Ten Great Unreleased Rolling Stones Recordings

The word around the cyber-campfire is that The Rolling Stones, in this year marking the 40th anniversary of their formation, are planning another world tour and a new album. Though I dread the thought of what the ticket prices will be, I welcome the Stones back any time. Despite having to take a lot of ribbing from all over because of their age, the Stones always deliver the goods live. And as far as current albums, well, I'm not the kind who goes into a new Stones album already deciding beforehand "It's not going to be as good as Sticky Fingers." I could care less how an album compares with others before it. Is it decent on its own merits? That's what I want to know, and to my ears the last few Stones albums had a fair number of high quality selections, so I eagerly await a new batch of Stones songs.

But while I wait for some new Stones music, I also think it's high time for a Rolling Stones box set. I imagine that's unlikely, as their early material is owned by ABKCO, and negotiation attempt with Mr. Klein are not known to go smoothly, but if it were possible, it would be nice to have a deluxe multi-disc set covering their entire recording career.

And, of course, the compilers would have to make room for some neat unreleased stuff to lure in the "I already have every album, what do I need a box set for?" folk.

And such thoughts led to the following list of ten A1 Stones recordings that unfairly never got further than the studio tape vault. They are listed in chronological order. Only studio recordings are included, and only those of titles never issued. Alternate versions of, say "Satisfaction," are therefore not included (though there is one case here where a released title was a direct descendant, but with a different title and lyrics).

"Andrew's Blues"

One of the most legendary unreleased rock recordings of the 1960's, this February 1964 recording is known by many titles, "Andrew's Blues" being about the cleanest one. The five Stones and their producer/manager/mentor Andrew Oldham, joined in the studio by American producer Phil Spector, American singer Gene Pitney and two of The Hollies (one was definitely Graham Nash, but there's long been debate as to whether the other was Allan Clarke or Tony Hicks) make the most of a relatively unproductive day in the studio by ingesting some of Pitney's celebratory birthday cognac and running through a few 12 bar jams. Some were used as filler tracks for the first Stones album, but the most interesting one never stood a chance. Despondent over having earlier in the week made an appeal to Decca Records' president Sir Edward Lewis to be released from their contract so they could sign with Phil Spector, which Lewis flatly refused, the well oiled musicians let loose with an ad-libbed tribute to the label head. Phil Spector sings most of the lead vocals, alternately taking good-natured jabs at Oldham and less good-natured jabs at Lewis. The colorful lyrics, which find Andrew and Jack and Jill doing things left out of most Mother Goose books (with appropriate vocabulary to make the points), guaranteed this one wouldn't make the Top 20. Even without the heavy use of the F word, Sir Edward probably would also not have been too fond of Andrew Oldham's mid-song imitation of him. Immediately shelved, but ovevr the years has snuck out to collectors. Gene plays piano, and the two Hollies provide harmonic backing here and there.

"Snap Crackle Pop"

Back when commercialism didn't seem like anything terrible, The Rolling Stones agreed to contribute a jingle to a British Rice Krispies. A chugging rocker seemingly based on "Route 66," this was supposedly written by Brian Jones, just about the only original composition The Stones ever recorded.

"Looking Tired"

A brief summation for those who don't know the story: The Stones cut some tracks in late 1965 for an early 1966 album to be titled *Could YOU Walk On Water?* The Stones cannot, and they find this out when Decca refuses to issue the album with such a title. By the time the Stones give in and agree to change the title, they have recorded a few more songs, and the original track lineup gets revamped, with several tracks falling to the temporary wayside. Some eventually surface on singles or the American Flowers album, but an uptempo 12 bar shuffle entitled "Looking Tired," slated to close the original album, never saw proper release. Presumably from the same session as "Going Home," as both feature Charlie playing a scaled down drumset rather than a full kit, the song is dominated by some Chet Atkins style electric guitar finger-picking from Keith.

"Can't Believe It"

A great rocker from the late 1966 sessions for Between The Buttons, this is a cross between "All Sold Out" (for tempo and beat) and "Miss Amanda Jones" (for the fuzz guitar). After several songs where Mick sang to a girl putting her down ("19th Nervous Breakdown," "Who's Driving Your Plane," "Doncha Bother Me," "Ride On Baby," "Out Of Time," and so on and so forth), here Mick now sings favorably about a girl...namely "Wow, you're not stupid anymore."

This has circulated under various titles, including "Get Yourself Together" and "I Can See It." In the mid 1990's, The Chesterfield Kings released a cover of it under the title "Can't Believe It," so we'll assume this is the official copyrighted title.

