Opening up the UK version of Between the Buttons, "Yesterday's Papers" was authored solely by Mick Jagger and it is one of several Rolling Stones songs that indulges in misogynistic lyrics. Allegedly inspired by the frontman's then recent ex Chrissie Shrimpton, one hardly needs to guess what the chorus line "Who wants yesterday's papers?" refers to, but at least this one is more sly with its intent as opposed to say "Stupid Girl" per metaphor-free example. As he was wont to do, Brian Jones plays something besides guitar on here, providing the vibraphone while non-Stones member Jack Nitzsche lays down the harpsichord. It represents one of several examples where the band was experimenting with different pop forms during their earlier days, this baring none of their patented blues or R&B influences.
The first and best single released off of one of the Rolling Stones' less admired albums Dirty Work, "Harlem Shuffle" is also one of several covers that got released as such, the original being done by the R&B duo Bob & Earl back in 1963, (that intro of which was later sampled in House of Pain's "Jump"). It has a notable music video that combined the band miming along with animation from The Ren & Stimpy Show's problematic creator John Kricfalusi, the live-action portion ironically directed by another known animator, Ralph Bakshi of Fritz the Cat fame. The Stones' interpretation is unique enough to justify its existence, stripping the horns away to be played on guitar and organ, the band delivering it in their standard loose and dirty fashion, even if the whole record was one of their few to suffer from some dated 1980s production.
A tongue-in-cheek title track, "Some Girls" raised a few eyebrows when it was initially released due to the line "Black girls just want to get fucked all night," followed by Mick Jagger's own Caucasian proclamation "I just don't have that much jam". It is easy to see the humor in such objectifying silliness though, as Jagger is admittingly taking the piss out of such chauvinistic observations. The lyrics read as a list of such things, inspired by Jagger strolling into the Paris recording sessions with two African girls that he had been up all night rolling in ze hay with, trying to make them and everyone else laugh with whatever self-deflating machismo he could come up with. With a lazy swamped-out feel, the song is textbook for the band's vibe which they had solidified by the late 1970s, Sugar Blue's guest harmonica providing a welcomed accompaniment.
Opening and continuing with a blatant Chuck Berry riff, (Berry long being recognized as Keith Richards' biggest axe-slinging idol), Goat Heads Soup's closer "Star Star" is one of the raunchiest 70s Stones song, which is saying something. The chorus is merely Mick Jagger singing "Starfucker" over and over again, with further lyrics addressing missing a woman's legs wrapped around him tight, wanting to make her scream all night, getting tongues beneath her hood, how clean her pussy is, and well, you get the idea. It exemplifies this era of the band, where the drugs and ladies were both in excessive amounts and the name of the game was rock and roll decadence. Considering the fact that The Rolling Stones were the roaring statesmen for such behavior by their own design, why not have a song that addresses such things in crystal clear detail?
For their to-date final studio album Hackney Diamonds and first to be done after Charlie Watts' death, The Rolling Stones brought in a number of A-list guests more in a celebratory fashion than in any attempt to boost sales. That said, the inclusion of Lady Gaga on the penultimate track "Sweet Sounds of Heaven" and the fact that it was put out as a single hardly screams accidental, not least of all because it also features Stevie Wonder on keys. Star-studded line-up aside, the nearly seven and a half minute track is epic in the classical slow R&B sense, with Gaga coming in around the two-minute mark like a sweet soul sister, vamping with and echoing Jagger's lyric throughout, the latter reaching some of his highest screeches in years. Simple in structure, the song builds in intensity like a glorious gospel hymn, simmering back down after five and a half minutes only to rise back up again, hands to the lord presumably.
Lead guitarist Mick Taylor lends some of his virtuosic abilities to the bass with the It's Only Rock 'n Roll closer "Fingerprint File". A deliberate slow funk song that points towards the direction which the band would indulge in more prominently with their next few releases, Taylor lays down an infections four-string hook around the two minute mark that he continues to play the shit out of, with the Stones' official bassist Bill Wyman hoping on synthesizer. Billy Preston and Nicky Hopkins, (both frequent collaborators with the band), are tickling the ivories on clavinet and piano respectively, with Keith Richards appropriately leaning on the wah pedal throughout. Lyrically, Mick Jagger gives it a sinister edge by musing about government monitoring, delivering some of his whispery spoken word improvisations towards the end.
