Rolling Stones Single-By-Single Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Parachute Woman, Mar 6, 2018.

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  1. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    Historical significance, most more than likely, debut single and all...
     
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  2. mBen989

    mBen989 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, PA
    Ah yes; the famous Bright Lights, Big City, as those songs usually circulate.
     
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  3. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    It was their first British single.

    However, it is not on Hot Rocks, the U.S. version of Big Hits or Forty Licks. It finally showed up on More Hot Rocks in the U.S.
     
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  4. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Thank you to everyone who has joined in already! I think this thread is going to be both fun and informative. You can expect me to post each new single around this time each day (my lunch break ;)).

    As noted in the discussion, the original plan for the second single was “Fortune Teller” backed with “Poison Ivy” (click the names for links). Note:

    On 19 August 1963, the band recorded "Poison Ivy" and "Fortune Teller" to be their second single. A few hundred copies were pressed, but the single was withdrawn.[42]These recordings would be included on the album Saturday Club, a compilation of tracks from various artists appearing on the Saturday Club (BBC radio) show of the time.

    We can discuss “Fortune Teller”/“Poison Ivy” during this section as well, as it was “the second single that might have been.” After it was scrapped, we get the official second single by the Rolling Stones…

    I Wanna Be Your Man (1963)


    [​IMG]

    Released: November 1, 1963
    B-Side: “Stoned
    Charts: #12 (UK)

    Released as their second single on 1 November 1963, the Stones' version was an early hit,[2] peaking at number 12 on the British chart. Their rendition features Brian Jones' distinctive slide guitar and Bill Wyman's driving bass playing. It is one of the few Rolling Stones songs to feature only Brian Jones on backing vocals. In the US, the song was initially released as London 45-LON 9641 (with "Stoned" on the B side) without any success and was soon after re-released on 6 March 1964 as the B-side to "Not Fade Away".

    According to various accounts, either the Rolling Stones' manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham or the Rolling Stones themselves ran into Lennon and McCartney on the street as the two were returning from an awards luncheon. Hearing that the band were in need of material for a single, Lennon and McCartney went to their session at De Lane Lea Studio and finished off the song – whose verse they had already been working on – in the corner of the room while the impressed Rolling Stones watched.

    Mick Jagger recalled the song in 1968:[3]

    We knew [the Beatles] by then and we were rehearsing and Andrew brought Paul and John down to the rehearsal. They said they had this tune, they were really hustlers then. I mean the way they used to hustle tunes was great: 'Hey Mick, we've got this great song.' So they played it and we thought it sounded pretty commercial, which is what we were looking for, so we did it like Elmore James or something. I haven't heard it for ages but it must be pretty freaky 'cause nobody really produced it. It was completely crackers, but it was a hit and sounded great onstage.

    McCartney stated in 2016:[4]

    We were friends with them, and I just thought "I Wanna Be Your Man" would be good for them. I knew they did Bo Diddley stuff. And they made a good job of it.

    Bill Wyman noted how the Rolling Stones adapted the song to their style:

    We kind of learned it pretty quickly 'cause there wasn't that much to learn. Then Brian got his slide out, his steel (guitar) out and dadaw ... dadaw ... and we said, 'Yeah, that's better, dirty it up a bit and bash it out', and we kind of completely turned the song around and made it much more tough, Stones- and Elmore James-like.

    Released only as a single, the Rolling Stones' rendition did not appear on a studio album. The song was released in the UK on the 1972 Decca compilation album Milestones and on the UK compilation album Rolled Gold: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones in 1975. In 1989, it was issued on the US compilation album Singles Collection: The London Years. It is included on the four CD version of the 2012 GRRR! compilation.

    The B-side of the second single was "Stoned", a "Green Onions" influenced instrumental composed by Nanker/Phelge, the early collective pseudonym for the group. Additionally, it included the 'Sixth Stone' pianist Ian Stewart, making it the first released self-penned composition, with added spoken asides by Mick Jagger. Some original 1963 copies were issued with the misprinted title as "Stones", making it doubly collectable as a rarity.

    A promotional video featuring the song was the first song ever performed on the Top of the Pops TV program in the UK. A performance of the song on The Arthur Haynes Showrecorded on 7 February 1964 appears as part of the bonus material on the 2012 documentary film Crossfire Hurricane.

    Personnel[edit]

    · Mick Jagger – lead vocals

    · Brian Jones – lead guitar, backing vocals

    · Keith Richards – rhythm guitar

    · Bill Wyman – bass

    · Charlie Watts – drums
     
  5. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    And here is the Beatles’ version of the song, with Ringo on the lead vocal:



    Their version was released on November 22, 1963 (the day of the Kennedy assassination) on With the Beatles. It’s interesting to compare the versions by the two bands. Sort of a microcosm of their sounds and approaches at this time.
     
  6. SurrealCereal

    SurrealCereal Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    I Wanna Be Your Man
    It's cool to see how much more raw and gritty the Rolling Stones version of this song is. Even though they hadn't quite solidified their personality and sound yet, they were still more than able to distinguish their version from that of the Beatles and put their own spin on it.

    Stoned
    This is a pretty cool blues song that is surprisingly worthy of its name for 1963. I can't believe they got away with what appears to be an obvious drug reference (or had stoned not come to mean high yet?) during that era.
     
  7. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    I like the Stones' version of "I Wanna Be Your Man" way more than The Beatles version. The arrangement the Stones came up with gave the song some balls- Brian's slide guitar being the cherry on top.

    I like "Stoned" as well, tossed off B-side or not. Stu is awesome on this.

    Nothing wrong with "Fortune Teller" and "Poison Ivy" either.

