| August 27th, 2005 08:33 PM |
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| Lazy Bones |
Stones can pick from 100 tunes
The hard-core fan's not too proud to beg for covers and rarities
Bruce Ward
The Ottawa Citizen
August 27, 2005
Can you picture hometown hero Alanis Morissette dueting with Mick Jagger on the Ray Charles classic (Night Time Is) The Right Time?
Me neither. But a guy can dream, can't he?
Or how about Jagger leading 40,000 Ottawa fans in a sing-along of Bob Marley's Get Up, Stand Up?
The Stones not only rehearsed Get Up, Stand Up in Toronto this summer, they actually played it during their warm-up show at the Phoenix nightclub. The Alanis/Mick duet may be an outlandish notion, but the Marley cover -- hey, it could happen here.
Agonizing over set lists, penciling-in fantasy duets and cover songs, is always part of the fun for hardcore -- OK, slightly deranged -- Stones fans.
The Ray Charles tribute was a crowd-pleaser at both shows the Stones did this week at Fenway Park in Boston. But it was the divine Lisa Fischer, a former back-up singer for Luther Vandross, who sang it with Mick. So it's a pretty safe bet she'll be doing it again on Sunday at Frank Clair Stadium.
More good news: the seldom heard She's So Cold was a standout at Fenway, according to reviews on Stones' fan-club websites.
Although the band rehearsed about 100 songs in Toronto, it could be that the Stones are going to use a more rigid set list this time, after really mixing it up on their last world tour two years ago.
The set list barely changed for the two Boston shows. The only substitution between shows was the song Bitch for Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker), about halfway through the setlist.
On the other hand, the Stones may be ready to start tinkering with the set list, having used the Fenway shows and last night's performance in Hartford, Connecticut, to make any necessary adjustments to the two stages, the lighting and the sound.
Another highlight of the Boston shows was Mick playing slide guitar -- a first -- on Back Of My Hand, a stunner from their new album, A Bigger Bang. They also played three other songs from the 14-song album, out Sept. 6.
In Boston, Keith Richards sang The Worst and Infamy back-to-back. That would be a good time to take a bathroom break, if it happens here.
At the Toronto show, the Stones played a slowed-down reggae version of 19th Nervous Breakdown and a soulful version of Otis Redding's Mr. Pitiful.
It would be a treat to hear those songs here, instead of the warhorses You Got Me Rocking and Shattered, both of which were part of the Fenway shows.
Judging by the Fenway shows, the Ottawa concert is likely to open with Start Me Up, and close with You Can't Always Get What You Want and It's Only Rock and Roll as encores.
But wouldn't it be great if they salted the show with, say, Dead Flowers and Ain't Too Proud To Beg, and left out Miss You for once?
With three shows under their belt, the Stones should be rested and ready to rock when they take the stage on Sunday. Me, I'm gagging for it.
The Rolling Stones perform a sold-out show tomorrow at Lansdowne Park. |
| August 27th, 2005 08:35 PM |
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| Lazy Bones |
What's your favourite Rolling Stones song?
The Ottawa Citizen
August 27, 2005
SARAH ANDERSON
Song: Beast of Burden
Why: It makes me want to dance. And because I don't quite understand it: It's a mystery to me.
JONATHAN BOSS
Song: Sympathy for the Devil
Why: It has great lyrics, but, more important, it has the ultimate groove. And it's great to dance to.
BEN ANDERSON
Song: You Can't Always Get What You Want
Why: Growing up, my dad always cranked it on the radio, and it's something you can always relate to -- you can't always get everything you want in life.
It's a good song for that.
NATALIE MacMASTER
Song: Start Me Up
Why: I love the introduction, I love just the way it does get you started up. It's such a typical rock groove. I love the space, too; when he sings and you get that open space at the beginning, it's basically groove and him singing. I love that.
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| August 27th, 2005 08:37 PM |
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| Lazy Bones |
Still rolling out the hits
The elder statesmen of rock 'n' roll have outlasted many great bands
Mark Anderson
The Ottawa Citizen
August 27, 2005
CREDIT: Robert Sorbo, The Associated Press
Ron Wood and Keith Richards perform in Seattle in 1997 in support of the album Bridges to Babylon, a weak effort heavily laden with techno beats.
