Stones' "It's Only Rock n Roll" Song by Song Thread*

My first Stones album purchased at 14.
Still love it.

TC

 

I fully agree that Exile is peak Stones, but I do think that true Stones died in mid-eighties (and I know this is a bit off topic), but up and until Undercover of the night, they were trying to be contemporary, trying to stay hip (albeit not always succesful). Stones started out doing contemporary rhythm and blues covers and listening to the then current music, but somewhere along the way I do believe Keith lost his interest in the here and now and became stuck with music pre 1965. It happens to most of us, it's getting more and more difficult to be excited by new music after 30.

The only way forward was to become the great corporate band they are today. I think one can see a pattern in what songs they covered (old or new) and what artists that were given the chance to be opening acts. Ain't too proud to beg was eight years old in 1974, The Dobie Gray Drift Away (tried out at the IORR sessions) was from February 1973, Cherry Oh Baby was from 1971, just like Just My Imagination and then suddenly in 1986 they are doing Harlem Shuffle (23 years old in 1986). As much as I like an album like Blue & Lonesome, it could be (cringeworthy) great to hear them try out something a little more contemporary. The self confidence of youth that made them take on Arthur Alexander and Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding in the mid sixties were long gone in the eighties.

This is a great thread because it covers one of those albums which is so so. It's easy to write celebratory about great music, much more difficult to pinpoint just what is it that makes songs like Luxury or Dance Little Sister good or bad. In that sense IORR, Black & Blue, ER and Undercover are perhaps the most intersting Stones albums before the birth of the corporate Stones

I can appreciate Dance Little Sister for what it is, a concious choice to make "stupid" rock and roll because, after all, it is only rock and roll. Don't interpret, don't look for hidden meanings, don't let us represent something else than a rock and roll band, just dance.

 

DLS is my secret favourite from IORR. Yep it sounds like a "stupid" stomper and to some it may drag on quite a bit - and still, it's simply irresistible, from Keith's cool riffing (GREAT sound) to Mick's superlative phrasing (DANCE, little SssssISTAH). Sometimes even a parody of a song can grip you by the b.... or get to your head, heart or soul and stay - which applies to quite a number of Stones songs, starting with Goats Head Soup (beginning of their corporate period), such as Angie, Luxury, Short & Curlies (you know the lyric), Fool To Cry and many more.

 

Good points!
I can even appreciate a song like "Might As Well Get Juiced" with it's prepostous posing (Jagger in "Freejack"-mode), because the added electronica (courtsey of Dust Brothers) sound simply addictive (I guess, exactly the part, Keith despised most).

Mind you their mix-up of old and new elements often lead to great results, such as Miss You or Undercover.

 

Love the kick start of the song...all Stones albums gotta have this kind of rocker. I like the outro guitar fade out too.

 

Is Taylor playing a Strat on "Dance Little Sister"? I always reckoned I could hear a bit of whammy bar in that solo...

 

I believe I recall reading that somewhere.

 

Agreed, except that I might replace Undercover in that list with Goats Head Soup. Excellent post.

 

"He's so good at what he does. It's a shame his personal life should be so exposed - that it should be allowed to interrupt what he's doing musically. Because he's the facade of what the Stones are doing. People get more into the outrage than the music sometimes which is a great pity. You only have to put on "Dance Little Sister" and you forgive the guy for anything. Keith's always been under the hammer. It's an imposed social karma which is bullsh#t."

Jimmy Page 1977

 

Dance Little Sister is great. Great intro, great rhythm, amazing bridge and a solo that doesn't take center stage from the riff part. Loved it when I first bought it and still love it.

 

"Dance Little Sister"

Much like "It's Only Rock 'n Roll" this could serve as a paradigm (or in this case maybe more of a stereotypical) example of a Stones song . . . I don't like it quite as much as "It's Only Rock 'n Roll", but I do like it a lot (even though they wound up basically rewriting this as "She Was Hot" and I also like that one more ). Relative to "It's Only Rock 'n Roll", "Dance Little Sister" is the more uptempo Stones template.

