The Rolling Stones, The #4 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Nine

 

"Harlem Shuffle" was a popular dance in the '50's and '60's that originated in the ballrooms of Harlem.  Bobby Womack and Tom Waits are among the backing vocalists on this song, which danced to #2 in Canada and #5 in the U.S.

Guitar legend Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin played lead on this song.  He was in London for the Live-Aid benefit that reunited Zeppelin members Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones.  Producer Steve Lillywhite's wife, Kirsty MacColl, sang backup on the #3 Mainstream Rock hit "One Hit (To The Body)".

Although the album reached #4 on both sides of the Atlantic and attained Platinum status, it was a disappointment.  Jagger refused to tour to promote the album, opting instead to go on a solo tour.  Richards released his solo album in 1988, and there was much animosity in the group.  The documentary 25x5:  The Continuing Adventures of the Rolling Stones was released to commemorate the group's 25th anniversary.

In 1989, the supergroup was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though the award is highly diluted by the presence of dozens of undeserving artists in what should be an elite list that is extremely difficult to get into.  

Meanwhile, Jagger and Richards began to mend fences and the Stones released the album Steel Wheels, one of their best albums in years.  The band recorded on the island of Montserrat, and the lead single "Mixed Emotions rolled to #1 in Canada and Norway, #2 in the U.K. and Sweden and #5 in the U.S. (#1 on the Mainstream Rock chart).

"Mixed Emotions" was the last Top 10 hit for the Rolling Stones.  The album's chart position was more like the group in their heyday--#2 in the U.K. and #3 in the United States.  This track was originally titled "Steel Wheels" but the group decided to use that name for the album.  An underrated "Rock And A Hard Place" stalled at #23 ( but helped Steel Wheels sell over two million copies.

 

The Stones toured for the first time in eight years after releasing the album, which included "Almost Hear You Sigh", a #1 Mainstream Rock hit.

The band had not toured the world in seven years and it went off very well, with the concert album Flashpoint and the movie Live at the Max documented.  But Wyman was ready to hang it up, and he officially left the group in 1993.  Jagger, Richards, Watts, Wood and Wyman released solo albums in the next year.

 

The Stones released the compilation album Jump Back in 1993.  The group hired bassist Darryl Jones to replace Wyman for the 1994 album Voodoo Lounge.  It was a solid effort, with "Love Is Strong" climbing to #2 in Canada and Finland.

 

The album, which ruled charts in the U.K., Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands and hit #2 in the U.S.,  has sold over two million copies and captured the Grammy for Best Rock Album.  "You (sic) Got Me Rocking" started out as a slow Blues number but Richards scooted away from the piano to pick up his guitar and it became a Rock song in the vein of previous Stones releases.

 

The band toured to support the album and grossed $320 million, #1 in the world that year.  Here is "Brand New Car".

In 1994, the Rolling Stones earned the Lifetime Achievement Award at the MTV Video Music Awards.  The group released the album Bridges to Babylon in 1997, a #3 effort in the U.S. and #6 in the United Kingdom. Waddy Wachtel, a desired session musician who has worked with Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Don Henley and Stevie Nicks, among many others, played guitar on "Anybody Seen My Baby?".

 

In 2002, the Stones released the double compilation album Forty Licks, which as now sold over seven million copies worldwide.  The band toured with performances recorded for the double live album Live Licks, which has gone Gold.  The Rolling Stones released the album A Bigger Bang, #2 in the United Kingdom and #3 in the United States.

The group toured the Americas and East Asia and in 2006, performed at halftime of Super Bowl XL.  The Stones performed a free concert in Rio de Janeiro before an estimated one million people.  The movie Shine a Light, showcasing performances in New York City in 2006, was released in 2008.  

 

 

As part of their European tour in 2007, the Rolling Stones released the CD and four-disc DVD package The Biggest Bang.  By the end of their last show of the Bigger Bang tour, the group grossed a record $558 million.  We want to feature "Rain Fall Down" from the album.

The band signed with Universal Music Records in 2008.  They released the movie Ladies and Gentlemen:  The Rolling Stones in theaters in 2010 and later on DVD.   

