Rolling Stones Album-by-Album Thread (Part 12)

A lesser version of Pete Townshend booting Abbey Hoffman off the stage...

 

Still Life promotional video's:

 

MT on stage with the Stones at Kemper Arena, Kansas City, December 14 1981:

 

That was outragous and out there, those I think were Warhol pictures around Mick. Now worth millions likely.

Well, a Stones on vinyl collection must have the LP, so it may as well be the picture disc pressing if you're going to have it. It's a nice collectible, I like my copy, and $25 balloons is not too bad.

This one looks to be in good condition, free shipping!!

 

I have a black vinyl spanish pressing but the picture disc will be a nice addition to my collection, yes.

 

It would be ridiculous for anyone to think there was never a huge gap between the audience, their lives and that of the Rolling Stones'. It was a big part of the appeal. Rock Gods, artists not "hung up on petty morals."
Also, by 81, the status of the fanbase was stratifying by several variables. Rich stockbrokers at market's close to young teenagers just listening to an FM station.
Me? I didn't care. I never thought punk was a necessity. Just another genre like funk.

and I like it..yes, I do.

 

sorry, link did not get posted, this one seems to be in NM shape, and offers free shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-Pict-Dis...3185995?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item565a5c4d4b

 

The seller does not ship to Spain. But thanks anyway!

 

Hail Hail Rock n Roll.......i just wanted to type the words before the vision left my mind.

Carry on......I can wait till we get there

 

Watched the DVD last night. Lot's of highlights- here's one of them-IMO

 

anyone have ideas as to why the Stones didn't perform alongside Muddy Waters any time before 1981? They were in Chicago plenty often in the previous 20 years...

 

I posted a picture from '78 earlier in the thread.

 

They met him in 1963 or was it '64 at Chess, so I would guess they had played with him several times, just like Howlin' Wolf.

Not sure why the 81 date is considered so special, other than Waters was dead six months later. The last chance is all.

 

And it was recorded and filmed.

 

Very weird! This looks like something you might see on Adult Swim. I am not sure how an EMI sales or marketing person would be motivated by this, although maybe the chuckling in the room would serve as an icebreaker. (Maybe they don't care--maybe they're just glad they've been assigned to sell an explicitly commercial album by a wildly popular group that's also on tour.)

 

It was a less conservative time. Now everybody is forced to be so politically correct, and not hurt anyone's feelings, it's stagnant now in so many ways. If you had a problem with the art shown in that video, then basically the Stones were saying don't come around back stage at the shows, or even think about it meeting the band on this tour. You might see something like a joint being lit, or a line of coke or something. And we would not want you to get your panties in a twist over it. Get behind our record, but we don't need to meet you!

 

http://garyrocks.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/keith-richards-and-the-lost-sessions-longview-farms-1981/

 

In this installment, I'm a Rolling Stone... a MAN!



UK/US LP: Live At The Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981 (with Muddy Waters)
Released as Eagle Vision EV 305529 -- July 10, 2012

TRACKLISTING (DVD version): Sweet Little Angel / Flip Flop and Fly / Introduction / You Don't Have to Go / Country Boy / Baby Please Don't Go / Hoochie Coochie Man / Long Distance Call / Mannish Boy / Got My Mojo Workin' / Next Time You See Me / One Eyed Woman / Baby Please Don't Go (instrumental) / Clouds in My Heart / Champagne and Reefer (live 22 Nov. 1981)

Found on CD:

• Only as a bonus disc (with edits to the program) accompanying the deluxe DVD. An unedited 2-CD version was also included with a limited Japan-only edition

I gather that this release was not originally on EsotericCD's list of albums to cover, but I thought it important to discuss for a number of reasons. For one, it stands in stark contrast to the surrounding material: the carefully polished, overdubbed, pristine Still Life is a far cry from the wild, woolly music emanating from the cramped Checkerboard Lounge stage. There is a charming lack of formality — an unpolished, free-form looseness — to most of the performances contained here. This is more of a jam session than a musical statement, with little attempt to cleanly present a precisely defined formal structure. It is essentially a late-period Muddy Waters juke joint show, with special guests sitting in to mix things up. That those special guests numbered, in part, three brash white guys from England (and a laconic Scotsman) who had day jobs with the biggest rock band in the world is why it merits our attention.

