When you add it up, 1974 was a fairly good year for the Stones.
One of the best moves the Stones make on It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll is to re-embrace Motown. Although a lot of fans of the earlier ’70s mojo-blues period scoff at the band’s cover of “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” it’s a welcome slab of F-U-N. It goes without saying that the decision to cover a Motown song for the first time since the Brian Jones era was probably influenced by the success Rod Stewart and Faces had working with this material.
I’ve always been a fan of “If You Can’t Rock Me”. It’s nasty and rolls forward, with Charlie Watts doing those shuffles and snare rolls that run over measures, the way he used to do when the Stones regularly cranked out Winner Rock like “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Get Off My Cloud”. Again, it gets down to beginning to re-embracing that Motown hitch that you hear in a song like Marvin Gaye‘s “Hitch Hike” and “Ain’t That Peculiar”. It sounds like a Rolling Stones song, not some slop that a coked-out FM DJ like Johnny Fever would have raved about.
It’s going to get uglier before it gets pretty.
BigSteve’s at a conference starting today, I believe, so one of your more implacable critics on this thread may be out of the picture for a bit.
But while my count is 5-1, I believe you have a 3-3 tie? And with only two years to go?
Yes, Mwall, it’s tied at 3-3. What’s most surprising to me is how few Townspeople have gone public and backed the judges on their decision on every round. Here, the judges have awarded the Stones with a resounding victory, yet your Out-of-Office reply and continued whining about the scoring of past rounds is all the Comments we’ve received. Don’t think I don’t appreciate them, but I am curious to see more whining and be informed of other Townspeople who would be whining if they weren’t tied up in a conference.
Those of you who support the judges’ decisions on this or any round are also welcome to share your thoughts.
With only 2 more years left, perhaps backers of each artist will look ahead and care to suggest final strategies.
Hey, Mod —
Two things:
1. That Wyman clip should be required viewing for everybody in the Hall. It says much.
2. There’s a Vanda-Young composition on that reputedly lame Rod LP, isn’t there? It’s called “Hard Road,” I think. I have it by Stevie Wright. Any chance you might post the Rod version? Does it suck, too?
Curious mind wants to know —
FS
HVB, I’ll see if I can dig up a clip of that Vanda-Young cover. The fact that I have not been posting Rod-related mp3s in these years reflects my lack of actual vinyl copies of these albums, although I think I still own that lousy live Faces albums.
Glad you dug the Wyman clip.
Yes, I’ve been traveling all day, and I am now ensconced in a splendiferous Super 8 in Anaheim. It’s right outside of Disneyland, and it’s an alternate universe worthy of Philip K. Dick.
I wanted to mention a couple of things. One is that Kenney Jones is credited with drums on the song It’s Only Rock & Roll, so Ron Wood wasn’t the only defector is this Battle Royale. Maybe 2k can explain more about that track. I’ve always been fascinated by the weird promo video for it where the band is miming in sailor suits and soapsuds are pumped in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhHODhTIvgo
What I find interesting is that the version of the song in the video is audibly different from the album version. Different lead vocal, and different lead guitar. What’s up with that?
Another thing … As someone who bought the Stones albums from this era as they came out, I can say that *at the time* me and my friends didn’t feel that they represented a huge drop off in quality. As with Goats Head, I liked It’s Only at the time, and I like it today.
I’m not saying that we should not be constantly re-evaluating how we judge the music of the past, and I will acknowledge that, since we’re talking now about the period when I was in college (71-75), this music has for me an aura that may not be transferable to other listeners. But I think it’s worthwhile to recognize that Exile acquired its status as a masterpiece *very* slowly. My circle of friends liked it fine at the time, but it took a long time for its stature to sink in. It’s not like contemporary listeners were begging for another Exile every time a new Stones release was announced.
So from today’s perspective the Stones may seem to have started sucking in the 70s, but I see this run of albums as more of a piece, and I find it hard to judge them too harshly.
Rod Stewart on the other hand has a worm in his satin pants, and the hammer of justice goes splat.
How did I not see this “Monkey Grip” video until now?! Zow! What a hearty ovation for the theory that, unlike the other motionless bass player of a sixties supergroup, this one was always a soulless nimrod who, had I seen this during my formative years, could have seriously endangered my sense of what was required to get hot little glittery girls to run on and do moves like that while I played. What a giganto turd!
The Monkey Grip clip is amazing. I’d love to know what Mick and Keith’s reactions were the first time they saw that, perhaps with a proud Wyman standing close by, with his beaming one-third of a smile. Who do you think gave him the hat? And do you think it was his idea to really go nuts and stand up hunched over the piano making partial eye contact with the camera at the end, as his best approximation of rockin’ out?