Another killer 1970 version







But you have to admit, when the boys hit the stage on the 1972 American Tour and Keith played the first chords of BS, that was incredible feeling!!!

Quote
cn854
Another killer 1970 version







But you have to admit, when the boys hit the stage on the 1972 American Tour and Keith played the first chords of BS, that was incredible feeling!!!

Thanks for posting, that rocks, all of them !!

Quote
ryanpow
"Did Mick or Keith write the Brown Sugar Riff?" is becoming the next "Taylor Vs. Wood".

Mick did... period!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-03-10 19:15 by dcba.

Quote
His Majesty

Quote
howled
If I was Mick and Keith, I would have put only Brian and Bill on the credits for Gomper, and let them take the blame for it

Gomper is ace.

pet detective?

video: [www.youtube.com]

I've heard this version before, but not in this good of quality.

This must be the song that Lou Reed wished he had written... Not even the main guitar riff that he borrowed later but more the dirty atmosphere which reminds me of Run Run Run or I'm Waiting For The Man.

I've found this today and thought it would be worth sharing it here:

"Amazing Moment: Last night, I went to an audio gear event at EastWest Studios (formerly the famed Western Recording) and in one of the control rooms, they had stems (digital copies of individual tracks) of The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" going through the mixing console.

So it might be like Track 1 is drums, 2 is surprisingly bad electric rhythm guitar, 3 is piano, 4 is Jagger and so on. That in and of itself was amazing, getting to hear the parts of a classic soloed up.

But THEN, legendary producer/engineer Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, Bowie, Clapton, Zeppelin and the Stones, among many others) wanders in, says "Ugh, that bass; let's have a go at that," puts down his glass of champagne and proceeds to build a mix for the next 10 minutes for the hell of it; it was like watching Michelangelo paint or Stephen King type! I tried to get a photo but it didn't save; luckily my pal Strother got this one of Eddie at work."

[www.instagram.com]

Re: the drums.
Like somebody mentioned there is this jungle/swamp/middle of the night beat deep down in the song.
Charlie also marches through the verses and skips through the choruses. Not a drummer so I don't know what he is doing.
And I always judge a radio station by whether they let us hear Keith's 'Yeah' at the end.

Question for all the Brown Sugar experts out there. I am probably certain that this discussion came up in the past via various threads on this board but I may have missed it. I particularly like the version of Brown Sugar that's featured in Gimme Shelter (although it is incomplete). Is this the version that ended up on initial pressings of Hot Rocks and/or was featured on bootlegs such as Black Box and/or Time Trip?? Of the boots that I own, I have heard SEVERAL versions of this in development, but the ones I have still don't quite sound like that version in Gimme Shelter. I would love to have a pristine sounding version of that tune if available or put my in the direction where to find it.

BS is one of those songs that made the Stones the greatest R n R-band in the world. One of their best songs and perfect in every way. You´d never get tired of listening to it.

I remember that I heard BS for the very first time in a Sylvester-Stallone-movie called "Nighthawks". At that time I didn´t even know that it was a Stones-song. Years later I bought Sticky Fingers and recognized the song immediately.

An absolute fantastic song, thrilling and exciting and it still sounds very fresh, a timeless classic.

Mick has an odd concept of the "desert", the filming of Ned Kelly took place at Braidwood 1 hours drive from Canberra in the surrounding areas of Araluen & Reidsdale. It is not desert country such as the real deserts in remote areas of Western & South Australia.
That is where Brown Sugar was written....every time I drive through that area on the way to the NSW south coast I always have Brown Sugar blaring out the key stereo.....

The Braidwood historical society has the actual armour that Mick wore in the film.

pool's in but the patio ain't dry

Quote
HMS
BS is one of those songs that made the Stones the greatest R n R-band in the world. One of their best songs and perfect in every way. You´d never get tired of listening to it.

I remember that I heard BS for the very first time in a Sylvester-Stallone-movie called "Nighthawks". At that time I didn´t even know that it was a Stones-song. Years later I bought Sticky Fingers and recognized the song immediately.

An absolute fantastic song, thrilling and exciting and it still sounds very fresh, a timeless classic.

As a huge fan of live Stones, I have to say that Brown Sugar is one of those tunes where the studio version is hard to beat on stage. It's got a certain slinky groove that they don't quite catch when they try to do it at the studio tempo. In the old days, they could make it exciting by speeding it up a bit, but now that they do it "right," it seldom lives up to the original.

"Gonna find my way to heaven ..."

Quote
HonkeyTonkFlash

Quote
HMS
BS is one of those songs that made the Stones the greatest R n R-band in the world. One of their best songs and perfect in every way. You´d never get tired of listening to it.

I remember that I heard BS for the very first time in a Sylvester-Stallone-movie called "Nighthawks". At that time I didn´t even know that it was a Stones-song. Years later I bought Sticky Fingers and recognized the song immediately.

An absolute fantastic song, thrilling and exciting and it still sounds very fresh, a timeless classic.

As a huge fan of live Stones, I have to say that Brown Sugar is one of those tunes where the studio version is hard to beat on stage. It's got a certain slinky groove that they don't quite catch when they try to do it at the studio tempo. In the old days, they could make it exciting by speeding it up a bit, but now that they do it "right," it seldom lives up to the original.

Sometimes when you record there's magic in the air.

Quote
dcba

Quote
ryanpow
"Did Mick or Keith write the Brown Sugar Riff?" is becoming the next "Taylor Vs. Wood".

Mick did... period!

