WOEBOT

The Story of The Stones.

1. "She's The Boss" Mick Jagger (1964)

Made a couple of years before he got wrapped up in the travelling circus that was The Rolling Stones. Produced by Jean-Paul Gregorakus the greek ex-pat who was to soar as the owner of the french free-jazz label BYG. The prodigal genius Bill Laswell (aged only 12 here) took the helm for Jagger's merengue-influenced "Pass de Pineapple", a nod and a wink to Harry Belafonte's proto-metal track "Pass dat Coconut". "She's the Boss" is every bit the stone classic, and it's no surprise that when Jagger met Keith Richards in 1965 at a pool party thrown by Reg Presley of The Troggs in the leafy suburb of Richmond, that the two should hit it off so splendidly. Jagger, but a glimmer in the eye of the entertainment industry, nevertheless to Richards (who had just ditched soprano sax for the ukelele) a star! The party has become legend for an impromptu set of folk strumming by one John Hammond, later to gain notoriety as Bob Dylan's muscular accountant,and also of course for the tragic death of Brian Jones. No-one could calculate the influence which the ethnomusicologist Jones, an authority on gagaku, might have had on the evolution of The Stones. Those fine legs on the cover belong to none other than natural blonde and biscuit heiress Jane Asher, who was singlehandedly responsible for turning Mick onto the work of AMM and Pierre Schaeffer.

2. "Goats Head Soup" The Rolling Stones (1965)

The first of the Stone's quickfire trio of albums all released before the fall of 1966, "Steel Wheels" and "Their Satanic Majesties Request" fulfilling the triumvirate. London was swinging with Peter Sellers, Mini-skirts, Carnaby Street Boutiques, David Bailey and the nascent Techno scene. "Goats Head Soup" benefitted from the rock-solid rhythm section of Carlton and Aston Barratt, who Jagger and Richards had met at a shebeen in Brixton with Kristeen Keilor and John Profumo. The Stones steeped in the rare Appalachian, Bluesgrass and Hillbilly 7"s which their accordianist Mick Hucknall picked up from American sailors on barges moored in Grenwich. We all know the classics off this record: "Wild Horses", with it's bewitching harmonica solo from Eric Clapton (later of The Yardbirds and Blodwyn Pig), "Under Cover of the Night" whose steely riff amped the hysteria of a million ponytailed girls and their anthem, possibly THE ANTHEM of the sixties "Dancing in the Street", a duet with the young David Jones (later Bowie) the track later appearing on his Pin-Ups LP and subsequently covered by Motown's Martha Reeves and The Vandellas. These weren't LPs so much as experiences encapsulating the joie de vivre and unfettered sexuality of the times.

3. "Exile on Main Street" (1968)

Aston and Carlton's Visa ran out and they were deported back to Ghana where they later were to appear on The Travelling Willburys "Edikanfo"LP produced by Brian Eno and released on the EG label. The band were at the height of a debauched lifestyle, ritually murdering butterflies in Green Park, the subject of a two hour documentary by french "auteur" Claude Chabrol, gorging themselves endlessly on Mars Bars, driving Rolls Royce's into swimming-pools (a tableau later reinacted by the Joy Division tribute band Oasis on their "Tattva" LP cover), sharing girlfiends with Rod Stewart (and other politicans), and throwing impromptu seances at their holiday homes in Mustique and in the Atlas mountains of Bulgaria. Nothing could come in the way of their barbarous and licentious lifestyle, accordingly, and echoing other earlier Rock follies like Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk", ABBA's "The Arrival" and Ringo Starr's "Just 16" "Exile on Main Street" proved to be their "Sandanista". Stretched over 6 LPs and an accompanying 4-track reel AND an interactive DVD the album set new standards for self-indulgence. Ron Wood, formerly the conductor for Deep Purple, even had his own record which consumers were soon to discard, though which now ironically fetches huge sums at Mod record fares. Ocean Colour Scene amongst it's noted advocates. Amid the massed street choirs and saxaphone solos there lurked a solid R'n'B album. Let us not forget the classics off this LP: "Angie", written by the lovestruck Jagger for Patti, then wife of Dr.John and "19th Nervous Breakdown", penned by their new bass player Bill Wyman for latest amour Jerry Hall, Bryan Ferry of Quiet Sun's ex. All the while production handled by the cheroot-smoking hawaain-shirt attired Steven Stapleton.

