The
Rolling Stones, the “Greatest Rock ‘n’
Roll Band in the World”, has always been
the claim. When you look back over the
last forty years, it is a pretty hard
one to dispute. Starting off playing Blues
covers of their American heroes to a faithful
few in South London’s Youth Clubs, to
worldwide domination of both the album
charts and, starting up and then ruling
ground breaking huge money making Stadium
Rock.
Of
course, along the way there have been
various ups and downs that, if anybody
had written down as a work of fiction,
people would of claimed it to have been
too preposterous to be anywhere near the
truth. After a few cover songs to break
them into the British charts (including
the fabulous ‘I wanna be your Man’, written
for them by “The Beatles”), Jagger - Richards
started writing hits of their own, which
would in turn be covered by almost every
band that followed in their footsteps.
Hit albums followed with more hit singles;
successful tours in all parts of the globe
... Then it all went momentarily wrong.
Original leader and guitarist Brian Jones
left the band and then mysteriously drowned
in his own swimming pool; drug busts and
prison sentences (later squashed after
famously being compared to using a rack
to crush a butterfly in an open letter
to “The Times”); a failed single; difficulty
with confectionery; and the keyboard seat
becoming about as welcome as the drum
stool in Spinal Tap. The boys proved that,
although they looked and acted as the
proverbial dirty rockers, there was a
fair amount of grey matter there too,
so more hit singles were written, more
international best-selling albums were
released, and more than all their peers,
The Stones kept on rolling.
As
the years rolled past, each album was
released to great expectations (some living
up to those expectations - some not).
Each world tour sold out faster than the
last one and to bigger and bigger audiences.
Guitarists arrived, two even left. Mick
Jagger made terrible movies (I mean have
you seen ‘Freejack’?) and he released
even worse solo albums claiming he did
not need the rest of the band, and then
scampered back to the safety of the Stones
when he realized he did. He had more affairs
with a string of glamorous and ever younger
women than even Casanova was reported
to have had. Keith and Ronnie Wood made
some reasonable solo albums in their spare
time, but not exactly groundbreaking,
while Charlie Watts was always just Charlie.
“No
Security” is a collection of live songs
from the ‘Bridges of Babylon Tour’. A
nice little memento if you caught the
tour or a reminder of what you missed
if you didn’t. “No Security” is the seventh
Stones live album and their second in
three years at the time, so by its very
notion it could not be a straight collection
of songs recorded as in concert running
order. You cannot just go banging out
versions of ‘Jumpin Jack Flash’, ‘Honky
Tonk Woman’, and ‘Satisfaction’ like a
continuous conveyer belt of Greatest Hits
every time you go on tour, expecting your
loyal fans to keep on forking out their
hard earned bucks. On the other hand,
when so much work has gone into a tour,
why let the bootleggers get all the money
by releasing the live recording? So the
Stones took a great attitude and released
a collection of songs from the tour that
were a little bit special.
On “No Security” the Stones flex their
collective musical muscle by opening up
with the aptly named “You Got Me Rocking”,
which immediately has Keith Richards and
Ronnie Wood grooving along on guitar with
Keith delivering an awe inspiring solo.
Next up is the finest version of “Gimme
Shelter” this dog has ever heard, the
whole band positively shimmers and when
it gets to the call and response chorus
of “Just A Kiss away”, Mick Jagger and
the wonderful Lisa Fischer taunt each
other to the end.
We then get a live version of probably
the only good song from the terrible mid-seventies
album “Black ‘n’ Blue” ‘Memory Motel’.
While a great version, I would still rather
have Keith Richards singing his half of
the duet rather than special guest Dave
Matthews. I mean, he does a fair version,
but then he is no Keith Richards, but
then who is?
The next guest is truly phenomenal, though,
as long time Stone inspiration Taj Mahal
gets up to growl his way through a version
of his “Corinna”. This alone is worth
the price of the album.
The beautiful ballad “Waiting on a Friend”
is an inspired run through with famous
jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman taking
the solo (Bobby Keys is the regular saxophonist
for the Stones and gets his chance to
shine on the final track, an extended
version of “Out Of Control”).
Keith gets his turn in the vocal spotlight
with his own “Thief in the Night”. The
audience gets a chance to sing their collective
hearts out with Mick Jagger as the conductor
on “Saint of me”. “Sister Morphine” from
the “Sticky Fingers” album is completely
rearranged for this live outing, and the
band reach back to 1965 for their third
British number one (when it meant something
to have a number one hit single). “The
Last Time” they play with as much gusto
as if they had written it last week.
The version of “Respectable” from the
“Some Girls” album leaves the studio version
in tatters. “Live With Me”, the only song
here repeated from the proper first Rolling
Stones live album “Get Your Ya Ya’s Out”.
It shows the band has lost none of its
thunderous ability or masterhood of getting
down and dirty with the best of them.
Nobody plays as sleazy as these boys.
The opening bass line leaves most jaws
on the ground. Although probably not the
best ever “Rolling Stones” live album,
it surely wipes the floor with almost
any other band.
On April 10th, 2003 the Rolling Stones
are coming to the Impact Arena, Bangkok,
Thailand. It will be the first time the
Stones have played in Thailand and let
me assure you, it is an event not to be
missed. The band, with its full entourage,
has just swept through America, Australia,
and Japan. This leg of the “Forty Licks”
tour is probably the last time the band
comes out and does such a large world
wide tour. (I use the word probably, as
whoever knows with these guys. I mean
Keith Richards is the only man on the
planet known to be indestructible, but
on the other hand sixty has passed by
for some and is very close to others.)
Nowadays there are more than sixteen
musicians on stage, plus who knows how
many others. Backstage, out front, in
the back office, in the wings, drivers,
etc. ... it’s a long way from those nightclubs
in South London. All the tour reviews
have been excellent and the Stones are
proud of the fact that they have rehearsed
over one hundred and forty shows and are
tapering each show to suit their audience.
It will be interesting to see what they
give to Thailand, but it will certainly
be Satisfaction (And hopefully “Midnight
Rambler”)
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