I try very hard to undo the thinking of buying into the myth absorbed since the 1980s from the Keith side of things and have learned to question anything said about Mick. All of that aside, listen to Mick struggle to play the damn song backstage at Madison Square Garden with Ike & Tina Turner sitting next to him. It's dreadful. This reminded me of the stories Andy Johns or Glyn Johns would tell of Mick struggling to play "Bitch" or "Tumbling Dice" and then Keith walks into the studio and nails it. Yeah, it might be Mick's tune, but we wouldn't have that opening riff without Keith.

The individual lucky enough to hear the isolated tracks who commented on the surprisingly bad rhythm guitar, I can believe it being disappointed by Keith's attempts at the "Sympathy for the Devil" solo in the studio or recognizing "Waiting on a Friend" was built by looping a very brief guitar riff and disguising beneath piano and saxophone and percussion. I do recognize the important role played by engineers in editing or looping a guitar track until it sounds perfect. Likewise, I'm starting to appreciate how important keyboard players were in supplementing some of the guitar solos in the studio (I'm thinking of UNDERCOVER and STEEL WHEELS)and certainly in concert. Seeing behind the curtain isn't always pleasant, but it's certainly instructive.

Quote
Rocky Dijon
All of that aside, listen to Mick struggle to play the damn song backstage at Madison Square Garden with Ike & Tina Turner sitting next to him. It's dreadful. This reminded me of the stories Andy Johns or Glyn Johns would tell of Mick struggling to play "Bitch" or "Tumbling Dice" and then Keith walks into the studio and nails it. Yeah, it might be Mick's tune, but we wouldn't have that opening riff without Keith.

That's how I see it anyways.

Mick wrote the riff, the video shows him playing it slowly and instructional" almost with a forced cool laidback attitude because of the intimidating Ike Turner. Thats what i see in that clip.

Quote
Redhotcarpet
Mick wrote the riff, the video shows him playing it slowly and instructional" almost with a forced cool laidback attitude because of the intimidating Ike Turner. Thats what i see in that clip.

He doesn't play the riff, merely a simple version of the chord sequences.

He probably wrote the song, though, but got some help by his friend, to make it sound that good

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
Redhotcarpet
Mick wrote the riff, the video shows him playing it slowly and instructional" almost with a forced cool laidback attitude because of the intimidating Ike Turner. Thats what i see in that clip.

He doesn't play the riff, merely a simple version of the chord sequences.

He probably wrote the song, though, but got some help by his friend, to make it sound that good

As Keith once said in an interview regarding Mick-written songs, sometimes his job is to sprinkle the fairy dust on it. Surely he did that with Brown Sugar.

"Gonna find my way to heaven ..."

I dont think so, didnt Keith say the riff - everything - was Mick? It doesnt sound like a typical Keith-riff. Sounds more like someone suggested they star the song with the refrain (the G-chord) and change it a little.

I wouldn't say Mick is struggling to play Brown Sugar to Ike but rather is obviously still working on it since he doesn't even have all the words yet.

It's easy to hear that he came up with the riff but Keith perfected it.

Can you believe a slow bluesy and haunting version of Brown Sugar? (In honour of the upcoming release.)

Yes you can!

[www.youtube.com]

Quote
GravityBoy
I don't think the percussion/drums on this track should be underestimated.

There is a great low underbeat (jungle beat?) going on, something they never captured live (except at Altamont?).

What was Charlie doing to play that? Was he assisted by someone/thing?

Charlie is playing snare and floor tom during the verse and the sax break. Goes to the cymbals with his right hand for the chorus. I think he still mostly plays it that way today. Watch him on Sweet Summer Sun: right hand thumping the floor tom. I'm a drummer myself, and I've played this song in a couple of bands. Always play it the "Charlie way."

The song really shifts into high gear when the shakers come in after the break. (Interesting that they used the same trick on JJF.) Love Mick & Keith belting out the last verse together!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-10-12 16:28 by TheBadRabbit.

BBC Radio - Classic Singles: Brown Sugar

Respected record producer Tony Visconti continues his series celebrating classic singles with a look back at the Rolling Stones' 1971 hit Brown Sugar. Featuring contributions from Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, Tony explores the social, musical and historical importance of the track. First broadcast in 2007.

[www.bbc.co.uk]

There's 10 days left to listen the programme on the above link, but it can also be listened here: [www.youtube.com]

It's always fascinating to learn the origins of certain songs. I've known for a long time that BS was Mick's song, but when I was younger, I thought it was a classic Keith riff. I was also wrong in thinking that about the guitar parts on Sway and Stop Breaking Down...

"Gonna find my way to heaven ..."

I just watched the awesome Stripped Paris show and noticed that Brown Sugar's "just like a young girl should" -line had turned into "young man".
Then I went to YT to check if this was a one off. Nope.
Marquee-71 still had the taste of the young girl. But in -72 it was already switched to a boy. The same in -73, -75, and -81. 1990 Mick uses both young boy and young man. From 2006 on Mick seems to switch between girl (or gal) and man.
I wonder if this is intentional or not.

He also skips the «hear him whip the women...»-line quite often. It might be a correlation between that line and whether he choose to sing «girl» or «boy/man» - I don't know...

I think he's a bit more pc these days so yes it's intentional. Not sure if it's neccessary as surely we all know it's a song from 1971!

Quote
exhpart
I think he's a bit more pc these days so yes it's intentional. Not sure if it's neccessary as surely we all know it's a song from 1971!

1969

Same reason he changed a certain line from the song, Some Girls.