In 2012, the group released the book The Rolling Stones:  50 to commemorate their 50th anniversary as a band.  The compilation GRRR! was released later in the year, selling over two million albums.  The Stones performed in Europe and the U.S. in 2012 and 2013 and Latin America in 2016.  

The Rolling Stones again turned to their roots with covers of Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed and Little Walter, among others, on the 2016 album Blue & Lonesome, which went to #1 in the U.K. and #4 in the United States.

On August 24, 2021 Charlie Watts, part of one of the most amazing rhythm sections in music history, died at the age of 80.  Fans everywhere were devastated at the loss.  The Stones continue to play dates with drummer Steve Jordan.

In a band that has withstood everything, including the test of time, to enjoy the longest careers of the Rock Era, the Rolling Stones achieved 58 hits, with 23 of those reaching the Top and 8 #1's.

The Rolling Stones have sold over 240 million albums.  They have won four Grammy Awards with 12 nominations.  

The Rolling Stones, The #4 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Eight

 

(Continued from Part Seven)

Emotional Rescue in 1980 was a strong follow-up, hitting #1 in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France, the Netherlands and Sweden and selling over two million copies.  The title song, another Disco effort written by Jagger on the electric piano, advanced to #1 in Canada, #3 in the U.S., #5 in the Netherlands and #9 in the U.K.

Former Santana alumnus Michael Shrieve played percussion on this Disco song.  "'Dance, Pt. 1' was one strong riff where Mick immediately took the bait, literally got up and dance to it," Wood said about the first Rolling Stones song for which he received writing credit.  "It's a catchy riff," he added.  "That was an example of a song that originated without words, just a groove with various changes, but never a chorus. 

 

The recording sessions for Emotional Rescue went so well that several of the recordings made it onto the group's next album.  From their first album to hit #1 in the U.K. since Goat's Head Soup in 1973, "Let Me Go".

In 1981, the Stones released the album Tattoo You.  The lead single was one of those songs referred to above recorded for Emotional Rescue that was included instead on this album.  "Start Me Up" began as a Reggae song, but after rediscovering it five years later, Richards added the iconic riff and it transformed into a Rock song.  "Start Me Up" is one of The Top #2 Songs of the Rock Era*.

Tattoo You rose to #1 in the United States, Australia, Canada, France and the Netherlands and #2 in the U.K.  This song had to wait even longer to find vinyl--it was written during the Goat's Head Soup sessions of 1972!  Nicky Hopkins played piano, Jimmy Miller took care of percussion and Danish session drummer Kasper Winding played tambourine.  "Waiting On A Friend" was a #8 Mainstream Rock hit, though it stalled at #13 overall.

 

The band's American tour was the highest-grossing of the year, helping the album sell four million copies.  A "hang fire" is a delay from when a trigger is pulled and the time the gun actually fires.  The metaphor here could apply to lazy people who won't take action.  We also want to feature "Hang Fire", #2 on the Mainstream Rock chart.

 

If you didn't know it, you may not think this is a Rolling Stones song--it is truly atmospheric with Jagger playing an electric guitar and singing over minimal accompaniment.  Here is "Heaven".

Shows with Muddy Waters in Chicago, Illinois were recorded and released as the live album 

 

Still Life, which peaked at #4 in the U.K. and #5 in the United States.  The Rolling Stones released their cover of the Miracles' hit "Going To A Go-Go".

Footage of shows in Tempe, Arizona and the Brendan Byrne Area in the Meadowlands, New Jersey were featured in the movie Let's Spend the Night Together.  Later in the year, the Rolling Stones performed in Europe for the first time in six years.  

The group recorded most of their next album at Pathé-Marconi Studios in Paris.  Chris Kimsey, who had been an engineer for the band on Sticky Fingers, had become their co-producer from the Some Girls album on.  

The Stones worked on the album for about a month before breaking for the holidays and hoping that tension in the band would wane.  It didn't.  When they resumed, the musical differences between Jagger and Richards came to a head.  

Jagger had pretty much steered the ship while Richards was dealing with his drug addiction, and now that Keith was back, there was some resentment that he wanted to assert control after being gone from the scene.  Jagger had guided the group more towards Dance songs, while Richards wanted the group to return to its Blues Rock roots.