The second Rolling Stones single that was not a cover, "Heart of Stones' is an early songwriting effort from Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and one that is noticeably derivative of the type of American R&B/lamenting love ballads that the band was clearly found of. Yet when it comes to authoring your own material, hey, write what you know. Phil Spector collaborator Jack Nitzsche shows up on piano and tambourine, which is fitting since the mix has a cavernous aura to it that is adjacent to Spector's famous "Wall of Sound", if not as excessive by comparison. Also appearing on Out of Our Heads in the UK and The Rolling Stones Now in the US, it showed that the band were capable of delivering their own hits without relying on Chuck Berry or other influences for material.
This Bridges to Babylon single is unique in that it is the only Rolling Stones song to feature a sample, (hence Biz Markie's random appearance just over halfway in), as well as for the band throwing k.d. lang and her songwriting partner Ben Mink a bone with a credit since the chorus bares a resemblance to her 1992 mega hit "Constant Craving". To be honest, there have been much closer acts of either deliberate or accidental plagiarism that have come down the pop music pike, but Jagger and Richards clearly had enough publishing royalties of their own at this point, so why not share the wealth as to avoid a potential law suit. A dark, groove-oriented ballad that is a clear example of the Stones trying to stay hip from a production standpoint, (with Charlie Watts' hip-hop ready beat and an accompanying music video starring Angelina Jolie to boot), the band was never afraid of dabbling in contemporary styles, and this is the best example of such an attempt on said album.
Reminiscent of their late 1970s period where dance elements were prominently explored, "Rain Fall Down" was the second single off of 2005's A Bigger Bang. Its accompanying record was their most consistent in some time, the Stones settling back into their strengths here with a track that would have fit perfectly in with some of the loose funk/reggae hybrids on Black and Blue. Whereas that record sounded all hot, messy and bothered, the elder statesmen come off as chill and tight here within a similar groove-based framework. The one chord guitar hook is right out of James Brown or Kool and the Gang, the rhythm section thumping along as Mick Jagger regales us with some dingy atmosphere around a rainy night hook up while the phone keeps ringing. We can presume adultery was afoot.
Initially written for his 2001 solo album Goddess in the Doorway, Mick Jagger said that he kept "Don't Stop" to the side as he found it to have more potential as a future Rolling Stones song. The finished results wound up serving as the lead off single to Forty Licks, their greatest hits compilation the following year. This was the best of the four new songs recorded for said project, a simple two-chord, upbeat yet chill track that stomps more than grooves. It also features guitar not only from Ron Wood, (providing the leads), and Keith Richards providing the hook, but also Jagger himself on rhythm as he has been wont to lay down from time to time. Considering the title, it was a perfectly sly addition to a retrospective album and tour, signifying that indeed the Stones are not likely to stop until each and every one of them drops dead.
The first Jagger/Richards A-side that The Rolling Stones released, (and in turn proved successful enough to grant them the confidence to further pursue the whole songwriting thing), 1964's "Tell Me" is a typical pop ballad in the vein of American Motown and 50s era rock and roll. This makes senses of course since the band was already well-versed in such material, this early stab at an original showing their roots and lining up with the other Buddy Holly or Marvin Gaye songs that they were fond of doing at the time. Along with "Jumpin' Jack Flash", it was also the first of many Stones songs to show up in a Martin Scorsese movie, both appearing in Mean Streets. While the production is primitive compared to later recordings, it still has a forlorn and roomy sound which is fitting for a broken heart lyric about wanting a woman to come back to you.
The first three singles put out from The Rolling Stones' 1994 "comeback album", (and first without Billy Wyman), Voodoo Lounge were the obvious highlights, "You Got Me Rocking" remaining a live staple for years afterwards since it sounds as if it was concocted for a crowd to groove and shout along to. Yet in fact, the song's beginning was far removed from its eventual upbeat form, originally being a bluesy piano number with Keith Richards on lead vocals as well as ivories. Thankfully for commercial purposes, he and Jagger eventually polished it and increased the tempo, the lyrics fittingly dealing with oneself being picked up and motivated from an outside force. Knowing Jagger, it was probably a supermodel who was three times younger than he was.
Of course The Rolling Stones would have a song about tits and ass, and of course it would be sung by their poster boy for rock and roll hedonism, Keith Richards. Like the majority of Tattoo You, "Little T&A" originally stemmed from an earlier recording session, Richards largely composing it on his lonesome for their previous record Emotional Rescue. He performed most of the guitar, the lead vocals, and the bass, with the rest of the band providing handclaps and Jagger joining him on the "She's my little rock and roll" choruses. There is not much to the song conceptually or musically, but that is exactly what makes it great. It is a textbook sleaze anthem for the band, reveling in Richard's highly publicized and aloof decadence and womanizing which was still in full swing as the band entered the 1980s.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about The Rolling Stones' first bona fide masterpiece Beggars Banquet, (amongst many amazing things), is that it was their best album up to that point to indulged in their eclectic musical tastes, "Factory Girl" being an acoustic Appalachian-via Celtic folk jig equipped with fiddle and mandolin. It also has Rocky Dijon on congas and Charlie Watts playing Indian tabla drums incorrectly, meaning with sticks. This makes it the perfect melding of styles, such clashing influences jiving beautifully within a song that barely extends beyond the two minute mark and seems as if it was birthed out of nowhere, yet with roots in more antiqued and earthy music than mere American blues, country, rock, and R&B.
