Turntable Talk #20 – Like a Rolling Stone

It is time for one of my favorite features to write for – Turntable Talk, hosted by Dave Ruch over at A Sound Day. This is the 20th round for this feature and Dave has brought it full circle, so to speak. The first edition was about the Beatles and whether they were still relevant (With a brand new song out recently, I think that makes the answer a solid YES.). We were given the task of writing something Beatle oriented. I remember the pressure of trying to figure out what to write about. I wound up writing about the songs I would play for someone who had never heard of the Beatles.

This round Dave is asking about another British Rock Band, The Rolling Stones. His instructions were: Do we still care about the Rolling Stones? Why, or why not? Mick & Keith have been at it for over 60 years (wow- let that sink in!) and are in the news again with ‘Hackney Diamonds’ out this month. So, talk about the Stones. Do they matter? Or what was their best song, or album?

The Rolling Stones are a band that has been going nonstop since 1962! If you pull up a list of all of their songs you will notice two things. First, the influence of Blues (and R&B) music on the group. Over the years they have recorded songs written by Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Howlin’ Wolf, Slim Harpo, Willie Dixon, Otis Redding, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddly, Rufus Thomas and more. You will also notice just how many songs Jaggar and Richards have written together! I didn’t take the time to count them all, but to say that their songwriting is prolific is an understatement!

I’m not what you call a diehard fan of the group, but I do like them. If I took all of their hits and divided them up into “songs I like” and “songs I don’t care for,” there might be more on the latter list. That, in no way, discounts just what a great band they are. The fact that they continue to make music and sell music speaks volumes.

I have found that there are Stones songs that I love because of the music and not so much they lyrics. At the same time, there are Stones songs I love because of the lyrics and not the music. Perhaps that is common for all of us music lovers. I can’t be the only one who listens to a song and says, “Wow! This is great!” and then much later hear the lyrics and go, “Uh, I didn’t know that’s what they said” or “…what that is about.”

As I sat and thought about what to write about “Mick and the Rolling Uglies” (as we used to say on the radio), I came up empty. If you want to read about them, their Wikipedia page is loaded with information. Instead, I am taking the easy way out and thought I would share my top 5 Rolling Stones songs and afterward, you will probably see a pattern of just why these 5 catch my ear every time. So in no particular order…

Honky Tonk Women

Released in 1969, it was a non-album single. The song was inspired by a trip to Brazil. Two versions were recorded, the hit version and a country version entitled Country Honk (which was on the Let It Bleed album). When it was released, Rolling Stone magazine hailed “Honky Tonk Women” as “likely the strongest three minutes of rock and roll yet released in 1969.”

The song contains one of my favorite lines in classic rock, “She blew my nose and then she blew my mind.”

It’s Only Rock and Roll

Released in 1974, this song was not the hit many expected. It didn’t crack the Top 10 in the United States. This was the title track for the album and most of the album’s backing tracks were recorded first. The solo vocals were recorded later by Jagger, about whom Richards would say, “he often comes up with his best stuff alone in the studio with just an engineer.” The chorus of the song is a great “sing along” and was always a popular song with audiences when they played it in concert.

Brown Sugar

Released in 1971 and appearing on the Sticky Fingers album, this shot all the way to the Top Spot on the Billboard charts. Due to the subject matter of the song, the song was removed from the band’s set list at shows in 2021.

In 1995, Jaggar was interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine and credited himself with the lyrics. Keith Richards also gave Mick credit in his book. He attributed the success of the song to a “good groove”. After noting that the lyrics could mean so many lewd subjects,he again noted that the combination of those subjects, the lyrical ambiguity was partially why the song was considered successful. He noted, “That makes it… the whole mess thrown in. God knows what I’m on about on that song. It’s such a mishmash. All the nasty subjects in one go… I never would write that song now.”  When he was asked why, he said,  “I would probably censor myself. I’d think, ‘Oh God, I can’t. I’ve got to stop. I can’t just write raw like that.'”

Start Me Up

Released in 1981 on their Tattoo You album, it is considered by many to be “the last, great Rolling Stones song.” The song has an interesting back story. They began to play around with it in 1978, hoping to put it on the Some Girls album. At the time, it was being worked as a reggae song called “Never Stop.” They never felt it was right and shelved it.

As the band was getting ready to tour, the recording engineer told Jaggar that they might want to look at some of the archived material to include in their tour set list. They found about 50 reggae versions of “Never Stop” as well as two that were a bit more rock oriented. The song was reworked and released as the first single from the album.

Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Released in 1968, it is a song that has never left the Stones’ concert set list. It has been featured prominently in many movies and has been covered by many performers including Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner.

Keith Richards explained how the song came to be: He and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards’ country house, when they were awoken one morning by the clumping footsteps of his gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. Surprised, Jagger asked what it was, and Richards responded: “Oh, that’s Jack – that’s jumpin’ Jack.” The lyrics evolved from there. The classic first line “I was born in a crossfire hurricane”, was written by Richards, and refers to his being born amid the bombing and air raid sirens of England, in 1943 during World War II.

The song has such a unique sound. Keith describes how he came up with that sound:

I used a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic tuned to open D, six string. Open D or open E, which is the same thing – same intervals – but it would be slackened down some for D. Then there was a capo on it, to get that really tight sound. And there was another guitar over the top of that, but tuned to Nashville tuning. I learned that from somebody in George Jones’ band in San Antonio in 1964. The high-strung guitar was an acoustic, too. Both acoustics were put through a Philips cassette recorder. Just jam the mic right in the guitar and play it back through an extension speaker.

So there they are – my five favorite Stones songs. The thing they all seem to have in common for me is a great intro. Those intros catch my ear immediately. The cowbell in Honky Tonk Women; the guitar licks in Brown Sugar, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, and Start Me Up; and the overall sound of It’s Only Rock and Roll all make me want to hear more (not to mention that they are all some of the greatest licks in rock!).

Before I wrap this up, I want to just say that while some of these songs may not be “PC” today, they certainly helped to make the Rolling Stones one of the greatest rock bands in history. My thanks again to Dave for asking me to be a part of this feature. Thanks to the other participants who, no doubt, will contribute fantastic pieces on the topic as well. Thanks for reading!