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| Monkey Woman |
Rolling Stone's cover story this week is on the "Immortals", the " 50 greatest rock & roll artists of all time". The Rolling Stones are #4 behind the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Elvis. Oh, well. At least there's a nice little article:
http://www.rollingstone.com/features/coverstory/featuregen.asp?pid=2839
4) The Rolling Stones
By Steven Van Zandt
Illustration by Rob Day
The Rolling Stones are my life. If it wasn't for them, I would have been a Soprano for real. I first saw the Stones on TV, on Hollywood Palace in 1964. In '64, the Beatles were perfect: the hair, the harmonies, the suits. They bowed together. Their music was extraordinarily sophisticated. The whole thing was exciting and alien but very distant in its perfection. The Stones were alien and exciting, too. But with the Stones, the message was, "Maybe you can do this." The hair was sloppier. The harmonies were a bit off. And I don't remember them smiling at all. They had the R&B traditionalist's attitude: "We are not in show business. We are not pop music." And the sex in Mick Jagger's voice was adult. This wasn't pop sex -- holding hands, playing spin the bottle. This was the real thing. Jagger had that conversational quality that came from R&B singers and bluesmen, that sort of half-singing, not quite holding notes. The acceptance of Jagger's voice on pop radio was a turning point in rock & roll. He broke open the door for everyone else. Suddenly, Eric Burdon and Van Morrison weren't so weird -- even Bob Dylan.
It was completely unique: a white performer doing it in a black way. Elvis Presley did it. But the next guy was Jagger. There were no other white boys doing this. White singers stood there and sang, like the Beatles. The thing we associate with black performers goes back to the church -- letting the spirit physically move you, letting go of social restraints, any form of embarrassment or humiliation. Not being in control: That's what Mick Jagger was communicating. There were a few James Brown and Tina Turner dance moves in there. But James Brown was very choreographed. Those strange moves Jagger was doing -- they were of the spirit. Iggy Pop and Jim Morrison took it to another level, but all that came from Jagger.
In the beginning, it was Brian Jones' band. He named them. He managed them -- got the gigs and wrote to the paper when they got bad reviews. The attitude and aggressiveness -- they first came from him. And the tradition came from him. He was using the blues pseudonym Elmo Lewis and playing bottleneck guitar. Then, on albums like December's Children and Aftermath, he was playing all of these other instruments: dulcimer, harpsichord, sitar. He was so inventive and important. If anybody gets left out of the Stones' story, he's the one.
But Keith Richards has been taken for granted too, relegated historically to permanent rhythm guitar. But his solos were great: "Heart of Stone," "It's All Over Now." And there are the riffs: "Satisfaction," of course, and "The Last Time," which the Stones themselves considered the first serious song they wrote. "Honky Tonk Women" is just one chord. Then he started the tunings: the G tuning and the five-string version of the G tuning. There are chord patterns that relate to his tunings -- the "Gimme Shelter" effect, let's call it -- where you add a suspended note, and it becomes more melodic and rhythmic at the same time. I play rhythm guitar with the E Street Band in Keith's style all the time. Anybody who plays rock & roll guitar does.
Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, more than any other rock & roll rhythm section, to this day, knew how to swing. It's so much a thing of the past now, but in those days rock & roll was something you danced to. You can just picture how much fun it was to be at the Richmond Hotel in London, at the Station Hotel in 1962 and '63: the crowd going crazy, the Stones going crazy, like they were in a South Side Chicago blues club. You can picture it in the music.
There are generations of young people now who only know the Stones iconically. There is no connection to the music. So I'd send them to the first four albums, the American versions: England's Newest Hitmakers, 12x5, Now and Out of Our Heads. The next lesson is the second great era: Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street. They make up the greatest run of albums in history -- and all done in three and a half years.
In a lot of ways, the Stones are playing better now than they were in the Sixties. They were quite sloppy in the early days -- which I enjoy. Technically, they're better than they've ever been. The trouble is, their power comes from their first twelve albums. There have been a few great songs since '72, but only a handful. If they were making great records and playing live the way they are now, my God, how amazing would that be?
But live, they're still able to communicate that original power. You can learn a lot from the Stones still: Write good songs, stay in shape and dig deep down for that passion every night. You should live so long, a tenth as long, and be as good as Mick Jagger. It's amazing Keith is still alive. There are a few people who have this constitution of invulnerability, although you shouldn't learn that. Let's be honest: Excessive drug use hurts songwriting. The good side is, he's still on the road, rockin', forty years later. You can't hold most bands together for four years, let alone forty.
