Those Some Girls era tracks would've been in quite different form, though. Hang Fire was a much more obviously punk-inspired song that would've been great, but Start Me Up, on the other hand, wasn't quite ready, yet. I'm not sure about Black Limousine--I'm sure I've heard demos, but it's not a favorite of mine. Just about anything should've replaced Lies, though.
Yes The Only Ones were brilliant, another "what if" band. A mix of the Stones, Television and the New York Dolls I always thought.
Well, anything that had the same punkish feel to it. I like Everything Is Turning To Gold enough (from your question, I assume you don't), but it doesn't fit Some Girls. It could've fit Tattoo You, and maybe even Black and Blue.
I wouldn't say that, it could fit on Some Girls. Miss You is not punkish and neither is Just Your Imagination, Beast Of Burden, Some Girls or Far Away Eyes.
Hell, as far as I'm concerned "Rip This Joint" has a more punkish attitude than any of the faux-punk songs on Some Girls! And "Everything Is Turning To Gold" definitely would have fit on Some Girls
I see Some Girls as a mix of punk and disco (and country). All of the songs you mentioned seem to fall somewhere in that that view, whereas I see Everything Is Turning To Gold just as a funk jam.
I could imagine "Black Limousine" being on Some Girls. Up the tempo and it could fit in. Can't picture that album with "Start Me Up" though.
Well, to get back on topic... Had a good time tonight, spinning Exile and hanging out with the kids (my wife was at work so unfortunately she wasn't around to participate): https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154791057843282 And, yeah, I think there just might be more than one guitar on "Let It Loose"...maybe Taylor's in there after all- it sounds like a "choppy " kinda rhythm part, echoing the bass line in parts
Oh, and by the way, if that isn't Bill Wyman playing bass on "All Down The Line" then I'm the g-ddamn Pope..( and, no, I'm not wearing a tall hat at the moment). Sorry, Mick, 'cos I know you wrote the liner note/credits, but that ain't Bill Plummer playing an "uprite" bass, I'm sorry...
Side 4 Track 1 All Down The Line Finally we reach side four! After travelling through country, gospel and voodoo blues we are back to some familiar ground with All Down The Line and it's pure rock and roll. I am still a bit surprised this was not chosen as the lead single, perhaps they had decided on Happy as a second single already and felt ADTL was too similar? Jagger seemed keen on it being a single, it is certainly more immediate than Tumbling Dice. There is a case to be made that this is Stones by numbers, it is pretty much a check list of Stones' song cliches. Howling Jagger vocal, gospel backing vox, crunching open tuned riff and weaving guitars. Also the vocals are less of a story song that previous Stones hits. For a band thought of as being salt of the earth realists they tell many tales and feature many character driven lyrics. Jumping Jack Flash and the epic blues braggadocio of his life, the seedy comings and goings on the plantation in Brown Sugar. All Down The Line is lyrically throw away but as I said before their classic era was so good because between Beggars Banquet and It's Only Rock and Roll they could invest pretty much any old crap with such spirit. Andy John's describes Dance Little Sister as "a ****ty old track", yet it still rocks and it still grooves and it still feels like they mean it. And ADTL is ten times the track Dance Little Sister is...You can analyse the lyrics to Sympathy for the Devil and any of the other epic, lyrically unique Stones tunes till you are blue in the face but ultimately the music is what carries the message and in rock & roll if the music is good the lyrics can go hang. There is a nice alternate version of ADTL out there. I have posted the video for the chugging country version which also reminds me a bit of The Byrds in the chiming outro. There is Keith's demo which is cool to hear for the genesis of the song despite the tentative vocals. Also I found a slightly different mix, which may just be an early working version. Like all Stones songs they flung it about until something stuck. I find it odd how Keith's demo is so much more like the finished article than the full band alternate version, unless this one came first and they took Jagger's lyrical ideas for a new song? Either way the revved up rock and roll version is to my mind definitive. The full greatness of Exile is that while many double albums flag near the home stretch the Stones can kick your ass with a tune that on any other album would have been one of the rocking jewels in the crown. As if they wanted to reward fan's patience for getting this far they give them a mini Sticky Fingers all on one side. The riff is of course killer, it is the open string part of the chord that gets me. Once again the way Keith starts playing makes it feel like the song is going to be faster than it is. Charlie's opening fusillade at 0.05 also tricks us into expecting the full band but until 0.10 there is a breif but sublime duet between Charlie and Keith. The most interesting element of the next few moments is the huge bass run Bill lays on us at 0.20, it jumps out of the mix and is one of my fav random bits of Stones playing. These days it would have been compressed out of existence but here is adds a blood racing charge to the opening bars behind Jagger's vocals. I don't see much evidence that this is Bill Plummber's stand up bass as in the credits, it just sounds like pure electric Wyman. Despite it's simplicity this is one of my fav Wyman bass lines, just the feel and the tone are so great and make me wonder why he seemed so under appreciated, in his own band most of all. I would also put this song forward as evidence for the case that this is the pinnacle of Taylor's playing on a Stones track. Not only is he mixed prominently in the track but more than anything he really plays to his strengths while not being overbearing, or doodling. I think he should have played more slide on Stones' tracks, he was so bloody good at it! He comes screaming in at 0.23 and plays a signature lick at 0.28. also check out the killer fill just before the first chorus at 0.49. At 0.59 on the left you can hear Taylor play some crunching chords as emphasis with the same tone as the solos. Played as a chord his tone is amazingly raw like Link Wray's. Jagger's vocals over the chorus get progressively more buried under backing vocals and guitars so that by the line "I can't say yes and I can't say no" he is just part of a mush of sound. At 1.16 Keith's guitar jumps back into focus with a blaze of horns and some random whooping in the backing vocals. Taylor's tone is amazingly like a harmonica on certain passages, like at 1.42. I couldn't really detect Hopkins' piano part through the first half of the tune but I think he is super low in the mix doubling Keith's guitar part, or possibly what I think is guitar is a funky chord pattern on piano, it is hard to tell but around 1.48 I think you can hear him. I am sure for a lot of fan's one of their most exciting moments on the album comes at 2.07 as Taylor is straining at the leash with a repeated note before soaring into his solo. His rusty razor blade tone slashes through the tune until 2.30 when Jagger's voice worn ragged from shouting comes back in and Hopkins part finally becomes audible for a moment at 2.36 and 2.45. Keith comes back in at 2.55 and the horns go full Tom Jones live in Las Vegas and it looks like we are finished but the band comes in for another round at 3.09 and Keith's grinding guitar blasts away as Jagger's voice seems to finally give up at 3.33 with a raw howl.
