Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert

The Rolling Stones have released at least ten live albums and any number of concert DVDs during their career. Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert is the best of the lot and remains one of the better live concert releases in rock history.

Mick Taylor had taken over the lead guitar chores from the deceased Brian Jones and his professionalism, creativity, and overall brilliance would spark The Rolling Stones into the most creative part of their career. His guitar virtuosity would tighten the group’s sound and help make such albums as Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street, Goats Head Soup, and It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll, the standards against which future rock ‘n’ roll releases would be measured.

In concert, Taylor was able to take just about any song and make it better. As such, he was the perfect foil for Keith Richards. Their overall relationship may have been rocky, but Taylor forced Richards to play at a higher level. Mick Taylor’s impact on Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out should not be underestimated.

The Rolling Stones had not toured since 1967, and so the anticipation for their return had been building toward their November-December series of American concerts. The tracks contained on this album were taken from the Madison Square Garden shows on November 27 and 28 except for “Love In Vain,” which was pulled from a Baltimore show the day before. The album was finally released on September 4, 1970 and quickly sold a million copies in the United States.

The middle of the album contains some of the best live music that The Rolling Stones would record. “Midnight Rambler” is stretched out to just over nine minutes. This concert favorite of death and murder changes from the studio where Keith Richards played all the guitar parts; here Taylor and Richards challenge each other and ultimately unite as the song is propelled along with Mick Jagger’s vocals. What follows is a pulsating version of “Sympathy For The Devil.” This almost hypnotic song is always a vocal feat for Jagger and this presentation is no exception.

Two old Chuck Berry tunes are resurrected for frenetic outings. “Carol” and “Little Queenie” were nice additions. They harkened back to the Stones’ early period when they were a gritty rhythm & blues-oriented band.

“Stray Cat Blues” from Beggar’s Banquet and the old Robert Johnson song “Love In Vain” proved that at this point in their career they could produce tough blues when motivated. The first was and still is very controversial in its portrayal of sex with an under aged girl. The song is presented slower here than the studio version. The second leaves a sad feeling, the dual guitars conveying the emotions of the 1937 original.

The album opener “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and the two closers, “Honky Tonk Women” and “Street Fighting Man,” are straightforward rock ‘n’ roll. They were recorded when the Stones were really the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world.

Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! remains a wonderful document, not only of The Rolling Stones but of the period. The Stones are tight, mature, energetic, and engaged, and it doesn’t get much better than that.