Rolling Stones Single-By-Single Thread

It's pretty lightweight to me. To be fair, I knew the Stones themselves weren't happy with the recording before I ever listened to it, so my judgement may be clouded. They did much better work with other Chuck Berry tunes like Carol and You Can't Catch Me.

 

I just read on Wiki that “the band refused to play [Come On] at live gigs and Decca bought only one ad to promote it”.

If there was such a strong reticence to Come On, from both the band and label, then who was a strong advocate for the young Stones to record it, and also release it as their maiden single...?
Oldham...??

 

Come On

I dig it. It makes me think of 60s go-go dancers. There's also a little psychedelia thrown in with the guitar.

I Want to Be Loved

It's hard to even recognize Mick's voice on these early songs - he sounds so young! This one grooves nicely, and I like the harmonica. It's almost like a punk rock vibe with how short the songs are.

 

Perhaps the obvious should be stated (perhaps it already has...?), that many blossoming British rock and roll made their first musical impressions with cover tunes.

Perhaps this element added extra insurance to get the all-important initial airplay, thus public exposure, thus live gigs, thus TV and Radio appearances, etc

 

I'm looking forward to following this thread. They had a classic run of singles and I loved most of the "B"sides also.

"Come On" doesn't really excite me and although it was a long time ago , as a first generation American fan I don't recall hearing the song until later.
I don't think Chicago AM radio played it , and that was my only option at that time.

But, the first Stones 45 I bought was "Time Is On My Side" (with picture sleeve) so I became a big fan fairly early on. I still have the 45 with picture sleeve!

 

I love those early Stones singles. I listen to them much more often than the first couple albums.

When I started buying import LPs in the early '70s, "Bravo" quickly became a favorite, with both Come On and I Want To Be Loved on it (also Stoned).

 

Don't they change the original lyrics? I seem to remember Chuck sings "some stupid jerk tryna reach another number" and Mick sings it, "some stupid guy" -- which I've always thought was self-censorship, like "jerk" was too intense a burn for 1962. Or was it incomprehensible American-English usage and they didn't understand the meaning so they sang "guy" ??
Or am I totally wrong about the whole thing anyhow, I don't have those records handy...

 

I really like Come On. It puts down a marker that this is a tougher, rougher sound.

 

I actually like I Want To Be Loved the b-side better than Come On.

 

You're right that Chuck sings "some stupid jerk" in his version and the Stones changed it to "some stupid guy." As for the reasons why, I'm just as in the dark as you! I do kind of chuckle at the thought that it might be self-censorship, given the fact that in less than a decade this band would be releasing "Stray Cat Blues."

 

I understand this in a strange way. I think it's possible jerk was right for Chuck and guy was right for the stones in their respective contexts.

 

I guess it's obvious that they had a hard time figuring out how to approach a first single. It was Oldham who was pushing for Come on. He didn't have to play it on stage. I think they figured Chuck was rock and blues based and he had top 40 hits, so lets do one of those, as the closest shot.

 

A few years ago at a local record show I met the brother (he was selling records) of Roger Savage who engineered the Come On/I Want To Be Loved sessions which was pretty cool. It was the only Stones session he was involved in AFAIK.
He has since gone on to success as a sound guy in Australia, being nominated for an Oscar for his work in Moulin Rouge.

 

That's how I discovered Come On and I Want To Be Loved myself -- in around 1973 or so with this album, which still has one of my all time favourite cover photos. The fake stereo, though...

I just played an original UK Decca 45 of this first single ... I like Come On much better on the BBC On Air set. The Chuck Berry original is fantastic and one of my all time favourite records, the 'Stones version is OK but a bit anemic. The way the original single is mastered so hot helps it out a bit. I like I Want To Be Loved much more. But people posting on the harmonica sound are right -- it's got a bizarre, affecting quality to it on these two records.

 

No kidding. 1963 (oops I know I said 62 above...let's assume they learned the song a few months before the recording ) was unimaginably squaresville let us remember. Like, I'm 50/50 on it, either it sounded too offensive or maybe Mick had a hard time singing it, recovering from the hard 'k' ending of 'jerk' to form the words 'trying to' maybe??

 

I always thought Jagger just forgot it was 'jerk' and substituted 'guy' in a pinch.

 

As others noted.
Prefer “I Want To Be Loved” over the A Side. A fine rendition of the Dixon penned Muddy Waters Classic.
A very promising start for The Rolling Stones on their recording career.

 

If this is going to be a "Single By Single" thread, then it should be mentioned in advance that "Satisfaction" "Get Off My Cloud" "As Tears Go By" "19th Nervous Breakdown" and "Paint It Black" all had different B-sides in the U.S. than they did in the UK.

 

Just wondering -
Who thinks another Rolling Stones song would have been THE IDEAL debut single (instead of “Come On”)...?

If so, which one...? (Excluding the B side “I Want To Be Loved”)

Perhaps we can speculate on a possible revisionist history...?

 

The context is that they were a british group trying to get traction in 1963 and compete with the most charming guys on the planet, by having a popular song. Not to be bad guys. It was a politer time. And I think the change happened for that reason.

But I have known the stones version longer and I like it. Jerk is a snarky word, "guy" is telling the story straight(er). It changes the song. I think it might have been presumptuous of Mick to use the same word, becuase it was probably a little cheeky for Chuck to do it in the first place. To me, and probably Oldham, It's a big thing to call someone a jerk in your first single. It would have been squaresville too in it's own way to just mimic.

 

Come On
On one hand, it’s a pretty straight rendition of the original Chuck Berry song, but the Stones make it their own by adding plenty of the raw punky attitude that was their early trademark. This isn’t one that I listen to often, but it’s still pretty good.

I Want to Be Loved
I’ve always liked the way the early Stones would rework Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon songs into pop or rock and roll songs, and this is no exception. They hadn’t perfected their art yet, but “I Want to Be Loved” definitely shows potential.

 

I don't believe I've ever heard Come On or I Want to Be Loved before. I note that both clock in in a snappy just-over-a-minute-fifty, meaning you could play both of them twice in about the time it takes to listen to MacArthur Park once.

Come On: is that Jagger singing? The standard sneering delivery isn't there. Obviously added later.

I'm not fussy about either really but I prefer Come On and it fits better into the pop scene of the day (which I was listening to fairly religiously already, in the U. K., at age 8).

 

Chocolate Watchband covered the Stones' version of Come On on their first LP in '67, using the "some stupid guy" line and Brian's harmonica part:

 

By the way Poison Ivy/Fortune Teller their scheduled second single was withdrawn and the tracks later appeared on the Saturday Club compilation album and More Hot Rocks. I wasn't sure if we were going to cover it or not since it was withdrawn.

 

Yep, I'll note the b-sides (and include links) for both UK and US as each song comes up. I'm not going to get into other regions of the world because things will get really complicated really fast!

I wasn't planning on including Poison Ivy/Fortune Teller, but I can if people are interested in talking about those songs. I was also a bit torn as to whether or not to include the two early EPs. I'm leaning towards "yes" right now, just because I want to see what people have to say about them.