Ron Wood was the driving force behind the best song on the less appreciated Undercover album, the non-single "Pretty Beat Up". Keith Richards conceived of the title and also played bass on it, (Bill Wyman switching to electric piano), and Wood authored the riff and chord sequence. Aside from that lowdown, funk-inspired guitar hook, the other element that pops most is David Sanborn's excellent saxophone work, which runs appropriately rampant as the song progresses. This also has another in a then steady line of four-on-the-floor dance grooves from the always exemplary Charlie Watts, with Mick Jagger's lyrics fitting the record's heavy-handed, dirty and dingy vibe. After all, this is the Rolling Stones album with their ode to serial killers and slasher movies "Too Much Blood" on it. This track is at least comparatively easier to dance to that than one.
Sounding like the world's greatest and most infections bar band, (which they would often sound like), The Rolling Stones do little more with the It's Only Rock 'n Roll highlight "Dance Little Sister" than getting some asses to shake. Mick Jagger was soon to be making the official disco rounds in New York City around the time, this track propping up the type of excessive partying and letting loose that the 1970s would in turn become infamous for. The Stones of course reveled in this infamy as much as any rock band during such an era, but the lyrics here are overall more jovial than overtly sleazed-out. It is one of those textbook songs for the group, or perhaps more appropriately a textbook Jagger song, the frontman long renowned for his limber, duck-faced rug-cutting on stage.
A Between the Buttons non-single highlight, "Connection" mostly stems from the mind of Keith Richards who shares a majority of the lead vocals with his frontman Mick Jagger. Being the second Stones album to feature all Jagger/Richards originals, this track showcases the group's increasing penchant for experimentation with different styles, be it of a more stripped down and less psychedelic variety. It is in and out in just over two minutes, a jaunty and driving pop tune that references some of the annoyances that the ever busy touring group faced during their travels. Airport security check-ins, fans trying to get a piece of them, doctors sticking needles in them, all keeping the song's author from getting back to his baby or whoever is waiting for him back home.
Another Beggars Banquet gem that has to date never been performed live by the band, "Jigsaw Puzzle" is the second longest song on the record, clocking in at over six minutes. Monotonous in structure with a Mellotron whine performed by Brian Jones, as well as Keith Richards providing an equally droney slide guitar throughout, (Mick Jagger being on acoustic guitar), it can be seen as the Stones' answer to a meandering Bob Dylan song, with elusive lyrics about mentholated sandwiches, religious looking gangsters, twenty-thousand grandmas waving their handkerchiefs, and the singer just trying to solve his jigsaw puzzle before it rains some more. The fun is how it all poetically delights in the absurd, a misfit country blues anthem that just plods along with one of those countless top-notch Charlie Watts grooves.
With Bill Wyman out of the picture, The Rolling Stones soldiered on with Darryl Jones in the non-official member position as their new bass player, "Love Is Strong" being the opening track and opening single from their first post-Wyman album Voodoo Lounge. Anyone who watched either MTV or VH1 at the time will remember its accompanying black and white, David Fincher-directed music video being played numerous times a day, where they were giants amongst New York skyscrapers. Keith Richards was mostly behind the song which was worked on while Mick Jagger was touring for his 1993 solo album Wandering Spirit. The singer eventually came in, added some fantastic harmonica phrasing, tweaked the lyrics, (the title originally being "Love Is Strange"), and dropping the vocal down an octave to give it the right kind of Jagger-via-Barry White sexual intensity.
"100 Years Ago" is an interesting Goats Head Soup track in that it features Mick Taylor on background vocals as well as providing all of the guitar, (including of course the wonderful fade-out wah-wah solo), with Keith Richards switching to bass while Bill Wyman probably had his eyes on teenage groupies or something. Authored primarily by Mick Jagger, it was allegedly a few years old by the time that the band got to properly working on it, the singer lamenting getting older and how long ago certain moments felt, all at the spry-by-comparison age of thirty mind you. It is broken up into three sections, a mid-tempo ballad, the soul "Call me Lazybones" breakdown, and a faster jam vamp, all of which are dominated by Billy Preston's funky clavinet which he played frequently with the band at this point.