Mind you, it's pretty inauspicious makings for a great Stones live album. Without Charlie Watts present on the main program, there's arguably little basis to its claim as a canonical "Rolling Stones" release, either. And yet, in chronological terms, Checkerboard Lounge stands right in the middle of the recording dates for Still Life: on a night off before three consecutive arena shows in suburban Rosemont, Illinois, most of the Stones' touring entourage went en masse for an evening out at the feet of the guru in his spiritual home on gritty Southside Chicago. Thanks to the foresight that this would be an important summit, and worthy of posterity, a video crew and multi-track recording setup were commandeered into the tiny club. The footage cleaned up nicely when digitally restored, and Bob Clearmountain & his assistant Brandon Duncan remixed the audio to a surprisingly pristine standard for a DVD+CD release in 2012. An even more expanded soundtrack found its way to a triple-LP, double-CD box set concurrently in Japan (where there are, it should be no surprise, entire floors of record stores devoted to Stones live recordings).

It's vitally important to trace the Rolling Stones' lineage as musicians back to the Chicago blues tradition. Yes, the Delta blues stylings of Robert Johnson et al. played a large influence on their classic-albums period, but it can't be denied that the Chess Records canon in particular was the primary reason for this band's existence: it was the spark that lit their eternal flame. Their earliest visit and subsequent recording session there in '64 was a landmark development in the progression from "white man's R'n'B" to the quintessential Rock 'n Roll Band, to say nothing of bolstering their blues bona fides. Instead of standing in awe of their heroes, they were forever more standing among them: immersed in and not just proselytizing on behalf of that tradition. The 'ancient art of weaving' was actually nothing more than a technique born out of stage routines that these Chicago blues bands developed from necessity: if your star wanted to play rhythm and lead alternately, any sideman worth his salt quickly learned how to pick up the other side of that stick without even thinking twice about it.

Incidentally, the sidemen in Muddy's band circa 1981 were absolutely top-tier. On this occasion his pianist Lovie Lee sings two tunes to start things off, "Sweet Little Angel" & "Flip Flop and Fly". As a bonus feature, the DVD includes a third introductory number, "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone", sung by guitarist John Primer. Then George 'Mojo' Bruford steps to the front, his bandolier of harmonicas arrayed for every possible key. He introduces "father of blues, Muddy Mississippi Waters", who calmly strides onstage strapping on his Telecaster, thanking the crowd and namechecking the Peppermint Lounge, his old regular gig just up the road. After a commanding workout on "You Don't Have to Go", Muddy silences the crowd with his unmistakable slide lick to cue "Country Boy". This is a brilliant performance; shame that the edited CD version scraps it due to time constraints. Over a lugubrious, hypnotic groove, Muddy plays a thrilling, climactic slide solo that builds to a show-stopping round of applause for his antics. He then gives each of his lead players a turn to tell the tale, in their contrasting styles, before winding the tune down on Rick Kreher's crystalline fireworks display into the final verse.

There were three more tracks performed in sequence here, available on the expanded Japan-only edition: "I'm a King Bee", "Trouble No More" and "County Jail". The DVD skips over them, eager to get to the arrival of the guest artists. Once he realizes their arrival is imminent, Muddy looks offstage to his right — it's time to take the show up a notch. He kicks the band into "Baby Please Don't Go". A camera is stationed outside at this moment to capture the sight of the entire Stones touring band (except for Bill & Charlie) sitting down to have drinks at the table right in front of the stage. They doff their coats and shake hands with a white-suited Buddy Guy, club proprietor and host for the evening. They are dressed for a night off; Woody is clad smartly in a tie and Keith in his usual idiosyncratic style. Mick's red sweatsuit looks slightly bizarre now, but given the Olivia Newton-John-inspired fitness/fashion craze of the day, it was probably not a bad look.

Once they're settled, Muddy invites, then COMMANDS, Mick up to the microphone. They share a verse and immediately the feeling between them is loose and fun. Muddy invites Keith up next, who straps on a nearby Tele and blows an exceptional solo like he's just breathing. Stu is still sitting front and centre, visibly impressed. Ronnie then gets in on the act, strapping on a Strat just as the tune is peaking with Muddy's solo — whereafter he exuberantly joins hands with them all. An absolutely stunning "Hoochie Coochie Man" duet between Mick & Muddy follows. Then he calls out the key of the next tune, "Long Distance Call", and hands Woody his own slide to take the lead. It's another jaw-on-the-floor showstopper. But the best is yet to come: the greatest and best-known composition of Muddy's career, and perhaps of all Chicago blues, "Mannish Boy". The Stones kicked ass whenever they did this on their own, and when they play it with the man who forged its legend, sitting right there — it's perfection. There's a particular mischief in Muddy's eye as he sings the line "I'm a Rolling Stone" in between three of them. Then Muddy gets to his feet. The whole room seems to shake at his hand's every chop and gesture. This. Is. Magic.