Formed in 1963 as a straight-up blues band, the Rolling Stones have to date chugged their way through four decades, 21 studio albums, 11 live albums and countless compilations. While their contemporaries (the Beatles, the Who, the Kinks) and their successors (the Sex Pistols, the Clash, Nirvana, Guns N Roses) burned out one by one, the Stones endured. Nor are they done yet. As Keith Richards once said, "We're the only band to make it this far, and if we trip and fall, you'll know that's how far it can be taken."
The following discography traces the changing sound of the Stones through their studio albums, from the early blues covers though their creative apex in the early '70s, through ill-advised experiments in disco in the '80s, to their current status as rock's elder statesmen and, still, the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World.
The Rolling Stones (1964): The Stones' eponymous first album cleaves to their R&B roots, covering standards by the likes of Willie Dixon and Chuck Berry. At the insistence of manager Andrew Loog Oldham, it also features three original songs -- Now I've Got a Witness, Little by Little and Tell Me (You're Coming Back), the first recordings penned by the nascent writing duo of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
The Rolling Stones No. 2 (1965): Whereas Jagger's 21-year-old voice has yet to develop its timbre and distinctive growl, the rhythm section of drummer Charlie Watts and bassist Bill Wyman is emerging as a force to be reckoned with. Increasingly adept guitar work by Richards and Brian Jones round out the Stones' developing sound.
Out Of Our Heads, (1965): Yet more blues covers -- with a single, significant departure, the groundbreaking (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. Released immediately as a single, it becomes the Stones' first American No. 1 hit, and presages a move away from straight-up blues towards rock 'n' roll. On the strength of Satisfaction, Out Of Our Heads tops the charts in the U.S., but the track is left off the British version of the album, which stalls at No. 2.
Aftermath (1966): The first album of entirely original material builds on the success of three singles released the previous year, Get Off My Cloud, 19th Nervous Breakdown and Paint It Black. Aftermath contributes Under My Thumb and Mother's Little Helper to the growing list of hits.
Between The Buttons (1967): Two songs -- the treacly but still-popular Ruby Tuesday and Let's Spend the Night Together -- salvage what would otherwise be one of the Stones most forgettable albums, an uncharacteristic and ill-advised shift to pop. Between The Buttons demonstrates that not even the Stones -- once billed as the anti-Beatles -- can escape the gravitational pull of the Liverpool quartet.
Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967): Another misstep, as the Stones attempt to follow the Beatle's stunning Sgt. Pepper's with a bit of psychedelic pop of their own. The result is a mishmash of spacey tunes and overwrought lyrics, as Mick and Keith pay homage to the acid-fuelled Summer of Love. She's A Rainbow and 2000 Light Years From Home rescue the effort from complete obscurity.
Beggars Banquet (1968): The universally acknowledged masterpiece sees the band explore blues, rock and country in 10 classic tracks, bookended by two of the Stones' greatest anthems, Sympathy For The Devil and Salt Of The Earth. Jagger and Richards are writing from the heart and murky soul, Brian Jones' slide work is haunting, and the rhythm section shifts effortlessly between the subterranean blues of Parachute Woman, the hard rock of Street Fighting Man and the frenzied voodoo of Sympathy For The Devil.
Let It Bleed (1969): Brilliant writing and musical virtuosity coupled with a darker vision, Let It Bleed explores themes of fear (Midnight Rambler), pain (Love in Vain), desire (Live With Me), apocalypse (Gimme Shelter) and redemption (You Can't Always Get What You Want) -- the essential soundtrack for an era increasingly dominated by Vietnam, racial strife and political assassination. Brian Jones, who had already been kicked out of the band, drowns in his swimming pool shortly before the album is released.
Sticky Fingers (1971): Jones' replacement, lead and slide guitar prodigy Mick Taylor, gives the Stones their hardest edge yet -- perhaps ever -- on tracks like Brown Sugar, Can't You Hear Me Knocking and Bitch. The rest of the album alternates between sweet (Wild Horses, Moonlight Mile) and sinister (Sister Morphine, Dead Flowers). Yet another tour de force from the self-proclaimed Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World.
Exile On Main Street (1972): A double album of raw-boned country, rock, blues, rockabilly and gospel, Exile is considered by many the Stones all-time best work. From the harmonic beauty of Sweet Virginia and Torn And Frayed, to the rollicking Tumbling Dice and Happy (sung by Keith Richards) the album is uniformly brilliant. More importantly, the Stones have now produced four classic albums in succession, arguably the greatest run of sustained creativity in rock history.
