didn’t sell and that was the end of Thunders studio career. However the love and respect that infuses the music throughout ‘Copy Cats’ shows that there was much more to Thunders than his wild-man-of-rock schtick and for that it is a welcome addition to his canon.
First published October 2009
Rhino Handmade 2CD Expanded Version
Much hoo-ha recently about Big Star as a result of the release of the box set. Many of the reviews (including ours) were keen to share credit between main-men Alex Chilton and the less well-known Chris Bell. Chris never released a full LP in his short life but in 1978 Chris Stamey’s Car Records released a single of his two best known tracks, I Am The Cosmos b/w You and Your Sister. Then in 1992 Ryko released a selection of tracks compiled by Chris’ brother David. This new release from Rhino Handmade adds further songs to give 27 tracks across 2 CDs, remastered and in superior sound.
The Handmade collection suggests an erratic but impressive talent. For me Chris Stamey got it right – the two tracks on the now very scarce Car single are the absolute pick of Bell’s songs. Both tracks are on CD1 with out-takes on CD2: a longer version of Cosmos with Clapton/Harrison guitar at the end and two versions of Sister, one acoustic and one where a mellotron replaces the original elegant string arrangement. There are other good songs –I Got Kinda Lost, Though I Know She Lies – but no real stunners. Of the out-takes and previously unreleased material some is manifestly inferior to what we’ve heard before, such as the remake of I Don’t Know. The only superior alternate version is The Speed Of Sound, where the original rather intrusive synthesiser solo is replaced by a guitar part that fits the song much better. Also worth hearing is the faux-British accent at the end ‘Clacton Rag’ – how on earth did a good ol’ boy from Memphis end up in Clacton ?
Anybody who doesn’t have I Am the Cosmos and You and Your Sister in their record collection is plainly nuts. And if you ain’t got ‘em this is a good place to get ‘em as there are other fine tunes included. However it is hard to avoid the conclusion that had Bell stayed with Chilton they could have collectively surpassed all but the very best songs here. Another rock’n’roll ‘What If…?”
First published February 2008
Ian Clayton
Once upon a time record companies tried to make it easier for shops by printing ‘File Under…’ on the back sleeve ( my favourite was ‘File Under… Powertrash’ on the Replacements first LP). What would you write on the back of this charming but genre-straddling volume? It is variously a memoir, a critique of a bewildering variety of music, an appreciation of what it means to be a collector and, in the final chapter, a sad lament. The power of the book is the deft way in which Ian Clayton blends these ingredients together so that they co-exist in harmony rather than glaring crossly at each other. No wonder the Foreword is written by Robert Wyatt.
What I took from the book are the themes that underpin the many and varied anecdotes. There is a very strong sense of Ian’s native Featherstone at all times, and his sense of strong geographical and cultural roots. This informs a second strong theme, travelling and coming home (physically and emotionally). But the most prominent theme here is Ian’s love for his fellow man – not in a hippy-dippy watch-out-for-the-brown-acid sense but based on a true sense of being decent to ones fellow man and treating them with all due respect (except for US marines who lob ice cubes at you in BB Kings bar, and even this turns out OK).
I bought this book for the musical content only to discover that our tastes don’t really coincide, with the exception of the Stones doing Love In Vain on Get Yer Ya-Yas Out. However this didn’t inhibit my enjoyment of the book one little bit. Reading Ian’s account of seeing Roy Herrington playing his seminal nine minute guitar virtuoso piece ‘Born In West Yorkshire’ works even without knowing the music. However a companion soundtrack CD featuring the breadth of music featured here would make for an entertaining listen – how about it Route?
First published March 2010
Brijitte used to lead the successful New York band punk band NY Loose. Relocating to London this solo CD finds her playing to her strengths. She has a vocal style which combines sass with a hint of vulnerability in the way of prime Chrissie Hynde. She writes concise songs which are carefully arranged to bring out the hooks. Her backing musicians do everything required of them – a solid rhythm section, short solos and very effective backing vocals. A taut production by Brijitte and Mark Bhalla achieves the Powertrash sound of peak period Replacements. There are echoes too of Westerberg in the songwriting, especially noticeable in should-be-a-single ‘All Roads Lead To You’. I also like the way that opening track ‘Hard To Believe’ sounds like walking into a party that’s already going full-tilt.
Further kudos here for keeping the number of songs down to ten, resulting in a dynamic 35 minutes rather than the enervating hour-long marathon so endemic these days. Hearts are worn on sleeves with a dedication to Dee Dee, Joey and Johnny. ‘Walk Out’ is almost a Heartbreakers homage, all ‘ Chinese Rocks’ vocals and Thunders guitars.
Reservations? I have two. Firstly whilst ‘Bitter And Twisted’ provides a welcome change of pace more textural variation would also be a good idea. The classic two guitar/bass/drums line-up is deployed well here but would benefit from some leavening – maybe some piano or some accoustic guitar to broaden the sonic palette.
Secondly the cover undersells the music. A distressed image of a scantily-clad Brijitte in the bath reeks of OD-chic. Far better is the vibrant image on the back of the CD which sees a feisty Brijitte surrounded by the young turks in her band. And printing the lyrics only emphasises Mick Jagger’s point that it is more fun to work them out for yourself.
Still, Courtney Love should make a record this convincing. These tracks will undoubtedly come to life onstage and I recommend attendance at the Dublin Castle on March 27th where I have no doubt Brijitte and her band will be both Desparate and Hopeful.
First published March 2011
Ambassadors Theatre, London (second set)
The memory of Rolling Stones pianist Ian Stewart was honoured by a brace of shows organised by pianist Ben Waters. After an introduction by fellow-Scot Ian Rankin the diminutive stage at Ambassadors theatre managed to house three boogie woogie pianists in Ben, Axel Zwingenberger and Jools Holland. A warm welcome greeted the definitive Stones rhythm section of Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman who backed a surprisingly appropriate Mick Hucknall in understated Drown in My Own Tears. The demon guitar duo of Mick Taylor and his Stones replacement Ronnie Wood were to the fore on Worried Life Blues, a song Ronnie has been singing since the New Barbarians tour of ‘78 and it sounded fantastic. Then Bill sang You Never Can Tell, everyone joined in on Shake Rattle and Roll, Shakin’ Stevens came on for Don’t Lie to Me, Mick H again convinced on a call-and-response Bring It On Home To Me followed by a Little Queenie that really swung (have Watts, Wyman and Taylor played this together since 1971 ?) then a vintage Down The Road Apiece and an encore of Can I Get a Witness. Just as I was thinking that the riff in Witness sounded just like High Heel Sneakers the same thought occurred to someone onstage and an impromptu version was delivered. The entire group, by now a dozen strong, gathered for a group bow which Charlie almost missed because he was so busy talking to Bill. The audience loved it, the band loved it and Ian Stewart would have loved it.
Only Rock 'n' Roll 