I haven’t listened to this album fully for a long time. So it was quite nostalgic to spin this a few times. I’m concentrating on the UK album, although the US isn’t much different.
It’s certainly a different album in the Stones’ catalogue. This was before they stopped trying to be a Beatle-type versatile pop band and concentrated on the blues rock that made the albums from Beggars Banquet to Exile on Main Street such great records. The blues are never far away though and a couple of songs sound like they could have worked on Exile with a little tweaking.
It gets compared unfavourably to Aftermath. Which is understandable given the more famous songs on that Album. And the quirkiness of some of these songs won’t be to everyone’s taste. What it has over Aftermath is it doesn’t get bogged down with the rather tedious, pedestrian blues numbers that slowed that album to me.
The Stones are clearly following the Beatles lead in experimenting with different instruments. On this you’ll hear vibraphone, banjo and trombone among others. However the production is a bit muddy and some songs sound in style and production like they could have come from 1962. That this was released between Revolver and Sergeant Pepper truly shows the Stones weren’t in the Beatles’ class at this point.
There’s a lot less care taken with arrangements then we’re used to on Beatle records. With few exceptions the songs consist of two or three musical parts repeated in the same pattern. Usually with an instrumental break over one of the parts. That’s not always a bad thing and suits some songs but it means those parts have to be very good to sustain interest and it contributes a certain repetitiveness of the album. Intros are usually just a segment from the song and outros often just a fade out over the verse or chorus progression. Middle 8s were a bit of a novelty for them it seems.
None of this makes it a bad album. Track for track there’s still a lot to like.
Yesterday’s Papers: The album kicks off with some harpsichord and vibes which gives the song a low key start. Once the full instrumentation comes in the energy picks up. There’s a minor key quality to parts of it which wouldn’t have thrilled Stones keyboardist Ian Stewart (maybe why he didn’t play on it). Not a bad lead-off track though.
My Obsession: This song seems longer than it is. And it sounds like Charlie has been tied up and Keith or someone is playing drums. The very basic beat never changes and the repeated stop time with the drums doing the same basic beat solo drove me nuts. Thumbs down. Sorry Brian.
Backstreet girl: This is quite a lovely acoustic ballad with Mick actually singing rather sweetly by his standards. The lyrics are pretty nasty though. Sung in the first person telling his mistress basically to be happy with the crumbs off his relationship table; she’s too common, her manners are not right etc. Redeemable if it’s meant to be mocking the sort of man who would say all this. Which isn’t an unreasonable interpretation given bands like the Kinks were sending up middle class types regularly.
Connection: This is a pretty infectious track. It has that classic R&B feel and wouldn’t been out of place as a girl group song. I find myself humming this to myself throughout the day.
She Smiled Sweetly: The stand out track on the UK album. This is the best written and arranged song here. An intro that doesn’t just sound like part of the verse or chorus; varied parts in the verse and a nicely logical melody in the chorus. And, a rarity on the album, a good middle 8 that build back nicely to the verse. Even the alliterative title suggests a more care taken with the songwriting components.
Cool, calm, collected: The alliteration continues with this song but to lesser effect. The verse is good fun and has a feel almost like an Exile on Main Street song. But the chorus is mundane. And like too many songs on the album the repeated parts get tedious. It does attempt variety by speeding up at the end for a fade out jam. So it seems this was meant as a live song.
All Sold Out: BtB is often called a psychedelic album. This is the only song that sounds like psychedelia to me. It sounds like it could have fit on Satanic Majesty’s Request. Not a bad track though.
Please Go Home: Very fillerish but has lots of energy. Good drumming by Charlie lifts it.
Who’s Been Sleeping Here: A favourite on the album. A catchy tune. Acoustic driven but with some interesting piano and electric guitar. The instrumental break sounds like it might be a different progression to other parts of the song. Reminds me of something off Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited.
Complicated: This sounds a bit of a throwback. Like an early 60s dance tune. Quite fun though. Good quality filler. Funky drumming from Charlie on this one. Like lots of songs on the album it suffers a bit from repetitiveness.
Ms Amanda Jones: This sounds like a proto Exile tune. Very uptempo blues rock. Very straight forward. I’m being repetitive by saying the the instrumental breaks are a bit repetitive.
Something Happened to me Yesterday: Ray Davies called and he wants his song back. Seriously I thought I was listening to the Kinks at some parts of this song. Especially the rollicking music hall verses complete with brass band. Mick in the chorus sounds like a different singer. It’s extremely catchy and i found myself bopping along with it. The instrumental break sounds sort of Dixielandish. A good closer except it goes on a bit long.
The US version is clearly a stronger album with Ruby Tuesday as the ballad replacing Backstreet Girl and Let’s Spend the Night Together in place of the filler Please Go Home. Let’s Spend the Night makes an excellent album opener. I recall having the US version first which might be why I remember the album so fondly.
After playing this through a few times I’m finding this still an enjoyable listen. Even the lesser songs are energetic. It’s not a great album. The lack of killer songs (at least in the UK version) would stop it being a real classic. But overall I found it enjoyable and an interesting step in the Stones’ development.