A Docile Temperament Prone to Slight Paranoia.

We'll start off with a little metaphorical babble, yes? Between the Buttons (1967) is like studying a high-speed chase in slow motion on a crackled old tape: it's blurred and distorted and plays like a hallucination [LSD's influence, perhaps?], but, in actuality, it's moving much faster than you think. Some songs, like "Ruby Tuesday" and "She Smiled Sweetly" are peaceable and surreal, but others--"Connection" and "Complicated"--are fast-paced and frantic but similarly peculiar. Whatever their speed, though, all the songs are very nice. Between the Buttons didn't get very good reviews at the time of its release, but of the few Rolling Stones records I've had the pleasure of listening to, this is undoubtedly my favorite. I'm not very admiring of their fiery and tough stuff, and there certainly isn't any of that on Between the Buttons. For the most part, Between the Buttons is an album that you should definitely examine.

Carlton and his wordy reviews

Carlton, how about actually reviewing an item instead of always quoating books we can get at the library?

Discover this little gem!!

Just forget the Brian Jones-less Stones of 1968-1972 just for two seconds and find out what an incredibly quirky band they were in 1967. If there is a God, the Stones will play songs off this album one day even though Mick hates it! The standouts are "Yesterday's Papers", "All Sold Out", "Connection" and one of the great ballads, "Back Street Girl". This is Jones and Wyman in great playing form on this record. I'm sure Blur would have listened to this record at one time or another!!

Excellent!

The last of the "butchered" Stones titles is an odd collection of songs which Jagger once labeled, "...a complete wash but for one or two tracks...". The UK pressing did not contain either of the hit singles related to the recording sessions of this album, yet the two alternative selections were impressive. The US pressing omitted 2 great songs from the earlier UK issue (Please Go Home & Back Street Girl), replacing them with the double-hit, Let's Spend the Night Together/Ruby Tuesday. Upon release this title was not well received but has since been recognized as a Jones-era classic. Miss Amanda Jones provided a theme to the 1987 film Some Kind of Wonderful, and She Smiled Sweetly offered a touching moment from The Royal Tenenbaums. Still hard to listen to from start to finish, it is nonetheless valuable for at least a few reasons. Keith gets his first shot at lead vox, sharing the spotlight with Jagger on Something Happened To Me Yesterday. Back cover art by Mr. Charlie Watts.

The Stones Triumphant

This is probably the best of the Stones' three albums released between June 1976 and June 1977, with "Flowers" and "Aftermath" following. The songs are incredibly creative, with great variations in arrangements and mood, from the sexual rocker "Let's Spend the Night Together" to the truly romantic "She Smiled Sweetly" and the music hall romp of "Something Happened to Me Yesterday." It's also one of Jagger's most impressive vocal performances, with nuanced, risk-taking interpretations.

"Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday" were released in the U.S. as the A- and B-sides. Because of the sexual lyrics of Let's Spend the Night Together, " "Ruby Tuesday" got more airplay and reached #1 on Billboard. Both songs represent the best of the Stones, and were included on the later "Flowers" LP. The great `Night' benefits from Jagger's impassioned vocals, rocking guitars and piano, and the doo-wop background at the break. The drumming is sometimes unimaginative though, but that's a minor problem. "Ruby Tuesday" is one of rock's greatest lyrical achievements, and, again, Jagger is completely triumphant." Brian Jones' recorder solo is just one of many examples of multi-instrumental texture on the album.

"Yesterday's Papers" is even better than remembered. It's fairly prosaic lyrically, but the minor key, unusual arrangement, and a great riff on marimba make this another great. "Connection" is also a bit simple, but has great drumming and drive, as well as the fun of all those "ion" rhymes: "direction," "injection," "infection," etc. "She Smiled Sweetly and "Cool, Calm, and Collected" are among Jagger's finest vocals. On the former, he sounds vulnerable, even grateful, and he sings it straight in a simple, low-toned voice. The Dylan-esque quality is notable as well as the churchy Hammond organ meshing with the almost reverential tone. Definitely a departure for the Stones. The latter song typically criticizes a woman, but there's a very playful quality in both Jagger's voice and the instrumentation and playing: a banjo/sitar, ragged piano, harmonica, and kazoo. (There's also some fun, purposefully bad notes by Richards, and a sped-up ending) It's a fantastic combination of the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Bonzo Dog Band, and echoes England's great music hall tradition. The same mix permeates the wonderfully playful "Something Happened to Me Yesterday," one of their most underrated songs (and even more reminiscent of the Beatles).

The remaining songs are more typical (but still excellent) Stones fare, with "Amanda Jones" standing out for its harmonies and driving rock/pop attitude. "All Sold Out" (dig those "hey hey!" background vocals) and "My Obsession" (great bass riff, drumming, and probably Nicky Hopkins on piano) feature Keith Richard's biting guitar licks. They barely qualify as solos, but they give a taste of things to come. "Who's Been Sleeping Here" echoes Dylan both vocally and musically (It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is obvious) and, though Jagger's vocal is uneven, the mix of acoustic and electric guitars is very appealing. Only "Complicated" is a disappointment. The best of these songs predate and, arguably, rival the creativity of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper." The album definitely evokes 1960's London, but the sound is transcendent.

The Stones' answer to Rubber Soul

This was the Stones' "folk-rocky" album....the raw one with hummables a go go, lots of guitar and a definite folk-rock-country flavor. The one thing I think you will find with ALL of the Stones' earlier work, say, before "Satanic Majesties" is that there is an AWFUL lot of country influence that next to no critic has ever acknowledged! "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby", "19th Nervous Breakdown", "Satisfaction", "Mother's Little Helper" and "Sittin' On A Fence" are so country influenced, you half expect to see Conway Twitty in the band credits!

But back to "Buttons"....This album was actually getting AWAY from that to some degree, while keeping a kind of raw, agrarian feel nonetheless. There is a lot more rock-ish guitar work in this, on cuts like "Miss Amanda Jones" or slapping bass on "Yesterday's Papers", a vicious song aimed at their old loves, with Richards doing his thing in creating riffs that you THINK you've heard before, but never have. There's also a LOT of keyboard and even xylophone on these cuts...the Stones were just starting to experiment! This, for all intents and purposes, was the Stones' first single-heavy album...they could have mined it forever for top-ten hits, well into the "Sticky Fingers" era. I'm trying to fathom, though, why they picked the least creative tune on the album, "Let's Spend The Night Together" for the B-side of "Ruby Tuesday", when they could have put something like "Cool, Calm, Collected" on it.

Mick STILL can't sing, but the venom he projects against the type of female hangers-on he and the Beatles encountered after their initial splash of fame is priceless to behold. He also exhibits admiration for some other ladies he encountered....I wonder if he was talking about Anita Pallenberg, Marianne Faithfull or some of the other legendary Stones' women in these songs!

Anyway, if I were to recommend ANY Stones album over all, it MIGHT be this one. I've bought this album maybe 3-4 times since it came out, for some odd reason, due to loss, damage, or whatever, and STILL can't figure out why.