Muddy summons his one-time protégé Buddy Guy to the stage, who hugs Mick in his immaculate white suit and grabs the mic before strapping on his guitar. Muddy brings up his bluesman compatriots Junior Wells and Lefty Dizz, who each grab Mick's mic in turn. Their performances and appearances are pretty dishevelled, but to be fair this is probably long after the announced start time for the show, and the drinks are visibly flowing free. Muddy winds things down to take a break, excusing Mick, then Stu jumps on piano while Junior sings and plays harp on "Got My Mojo Workin'". He sounds a little bit below his usual par; having toured with the Stones earlier in the 70s he plays it almost too cool to even acknowledge them. There are many great videos from their European tour where he and Buddy Guy traded off on lead, with unflappable Bill Wyman on bass. Keith and Ron are clearly enjoying the opportunity to jam with Buddy, who counts in the next tune "Next Time You See Me" to sing and play lead with his trademark insanely-overdriven Strat tone. Keith busts out yet another exquisite solo before joining axes with Buddy for a transcendent duel.

All through this, John Primer has been holding down an exquisite rhythm, along with a wide-grinning Ray Allison on drums. Just as Junior Wells busts in on the action again, we hear Stu's exquisite boogie-woogie piano stylings exposed and sounding absolutely perfect for the occasion. Lefty Dizz straps on his beat-up, backwards (and horrendously out-of-tune) Strat while Buddy leaves the stage to resume mingling. It's chaotic, but beautifully so; Ron Wood's eyes visibly water during Lefty's balls-out blinder of a lead. Again, while Lefty may appear unprofessional to a predominantly white rock-and-roll crowd, his antics are totally juke joint ready. These guys are musical veterans in their own right, not on par with Muddy but certainly showmen deserving of stature in the Chicago blues circuit.

It's time for "One Eyed Woman", a comedy number, and Lefty Dizz intros Nick Charles taking over on bass while bantering with Mick in the crowd. Stu is absolutely in his element, here — Ronnie too, and his solo is worth the price of admission alone. Lefty wanders out into the crowd, shouting the words off-mic until Junior steps up and interjects something from another tune entirely. Muddy watches from the front, nonplussed and sensing this is just a little too loose, but smiling kindly, while Lefty drunkenly continues back into "Baby Please Don't Go" and asks if his Daddy will join them (?). It starts to fall totally off the rails here, and the regular CD version edits this portion out entirely.

Muddy resumes his place to put things back in order, ordering Primer to start "Clouds in My Heart". Unfortunately, he can't will Lefty to tune his guitar. But he does coax Keith into stepping up for yet another spectacular lead, then cueing Ronnie to do the same on slide. Primer takes a third chorus and then Lefty redeems himself with a sputtering turn but is shooed away from taking the mic. Muddy owns a stage when he steps on it, and his prowess saves the show. The incendiary finale is Muddy's own composition "Champagne and Reefer". He brings Bruford back up on harp, and finally encourages Mick back up to once more take a turn. He coaxes him through it, despite Mick hardly knowing the first verse. Muddy points out his favourite verse: "Every time I get high I lay my head down on my baby's breast..." Then they close on the admonishment not to mess around with cocaine, as the band jams out over the end credits. The unedited CD closes with a second and final jam. As if to prove that this was all in a day's work, the DVD includes bluesy riffstravaganza "Black Limousine" from the Hampton pay-per-view show (which we will, at long last, discuss next) as a final bonus.

Sadly, this was the last band Muddy toured with before his death in 1983. He was not at the height of his powers on this night, but his sheer awe-inspiring physicality is still apparent. This release captures what it was about his overwhelming stage presence and effortless cool that inspired and transfixed the band we all know and love. On this special night, a few of their fans (and now all of us) watched them all get a little of that mojo workin' for one last time.

 

That's one of my favorite moments of the show!