The group finally finished the project in 1983, and it seems that there was a compromise for we hear elements of both on the album.    

After releasing the album Undercover,  group signed a four-album recording contract with CBS for $50 million.  A song about the political corruption of South America that features the rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, "Undercover Of The Night", also hit #2 on the Mainstream Rock chart and #9 Popular in the U.S.

Undercover moved to #1 in the Netherlands and Sweden, #3 in the U.K. and #4 in the United States.  Jagger brags about romantic encounters in New York, Detroit and Chicago in this song that features former Allman Brothers Band member Chuck Leavell on keyboards, along with Ian Stewart.  "She Was Hot" is another strong song on the album (#2 Mainstream Rock), which has now sold over one million copies.

Stewart died of a heart attack in 1985, just two days before the Rolling Stones earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.  Jagger drifted away from the group and sent two years working on writing and releasing solo albums.  On the 1986 album Dirty Work, Richards took over the lion's share of songwriting, with Wood assisting him.  Even in the recording of the album, Jagger was rarely in the studio. 

The breakup of the Stones?  A definite possibility.  You will read how they avoided it and continued on into the history books in Part Nine!

The Rolling Stones, The #4 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Seven

 

(Continued from Part Six)

The Rolling Stones also released their double compilation album Hot Rocks 1964-1971, a #3 LP in the U.K. and #4 in the United States.  The album took up residency on the Billboard Album chart for 347 weeks and has sold six million units. 

 

Since 1972, the group has set up an elaborate scheme to avoid paying taxes, paying just 1.6% of their royalties on taxes while their fans have paid much higher tax rates.  The Stones recorded the album Goats Head Soup in Kingston, Jamaica.  It topped charts in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom.  "Angie" rose to #1 in the U.S., Canada, Australia, France and Switzerland and sold over one million copies.

 

The album gave them three straight Trans-Atlantic #1's and has topped the three-million sales mark.  During the recording, however, authorities issued a warrant for the arrest of Richards and because of Jagger's prior drug charges, the Rolling Stones were denied permission to play in Japan and were nearly banned from Australia.  They did do a tour of Europe in 1973.  "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" reached #10 in the U.K. and #16 in the U.S.

 

"Star Star" is a song about groupies, which of course is a field Jagger is an expert on.

Recording of "Dancing With Mr. D" began at Dynamic Sound Studios in Kingston, Jamaica, with the Stones continuing sessions at Village Recorders in Los Angles and Island Recording Studios in London.  Billy Preston plays the clavinet on this song.

The band released the album It's Only Rock 'n Roll, recorded in Munich, Germany, in 1974.

Ron Wood made a major contribution to the title song, although he had not yet joined the Rolling Stones.  Wood lived in an estate in London called The Wick, which Pete Townshend later bought.  In Wood's basement, Ron recorded much of the song with Jagger singing lead, David Bowie on backing vocals, session man Willie Weeks on bass and Kenney Jones, bandmate in Faces, on drums.  

"It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I LIke It)" hit #3 in the Netherlands and #10 in the U.K. but with a peak of #16, it is easily one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

 

The album rose to #1 in the United States and France and #2 in the U.K. and has gone over one million in sales.  Paul McCartney introduced Jagger to this song, and Mick loved it so much he had the Stones record it.  The much-processed Richards guitar riff put the Stones' stamp on "Ain't Too Proud To Beg".

Although the track "Time Waits For No One" includes Taylor and his great guitar solo, it was one of the last songs he recorded with the group.  Taylor left after the album was finished because he wasn't getting songwriting credit for songs he helped write.

However, with members living in different countries and the group unable to tour in several countries due to legal restrictions, the group was languishing.  Taylor, feeling left out due to the dominance of Jagger and Richards, quit the group at the end of the year.

Once again, the group had to search for a new guitarist, and they auditioned aspiring applicants while recording their next album.  When Ronnie Wood from the group Faces auditioned, everyone decided he was perfect for the part.  