Goats Head Soup (1973): Increasing distractions yield decreasing returns, as Mick Jagger succumbs to jet-set bohemianism and Keith to heroin addiction. Still, the old magic shines through on tracks like Doo Dooo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker), Dancing With Mr. D and Star Star. Despite a noticeable letdown in quality, the album reaches No. 1 in the U.S.
It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (1974): A solid, if not great collection of rockers, ballads and boogie woogie, including If You Can't Rock Me, Ain't Too Proud To Beg and Dance Little Sister. The title track, It's Only Rock 'N' Roll, riffs on themes of public celebrity and hero worship, but the music itself lacks the driving urgency of Sticky Fingers.
Black And Blue (1976): Mick Taylor quits the band, which auditions four potential replacements in Jeff Beck, Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins and Ronnie Wood. Mandel shines on the James Brown-inspired Hot Stuff, but Woods (Hey Negrita) is deemed the best fit, and becomes the newest Stone. The album itself is the best in years, thanks to a heady funk infusion.
Some Girls (1978): More funk, a dash of punk, and a renewed country sensibility make Some Girls the Stones' last bona fide masterpiece, and first since Exile On Main Street six years earlier. The rhythms by turns cowpoke slow (Far Away Eyes), disco (Miss You) and funk (Shattered), but it's the nasty-edged, misogynistic lyrics on tracks like Some Girls, When The Whip Comes Down, Respectable and above all Beast of Burden, that unify the album and ensure its place as a classic.
Emotional Rescue (1980): The Stones' disco album produces a single great track in She's So Cold. Otherwise, Jagger's annoying falsetto on the title track is the only memorable bit -- and for all the wrong reasons. Hardcore Stones fans are appalled.
Tattoo You (1981): A collection of outtakes from previous recording sessions -- including the much-reviled Emotional Rescue tapes -- yields a strong and eclectic disc dominated by up-tempo dance tracks, including Hang Fire, Slave, Little T&A and the mega-blockbuster stadium anthem Start Me Up. Buoyed by strong sales -- the album stayed at No. 1 for nine weeks -- the band signs a new $25-million recording deal with CBS Records.
Undercover (1983): If the Stones' reliance on older material for Tattoo You was a sign of waning creativity, Undercover is proof. Jagger's use of Latin American political imagery for the title track fails to disguise the fact it's a dog of a song, and the rest of the disc is similarly ragged and uninspired. Still, it cracks the Top 10 in both America and the U.K.
Dirty Work (1986): Those prepared to write the Stones off after Undercover discover that the band is as resilient and hard to bury as the vampiric Keith Richards. Bringing in former U2 producer Steve Lillywhite, and recruiting Jimmy Page to play lead guitar on One Hit (To The Body) signals a shift to darker, drum- and guitar-driven rock. In addition to a great title track, the album includes frenzied rockers Fight and Had It With You, as well as the funky hit Harlem Shuffle.
Steel Wheels (1989): Overall less edgy and raw than Dirty Work, but with more memorable songs, including Mixed Emotions, Hold On To Your Hat, Blinded By Love and Rock And A Hard Place. The accompanying world tour -- the biggest and most lucrative of the year -- proves the aging Stones can still rock out live, and sell out stadiums. One Stone, however, decides to call it a career after the tour winds down: bassist Bill Wyman quits the band in 1991, and is eventually replaced by Darryl Jones.
Voodoo Lounge (1994): The Stones continue to crank out solid hits with Love Is Strong and Sparks Will Fly. Other songs are less interesting -- more power than heart. By now the shear size of the Stones' back catalogue begins to pose a problem for the band and its fans: why listen to Voodoo Lounge when you can listen to Some Girls or Beggars Banquet? Absent those benchmarks, Voodoo Lounge is a decent effort by an experienced, effortless band, and the supporting tour again sells out stadiums worldwide.
Bridges To Babylon (1997): The Stones look to renovate their aging sound by working with techno producers the Dust Brothers, with indifferent results. The first track, Flip the Switch, is also the best, driven by the now-familiar duelling guitars of Richards and Wood -- the essence of the Stones sound. The Dust Brothers tracks, by contrast, include enough techno-beats and effects to make the Stones sound positively un-Stones-like, all tarted up with no place to go. The weakest effort since Undercover. |
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