The Rolling Stones - Black and Blue song by song thread

Plus they have never been able to completely pull off that part convincingly live onstage, without the benefit of overdubbing and/or Billy's contribution

 

Because, my dear man, Preston had the confidence and ego to go toe to toe with the Superstars he was playing with, in EXACTLY the same way Buddy Miles did it with Jimi Hendrix.. It's a strange paradox, On one hand the Musicians dig it that you can do it with them, but at the very same time you scare the schidt out of them because your an UNKNOWN to the 'inner circle ' of the band and it's honed hierarchy, so your basically used by both power leaders and then thrown to the wolves.
There are still, to this day, discussions about Buddy Miles ego and how he had no reservations about thinking that he was equal to Jimi, and that wore thin VERY quickly.
Put that up with mick and keith and you've got a pressure cooker ready to blow.
Jimi sure ditched Buddy quite quickly after he got the bog album done.......hmmmmmmm
Beave

 

Perhaps I have it wrong, or maybe it was a typo. Sorry about that, I thought I was keeping in good with the discussion. Oops...

 

Well, if Ronnie says so...I stand corrected, sir.

 

I love this record.

I’d play it now but I’m committed to listening to the entire Allman Brothers Fox Box tonight....into the morning.

Man...”Memory Motel” gives me the chills every time. Love everything about it.
The shared vocals are incredible here, imo. Anticipating the Keith vocal coming in each time is as exciting now as it was from the 2nd time I heard it.

And yeah...”Hand of Fate” is a classic.

Welcome aboard, Ronnie Wood.....your masterwork on “Some Girls” was yef to come!

 

I have a true story about Buddy Miles and that ego of his. Back in the early 80s I was working as manager at an indie record store in Santa Cruz, Ca. One day this guy comes in, I didn't really take notice of him or give him barely a look, just another dude in the store perusing the album racks. Then after, I'm not sure, maybe about 20 mins he comes up to the front counter where I was, drops a stack of like 20 albums on the counter and proceeds to tell me these are all him and he wants me to give them to him, cause he's the famous Buddy Miles! I look at the records, sure enough all Buddy Miles and Hendrix albums. Then I look at him close and realize this really is Buddy Miles in front of me. No doubt about it! I also remember he even has Axis Bold As Love in the stack and he definitely didn't play on that one. Regardless of any of that, I tell him I don't know what he's thinking but he's not taking those records unless he buys them like anyone else, then I just grabbed them off the counter and put 'em down behind me. He started arguing with me that he's the greatest drummer ever and I should be honored to let him have those records! I'm just totally taken aback by all this... it's like how can this famous guy be such a douche?? Not to mention cheap! We argued some more and finally I just tell him he needs to get out of the store now. I was actually kinda rattled by his big talk, but just decided to hang tough, even though I wasn't sure what he was going to do. After a bunch more jive talk on his part he finally gets the clue and starts walking out, talking bs all the way out. Really a crappy experience for me. That was a big wake up that "celebrities" can be just as awful (or worse) than anyone else. Plus, I never thought he was a very good drummer anyway, even before this happened, so that just added to the feeling. It's easy to see how Hendix could have gotten totally fed up with this guy. I have to wonder why he ever played with him at all.

 

Singer Billy Preston Arrested in Sex Case
August 19, 1991

Singer Billy Preston, who wrote the hit ballad "You Are So Beautiful" and played keyboards with the Beatles, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy at his home in Malibu, authorities said.

Preston, 45, was arrested for investigation of sexual battery, showing pornographic material to a minor, possessing cocaine and being under the influence of a controlled substance ...

The 16-year-old boy told deputies that Preston had picked him up Sunday morning at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Trancas Canyon Road, a gathering point for day laborers, Estrada said. The boy, whose name was withheld because of his age, said the singer began smoking cocaine and showing him pornographic pictures shortly after he entered the car.

Preston then allegedly drove to his Malibu home and took the youth to a barn behind his house ... "The juvenile was able to push Preston off, and ran to a neighbor's house," Estrada said.

 

That is true and as much as it drives Keith nuts you'd think he'd be used to it by now.

Ronnie plays some great bass on "Fight".

