I’m not what you call a big Stones fan. I always considered them
\na band that cut great singles, but lacked the ability to create
\nalbums that stood out on the whole the way their contemporaries
\n(for example, the Beatles and the Who) were able to do. Through the
\nyears I have loved many of their songs, but the albums themselves I
\nfound wanting. Always a few tasty tracks, but always that measure
\nof inconsistency as well. “Satisfaction,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and
\n“Gimme Shelter” for example, are great songs. If they come on the
\nradio I crank them up. In their earlier days they were a fun band
\nto have around, always good for a catchy single. In the new
\nmillennium sadly, they are a media commodity to be sold to the
\nhighest bidder. But back in 1978 they cut one of their best albums
\never (and the only Stones album I own)
\nSome Girls<\/i>. Jam-packed with bluesy funk (or funky blues if
\nyou prefer), dirty-white-boy style electric r&b and gritty
\nhumor,
\nSG<\/i> is a high point in their career — possibly their most
\ncohesive work, and definitely the most fun album they ever cut.<\/p>\n
Ostensively an homage to their adopted home of NYC, it’s a
\nwatermark of a time when disco brought a dance groove out of many
\nunlikely bands, and punk rock was forcing bands of all genres to
\nstrive for a harder, grittier sound. The Stones achieve both on
\nthis set. “Miss You” was an unlikely dance hit without suffering
\nfrom the superficiality of disco. Rockers like “When the Whip Comes
\nDown” and “Respectable” take Chuck Berry-style riffs and rev them
\nup without losing their r&b roots. Musically they never sounded
\nbetter. Keith Richards, never a virtuoso, was off drugs for the
\ntime being, and this is by far his most solid work. Richards and
\nRon Wood play off each other in equal shares. The Stones always had
\na sort of simple off-handed guitar style to their arrangements, but
\nhere they deftly trade chops back and forth and create a subtly
\ncomplex sound that together is greater than the sum of its
\nparts.<\/p>\n
Oddly, for a band that made its mark with it’s early hard rock
\nsounds, the two big hits on
\nSome Girls<\/i> are both ballads. The opening track “Miss You”
\nbecame a massive hit. This funky, hypnotic blues number was the
\nperfect vehicle for the boys, in that it’s a cool rock song that
\nappealed to the AOR listeners, but the dance crowd loved it as
\nwell. “Beast Of Burden” is a touching and surprising straight-up
\nlove song. Built around a the beautifully intertwined guitar
\ngive-and-take of Wood and Richards, Jagger sings with a depth of
\nfeeling a Stones song hadn’t shown since “Wild Horses” or “Angie.”
\nProfessing love while admitting weakness, “I’ll never be your beast
\nof burden \/ My back is broad, but it’s hurting.” Another ballad,
\nand a true gem on this set is their cover of The Temptations’ “Just
\nMy Imagination.” The Stones rework this classic tear-jerker with a
\nsoulful groove, punctuated by Ron Wood’s lush county-style licks,
\nmuscling up the arrangement without losing the lamenting pain of
\nthe lyrics.<\/p>\n
On “Respectable” and “When The Whip Comes Down” they stick to
\ntheir musical roots. “Whip” is as musically simplistic as it gets,
\nwhich means it works perfectly for the Stones. These guys do their
\nbest work when they keep it simple. The stripped-down arrangement
\nis tight and clean, emphasizing the excellent rhythm work of
\nCharlie Watts and Bill Wyman. Jagger manages to infuse the sordid
\ntale of a gay street hustler with wicked sense of humor; “I’m
\nfilling a need, yeah, I’m plugging a hole \/ Momma’s so glad I’m not
\non the dole.” On “Respectable” they poke fun at their own
\ncelebrity, and their shift from the boys no one would want their
\ndaughter to bring home, to being the “must have” guests of the
\njet-setter cocktail circuit. Ripping through a dead lift from Chuck
\nBerry, Richards and Wood ride the rhythm trading licks back and
\nforth.<\/p>\n
The one throwaway track is “Lies,” three minutes of pointless
\nrhythm and Mick blabbering incoherently. Even the corny “Far Away
\nEyes,” with its country vibe, sounds better than this. Wood’s lazy
\npedal-steel guitar nicely punctuates “Eyes,” which sounds like the
\nStones parodying themselves parodying a country band. You can’t
\nhelp but get a grin from Mick’s mock radio evangelist.<\/p>\n
A sleeper track is the gritty “Before I Have To Run.” Richards’
\nlead vocal sounds like Bob Dylan with a badger stuck in his
\nwindpipe, but it’s still a fun track, and is reminiscent of the
\nKinks’ work of the same era. The final chorus could be Keith’s
\neventual epitaph as one of rock’s most controversial bad boys;
\n“After all is said and one \/ I did all right, I had my fun \/ I will
\nwalk before they make me run.”<\/p>\n
“Shattered” is the climactic closer. This groove-infected track
\nis a blast of joyous nonsense, driven by a Bill Wyman’s funky bass
\ncouplets, and the “Shoo-doo-bee” chorus, with Mick barking out the
\nhilarious lyrics the mock-rap style. A fantastic free-for-all that
\nhighlights the Stones ability to adapt and meld their influences
\ninto a cohesive and original sound.<\/p>\n
This is a rock-solid set and arguably the most cohesive album of
\ntheir career. They stick to their roots, they play to their
\nstrengths, and the whole damn thing works. If you, like me, are a
\ncasual Stones fan, then take a tip from Mick; “Go ahead bite the
\nBig Apple (don’t mind the maggots).” Take a bite from a time when
\nthe fruit was still fresh and sweet for the Stones. If you haven’t
\nspun this one, you are missing out on some of the best work of one
\nof rock’s most successful bands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":26997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5665],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38315","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-rolling-stones","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38315"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}