myRockworld NEWS 40 Years Ago: The Rolling Stones Get Back to Rock ‘n’ Roll In October 1974, the Rolling Stones reminded fans, critics and possibly even themselves that it’s only rock ‘n’ roll. Such timely reminders were almost becoming a periodic necessity in an era of rampant progressive rock experimentation and fast-changing trends like glam, when popular music was still coming to grips with life after the Beatles, and the Stones were still battling the Who, Led Zeppelin and other arena-conquering titans for the title of world’s greatest rock band. But the Stones’ calculated efforts at accomplishing global dominance were pursued with the rehearsed nonchalance of true rock stars, and the conditions that gave rise to ‘It’s Only Rock ’N Roll’ were marked by the same combination of changeable plans, happy accidents and impulsive about-faces that always seemed to keep things interesting for the band. And because their most recent album, ’Goats Head Soup,’ was still relatively new, having hit stores in August 1973, the sessions for ‘It’s Only Rock ’N Roll’ were supposed to combine some cover songs with some recordings from their just-concluded European tour, which spanned 40 shows throughout September and October, before depositing Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts at Munich’s Musicland Studios in November. The sessions were so laid-back that Jagger and Richards didn’t even bother to ring up longtime producer Jimmy Miller (whose input and enthusiasm had apparently waned anyway, they later claimed) even after new song ideas began taking shape. So they wound up producing the new material themselves under the newly minted Glimmer Twins pseudonym. Beyond that, Munich’s cold urban surroundings affected the new work-in-progress quite differently than the warm Jamaican vibes had ‘Goats Head Soup,’ bringing an added sense of urgency to ‘If You Can’t Rock Me’ and ‘Dance Little Sister,’ a palpable melancholy to ’Til the Next Goodbye’ and ‘If You Really Want to Be My friend’ and a convincing philosophical gravitas to ‘Time Waits for No One.’ By the time the typically sporadic sessions finally wrapped at Jagger’s stately English manor Stargroves in April 1974, those Caribbean memories had long faded away, ’Goats Head Soup’s’ funkier ingredients had been reined in (mostly confined to ‘Fingerprint File’) and even the controversy that overwhelmed ‘Star Star’ had been redirected in less cynical directions on the comical ‘Short and Curlies.’ But the song that really set the tone for how ‘It’s Only Rock ’N Roll’ would be received —and perceived — as a renewed commitment to the Rolling Stones’ rock ‘n’ roll purism was the title track, which had taken shape with no small help and inspiration from the Faces‘ guitarist Ron Wood, who even let Richards crash at his house for a time. This budding friendship would eventually pave the way to Woody replacing the disgruntled Taylor, who left the band two months after the album’s release. But first Wood endured a long trial run that ran the length of the band’s 1975 touring commitments and the recording of 1976′s ‘Black and Blue’ album, even as the band auditioned everyone from Peter Frampton to Jeff Beck for the vacant spot. The protracted transition at least gave ‘It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll’ time to settle into fans’ ears and, eventually, their hearts. Read More: 40 Years Ago: The Rolling Stones Get Back to Rock n Roll | ultimateclassicrock/rolling-stones-its-only-rock-n-roll/?trackback=tsmclip
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 13:09:56 +0000
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