Their Satanic Majesties Request Song By Song Thread

OWTS - I like the dig at Old Man River and Stormy Weather as staples of the standard cabaret repertoire of the day, in the UK. In the case of The Mothers' own lounge lampoon song, it was Caravan (...with a drum sola) and Bill Bailey!

I have always loved OWTS. Even as a somewhat rebelious kid in the early 70s, I dug that one of my favorite groups, the snarky Rolling Stones, were making fun of the old-hat, conventional entertainment culture. In fact, I had only heard The Beatles doing this before (which I also loved!).

Today I still like the arrangements with the harp and piano, and can appreciate the lyrics - which I practically didn't get at all at first - as well as that incredible audio-vérité doorman monologue.

 

possibly the most humorous of Stones albums...the humor is everywhere....

 

We're still covering We Love You and Dandelion

 

We Love You

 

Cool!

 

...of course we do!

 

Looking forward to this, I think this album is seriously underated in some parts when for me it's one of their best, and some days it is their best

 

Yeah, of the psych trio, it's the most overlooked. Aftermath is one of the indisputed classics of the Brian Jones Years, and this album has a cult following and a legend of sorts, but Between the Buttons seems to always get overlooked.

 

We Love You:

And now the stand alone single from this period, written by Mick and Keith as a way of thanking the fans for sticking by them during the legal tribulations.
It starts with some jail ambience before Nicky's piano starts at :09, and it's badass piano work. Starting at :17, there's a warbling sound underneath that creates a certain shading to the piano and at :34, there is a marching alongside Charlie's drums and it creates this cluttered, claustrophobic atmosphere. The vocals come in at :39, and these vocals for sure contain Lennon and MacCartney, and I really like the harmonized vocals. I also love Brian's Mellotron throughout the track, emulating a horn line, but at the same time it has a distinct texture to it. Oh man does that harmony absolutely rule, as does Nicky's piano and Charlie's drums.
This song is absolutely incredible and should be on every compilation and it's bulls*** that it won't be on the 50th Anniversary Edition!

 

As much as I like world music and more experimental stuff I find The Gomper can be irritating. Now I know it has to do with my US stereo mix. Thanks for pointing this out.

Hopefully a stand alone mono vinyl mix will come out this year. For the most part I love side 2. The Lantern would fit right in on Beggars Banquet. She's A Rainbow and 2000 Light Years From home are two of the best songs they ever did.

 

"We Love You", another excellent Stones song from that prolific and inspired period. Released a month after "All You Need Is Love", this is its ironic counterpart, in a way. Once again, Hopkins and Jones are vital to the distinctive sound of the piece, with Brian delivering a marvelous and caustic Mellotron performance (using a mixture of brass and strings sounds). Brilliant little number.

 

Interesting to compare those two albums. Both were 'end of an era' albums (psych-pop & the Mick Taylor years). Both include a few all time Stones classics alongside some of their weakest pre-1980's tracks. Both underrated.

Re: "We Love You" - that cacophonous section near the end - all Charlie's drums, Nicky's piano and Brian's Marrakech by way of Mars mellotron - is one of the finest bits of pure sound in the entire Stones catalog. One of the superlative singles of 1967. I rank it alongside "2000 Light Years From Home" & "Citadel" as the best of the 1967 Stones.

 

This thread has made me re-listen to the album & outtakes. Interesting that Brian Jones plays a lot more horns on this record than I'd remembered. Of course, he also played sax on "You Know My Name" that year. Seems he was mostly into horns, mellotron & organ in '67. Stringed instruments, not so much...

 

Yeah that is worth a mention. Truthfully he was pulling back on guitar as early as Between the Buttons and except for No Expectations and maybe Sympathy or JJF he would never touch the guitar again. When people talk about him pulling away from the Stones, we always focus on all the personal drama, and while that certainly did play a role, I do think people neglect musical differences. Keep in mind Jimmy Miller's quote about Brian bringing a sitar instead of a guitar, or Anita mentioning Brian wanting to sample the Master Musicians on I believe Sympathy (Hell I've heard he wanted to sample church bells). Even on Beggars, his contributions, in Ophelia's words, belong more on a soundtrack or world record than a Stones album. Then again he was blaring Creedence that last summer so he might have held some interest in rhythm and blues left.

 

Jagger and Richards writing together with Jones bringing all those unique arrangements were the key to those brilliant years of the band. It's hard no to think about the things Brian could have done after being fired from the Stones. As talented as troublesome.

 

A couple more bands versions of tracks from this great album which seemed to be a big influence on British Baggy bands in 89/90 period......I seem to remember a 12" dance remix of We Love You but time has destroyed my chances of who did it

Danse Society - 2000 Light Years From Home


World of Twist - She's Like A Rainbow

World Of Twist - She's A Rainbow (The Rolling Stones Cover)

 

I love this happy sounding song - the mellotron, the guitar, the piano, the vocals - everything. It's a goof, of course, but a cute song with a snappy production and performance. I also love the curious heavy drumbeat that occurs right as the song ends - listen to the ice cubes and piano end, and then way off in the distance you can hear 4 or 5 heavy tom beats and mellotron like music.

 

That's the one that we're all waiting for. And when I say "we", I of course mean me.

 

BTW-I remember seeing it on a video jukebox in 1967! It was a machine that played films synced to music. Have never seen another since. Anyway, the film opened with Nicky Hopkins attacking the piano keyboard with a sledge hammer!

 

Great point. There is a good deal of humour in the Stones' work, an often overlooked feature.

 

I would love it too.

 

Great track and the album would have been much stronger if it had been included.

The sound of the door slamming was taken from an episode of the Goon Show.

We Love You and Dandelion were the last Rolling Stones songs produced by Andrew Loog Oldham.

 

Just curious where would you place it in the sequencing?