All Down The Line: You k ow, I had bagged this in another thread, and I want to take it back. I still don't think it's quite as good as it's made out to be, but it is a great song, some really nice tasty slide, a great horn lime, it's an ace tune, I give it a thumb up and thumb three fourths up
They actually considered releasing All Down The Line as the first single from the album but ended up releasing Tumbling Dice instead. It was later used as the b-side of Happy. Jagger supposedly had Ian Stewart take a tape copy to a nearby radio station so he could hear how the song and mix sounded on the radio. How cool is that to hear an unreleased Stones song on the radio before the album or first single is released? Janovitz states in his book that Wyman plays bass on the track but Perry says Plummer's bass part could be buried in the mix but agrees that Wyman appears on the track. I disagree that the lyrics are throwaway. They are in the blues tradition of songs about trains and railroads.
Brilliant analysis! Always loved this song, and I as well have always been perplexed as to how on earth it wasn't a single. "...ultimately the music is what carries the message and in rock & roll if the music is good the lyrics can go hang." Couldn't agree more, especially with bands like the Stones.
Very true. All down the line is probably my least favorite track from Exile. It's a good track, perhaps outstaying its welcome to a certain extent, but here we also see the first vague traces of the generic Stones rocker, great but not really that great. As John Fell mentioned above, the acoustic run through should have been included in the deluxe edition. Again, this is another Exile song that doesn't really work on stage, if it goes too fast it becomes a blur, make it slow and it loses its punch.
"All Down The Line" kicks off a side I love largely because it is a side that best showcases Mick Taylor's unique contribution to the Stones. The acoustic "All Down The Line" was the first unreleased Stones I ever hid apart from the Brussels/London broadcast. Mick Taylor was an exceptional slide player and the first two songs on side four clearly highlight that. Loved "All Down The Line" live - best with Taylor but probably the best Taylor era song when played by the Wood-era band (at least up to 1981) probably because Wood is a pretty good slide player himself.
Note...I had posted a little Facebook video in my post above about my Exile session on Friday night, alas the video wouldn't integrate with the forum. Sorry. Yer not missing much, just a quick video of my kid playing with his Lego on the floor of my listening room and my stepson playing Minecraft with Exile blasting away in the background Hear f--king hear! Indeed, quintessential open-G riffing on "All Down The Line". Without riffs like that I probably would not be a guitarist myself I have no idea why Mick gave Plummer the bass credit here- it is obviously Bill Wyman playing an electric bass that almost sounds like it has a touch of fuzztone to it fer crying out loud. In one of the other Stones/Exile discussions here I quoted an interview from 1981, I believe, where Wyman claims that he plays on a lot more of the album than he was given credit for. Given how Bill is usually so outspoken about getting credit where it's due and whatnot I'm surprised it took him nine years to go public with his claims! In that regard "All Down The Line" sorta became the cookie cutter model for what most people who are not necessarily diehard Stones fanatics would constitute a Stones song: open G rhythm riff, slide lead guitar, swinging drums, nice bass line that holds the groove down, humourous double entendre lyrics, optional piano/horns. Hell, even the Stones fell prey to this kind of cookie cutter Stones song thing- I'm thinking of later songs like "You Got Me Rocking" or "Rough Justice" whose musical roots clearly lead back to "All Down The Line". "Tumbling Dice" is great and all, but IMO "All Down The Line" would have made a better choice for leadoff single (and not as B-side either!) It's arguably the most commercial, "Stonesy" track on the album. I want to say "All Down The Line" has pretty much been a standard in the setlist since 1972. Obviously the Stones like it and think it's fun to play, and yeah, it is a vehicle for slide guitar, whether it's Taylor or Wood doing the sliding Hell, I want to say Ronnie Wood busts out his custom Zemaitis "Frying Pan" guitar specifically for this song, doesn't he?
Dude, the lyrics to ADTL are not throwaway at all. Maybe I can relate : You can't say yes and you can't say no...Just be right there when the whistle blows... I need a shot of salvation, baby...Once in a a while.