As such it has a lot of Stones quirks and assets.

On a broad scale, structurally it's extremely simple--most of it is simply a I to V progression, with a simple, pentatonic-based melody. However, it's pretty dense arrangment-wise, with parts with all sorts of nuances weaving in and out, interlocking with each other in a kind of controlled chaos that's frequently a bit dissonant--for example, if you were to take time slices, individual eighth notes, and sustain the notes that everyone is playing at the same time. Aside from the Stones groove/swagger, that's what keeps things interesting despite the simplicity.

I'm someone who tends to be drawn to quirks, and one of the best here is how oddly Mick sings the title line, the way it ends up being "Dance lih-uhl SSSSS"--more like a hissing sound--half the time.

 

Too purist in spirit for me.

I'd say that the Stones are as the Stones do.

 

I don't really agree with you about Keith, but just curious if you're not a Ron Wood fan?

 

To be honest, I like the Stones more than some of you do, because as far as I am concerned, these albums:
Some Girls
Tattoo You
Undercover
Voodoo Lounge
are all as good or better than any album they made before Beggars Banquet.

 

I like Aftermath better than any of those.

 

I'm a huge fan of his work with Faces. He was a monster on those records, with a killer tone and tremendous variety in his playing. With the Stones, I'm hard pressed to think of a single standout or 'signature' moment he has produced. That's easy with Jones or Taylor, there are multiple examples of each.

It seems like Wood was chosen because he fit the mold, looked like a Stone, and meshed well with Mick and Keith personally. He's able to 'weave' with Keith and play a lot of the Taylor parts live, so he perfectly fits the 'corporate' band the Stones became, with paint by numbers records and monster worldwide tours.

Hey, he's made more money and become more famous than he ever would have had he not joined the Stones, and he provides exactly what they need, so he's doing just fine.

 

I don't think that is being honest. I think that is being wrong, and I completely disagree with the statement.

 

And it isn't really close.

 

I like some of Ronnie's solo albums better than some of the Stones albums from the same period.

 

Of course. I'm not sure about Undercover and VL, but Some Girls and Tattoo You are like a million times better than any album they made before Beggars Banquet.

 

I'm probably in the minority with this track because I think it is really quite pedestrian, monotone, and mediocre. I understand that it is a hit, but I never understood the appeal. The Rolling Stones were so much better than this song.

 

And much, much better than the bloody Paint it Black.

 

I think the trio of Some Girls, ER and Tattoo You is pretty solid. Yeah, it isn't as good as Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile, it is definitely top tier to me. Ronnie and Keith really did some great weaving

 

Here is an example of how I rate Aftermath:
4 great songs
2 real good songs
11 that are good to meh

In actual math, Aftermath against Undercover:

1. Lady Jane
   
   
2. Under My Thumb
   
   
3. Paint It Black
   
   
4. She Was Hot
   
   
5. Out of Time
   
   
6. Undercover of the Night
   
   
7. Stupid Girl
   
   
8. Too Tough
   
   
9. All The Way Down
   
   
10. Tie You Up
    
    
11. Feel On Baby
    
    
12. It Must Be Hell
    
    
13. Mother’s Little Helper
    
    
14. Wanna Hold You
    
    
15. Going Home
    
    
16. Take It or Leave It
    
    
17. High and Dry
    
    
18. Flight 505
    
    
19. Doncha Bother Me
    
    
20. Too Much Blood
    
    
21. Pretty Beat Up
    
    
22. I Am Waiting
    
    
23. It’s Not Easy
    
    
24. Think
    
    
25. What To Do
    

 

On Saturday night, she basodee*
She stepping high on Frederick Street


Get next to me, drive me close
Don't mamaguy* me, I lose control



On Saturday night, we don't go home
We bacchanal*, ain't no dawn



*Thanks to Christian Tanneau for pointing out that these words are from a Trinidadian dialect, as Frederick Street is in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Basodee: drunk, light headed, half silly
Mamaguy: to fool somebody with smart talk, to ridicule, false praise
Bacchanal: large noisy happening, scandal, big party, confusion