The Rolling Stones ' Black and Blue ' Is Great --- Why Does It Get Beat Up So Much ?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Wildest cat from montana, Feb 10, 2020.

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  1. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader Thread Starter

    Location:
    ontario canada
    I'll admit I didn't much like ' Black and Blue ' when it first came out. Didn't take long for me to change my mind though.
    I was a tad down on the Stones at the time. I thought ' Goat's Head Soup' was weak ( changed my mind about that too ) and didn't care for ' It's Only Rock and Roll ' ( still don't despite a brace of excellent songs).
    So...when ' Black and Blue ' arrived I wasn' t in the mood or ready for this funked up version of The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band. I played it impatiently and filed it away.
    I was oh-so-wrong to do so because a few months later I whipped it out and played it and , behold !, it was good. Very , very good.
    Now one of my favourite Stones discs. I actually prefer it to -dare I say it ? -- 'Sticky Fingers in many ways.
    I' ve been reading various threads on a number of different topics and noticed that ' Black and Blue' comes up often and gets bashed and abused .
    So...what's your beef with this record?
     
    Adfly7, intv7, Echoes Myron and 19 others like this.
  2. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I hesitate to post because I apparently have a reputation as a blind fangirl...but for what it's worth, I love this album. I have since the first time I heard it. I was not hearing the albums as they came out because I wasn't even born until '88, so I heard them without the baggage of each one being the new Stones record.

    Not only is it one of the best recorded albums in their catalog (probably even the best), I love the songs. The ballads are sincere and beautiful. Memory Motel is one of their most gorgeous songs ever and I love Keith's vocals on it. Fool to Cry is a moment of Mick being real and not an image.

    The rockers are fun and loose and melodic. Hey Negrita has a killer riff (go Ronnie), Crazy Mama is a personal favorite deep cut and Hand of Fate is a legitimate overlooked classic with excellent lyrics. He shot me once but I shot him twice!

    Hot Stuff is little more than a doodle, but a lot of fun. Cherry Oh Baby and Melody are the weakest links for me, but still nice to hear and never skipped by me.

    It's just a fun record with good vibes. Not every record needs to be life changing. I love when the Stones were just having fun. This one pairs nicely with Emotional Rescue, another underrated, loose record with great summer vibes.
     
  3. Muggles

    Muggles Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midwest
    Can’t say I prefer Black and Blue over Sticky Fingers, but I like it a lot. As with Emotional Rescue, it’s a summer party album for me. They both sound great, too.
     
  4. stax o' wax

    stax o' wax Forum Resident

    Location:
    The West
    I thought B&B was a return to form for the Stones and a transition to the second half of the 70's with songs that sounded....well more "Black" (there's no Time Waits For No One material on B&B), ... and the Stones were always Blue.
    Funk, Reggae, Soul, Blues and Rock all rolled into one.
     
  5. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    "The Rolling Stones ' Black and Blue ' Is Great --- Why Does It Get Beat Up So Much ?"

    The same reason tons of other stuff gets beat up: narrow tastes combined with preconceptions of what particular artists are "supposed to be doing."
     
    BDC, eric777, Donfrance and 16 others like this.
  6. stax o' wax

    stax o' wax Forum Resident

    Location:
    The West
    Preconceptions......expectations........these are the enemy of the "open mind".
     
    BDC, HeyBullfrog, The Beave and 4 others like this.
  7. MPLRecords

    MPLRecords Owner of eleven copies of Tug of War

    Location:
    Lake Ontario
    "Memory Motel" is a masterpiece.
     
  8. mbleicher1

    mbleicher1 Tube Amp Curmudgeon

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    Okay, I'll bite, because I don't rate this one that highly. If you like the Stones' grooves more than tight songwriting, this is just as good as anything they did in the 1968-1981 era. But I hear a lot of unfocused or second tier songs that aren't as interesting as their best stuff.
     
    kwadguy, tkl7, bumbletort and 6 others like this.
  9. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I wasn’t aware it was regularly beaten up.:D

    Agree with others here. It’s a fun, rocking album and sounds fantastic. I love the artwork too.

    For those of you who don’t mind a bit of digital Stones, I highly recommend the SHM-SACD of Black And Blue.
     
  10. Silvertrain

    Silvertrain Forum Resident

    Location:
    Netherlands
    Ahh, Memory Motel, Hand of Fate,
    brilliant, brilliant songs!

    And Melody, which ain’t a great song.
    But it’s our daughter’s second name.
     
    Karnak, MRamble, The Beave and 2 others like this.
  11. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Love the way Mick and Keith are both singing on it. Perfect!
     
    Karnak, Muggles, MRamble and 5 others like this.
  12. GuyDon

    GuyDon Senior Member

    I am a big fan of Black and Blue. I think it's fine just the way it is but why they decided to leave off Slave and Worried About You for Melody or even Fool to Cry is perplexing. At least these two outtakes made Tattoo You all that much better.
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2020
  13. I wonder how much the original marketing campaign with the bound woman has shaped the public perception. I suspect that, like the song "Some Girls", it is not welcomed in a few quarters.
     
    CatchAsCan likes this.
  14. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    It may not scale the same heights (e.g. "Bitch", "Sway"), but Black & Blue has fewer skippable songs on it than Sticky Fingers, IMO. I love it and always have.
     
  15. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    It is, but it can’t save this el stinko record.
     
    agundy, majorlance, Hammerpeg and 2 others like this.
  16. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Absolutely no beef with this record. Even the billboard was great :angel: Like many later Stones albums the main "beef" some people had with it seemed to be simply its existence. The fact that the band survived. While certain members didn't. Taken on its own terms it's a mighty fine mid-70's album! :righton:
     
  17. gkella

    gkella Glen Kellaway From The Basement

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    totally agree.
    I love Melody as well.
    I think it’s a fine album.
     
    Jonny W, MRamble and Terrapin Station like this.
  18. Ghost of Ziggy

    Ghost of Ziggy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hell
    I prefer it to Some Girls, it’s just more consistent to me.
     
    Karnak likes this.
  19. Relative to other Stones albums it’s low on my list (but I still enjoy it to a degree). Several good songs, a few clunkers but nothing great. Well, to my ears anyways.
     
  20. The Gomper

    The Gomper By Your Side?

    Location:
    Missouri
    It gets beat up because how else do you make it Black & Blue??

    ;):D:pineapple:
     
  21. Exitmusic

    Exitmusic Forum Resident

    Location:
    Leicester U.K
    3 classics

    Hand Of Fate
    Hey Negrita
    Memory Motel

    2 pretty good

    Hot Stuff
    Crazy Mama

    1 average

    Fool To Cry

    2 awful

    Cherry Oh Baby
    Melody
     
    Whoopycat, WHR, jeffd7030 and 9 others like this.
  22. diamondstylus

    diamondstylus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western MA
    One of my favorites so don't trust the critics. Such a fun, laid back vibe. Memory Motel though, an all time RS classic! Still never heard it in concert. Missed it in Boston by one show.
     
  23. Sean

    Sean Senior Member

    Location:
    Ottawa
    It isn't my "go to" record when I play my Stones collection but it is overall a good listen with "Hand Of Fate" & "Memory Motel" as some of the best songs of the Stones "silver age."
     
    Karnak likes this.
  24. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Cause Mick sounds like a 3 day old cat on Fool To Cry?
     
  25. Jellis77

    Jellis77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brighton, UK
    A great great Stones record. I agree with Parachute Woman who said that it is one of their best recorded albums. I also think Charlie got an amazing drum sound. For me they haven’t done a better one than this since.
     
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