4. "Between the Buttons" 1969

...and then THIS. Resplendent in it's crayfish ghoulash cover, painstakingly wrought by the young Keith Floyd. Back to Basics indeed. A lean buzzing rock'n'roll masterpiece. A true classic. Firstly gone is Bill Wyman, over a royalties tustle, fleeing to Majorca where he set up house with Mandy Smith, former flame of Kevin Ayers (now running the Airline Virgin Atlantic) a relationship of such durability in the fickle world of showbiz that it's often compared to that of Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis. And In comes Shuggie Otis. Possibly The Stones most consistent LP, songs seemed to flow into one another in almost operatic spleandour. Richard's bareknuckled polyrhythmic riffing aided by his dalliance with Richard Hell guitarist Bob Quine. Yet once again as the lead track says "It's only Rock'n'Roll (but I like it)". My own personal favourite on this record was the Gram Parsons influenced country singalong "Just Fade Away", originally a cover of a Woody Allen tune, before gaining fame sung by Buddy Holly for a charming TDK advert. "Between the Buttons" proving that The Stones were a true album band while packed to the gills with CLASSIC singles "Tumbling Dice", tearing down the house with it's reggae stylings and "Get off of my cloud" with its theremin solo (often absurdly ignored by more self-conciously outre histories). Jagger and Richards were there at least a year before Lothar and the Hand People, and give me Jagger's theremin over Jonathon Richman's anyday!

5. "Let it Bleed" 1971

After Jagger's terrible motorbike accident in 1970 broke their rhythm the Stones took a year off before recording again, this time in the comfort of record boss Richard Branson's South African manor house. Vocals were handled by a Charlie Watts. An established saxophonist on the London Free Jazz circuit, Watts had played with Mike Figgis and Terry Day in The People Band, gracing their now difficult to find "Karoybin" LP before founding the early Prag Vec with Ian Penman and Ridley Scott. Watt's low croon fitted perfectly with The Stones early disco ballads elevating tracks like "Parachute Woman" and "Who needs Yesterday's papers" from sketchy bar-room jazz into full-blown epics. Jagger is famously credited as playing "Triangle" on this LP, though it's rumoured that he actually handled most of drummer Moe Tucker's parts as well as contributing lyrics to flesh out the record's Fascist/Gastronomic themes.

6. Flowers (1973)

With Flowers The Stones underlined that in spite of their connections with other bands on the scene they were an island unto themselves. A compilation of album-only cuts might have seemed a regressive move, but the re-played re-made takes of "Sweet Black Angel", dedicated to Stokely Carmichael's mother Angela, and"Harlem Shuffle" a version of Chuck Berry's "My Ding a Ling" make it all seem worthwhile. The stunning cover of this LP was put together by underground cartoonist Robert Frank who Richards had met on the set of the Nic Roeg film "Ned Kelly". Frank had been reluctant to do the work, but was swayed by Richard's commitment to The White Panthers.