    @Parachute Woman, were you planning on discussing the British EPs like The Rolling Stones and Five By Five as well? We should IMO, some key tracks on those...
     
  8. Meyer

    Meyer Heavy Metal Parking Lot Resident

    I loved it when they played this at the 50th anniversary shows. And I'll echo the sentiments that the differences between The Beatles' version and The Stones' perfectly encapsulates their differences.
     
  9. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    I Wanna Be Your Man is cool. This probably influenced a lot of garage bands. I dig the bass on it. This was originally on the acetate of the U.K. version of Big Hits but was omitted from the officially released version. I was disappointed that this was not included on More Hot Rocks, most likely because it wasn't released as a single in the U.S. I believe it was not released on album in the U.K. until the Milestones compilation and in the U.S. until the Singles Collection: The London Years.

    Stoned is a typical b-side. A nice instrumental groove and cool to have.
     
  10. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Yes, we will be covering the two EPs. They seem an essential part of the story. :)


    As for my thoughts on this single: "I Wanna Be Your Man" is a pretty flimsy composition but the Stones turned it into a really cool dark riff rocker. Brian's guitar solo sounds really far out for this being from 1963. Just killer. I've always liked it better than the Beatles' version, though theirs rocks along in that cheerful Mop Top way.

    "Stoned" is okay, nice for a listen. Interesting that this is the very first original composition put out by the group.
     
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  11. Hillel abramov

    Hillel abramov Forum resident

    Location:
    Tel Aviv
    "So they played it" says Mick about John and Paul.
    Well, all we neen now is that tape:goodie:
     
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  12. "I Wanna Be Your Man" is really Brian's show - his aggressive slide work totally drives the track and takes it out of the ordinary into something distinctive and menacing. Great job on this and "You Better Move On" on the all-live first TV appearance on the Arthur Haynes Show (note: the YouTube clip linked to above features horribly bastardized sound by whomever posted it - need to hear the original version...)
     
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  13. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block

    "I Wanna Be Your Man" sounds a lot more like the Rolling Stones we came to love than "Come On" so that was quick progress IMO.
     
  14. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    Oh yes- the whole basic Stones "sound" that has essentially sustained them for the last 55 years -!- is on full display with "I Wanna Be Your Man".
    Well, let's have it, then:

    Well, 'original' is relative since the thing is basically a knockoff of "Green Onions":D Hell, as far as that goes, if I didn't know any better I'd say in the case of both "Stoned" and the infamous "12 Bar Original" Beatles outtake both sound to me like they were actually trying to play -or at least jam on- "Green Onions" but not quite being able to do it. "Stoned" is better than "12 Bar Original" though:laugh:
    A lot of these early sides and whatnot I never heard until I got The London Years on cassette for Christmas when it came out...now that was an awesome present!:righton:
     
  15. Standoffish

    Standoffish Smarter than a turkey

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Fortune Teller

    Groovy little tune.

    Poison Ivy

    The guitar riff sounds a lot like "Day Tripper". I like this one.

    I Wanna Be Your Man

    Love Brian's guitar tone. A song to get your head bopping.

    Stoned

    Another fusion of blues and psychedelia. I like it.

    These early songs are short, so there's not a lot to say. I've never owned any 60s Stones album, so this stuff is new to me (obviously I know the really big hits). One thing I'm noticing is that these songs are like proto-punk.

    Loving the thread so far.
     
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  16. geo50000

    geo50000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canon City, CO.
    I'd go with "Meet Me In The Bottom", a smokin' little track already in the can that was much more representative of their sound:
     
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  17. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    Well now, that's the Mick I know! Don't care much for the song but the flowering of the Stones begins here. Stoned is amazing if only for getting away with a drug reference this early in the 60s. Bad boys of rock indeed.
     
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  18. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    The American edition on London of "I Wanna Be Your Man" backed with "Stoned" is one of the Holy Grails for Stones collectors. It exists as a stock copy and in two promo variations -- one with the same style label as the stock copy, and the other on a white label with the 1950s-style London logo in black. The stock copy is much rarer than either promo.

    London pulled the 45 shortly after it was released, because the label thought that even the title of the B-side, "Stoned," would repel radio and retail. (This was still the era when promo 45s normally had the same coupling as stock copies.) For the first time, but far from the last, London had an issue with something the band was trying to do.

    "I Wanna Be Your Man" then became the B-side of "Not Fade Away." "Stoned" vanished until the 1989 Singles Collection: The London Years (which, as noted earlier, also marked the first U.S. album appearance of "I Wanna Be Your Man").
     
  19. douglas mcclenaghan

    douglas mcclenaghan Forum Resident

    I prefer the Throb's version. Tougher.
     
  20. douglas mcclenaghan

    douglas mcclenaghan Forum Resident

    I Wanna be Your Man has what became to be classic Stones' leering, salacious tone. I wonder if Lennon was jealous; their version is tame and Ringo sounds like he's about as excited as doing the laundry. Mick wants to get into her pants.
     
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  21. aphexj

    aphexj Sound mind & body

    I love the Stooges' version too

    The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Man - YouTube
     
  22. Lynd8

    Lynd8 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I think it was just about their weakest Berry cover ever.
     
  23. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    It's pretty cool. I like it as well.
     
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  24. Arkoffs

    Arkoffs Remote member

    Location:
    Right behind you
    It is very appropriate that their first single session would be illicit in some way.
     
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  25. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    It's too bad the didn't include the other b-sides I Want To Be Loved, Stoned, Sad Day, Who's Driving Your Plane along with I Wanna Be Your Man on More Hot Rocks. I thought is was strange that they only included some of the b-sides on More Hot Rocks.
     
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