Yes- the Black and Blue inner sleeve credits the "Crazy Mama" solo to be played by Keith, Ron and Billy- most likely Keith and Ronnie harmonizing on guitars and Billy on piano...at least, that's what it sounds like to me.

Perhaps for the purposes of this discussion it's best if we not go there...discussion of musicians' various crimes and misdemeanors tend to end badly, and I'd hate to see this discussion get closed.

 

But in Billy's case, was it a question of ego, or was it a question of a guy who had a well-established reputation as being a genial, easy to get along with sideman (so much so that he was under serious consideration to become the official Fifth Beatle), who gradually over a period 6 years showed his reliability to the band (at a time when Keith Richards was becoming increasingly unreliable) and who had a close personal rapport with Mick? Billy Preston was no unknown in 1976. I don't think Billy thought he was an equal to Mick or Keith. This was just a guy Mick relied upon for chemistry when Keith was nodding out.

 

Apart from the superb rocking "Hold On To Your Hat" which is one of my favourite post "Dirty Work" songs.
That harder edge did return somewhat on "A Bigger Bang".

 

It isn’t disco, it’s funk.

 

Yes, he did.

 

This suggests to me that he was either found not guilty or that they deemed there to be insufficient evidence to even try him. But at least you are attacking the reputation of a dead person who won't care.

 

Like I said, R, probably best not to even go there...

 

Telling indeed, and I'm not basing on Buddy, but big egos can do a lot of good in moving things along but they also can turn out to be a detriment to an artistic situation. There's a reason Jeff Beck can't keep a band together.
Beave

 

If that's an attempt at funk - ouch! I mean, it fails at being disco, but it really fails at being funk.

And the band released it as a disco 12":

 

Their attempts at blues, country and reggae are equally laughable from the perspective of specialists in those genres. But they make them all, funk included, their own unique and cool sound.

About the only genre they could ever cover faithfully was 50s rock and roll.

 

Memory Motel
With one of their sweetest melodies they ever committed to tape, it’s also one of their most romantic moments despite the relationship drifting into the past. Keith Richards’ beautiful electric piano and the heartfelt sentiment of Mick Jagger’s reflectively hair-curling vocal, on the edge of breakdown over the memory of a moment in time, the Stones come up with one of the most memorable album tracks of 70’s rock. The optimism felt when the woman of the memory motel is showered with unique compliments along the glistening grace of the melody is such a fantastic combination, I could only look back at my own life and the girlfriends who’ve passed through and hence my delay in writing about this wonder.

I had a girl who didn’t quite fit the description of “hair drenched in spray” or “teeth that slightly curled”, but she was “a peachy kind of girl” and she “had a mind of her own”. We loved this song together, and it shows that when you’re within a relationship, a song can hold more memories than the actual events themselves years later. Listening to this song with her many times, once a human that I had a strong bond with has turned into just my mind and my memory like it was all a dream. Over last weekend I thought of her and listened to this a few times in a row-I don’t like to hear songs over and over, but as I walked the streets connected to a cellphone with YouTube playing this song, I felt every element fell into place perfectly just like when you really fall in love.

The shining organ, the relaxed rhythm punctuated by perfectly placed drum fills, the pinched and curled guitar notes, the travelogue, (“the road ain’t all that smooth”), the 50’s sha-la-la-la backing vocals, the shadowing backing vocals by Keith- all just absolutely incredible together on a record groove. “On the 7th day, my days were all a glaze, we’ve been ten thousand miles, through 15 states”- did it all really happen in a week? Any length of time can impact you for the rest of my life. Easily a top 5 Stones song for me partially because of my memories, the smile I find on my face and my heart the song tugs on every time.

Shining a light amidst the black and blue.

 

As are some of their attempts at the blues, but that’s what makes The Stones so cool...they’re not afraid to try and have no inhibitions about the results

 

Beautiful, thanks for sharing

 

Thank you for this. Beautifully written....I feel the same. Just perfect, man!

 

Here's @ohnothimagen's GHS thread:
The Rolling Stones- Goat's Head Soup song-by-song discussion!

 

Has the discussion of Crazy Mama started yet?

 

Nope, wanna go?

 

I think the OP has left the building, not that he was ever really here.