I don't look forward to the day when the Stones stop, because going out there and playing continues to be the most effective advertisement for these songs. They may have a bit of production with them onstage now, but it's still about them. They're pushing things to the limit, showing that if you stick to your guns, and don't compromise with what's trendy, you're gonna go a long fucking way.
(From RS 946, April 15, 2004)
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| glencar |
#1 in my book, mates! |
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| Prodigal Son |
Well, at least they didn't stoop to a new low and rank them behind the overrated Led Zep phenomenon. Yikes. Oh, and a great piece by Little Stevie. He hit it right on the head there. The Stones are the epitome of rock n' roll: Keith the spirit of it and master of the rock rhythm and riff, Brian the white boy blues master, Mick the raw, energetic, uninhibited, soulful frontman, Charlie and Bill the smooth, swinging backbeat and all the while looking cool (yet bored) while doing it and Ron is like the blood brother to Keith. Mick Taylor long ago was the virtuoso, breathtaking lead guitarist the Stones needed during that time and he showed people the Stones were a great band when it came to soloing and hot, flashy licks as well. Yep, that about tells it. |
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| gimmekeef |
The Beatles were a great pop band.Dylan is a great folk singer balladeer,Elvis was a great gospel country singer.The Stones still are the greatest Rock band...guess that makes them # 1.......... |
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| Gazza |
thats quite a top four.
pretty hard to dispute that quartet even if we dont necessarily agree with the running order
Nice piece by Steve. That band he's in would for me be the only serious competition to join those other four but I think when youre looking at acts based on their historical significance and cultural impact its hard to see past that top four..
[Edited by Gazza] |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
Gazza wrote:
thats quite a top four.
pretty hard to dispute that quartet even if we dont necessarily agree with the running order
Yeah, "they" always put the Beatles over the Stones, it's highly irritating...but predictable. |
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| Steel Wheels |
Only a handful of good songs since 72? Good luck in getting a warm reception from the Stones the next time you run into them.
Stick it up your ass you fraud.
Where's YOUR album? Let's read about you and your scary talents that set the world on fire.Your viewpoints are not valid in my world.
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| Moonisup |
"Excessive drug use hurts songwriting"
haha, he got that right |
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| Prodigal Son |
Steel Wheels, I hardly doubt the Stones are gonna read it and hold it against him for the rest of his life. Pu-leaze. Based on Van Zandt's report there, he is a Stones fan and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize their best work came during and before 1972. That being said, they have a handful of good ALBUMS since '72 (all are really good except Dirty Work and Bridges to Babylon which are average).
[Edited by Prodigal Son] |
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| glencar |
I'd put U2 ahead of the Beatles at this point. |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
glencar wrote:
I'd put U2 ahead of the Beatles at this point.
Well I don't know about that. I think what always seems to put the Beatles ahead of the Stones on these types of lists is a somewhat dated criterion. If you went into compiling a list like this by using, lets say 20 objective criterion, laid out in advance, The Stones would come out on top.
Anyway I went over to the Rolling Stone website last night to check out the top 10. The Top Ten had articles written on them by other artists. Except Little Richard who wrote his own. I laughed like hell. Say what you want about Little Richard, the man is not ashamed to blow his own horn. LOL. |
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| glencar |
He likes blowing things. |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
glencar wrote:
He likes blowing things.
Me too!!! Like blowing out birthday candles on a cake.
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| glencar |
As for the Beatles, I think they were a good pop band. Like N*Sync! |
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| Gazza |
>Only a handful of good songs since 72? Good luck in getting a warm reception from the Stones the next time you run into them.
Stick it up your ass you fraud.
Where's YOUR album? Let's read about you and your scary talents that set the world on fire.Your viewpoints are not valid in my world.
With respect I doubt yours would be valid in his. Read his last 3 paragraphs. From what I'm reading there he's more enthusiastic about the Stones as they are now than most people who post here!! |
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| Scottfree |
quote:
Steel Wheels wrote:
Only a handful of good songs since 72? Good luck in getting a warm reception from the Stones the next time you run into them.
Stick it up your ass you fraud.
Where's YOUR album? Let's read about you and your scary talents that set the world on fire.Your viewpoints are not valid in my world.
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