"But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get
what you need..."
Been rocking out to the Stones all day today; it seemed like
the right thing to do. Fifty years
ago today, the Rolling Stones took the stage for the first time in a little pub
called The Marquee Club in London, thus beginning the most epic career in the
history of rock and roll.
From: Clashmusic.com |
All day long as the songs played, memories of the times came
to mind, helping me relive my misspent youth with the Stones often there
providing the music. At the time I
liked them better than the Beatles, I think just because of the harder edge to
their music, music that had lyrics that sometimes made you think, sometimes
made you laugh and almost always made you want to dance or led you into other
pursuits suitable to the age of the world and the age of the person.
Getting caught by a policeman while parked and making out
with Heather Smith in my 1964 Corvair Spyder while a radio station played every
song on the Aftermath album.
Getting an unexpected Saturday night off when we ran out of parts on the assembly line at the
Chevrolet engine plant and racing home to shower and dress and head for the
nearest bar with a rock and roll band. Buffalo had a lot of those at the time. We had dressed in
three-piece suits and went to one of the better ones where we met two girls and
danced with them until the band quit then offered to take them home. Home turned out to be Toronto which
didn't stop us for a minute. I
abandoned my car on a side street and we drove the Queen Elizabeth Way in Bill
Toth's new Chevelle, the song of the moment: "Hey you, get off of my
cloud." I remember that experience
every time I hear that opening line: "I live alone in an apartment on the 99th floor of my
block..." We spent the rest
of the weekend in Toronto and when I finally returned to my regular life I learned the
police were looking for me. A
resident on the street where I left my car had seen me run from it and jump
into my friend's. She called the police thinking it might be stolen. The police ended up calling my parents
who of course immediately imagined the worst possible scenario.
Friday night college parties that didn't really begin until
I went to the stereo and played those first notes of
"Satisfaction." Years
later when some poll had decided that was the greatest rock and roll song of
all time, I heard an interview with Keith Richards who described how the famous
guitar riff came to be. He said he
always kept a tape recorder at his bedside. And one night he woke up with that riff in his head and
played it, falling back asleep almost immediately. When he woke up in the morning he had on the tape 15 seconds
of Satisfaction and 45 minutes of himself snoring.
Then there were the parties at drive-ins where we rocked and
danced until the movie started with Stones music to get us going.
This could go on.
I bet fully half the songs in their book raise some sort of memory and listening to most of them today brought a lot of those memories back.
Also, listening today I realized what's missing in a lot of
rock music today: Lyrics. Something to say. Often it was about love, of course, but there were others
too, and some mysterious and difficult to decipher. I still haven't totally figured out this one:
Sympathy For The Devil lyrics
Songwriters: Jagger, Mick;
Richards, Keith;
Please allow me
to introduce myself
I'm a man of
wealth and taste
I've been around
for a long, long year
Stole many a
man's soul and fate
I was 'round
when Jesus Christ
Had his moments
of doubt and pain
Made damn sure
that Pilate
Washed his hands
and sealed his fate
Pleased to meet
you
Hope you guess
my name, oh yeah
But what's
puzzling you
Is the nature of
my game
I stuck around
St. Petersburg
When I saw it
was a time for a change
Killed the Czar
and his ministers
Anastasia
screamed in vain
I rode a tank
Held a General's
rank
When the
Blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies
stank
Pleased to meet
you
Hope you guess
my name, oh yeah
What's puzzling
you
Is the nature of
my game, oh yeah
I watched the
glee
While your kings
and queens
Fought for ten
decades
For the Gods
they made
I shouted out
"Who killed
the Kennedys?"
Well after all
It was you and
me
Let me please
introduce myself
I'm a man of
wealth and taste
And I laid traps
for troubadours
Who get killed
before they reached Bombay
Pleased to meet
you
Hope you guess
my name, oh yeah
But what's
puzzling you
Is the nature of
my game, oh yeah
Pleased to meet
you
Hope you guess
my name, oh yeah
But what's
confusing you
Is just the
nature of my game, ooh yeah
Just as every
cop is a criminal
And all the
sinners saints
As heads is
tails just call me Lucifer
I'm in need of
some restraint
So if you meet
me, have some courtesy
Have some
sympathy and some taste
Use all your
well learned politics
Or I'll lay your
soul to waste, mmm yeah
Pleased to meet
you
Hope you guess
my name, mmm yeah
But what's
puzzling you
Is the nature of
my game, get down
Woo hoo, ah
yeah, get on down, oh yeah
Tell me, baby,
what's my name?
Tell me, honey,
baby guess my name
Tell me, baby,
what's my name?
I'll tell ya one
time you're to blame
What's my name?
Tell me, baby,
what's my name?
Tell me, sweetie, what's my
name?
© ABKCO MUSIC INC
There are too
many to pick a single favorite, but that one certainly is on the list. In addition to the hard rock edge they could sing beautifully as well. Take "Angie," " Ruby Tuesday," and this one which I only started
listening to more closely in the past couple of years:
I love the line from that song: "I have my freedom, but I don't have much time."
As he approaches
70 and is still rocking, I have to wonder if he still thinks, "what a drag it is getting old."
I doubt it.
Mick's birthday is July 26. ;) and he already is older than 70. He's five years older than me, but other than that, I couldn't agree more. We saw him in 2009 in Nampa, Idaho, of all places, and he was unbelievable. It's a small venue and we had the second-cheapest seats they were selling. With an audience of 10,000, and the Stones' stage that rolls out into the middle of the audience, it was almost like a personal performance.It was a couple of weeks after Mick Jagger's dad died, and about a week after Keith Richards fell out of a tree and had a concussion. Despite all of the challenges, they rocked liked nobody I've ever seen before, and I've seen a lot of live performers over the years. They didn't start until about 9 p.m., which is past my bedtime anymore, and I was cranky, whining that they'd probably play for an hour while whining at the audience, then leave, as Stevie Wonder had when we saw him a few years earlier. First up was "Jumping Jack Flash," and I told Gerry it already felt like I'd gotten my money's worth. Then they performed for three full hours, and they weren't winding down, they were still cranking it up. It was phenomenal. They are amazing.
ReplyDeleteAnd i don't care what that newer song says, no one has moves like Jagger.
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