|
|
| Jaxx |
The Age
Ten of the Best as Stones Keep Rolling
Warwick McFadyen
March 3 2002
In 1962, a little-known band took the stage of the Marquee Club in London. Forty years later, they're still going. Warwick McFadyen sings the praises, in no particular order, of a very personal Top 10 of Rolling Stones songs to mark the occasion.
Gimme Shelter
It took half an hour to get past this song when the album first came out for the simple reason that it demanded to be played again and again. The shimmering guitar start, presaging something dark and wicked, the kicking-in of acoustic guitar, the build-up of bass and drums, Jagger's voice cutting into the rhythm then carrying the words until the cry, "Rape, murder, it's just a shot away". The swelling, slightly distorted harp playing by Jagger gives it an anarchic, shining quality. Rock 'n' roll doesn't get any better than this.
Love In Vain
The flip side of the coin to Gimme Shelter. How could young lads from the Old Dart empathise with the blues in midnight Mississippi? Even though it's a cover of a track from blues legend Robert Johnson, it shows what set the Stones apart from the pack. Not only do they feel it, it sounds like they're living it as well.
You Can't Always Get What You Want
This sums up a huge part of the Jagger character - the swagger and sneer of the lyrics, the devastating attitude: "I saw her at the reception, a glass of wine in her hand." As ever, beautifully anchored by Wyman and Watts.
Brown Sugar
As distinctive an opening as any in rock. It's Jagger's tune, but when it's placed in the hands of the human riff, Keith Richards, it burns. Richards has said a lot of his classic guitar lines came from playing an acoustic and virtually hotwiring it through a cheap and nasty tape recorder. (He kept the recorder near his bed.) Chuck Berry references abound, powered on by horn augmentation.
Sway
The second track from Sticky Fingers has a looseness that teeters on wildness, but the band holds it together and kicks out the jams with the thundering opening chords and then keeps the pedal to the floor. Richards went missing in action and Mick Taylor and Jagger did the guitar bits.
Wild Horses
Another gem from Sticky Fingers. After the drive of Brown Sugar and Sway comes this, one of their most beautiful acoustic ballads. Forget Angie or Ruby Tuesday, this has a lyrical and melodic maturity that stays in the mind. And another chorus to kill for: "Wild horses couldn't drag me away."
Honky Tonk Women
When nipper McFadyen swam at the local swimming pool, this was the song the toughs in their denim shorts, with their long hair and tatts, and who never went into the water, played on the jukebox. It seemed beyond innocence. Only fellas from the lowdown and nasty part of town played this song. "I met a gin-soaked bar room queen in Memphis, she tried to take me upstairs for a ride." The Stones' ethos hit on the nail.
Street Fighting Man
Jagger may have become a pillar of the establishment now, even a figure of some bemusement, but in his day he could churn out a lyric with the best of them, powered along by another classic human riff. A song for the times that remains timeless.
Sympathy for the Devil
Another fine example of the wonder of the Jagger/Richards songwriting team. They may have been dubbed The Glimmer Twins, but the marriage here of words and music has a touch of umbilical cord to it. In a strange way this song also shows the power and powerlessness of music. There has never been a moment of utter helplessness captured on film better than in the Stones playing this song at Altamont and Jagger pleading with the crowd to stay cool as murder was being committed.
Ten. Did I say 10? How can I not mention Jumpin' Jack Flash or Satisfaction or Dead Flowers or ... How about 20?
|
|
|
| Im_Shattered |
Actually Jimmy Miller played drums on YCAGWUW, also on Happy, but I like your list all recorded from 68-70 they will always hold up. |
|
|
| JaggaRichards |
Gee, the last I looked Merideth Hunter's murder at Altamont took place while the Stones were performing 'Under My Thumb'.
Guess the myth lives on...... |
|
|
| Im_Shattered |
Ya everbody says it was during Sympathy but it was on Under My Thumb that was further down in the setlist but who really cares. |
|
CHAT ROOM aka THE FUN HOUSE] [
RESTROOMS]