Wood debuted with the group in 1975 for their North American tour and the Stones released the album Love You Live in 1977.  But upon arriving in Toronto, Canada, Richards was arrested for importing narcotics.  The legal process lasted over a year.  The band released the album Black and Blue in 1976, a #1 effort in the U.S. France and the Netherlands.  "Fool To Cry" attained #2 in the Netherlands, #6 in the United Kingdom and #10 in the United States.

Black and Blue has topped one million in sales.

In 1978, the Rolling Stones released the album Some Girls, their most successful in years.  Billy Preston, who toured with the group, came up with the bass lines for a Disco song, recorded at Pathé-Marconi Studios in Paris as the first single.  Watts talked about the song:

             A lot of those songs like "Miss You" were

             heavily influenced by going to the discos.  

             You can hear it in a lot of those four-on-the

             floor rhythms and the Philadelphia-style 

             drumming.  Mick and I used to go to

             discos a lot...It was a great period.  I

             remember being in Munich [Germany]

             and coming back from a club with Mick

             singing one of the Village People songs--

             "Y.M.C.A." I think it was--and Keith went

             mad, but it sounded great on the dance

             floor.

"Miss You", a #1 effort in the U.S. and Australia that also reached #2 in the Netherlands and #3 in the U.K. and sold over one million copies.

The album topped charts in the U.S. and Canada while falling just short at #2 in the U.K. and France.  There has been much speculation about the meaning of this song.  Inside The Rock Era doesn't deal in speculation and no one should deal in speculation but focus on facts.  Keith Richards told Esquire magazine in 2017:

             Those who say it's about one woman in 

             particular, they've got it all wrong.  We

             were trying to write for a slightly broader

             audience than just Anita Pallenberg or

             Marianne Faithfull.  Although that's not

             to say they didn't have some influence 

             in there somewhere.  I mean, what's 

             close by is close by!  I've always felt

             it's one of my best soul songs.  It was

             another strict collaboration between

             Mick and me.  I think I had the first

             verse along with the hook, and we

             were still working very much in our

             traditional way:  Here's the idea,

             here's the song, now run away and

             fill it in!  

 "Beast Of Burden" gave the group a second Top 10 song on the album, the first time the Stones had achieved that in 12 years.

Jagger lived in New York City prior to writing songs for the album, and his songs depict the city.  In this one, the message is that there is plenty of excess, and even if you enjoy it, eventually it will catch up to you.  Thanks to songs like "Shattered", Black and Blue has gone over the six-million mark in sales.  It is another Stones tune among The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

Jagger talked about the homosexual nature of this song in 1978:

              There is one song that's a straight gay 

              song--"When The Whip Comes Down"--

              but I have no idea why I wrote it.  It's

              strange--the Rolling Stones have 

              always attracted a lot of men (laughs).

              That sounds funny, but they're not all

              gay.  And, of course, I have a lot of gay

              friends.

 

Here are Jagger and the boys with "When The Whip Comes Down".

 

This song is about the lifestyle that got Richards in trouble.  The Stones recorded it while Keith was out on bail after getting caught with heroin and arrested for drug trafficking in Toronto the year before--"Before They Make Me Run".

The Rolling Stones, The #4 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Six

 

(Continued from Part Five)

More problems beset the group when they learned that their U.K. taxes had not been paid for seven years.  So rather than pay their fair share, they moved to France, where they recorded material in a mobile recording studio they had begun in 1968 that they placed in the basement of Richards's house in Nellcote.

In addition to making recording easy, the arrangement also solved the question of whether Richards would show up at rehearsals.  Keith's heroin addiction had become severe, but working on the album forced him to focus.

Completing the project at the esteemed Sunset Studios in Los Angeles, the Rolling Stones released the double album Exile on Main Street in 1972.  The title referred to the group's tax problems which led to them fleeing the U.K. for southern France.  The band recorded in the Mobile Studio as well as in the basement of the chateau Villa Nellcôte, near Villefranche-sur-Mer, France. 

Recording the title song, which Jagger wrote after talking to a housekeeper about her love of gambling, was not an easy task--engineer Glynn Johns said there were between 30 and 100 reels of tape used just on the base part of the song.  "Tumbling Dice" reached position #5 in the U.K. and #7 in The U.S. and Canada.

