Rolling Stones Single-By-Single Thread

Theses are arguably the best 2 tracks from Their Satanic Majesties Request. Citadel is good as well.

She's A Rainbow - Bruce Eder of Allmusic states this is the prettiest song that Jagger/Richards composed. Folk influenced with great work from Nicky Hopkins and a string section, it is an interesting and catchy track. It is always a pleasant surprise when they play this one live.

2000 Light Years From Home - Sort of a psychedelic blues influenced number about space travel. Some cool mellotron from Brian Jones. Probably my favorite track from TSMR. Bill Janovitz says Mick Jagger came up with they lyrics while in jail. It was awesome when they played this during the Steel Wheels Tour.

Both of these tracks were included on the U.S. and U.K versions of Through The Past Darkly and Rolled Gold in the U.K. However, Hot Rocks skipped over their more psychedelic period (One of the drawbacks.) but both tracks later appeared on More Hot Rocks.

 

It's "Have you seen a lady FAIRER". Nothing about Egypt in thus song.

 

Trippy! It seems like they sort of rediscovered their psychedelic period in '89. "Continental Drift" is the first thing they recorded in ages that touched even slightly on the sounds of '67. Whether it was successful or not is a different story...

I love all the 45 covers for this single! Lots of cool ones with inventive imagery. Thanks for finding them as always, @John Fell!

 

She's a Rainbow and 2000 Light Years are great examples of why "Their Satanic Majestys" is unfairly maligned. "Rainbow" is such a beautiful song.

 

Thank you @Parachute Woman. They are pretty cool this time.

 

She's A Rainbow for me is the greatest Stones song ever, all for personal reasons that were so heavy 50 years ago...
however, in the last 50 years, I have never grown tired of it. This and the next single defined the era just as much as the Fabs did.
It was jaw dropping and magical in real time.

 

there is also a 2 1/2 minute edit of both sides that appeared as a promo. I heard the am radio version of Rainbow back in the day quite a few times.
I'd like to know the release date of the promo

 

This single features the Stones’ two best forays into psychedelia, with two completely different musical/lyrical approaches.

She’s A Rainbow - For my money, this is the prettiest song in the Stones canon. Nicky Hopkin’s melodic baroque piano lines stand out, and the imaginative string arrangement fits perfectly. Jagger’s colourful, lysergic tinged lyrics achieve the perfect balance between psychedelic whimsy and Stonesy suggestive raunch. The track may be pure baroque pop, but when Charlie’s drums kick in there is no mistaking the trademark Stonesy groove.

2000 Light Years From Home - My introduction to this song was through its strange music video, which only added to the sinister vibe. This song features fantastically evocative lyrics from Jagger, while Jones contributes some otherworldly mellotron lines that elevate the track to another level. 2000 Light Years could’ve easily been an A-side, and proved that the Stones could have been a top tier psychedelic rock band had they not been even better at narco blues country-rock.

 

And 2000 Light Years From Home has, hands down, one of the creepiest (in a good way), eeriest psych vibes ever put to tape. It vies with Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun in that category and for me that's saying a very lot.

 

Maybe the final single of the 'Stones' psych period, but doesn't Child Of The Moon count? Pretty psyche vibe on that one I'd say. But I guess perhaps as just a b-side it's off in its own category...

 

We Love You is in mono on the Singles Collection and on The Rolling Stones in Mono box.

 

You're quite right..."Child of the Moon" is certainly a bridge song, placed as it is on the b-side of their return to roots rock. But that's for tomorrow.

 

She's a Rainbow ---Not a big fan of the track, but the music box piano by Nicky Hopkins is impressive.

2000 Light Years from Home - I imagine it can't be easy to make a track that conjures up interstellar travel through space, but somehow the Stones managed to pull it off. S

 

I agree. IMO are still hints of psychedelia in 1968, including Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man, Child of the Moon, and Jigsaw Puzzle.

 

My first encounter with "She's a Rainbow" was on the radio. WFIL in Philadelphia played it as an oldie one night in 1974. At the time, I hadn't heard any of the psychedelic-era Stones, and I thought it was -- well, I wasn't sure what to think. I liked it, that's for sure. I did find the 45, and once I got it, it was even trippier than I had thought from my only radio exposure. It sounded as if the piano was from a different recording and was flown in; I could heard the edits, especially early in the song. Then, near the end, I thought I heard effects that sound like a coffin opening and some really crazy random strings. It's a crazy song that I still love.

By the way, until about two years ago, I, too, thought Mick Jagger was singing, "Have you seen a lady pharaoh?"

"2000 Light Years from Home" correctly noted that a light-year is a measure of distance and not of time. The song has an otherworldly feel to it; the only more popular song to give me the impression that space is a lonely, cold, foreboding place is "Rocket Man" by Elton John.

There was a significant disparity between Billboard and Cash Box re "She's a Rainbow"; it got all the way to #10 in Cash Box.

Interestingly, the catalog number of "She's a Rainbow" is London 906, compared to London 907 for "In Another Land." That tells me that the former had its number assigned first, and that releasing the Wyman song as a single was a relative afterthought.

Reissues with the 5N prefix that came from Bestway are in stereo on both sides.

The picture sleeve is about a 5 to 6 on the 1-10 rarity scale. I was fortunate enough to find one at a yard sale many years ago; at the same sale, I found a copy of "Hello Goodbye" by the Beatles, so you can tell that the former owner was buying 45s in late 1967 and early 1968.

 

Agree with everyone and many comments re: She's A Rainbow.

As befitting of the song's lyrics, the entire song, the arrangement, the instrumentation, and the vocals, just shimmers and sparkles in the Stone's catalog, and amongst their other singles.
It's probably one of my favorite psychedelic/baroque pop songs, and makes for a great musical trio with Ruby Tuesday and Dandelion.

Nicky Hopkins' celesta and piano playing is a brilliant touch on the track, it adds an effervescent flair, and paired with the child-like background "La-La-La's" adds a whimsical joy to the song.

"2,000 Light Years From Home" is the dark side; literally the flip side...perhaps for a balanced musical diet.
Mysterious, cold, bleak; however, it does build up slowly.

Interesting to think that both tunes have inspired many bands to explore related musical territories, on both spectrums of the scale.

(I've always wondered, if this single had charted better, would Mick and Keith have continued their exploration into the genre, and how would it have affected their next phase of rolling out their classic albums...?)


Years ago, I made a mix tape from the studio albums, so I'm also used to hearing the "Barker Intro" tagged on the beginning of "She's A Rainbow", as the initial song on Side Two of Their Satanic Majesties Request.

 

Yes, it's astounding that as his life went over a cliff, Jones contributed brilliantly to one of the band's best ever tracks.

 

There was a lot of 60’s retro-ness happening in the late 80’s. The media made a big deal out of the 20th anniversary of the the Summer of Love. Mick Jagger is not one to miss a chance to jump on a bandwagon.

 

I imagine this promotional video for the single was fun to make:

 

That is an awesome clip . I have never seen that clip.
The she's a rainbow clip posted here looks like something from the 50th anniversary cd.

 

2 great tracks. I am not big on psychedelic Stones... but I do like this single.. A lot.