7. "Beggars Banquet" 1975

Coming out at the same time as David Bowie's Tin Machine project (proto-Branca noise stylings) this LP, named after the hip pub-rock label of the day saw The Stones sense the pre-echoes of punk-rock. The background to the record is complex. John Lennon had asked Jagger to join forces with his band The Small Faces for a TV rock'n'roll documentary provisionally entitled "Rock House", a show which sadly never saw the light of day. Many of the tracks off Beggar's Banquet, "Mother's Little Helper", "Little Red Rooster" and "Loving Cup" were written and recorded for the special, albeit in a folk vein. One of the benefits which their encounter brought was a conversation between Jagger and Lennon in which John informed Mick that playing live was a better experience in the new era of super-amplification. The Stones had avoided playing live since their negative experiences at Reading Festival in 1966. A bold re-invigorated band took the invitation to play Woodstock 2 alongside headliners The Sex Pistols. The appalling outcome is compellingly described in Marcello Carlin's unmissable collection "The Dark Stuff". One of the biker gang hired by Stones groupie Pamela Des Barres as security for the band was trapped inside a speaker stack and was cooked like an egg by the radiating volume, rescued only at the last minute by roadie Noddie Holder. As if in a moment the public's acceptance of Jagger and Richards' Prince-of-Peace-stylings evaporated. A Times leader of the day by the Queen's lepidopterist Sir Luke Davis entitled "Oi, Jagger!" perfectly caught the mood of the day. The versions of the tracks one can hear on some of the circulating bootlegs of that TV special, and those on the subsequent LP versions are starkly different. Producer Steve Albini pushing the sound into ever more corruscated abstraction, Jagger who once again handled the vocal duties, sounds like a puppy being pulled backwards through gorse. The Stones poorest selling LP, but a worthwhile exercise in that in curried them favour with punks like young pretender Elton John and Pink Floyd's Dave Mason.

8. Some Girls (1978)

A disco record, with reggae producer Tony Visconti at the helm. The Stones do disco! Bianca Jagger, Mick's recent bride, it had troubled many observers to notice, appeared to be breaking up the band. Bianca took a strong lead, casting a spell over the recording process, typically riding into the studio daily on a rented pony. She drafted in Australian Post-Punk stalwart the GREAT drummer Dave Mattacks and added the ailing Louis Jordan to the sax line-up. The process of the LP's recording was a legendarily painful labour with minds and tempers stretched by the demands it made on the band. Setting up their portable Rolling Stones studio, housed in an authentic London Double-Decker bus, in Los Angeles's Times Square, right outside the hip nightclub of the day Studio 54, work on the overdubs was slowed to a painful pace. It took engineer Daniel Lanois 3 years to complete the process as a steady stream of celebrities poured through the cramped space soaking up white powder and hospitality. Their number including Bob Dylan, Halston, Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsburg, The Residents, The Germs, Nicky Siano and The Fantastic Four. Still with results like the uber-boogie of "Sympathy for the Devil" no-one complained!

9. Spiral Scratch EP (1982)

Back to basics indeed! Adopting the pseudonym of The Buzzcocks The Stones recorded this four track in a bedroom in Manchester with the explicit intention of showing the Punks, by now distinctly running out of steam, how to REALLY rock'n'roll. The concept took on like wildfire. Eventually resulting in the steaming "Singles Going Steady" collection of hits from the hilarious accompanying comedy TV show "Never Mind the Rutles". It took Henry Rollins to point out to the whole world what we should have noticed earlier, "Orgasm Addict" was merely "Satisfaction" pitched up four on a technics deck. See also The Homosexuals for more rapacious secret Stones activity, this time with horn-player Bobby Keyes at the helm.

10. Aftermath (1985)

Aftermath indeed! The Stones' final studio LP when after 20 years together they wisely decided to chuck in the towel. A fond looking-back over two decades of life in the limelight. For the heroic lead track "Under my thumb" Jagger used the Fairlight Oberheim sampler to manipulate the voice of his recently departed friend Peter Tosh into a ghostly duet from beyond the grave. On the exquisite adieu "Let it Bleed" fulsome backing vocals were provided by Captain Beefheart's quartet of bad girls the GTOs (Merry Clayton, Anita Pallenberg, Joanna Lumley and Marianne Faithful) firmly putting pay to the rumour that The Stones were a bunch of macho sexist twerps. Denouements in rock as fine as this are thin on the ground.

Special Thanks to Michelangelo Matos.

Posted by Woebot at July 5, 2003 08:47 PM