The album gave them their second consecutive #1 on both sides of the Atlantic and has now sold over one million copies.  The group promoted the release with a North American tour that was documented by the film Ladies and Gentlemen:  The Rolling Stones.

"Rocks Off" was one of the many tracks which burned a lot of studio time.  Johns told the story of its recording to Goldmine magazine in 2010:

                 It went on for ages.  When Mick came 

                 back from Paris for the first time, he 

                 seemed happy with the sound.  And 

                 Keith would sit downstairs and at 

                 one point, he sat there for 12 hours

                 without getting out of his chair just

                 playing the riff over and over and over.

                 And then one night, it was very late, 

                 four or five in the morning, Keith says,

                 "Let me listen to that take again."  And

                 he nods off while the tape is playing.

                 I thought, "Great.  That's it.  End of

                 the night and I'm out of here."  So I go

                 back to my place where I was staying.

                 I walk in the front door and the phone

                 is ringing.  I pick it up and it's Keith.

                 "Where are you?"  "Well, I'm

                 obviously here 'cause I answered the

                 phone."  "Well, you better get back

                 here, man, 'cause I have this guitar

                 part.  Come back!"

 

This song was recorded in Los Angeles when Richards' heroin addiction was believed to have been in its beginning stages.  Jagger's lyrics are believed to be about Keith--"Torn And Frayed".

 

The Rolling Stones recorded "Happy" at Keith's villa in France.  He gave insight to the moment:

                  That's a strange song, because if you play

                  it you actually become happy, even in the

                  worst of circumstances.  It has a little 

                 magical bounce about it.  I wrote it one

                  afternoon when we were cutting 'Exile on

                  Main Street' in France and the studio was

                  in my basement.  And Bobby Keys was

                  with me and they got this lick going.  So 

                  we went down and I recorded it with just

                  guitar and Bobby Keys on baritone

                  saxophone.  While we were doing that, 

                  Jimmy Miller, who was our producer at

                  the time, came in.  And he was a very

                  good drummer as well.  So we said, 

                  "Well, let's put down a dub, we'll just

                  sort of sketch it out and play it later.  But

                  it's another one of those things that 

                  ended up being on the record.  It was

                  just one of those moments that you get

                  that are very happy.  And I can play it

                  now and it gives you a lift.

 

This great acoustic jam, perhaps the best acoustic song in the group's catalog, reflects the influence of Gram Parsons on the group--"Sweet Virginia".     

 

 

After being inspired at a service at Reverend James Cleveland's church, Jagger wanted to bring that same religious fervor to the Blues ballads on this outstanding album.  With guest piano work from Dr. John, and mixed at Sunset Studios in Los Angeles (which is where the song really came to life), here is "Let It Loose".

Here is the last song on the first side of Exile, a song originally recorded at Olympic Studios in London during the Let It Bleed sessions and brought back for Exile--"Loving Cup".

Jagger's rapid delivery not only tells the tale focused on America from the point of view of a foreigner, but the low mix also helped to hide obscenities.  Session musician Bill Plummer played upright bass and Keys delivered two great solos as well.  Here is "Rip This Joint".

This song was written about Jones, and was reworked and recorded after his death in 1969.Billy Preston played a haunting organ on "Shine A Light", which is also backed by a gospel choir.

 

This solid track was recorded for use on Sticky Fingers but didn't make the cut.  When it finally made Exile, the band was considering its release as a single, but ultimately chose "Tumbling Dice" instead.  Engineer Andy Johns told Songfacts how the group decided.  The Stones were in Los Angeles and they decided the best way to decide was to hear it on a car radio.  Tapes were given to a local radio station which of course was more than happy to play anything yet to be released.  The station played the song more than once while the band cruised in a limousine up and down Sunset Strip. Here is "All Down The Line".

 

This is a tribute to Angela Davis, a member of the Black Panthers who was put in jail for murder in 1970.  "Free the sweet black slave," Jagger sang in "Sweet Black Angel".

The Stones were proving they weren't just a 60's group.  Unlike hundreds of their contemporaries, they soldiered on and continued to make great music!  Much more in Part Seven!