Prindle Record Reviews - The Rolling Stones http://www.markprindle.com/rollinga.htm#1969 The oldest rock and roll band of all time special introductory paragraph! England's Newest Hit Makers 12x5 Now! Out Of Our Heads December's Children (And Everybody's) Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass) Aftermath Got Live If You Want It Between The Buttons Flowers Their Satanic Majesties Request Beggars Banquet Rock And Roll Circus Let It Bleed Get Your Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert Metamorphosis Sticky Fingers Hot Rocks 1964-1971 More Hot Rocks (Big Hits And Fazed Cookies) Exile On Main Street Goats Head Soup It's Only Rock 'N' Roll 1969-1974: The Mick Taylor Years DVD Black And Blue Love You Live Some Girls Accidents Will Happen Emotional Rescue Tattoo You Still Life (American Concert 1981) Undercover Dirty Work Steel Wheels Flashpoint Voodoo Lounge Out Of Tears 7" Stripped Bridges To Babylon No Security Rarities 1971-2003 Live Licks A Bigger Bang 1 of 113 7/13/2010 1:43 PM Prindle Record Reviews - The Rolling Stones http://www.markprindle.com/rollinga.htm#1969 Shine A Light Rare And Unseen DVD Nobody has lasted this long (unless you count The Ventures, but that's iffy, what with the whole Nokie/Gerry /Nokie/Gerry, Howie/Mel/Joe/Mel/Leon shenanigan). With their first release popping out of the British underbelly in 1964 (and their next four before the end of '65), it's no wonder that they've been called "dinosaurs" for the past twenty years (even by the Ramones, who are no spring chickens themselves, quite franklin). And yes, the past twenty years have been somewhat spotty, but hoo boy, their first ten or eleven years cannot be topped. They began as a fantastic cover band, excitedly melding blues standards with then-modern Chuck Berry guitar rock to form a new type of scuzzy dirty long-haired British white boy music. Marketed as the anti-Beatles (the Beatles were clean and wore suits, while the Stones were filthy...and wore suits), they pushed on with this style until their manager, sleazy boy wonder Andrew Loog Oldham, forced them to start writing their own songs. And manny mota could they write them. As their career went on, they became a pop band for a bit (copying the Beatles), then a "psychedelic" band for a year (copying the Beatles), then country-blues roots rockers at the end of the '60s (copying the Beatles) before discovering disco and reggae in the mid-70's (without the Beatles around to steer them away from these dangerous influences) and eventually turning into a not-very-good-at-all shadow of their former selves during the '80s. But truthfully, Voodoo Lounge is pretty good. If you like old people. Reader Comments [email protected] (Dave Weigel) I realise you're probably being sarcastic, but I have to take offense at your comment that the Stones "ripped off the Beatles" when they turned into a country-blues-rock outfit in 1968. While they did rip off the Beatles from 1966-67, 1968's Beggar's Banquet was a return to (and expansion upon) their roots. At the same time, the Beatles were fragmenting into experimental, blues, and rock influences with the eponymous white album and the later Let it Be sessions, and by 1969 they had regressed into more of a pop group. Rip-off? That's ridiculous. The Stones did it better and first. And how can you rip off the Beatles who acknowledgingly ripped off the Beach Boys? Ah, never mind. I agree with the rest of your Stones reviews. [email protected] (Andrew Goldthorp) Ripping off? That's your favorite term...I think you confuse it with another term called "influence". I enjoy reading your reviews and everything, but you're dead wrong on this one. Sure the Stones were a little Beatlish in the early 60s-every British rock band during that era was influenced by the Beatles, but what song of the Beatles did the Stones rip off? They covered "I Wanna Be Your Man", but do you call covers rip off, even if the song is credited to McCartney and Lennon. If you do-you're an idiot and must hate every musical artist of the past 30 years because every rock and roll band has had influences. In fact you want a rip off-I'll give you a definition. The Beatles's "Come Together" steals three lines from Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me", which the Stones covered (not ripping off) on Rolling Stones Now . Oh yeah-the Stones copied the Beatles when they became a country-blues rock band. Absolutely ridiculous..The Beatles didn't have the instrumental skill (Why did Harrison call in Clapton to do a solo for "My Guitar Gently Wheeps") to come up with songs like "Live With Me", "Midnight Rambler", "Bitch" and "Brown Sugar". I'm not trying to argue that the Stones were a better rock and roll band-but they clearly strayed away from stereotypical British rock starting with Beggar's Banquet in 1968. England's Newest Hit Makers - London 1964. 