"Blood Red Wine"

This well-circulated recording has been attributed, by different sources, as either being from the Exile On Main Street sessions or those for Beggars Banquet. The latter seems more likely, as the backing of "Blood Red Wine" is reminiscent in feel to some of the songs of that 1968 album. The acoustic guitar, drums and piano all suggest we're hearing something from the same week as "Salt Of The Earth." "Blood Red Wine" is a slow, light country number that builds and softens, like "Salt" as well as "Sister Morphine" (first recorded at these sessions but recut for Sticky Fingers a few years later). Charlie's drums, as usual, lead us safely into the crescendos and decrescendos, reminding us why even though Charlie is the Stone the farthest away from the limelight, it just isn't The Rolling Stones without him.

The only gripe about this recording is Mick's vocal. He is painfully flat on several sections, and he sounds as if he doesn't really know how the song goes. One must assume this was only a rough guide vocal, to be wiped later with something smoother.

"Schoolboy Blues" (also known by a certain other title)

Another song destined to never occupy any piece of Decca vinyl borne out of problem with the label. In short, the Stones, at the dawn of the 1970's, were ready to jump ship and begin a new phase of their career on their own record label. Decca reminded the group that before cutting ties they owed them one more song. Already flustered with Decca, the Stones were not keen on doing them any favors, so they purposely submitted something they knew Decca would not release. The result, a quickly recorded haunting acoustic mournful minor key number sung from the point of view of a young boy in London on a quest to learn the facts of life, having already gotten a taste of them with the help of some truncheon-toting policemen. As with "Andrew's Blues," the vocabulary matched the content.

Despite a nice melody and some strong vocals from Mick, Decca Records for some reason decided to hold back on releasing this one.

"Good Time Woman"

This piece of unclaimed freight from the Exile On Main Street sessions is interesting not only for being a nice crunchy rocker, but for being an anagram of one of that album's best known selections. Though its lyrics are totally different, "Good Time Woman" follows the same chords as "Tumbling Dice," and even has similar drum fills and guitar lines. The Stones were right to rescramble the ingredients, but decades later, it's neat to embark down the road not taken.

"Aladdin Story."

Many Stones fans consider their 1973 album Goat's Head Soup as the one that broke a string of excellent albums that began with 1968's Beggar's Banquet and continued with Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street. Well, Goat's Head Soup certainly has some less than stellar songs, but this particular track from that album's sessions proves that the problem was not a lack of quality tunes, but a poor sense of judgement over what to select for the final lineup. "Aladdin Story" has their trademark early 1970's slow-groove they had worked to perfection on tracks like "Ventilator Blues" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking." It begins with a guitar riff somewhat similar to "Paint It Black," but whereas that classic had a mysterious feel about it, this one is simply laid back rock and roll, along the lines of "Sway" from Sticky Fingers. As the song progresses, vibraphone falls in, and then, by mid song saxophones and Hammond Organ. Clearly, much logical thought went into the planning of this backing, as far as keeping the song building.

Unfortunately, a proper vocal track was never attempted, and therefore, "Aladdin Story" was never freed from the virtual magic lamp for inclusion on the album, despite surpassing some of the finished album's selection in quality. (certainly "Can You Hear The Music")

"Drift Away"

Upon learning many years ago that there was a Rolling Stones recording in circulation of the Dobie Gray classic, I figured it had to be a rough run-through done as a warmup or as a goof. But in actual fact, it is a proper, serious minded recording suggesting the Stones truly intended its release. Dating from the It's Only Rock And Roll sessions, this follows Gray's version fairly closely, minus the string section, and with Mick Taylor's guitar starring. From the 1970's onward, The Stones only occasionally issued cover versions, and when they did, it was usually an impressive tackling. This would not have been an exception.

"Gangster's Maul"

Sources date this as coming from the sessions for Emotional Rescue. My ears place it circa Black And Blue, as it has a basic sound akin to that 1976 album's "Fool To Cry" and "Memory Motel." Like those two songs, "Gangster's Maul" is a slow paced tune with a prominent Fender Rhodes throughout. What exists is a run-through with a rough vocal by Mick, who continuously calls out the chords. Regardless, the backing is fairly solid, and there's the foundation of something memorable the band sadly never built up on.

______________________________________________________

To reach any other page contained in this month's update on Fufkin.com, read the home page for the appropriate link and click on it. You can also search the site from any page using the search box located at the top of each page. Merely type in the word, phrase, name of the band, recording, name of the Fufkin writer that you are looking for or Whatever in the search box, and then click on "Search". If you would like to e-mail us, go to the About Us page for a list of e-mail addresses.

Go back to the home page by clicking here

______________________________________________________