Rolling Stones Single-By-Single Thread

There are at least a couple of elements I prefer about the version with the alternate vocals: The fact that Keith's falsetto upper harmonies are much more prominent in the bridges, and what happens at 3:33. They really should've kept that in the released version!



A final note: It's interesting how just about all of the A-sides have emerged in some sort of stereo mix or another, good or bad, while most of the pre-1967 B-sides haven't. There is no logical reason for this, as they were all recorded at the same time with the same equipment. In the case of "Sad Day," it's really odd that it's never appeared in real stereo as everything else recorded at the "Aftermath" sessions in December of '65 has.

 

"19th Nervous Breakdown" is my favorite song...not just by the Rolling Stones, but by anybody.

 

Great, great single. I always heard the dive-bomb at the end as the nervous breakdown itself!

 

I think the logical reason is that, well, they were A-sides, and they ended up on LPs. Of course, not all of them were officially released, but presumably the original intention was at least to mix them for album release. With the B-sides, though, it was probably (correctly) generally assumed they wouldn't end up on LP.

Regarding Sad Day in particular, that was the only track from the sessions not released on Aftermath or Flowers.

 

Given that the original is pretty short, the Ramones version would hardly be longer than 1m 30sec. I can still hear that in my head. 1 2 3 4

 

I love the bluesy arrangement that they put together in 2005, this is from the Phoenix show that opened the Bigger Bang tour in Toronto

 

I agree completely .This starts my personal "Stones golden era ".
You've said it all for me and saved me a bunch of typing . Thanks!

All I can add is that I had the pleasure of seeing the Stones perform "19th Nervous Breakdown " live in 1966 and it was ... amazing .

 

One of the greatest opening lines ever -

“You’re the kind of person
you meet at certain
dismal, dull affairs”

 

I distinctly remember that as I was just getting into the Stones as a young teen in the early '70s that I wasn't all that enamored of "Breakdown" initially - didn't seem as instantly catchy as some of their other singles of the period. Fast forward 45 years or so, and it's now one of my fav tracks (the same thing kind of happened with Exile On Main Street actually)...and I think one of their most durable singles ever. The epitome of the 'social commentary' business so in vogue at the time - think "Paperback Writer", "Well Respected Man", "Substitute", etc. - it shows just how much progress the band had made in such a short time, upping their game once again to kick off the late-'65 initial Aftermath sessions. "Sad Day" is one of those nicely complimentary obscure B-sides that demonstrated the embarrassment of riches at their disposal during this period.

 

"19th Nervous Breakdown"

If there's a Stones song I'd put on a mixtape, it's this.

 

From their early period, 19th to me is their most exciting single. Dual guitar riffs, a bass dive bomb, cymbal crashes, and the blaring lead guitar. Sounds outstanding in true stereo with the dual guitar riffs going in opposite channels, ditto for the bass dive bomb and cymbal crashes at the end of the song.

 

"19th Nervous Breakdown" - another doozy!

 

It was an amazing time for rock and roll music in general. The music was evolving so quickly, the Stones included .
It's hard to imagine now that "Little Red Rooster " was released as a single in November 1964 and "19th Nervous Breakdown" was released in February 1966, only 15 months later.

It really helped buying the Stones singles in the 60's. "B" sides like "Sad Day ", "Who's Driving Your Plane"and "Child of the Moon" weren't available anywhere else at the time and were beloved hidden treasures for me back then.

 

Get Off Of My Cloud - It's OK, but I could never get into it.

19th Nervous Breakdown - same.

 

Remember what I said about "Pictures of Lily" in the thread about The Who singles box? Maybe that applies to "19th Nervous Breakdown" as well.

 

I don’t remember. What did you say?

 

This.

 

I don’t think that’s the case for 19th. Other than the static, the original mono mix sounds great. And the static is trivial to fix. It definitely sounds better than the 2016 remix.

 

19th Nervous Breakdown

The song intro starts out with what will become a Keithism. It is a hammered on chord at the 9th position based around the Suspended fourth (A note) of the E chord that lies underneath. The hammered on chord becomes a B 7th chord of sorts. The guy from the Doobie Brothers would use this type of riff to death. The verse kicks in at :05 on the E major chord. Brian plays a cool Bo Diddley type riff underneath Keith's slashing rhythm. The strong hook in the song however happens at :10. Here, Mick sings a harmony line using the E mixolydian mode. This harmony line starts with the flatted 7th of the E major scale and makes the tune have a somber tone. At :15, the song shifts to the A Major chord with Mick singing an awesome descending melody based on the A Major parent scale. Fits perfectly with the A chord. At :20 it is back to the E chord and then the verse winds up on B at :25 and then to the A chord at :28. Here Brian plays a cadence figure on his guitar using a Maestro fuzz pedal that ends on the suspended 4th of the A chord which is a D note. Adds cool tension before the chorus enters at :30. The chorus is based on E-A then back to E at :41. The verses return and move through to the chorus in the same fashion as above. At 1:28 the bridge enters based on B Major to E. Listen for some bluesy sevenths in the harmonies by Mick. At 1:37 there is a cadence of A-B and it's back to the verses. I love that Charlie cymbal crash before the verse returns. The verses move along to the chorus again at 2:12. At 2:28 the intro section returns as an interlude followed by the bridge at 2:35. The final verse returns at 2:55. At 3:19 where you would expect the final chorus, the boys pop the intro section in and use it as an outro with some cool descending reverb laden bass runs by Bill Wyman. You would almost expect to hear the tune Pipeline (Chantays) follow. A great ending to this brilliant blues based song.

 

I suppose “Satisfaction” will always be the most perfect of *perfect rock & roll songs to me.

That said, “19th Nervous Breakdown” remains one of The Rolling Stones core perfect songs from that period.

The Jagger subject matter, lyric & delivery are off the charts here.
The giant riffing!
The bass. The songs final signature is all Wyman’s. He had a lot of great moments, but none greater.

 

That is quite laughable. It might be ferocious by pop standards. Have you heard (& just as an example) any of Howlin Wolfs recordings going back to the very early 5o's with Willie Johnson or Pate Hare

 

Seriously? You do realize we are talking in the context of pop music in 1964? A mainstream audience of that period would never have heard of Howlin’ Wolf or any other Chicago blues player. The only part that’s “laughable” is your condescending statement, completely void of said context.

 

I have to agree with what is being said here. I was 12 in 1968 so by the time I was interested in music the Rolling Stones had reinvented themselves into the Mick Taylor version of the band.

I heard Chuck Berry & more importantly Muddy Waters before I heard most of these earlier Rolling Stones tracks & I find it very hard to like them. It is certainly a totally different experience to living through the releases in real time.

 

You may be able to gain an understanding and appreciation of the history and context of all recorded music, however, this is nothing like actually living through & experiencing those times as they happened.

 

On the other hand, my hats off to younger folks like Shannon the OP or Lukpac etc.,who have gained an appreciation and have a love of this music.

People born after the original era can't set a wayback machine to 1966 or whenever and be an "original" fan but it's cool they can fall in love with this music regardless of when they were born. We can't change when we were born .

I'm too young to have felt the impact of Elvis in 1956 or 1957 but I can certainly get a pretty good feel for what it might have been like.