"…We Love You…"
Ah the glorious bad boys of
Rock – The Rolling Stones. The kind of trouser-snake seductive ne'er-do-well
pert-bottomed reprobates a concerned mother warned you about (when she wasn't
shovelling tranquillisers down her gullet).
We're we (or they) ever so young or indeed so naughty! Hell yes!
This is the second box set
in a series of three covering their Satanic Majesties entire 45s output on
Decca (UK) and London Records (USA) – this fab little sucker covering their
first primo period of non-stop 60ts hipsville - and what a humdinger it is too.
There is a mountain of info to wade through, so once more my lysergic listeners
unto the nervous breakdowns and girly rainbows…
UK/Europe released 1 January
2004 – "The Singles 1965-1967" by THE ROLLING STONES on Abkco 0602498209851
(Barcode 602498209851) is the Second of Three Box Sets covering their entire
Decca/London Records UK and US output on 45s. The Clamshell Box contains 11CDs
in Picture Repro Sleeves featuring artwork from many different countries (10
singles by The Rolling Stones and one solo outing by Bassist Bill Wyman), Three
Art Cards featuring photos from 1965, 1966 and 1967, a foldout double-sided
poster (the Lady Jane single advert with Mick Jagger's face on one side with a
band photo on the other) and a 28-Page Fact-Filled Booklet outlined details on
each release, reissue credits etc. Its 25-tracks covering eleven 7"
singles breaks down as follows…
CD1 "(I Can't Get No)
Satisfaction" - 10:29 minutes, 3 tracks:
US 45, 5 June 1965 on London
45-9766
A. (I Can't Get No)
Satisfaction b/w The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man
UK 45, 20 August 1965 on
Decca F 12220
A. (I Can't Get No)
Satisfaction b/w The Spider And The Fly
CD2: "Get Off Of My
Cloud" - 7:41 minutes, 3 tracks:
US 45, 24 September 1965 on
London 45-9792
A. Get Off Of My Cloud b/w
I'm Free
UK 45, 22 October 1965 on
Decca F 12263
A. Get Off Of My Cloud b/w
The Singer Not The Song
CD3: "As Tears Go
By" - 4:52 minutes, 2 tracks:
US 45, 18 December 1965 on
London 45-9808
A. As Tears Go By b/w Gotta
Get Away
UK 45, 4 February 1966 on
Decca F 12331 (with different A-side, US A-side relegated to the B)
A. 19th Nervous Breakdown By
b/w As Tears Go By
CD4: "19th Nervous
Breakdown" - 7:00 minutes, 2 tracks:
UK 45, 4 February 1966 on
Decca F 12331 (see Disc 3 for B-side)
A. 19th Nervous Breakdown b/w As Tears Go By
US 45, 12 February 1966 on
London 45-9823
A. 19th Nervous Breakdown
b/w Sad Day
CD5: "Paint It
Black" - 9:44 minutes, 3 tracks:
US 45, 6 May 1966 on London
45-901
A. Paint It Black b/w Stupid
Girl
UK 45, 13 May 1966 on Decca
F 12395
A. Paint It Black b/w Long
Long While
CD6: "Mother's Little
Helper" - 5:57 minutes, 2 tracks:
US 45, 2 July 1966 on London
45-902 (Note: no UK issue)
A. Mother's Little Helper
b/w Lady Jane
CD7: "Have You Seen
Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadows?" - 5:49 minutes, 2 tracks:
US 45, 23 September 1966 on
London 45-903
UK 45, 23 September 1966 on
Decca F 12497
A. Have You Seen Your
Mother, Baby, Standing in The Shadow? b/w Who's Driving Your Plane?
CD8: "Let's Spend The
Night Together" - 6:40 minutes, 2 tracks:
UK 45, 13 January 1967 on
Decca F 12546
US 45, 13 January 1967 on
London 45-904
A. Let's Spend The Night
Together b/w Ruby Tuesday
CD9: "We Love You"
- 8:26 minutes, 2 tracks:
UK 45, 18 August 1967 on
Decca F 12654
US 45, 2 September 1967 on
London 45-905
A. We Love You b/w Dandelion
A. We Love You b/w Dandelion
CD10: "She's A
Rainbow" - 8:57 minutes, 2 tracks:
US 45, 23 December 1967 on
London 45-906
A. She's A Rainbow b/w 2000
Light Years From Home (Note: no UK issue)
CD11: "In Another Land"
by BILL WYMAN/The Lantern by THE ROLLING STONES
- 7:19 minutes, 2 tracks:
US 45, 2 December 1967 on
London 45-907
A. In Another Land (by BILL
WYMAN) b/w The Lantern (by THE ROLLING STONES) (Note: no UK issue)
The Audio is done to a team
of three – STEVE ROSENTHAL for Sound Restoration and Archive Coordination, TERI
LANDI for Analogue to Digital Transfers and Tape Archive Research and BOB
LUDWIG for Mastering. For instance you can really hear the contributions made
by NICKY HOPKINS (Piano) and future Led Zeppelin Bassist JOHN PAUL JONES (who
arranged the stings) on one of the better tracks from "Their Satanic
Majesties…" LP - "She's A Rainbow". Clearer too is Brian Jones
pressing down those Mellotron keys on the swirling hippy-dippy soundscape that
is "2000 Light Years From Home".
I must admit that I haven't
played the Wyman-penned US-only track "In Another Land" in probably
four an half decades, but its now nice to hear (once again) the Remaster bring
forth Nicky Hopkins lending his piano while Small Faces giant STEVE MARRIOTT
taps those distinctive lungs of his for backing vocals. And 'allegedly' none
other than Paul McCartney and John Lennon of The Beatles and poet Allen
Ginsberg can be heard giving backing vocals to "We Love You" – a
tribute to fans who supported the band during those difficult busted months
(Nicky Hopkins also contributed piano).
Fans will not surprisingly
adore the sheer wallop that comes of the decidedly fruity "Let's Spend The
Night Together" – a song apparently written about the first time Mick and
Marianne Faithfull hooked up for something we're reliably informed wasn't a
fish supper. Unsung hero Jack Nitzsche plays Keyboards on both "Let's
Spend The Night Together” and the Bluesy Harmonica driven B-side "Who's
Driving Your Plane?" - whilst also contributing distinctive-sounding
Harpsichord to the baroque elegance of "Lady Jane". Nitzsche also
plays piano on a true digital obscurity – the US B-side "Sad Day” which
only appeared on CD in 1989 on the triple "Singles Collection" set.
And although its lyrics are now terribly dated and not the most enlightened on
the planet, I've always had a thing for the Aftermath song "Stupid
Girl" – way more than the rooster strut of "(I Can't Get No)
Satisfaction" - a ball-breaker of a song whose fuzzed up guitars and
driving rhythm changed the music world forever.
There is of course so much
more here, but what you can't deny is the 'on fire' feel to it all. Like The
Beatles, The Stones just hit this run of magic that would culminate in Beggars
Banquet, Let It Bleed and of course on into Stick Fingers and beyond.
Songs about drugs, sex,
record company chaperones and grown men dressed in drag for the picture
sleeves. Ah the glory. Remember them this way…
