I never understood why Better Move On was included on the UK version. The track is from 1964 and doesn't really fit with the rest of the songs. I have both UK & US versions on record as I couldn't decide which to buy.
I love the song/tune/a great backing and top notch Sir Mick vocal. Nasty song though! Not as great as She's Your Lover Now (Dylan 66) but mined from a similar coal stream. Off the top of my head Back Street Girl on the UK Between the Buttons but not the USA version. It then pitches up on Flowers. Is that it for official releases? Also has the song ever been performed live? Oh and I cannot think of any cover versions. This might well be wrong but are there 2 mixes? Mono and Stereo.
Yes, the lyrics are nasty. But very well written. And I love the contrast between Jagger's sweet performance and the harsh things he is singing to the girl. I mean, for someone who doesn't understand English he could think it's an all-out love song. It also has a cold detachment not very different to Revolver's For No One, something very mid-60s English.
Yesterday I listened to Voodoo Lounge for the first time after many years, and thought that New Faces sounded like a song from the 65-67 era, reminiscent of Ride On Baby, Lady Jane, Backstreet Girl... Very refreshing, modern era Stones are usually very "by the numbers" rock.
Spot on that it is quite Baroque, without reservation it has always been one of my favourites on that LP along with The Worst.
presumably because their cover of the song in '64 was a hit and included on their ep '64 uk ep - which hit #1 on the u.k. charts back then, as i'm sure you know. but that would be why.
I don't think the Rolling Stones ever had any commitment to making an authentically psychedelic LP. They were more interested in sending up the Beatles for doing them. I do find their Mick Taylor era sound to be plenty psychedelic, simply in terms of the instrumental interplay the band achieves when they lock in. And because the lyrics and songcraft of that era is often quite deep, and smart lyrics and songwriting is all I require in order to get plenty tripped out by music. Far as I'm concerned, "Jigsaw Puzzle" from Beggar's Banquet is leagues more psychedelic than anything on Satanic Majesties. But as for the best Rolling Stones "psychedelic rock" LP that the Stones never made, that would be Music In A Doll's House, by Family.
The UK version is more of an ‘art’/listening experience. It plays like something you would sit down and actually listen to. The tracklist was obviously thought out with an Side 1 and Side 2. The US version plays like what it is: A compilation of singles. Both idea’s work.
I have been sorting through my various copies of Flowers. Did anyone get the 2008 Japanese mini sleeve which came with an alternative sleeve as well? I could not find the photo of the alternative sleeve on Discogs.
Apologies for my unclarity, but I didn't say that Taylor was on there. I just picked "Jigsaw Puzzle" as an example of a song that has a lot of surreal wit in the lyrics and a musical arrangement that worked to evoke them effectively, with that instrumental interplay building inexorably to the end. For me, it gets whirlier and swirlier than "She's A Rainbow" or "2000 Light Years From Home", and the words are hipper. I prefer the subtlety of it. The story line of "Jigsaw Puzzle" works like classic peak era Bob Dylan surrealism, whereas "2000 Light Years" just sounds like the Electric Prunes. What Mick Taylor brought to the band was strong single note soloing ability and the inclination to actually do it, to stretch out the tunes onstage. A predilection that eventually played a part in Taylor and the Stones parting ways. But the ornamentation he added was fun while it lasted. Some of us experience that as psychedelic. We think it's groovy. Keith can play effective solos, too. But it's clear that he prefers rhythm drive. He doesn't go for the prismatic clarity of Taylor's approach.
Great post Jigsaw is a great track, but 2000 Light Years IMO is hardly Prunes territory. Again IMO, and hearing it when it came out on acid was ... let's just say a little more involving than "I Had Too Much To Dream". Taylor has nothing to do wth thread title, so I'll abstain. Keith, within his sphere has some great solos, like "Heart of Stone". And outside 66-67 again, his solo on Sympathy, and later all the guitar work on Gimme Shelter, for me are more memorable than many of MT solos, as much as I love them (Sway, Winter, a long list). Not to get political LOL, but for me MT, for all his talent and great contributions, was a SINO. (Stone In Name Only).
There might've been at least two reasons why. For one, this song was praised as an early Stones hit and (I believe) the band regretted that it was never released individually as a single. Probably wasn't considered for the first Big Hits compilation, as they simply might've forgot about it in the mid-60s, just a guess though. The other reason might be: one slot left just to fill this LP.^^
LOL. Few do. I know it's "not a musical" thing, but a very relevant part of Stones history. And I think MT was far more than just proficient, as his short (relatively) stint with the band shows. I've known guys like Keith drug-wise, you try to keep up with them at your peril. I was one of them for a while in my wasted youth.