2 of 113 7/13/2010 1:43 PM Prindle Record Reviews - The Rolling Stones http://www.markprindle.com/rollinga.htm#1969 Mostly rough, black-and-white covers but, unlike the Fab Gang, the Stones really make these songs their own -- DIRTY-SOUNDING! And as time would reveal, these are the songs that would influence Mick and Keith's own songwriting from the getgo. There's some skiffle ("Not Fade Away," "I Just Wanna Make Love To You"), some honky blues wailin' ("I'm A King Bee," "Walking The Dog"), some rock and rope ("Carol," "Can I Get A Witness"), some naked men ("Steve," "Leo"), some new unforeseen spectral hues ("joper," "donk"), and a couple of crappy originals too ("Tell Me," "Little By Little"). A fun album! You'll dance. You'll let go. You'll feel the monophonic pulse of a repressed hyperactive nation churning off the phono needle with a rip-roaring maelstrom. And you'll laugh heartily at how young Keith Richards looks on the back cover. Reader Comments [email protected] (Daniel Reichberg) Just as Capitol did with the Beatles' Parlophone original albums, so did London Records with the Stones' Decca originals. They pulled out some tracks, put in some single and EP songs, and in some strange way managed to release more records. More money in the pockets of the record company exectutives! Thus, the three first english originals were transformed into five american ones. This album is basically the same as Britain's The Rolling Stones , except that "Mona" has been taken away and "Not Fade Away" (the Stones' third UK single) has been put in. [email protected] (George Starostin) Yes, this is one ground-breaking album! Uncompromising, hard, power-driven, tough... an excellent start. And I adore the Beatles' early rockers, but these little gems really knock 'em off. Just for fun: compare the Beatles' version of "Carol" (on Live At The BBC ) with this one here and you'll see the difference! The playing of the Stones is at least a million times more tight and compact, and Keith's Berry-licks are perfect. Chuck couldn't have played it better (in fact, I think he played it WORSE!) The ballads are also frightening ("Honest I Do" - when I first heard that harmonica it almost made me jump out of the chair), and maybe the most wonderful thing about the album is Brian Jones' "stinging" guitar on "I'm A King Bee". The only letdown about this album is that it is much too short and has too few originals. Never mind, though - most of the covers are only associated with the Stones by now! I think the Stones' debut album was even stronger than the Beatles' debut: Please Please Me was just a bit too sissyish and uncertain. It was like the guys were looking at each other in disbelief and saying: "Hey... is it really true they're letting us have an LP? Incredible! Okay, but... let's still be careful about it!" And they didn't let go. As for the Stones, they out their thunderstorm in the very, very beginning. (Sure, this has a bad side too - the following albums didn't keep up to the standard until Aftermath !) [email protected] (Rick) Just gotta say, I never heard anyone call any song Buddy Holly wrote "skiffle." "Not Fade Away" is one of Holly's best, and the Stones did it proud. Let's call it "Rock And Roll!" [email protected] (Joel S. Bocko) Uh, Tell Me is NOT a crappy original! It is, in fact, one of the most underrated Stones songs ever. Why is it everyone keeps knocking it--haven't they seen "Mean Streets"? Add your thoughts? 12X5 - London 1964. 3 of 113 7/13/2010 1:43 PM Prindle Record Reviews - The Rolling Stones http://www.markprindle.com/rollinga.htm#1969 Five originals this time around! Still not too good, though. Poorly written rip-offs of the stellar stuff they were covering. "Good Times, Bad Times" is fairly enjoyable though, although sounding not a whit like the Led Zeppelin ditty that later borrowed its moniker. And the covers are spit-shiningly smiley. Chuck Berry's "Around And Around," Norman Meade's "Time Is On My Side," and whoever's "It's All Over Now" so effectively paint a portrait of wild '60s youth on the raw decline, immediately upon completion of each individual song, you'll request that your maid put the needle back at the beginning of the track so you will be able to listen to it again.