Category Archives: The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones – Love In Vain (1972)

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“Love in Vain” has been covered by many musicians, most famously by The Rolling Stones on their 1969 album, Let It Bleed (although, in the album credits on the original vinyl LP label, the song is listed as written by “Woody Payne”, a pseudonym of Robert Johnson’s.) The Stones also recorded a live version of the song that appeared on their 1970 album, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out.

“For a time we thought the songs that were on that first album were the only recordings (Robert Johnson had) made, and then suddenly around ’67 or ’68 up comes this second (bootleg) collection that included Love in Vain. Love in Vain was such a beautiful song. Mick and I both loved it, and at the time I was working and playing around with Gram Parsons, and I started searching around for a different way to present it, because if we were going to record it there was no point in trying to copy the Robert Johnson style or ways and styles. We took it a little bit more country, a little bit more formalized, and Mick felt comfortable with that.” – Keith Richards, 1990

“We changed the arrangement quite a lot from Robert Johnson’s. We put in extra chords that aren’t there on the Robert Johnson version. Made it more country. And that’s another strange song, because it’s very poignant. Robert Johnson was a wonderful lyric writer, and his songs are quite often about love, but they’re desolate.” – Mick Jagger, 1995

“Sometimes I wonder… myself (about how we developed that arrangement). I don’t know! (laughs) We only knew the Robert Johnson version. At the time we were kicking it around, I was into country music – old white country music, ’20s and ’30s stuff, and white gospel. Somewhere I crossed over into this more classical mode. Sometimes things just happen. We were sitting in the studio, saying, Let’s do “Love in Vain” by Robert Johnson. Then I’m trying to figure out some nuances and chords, and I start to play it in a totally different fashion. Everybody joins in and goes, Yeah, and suddenly you’ve got your own stamp on it. I certainly wasn’t going to be able to top Robert Johnson’s guitar playing.” – Keith Richards, 1995




loveinvain

The Rolling Stones – Angie (LA Forum Live 1975)

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Mistitled by bootleggers back in the ’70s as LA Friday, the recording was actually made on Sunday 13th July 1975, at the final performance of the Rolling Stones’ five night residency at the Los Angeles Forum. The show was part of the Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas, which started with a bang, the band playing on a flatbed truck driving down 5th Avenue in New York City, showcasing their new guitarist, Ronnie Wood. The lineup for the show is Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman, Ian “Stu” Stewart, Billy Preston, Ollie E. Brown and Trevor Lawrence. Remastered by Bob Clearmountain, the album contains this incredible version of “Angie”. [Source]




The Rolling Stones – Fingerprint File (LA Forum Live 1975)

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Mistitled by bootleggers back in the ’70s as LA Friday, the recording was actually made on Sunday 13th July 1975, at the final performance of the Rolling Stones’ five night residency at the Los Angeles Forum. The show was part of the Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas, which started with a bang, the band playing on a flatbed truck driving down 5th Avenue in New York City, showcasing their new guitarist, Ronnie Wood. The lineup for the show is Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman, Ian “Stu” Stewart, Billy Preston, Ollie E. Brown and Trevor Lawrence. Remastered by Bob Clearmountain, the album contains this incredible version of “Fingerprint File”.




The Rolling Stones – Happy (LA Forum Live 1975)

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From the album LA Friday (Live 1975) available from http://www.StonesArchive.com. The Rolling Stones performing “Happy” at the Los Angeles Forum, California, USA on Sunday 13th July 1975, part of the legendary Tour of the Americas (TOTA). The track is from the album Exile On Main Street (1972), and features Keith Richards on lead vocals. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and produced by the Glimmer Twins.




Chuck Berry feat. Keith Richards – Nadine (1986)

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Chuck Berry continued to play 70 to 100 one-nighters per year in the 1980s, still traveling solo and requiring a local band to back him at each stop. In 1986, Taylor Hackford made a documentary film, Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll, of a celebration concert for Berry’s sixtieth birthday, organised by Keith Richards, in which Berry reveals his bitterness at the fame and financial success that Richards achieved on the back of Berry’s songs. Eric Clapton, Etta James, Julian Lennon, Robert Cray and Linda Ronstadt, among others, appeared with Berry on stage and film. During the concert, Berry played a Gibson ES-355, the luxury version of the ES-335 that he favored on his 1970s tours. Richards played a black Fender Telecaster Custom, Cray a Fender Stratocaster and Clapton a Gibson ES 350T, the same guitar Berry used on his early recordings.



The Beatles – A Day In The Life (1967)

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The final track on The Beatles’ 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Credited to Lennon/McCartney, the song comprises distinct segments written independently by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with orchestral additions. While Lennon’s lyrics were inspired by contemporary newspaper articles, McCartney’s were reminiscent of his youth. The decisions to link sections of the song with orchestral crescendos and to end the song with a sustained piano chord were made only after the rest of the song had been recorded. The supposed drug reference in the line “I’d love to turn you on” resulted in the song initially being banned from broadcast by the BBC. It was arranged for the orchestral session to be filmed by NEMS Enterprises for use in a planned television special. The film was never released in its entirety, although portions of it can be seen in the “A Day in the Life” promotional film, which includes shots of studio guests Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Keith Richards, Donovan, Pattie Boyd and Michael Nesmith. Reflecting the Beatles’ taste for experimentation and the avant garde at this point in their careers, the orchestra players were asked to wear or were given a costume piece on top of their formal dress. This resulted in different players wearing anything from fake noses to fake stick-on nipples. George Martin recalled that the lead violinist performed wearing a gorilla paw, while a bassoon player placed a balloon on the end of his instrument. In April 1967, McCartney played a tape of the song to Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, in Los Angeles. The song deeply affected Wilson, who was suffering growing emotional problems. Soon after, Wilson abandoned his work on the Beach Boys’ album Smile, and would not return to complete it until 2003. Van Dyke Parks later said, “Brian had a nervous collapse. What broke his heart was Sgt. Pepper.”




[via Bo Hr. Hansen]