Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Citadel
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK, June 9 & October 2 - 5, 1967

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, backing vocals, percussion
Keith Richards - electric guitar, backing vocals
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Brian Jones - saxophone, flute, mellotron
Nicky Hopkins - piano, harpsichord, mellotron

Men at arms shout: Who goes there?
We have journeyed far from here
Armed with bibles make us swear

Candy and Cathy, hope you both are well
Please come see me in the citadel

Flags are flying dollar bills
From the heights of concrete hills
You can't see the pinnacles

Candy and Cathy, hope you both are well
Please come see me in the citadel

In the streets of many walls
Here the peasants come and crawl
You can hear their numbers called

Candy and Cathy, hope you both are well
Please come see me in the citadel

Screaming people fly so fast
In their shiny metal cars
Through the woods of steel and glass

Candy and Cathy, hope you both are well
Please come see me in your citadel, oh well

Produced by The Rolling Stones

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Their Satanic Majesties Request” LP
(Decca TXS 103) UK, December 8, 196



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-07-11 16:06 by René.

One of the absolute most underrated songs
from the by at least 1, 900 light years most underrated Stones era.

And not at all hard to do live. Why do they not play it?

"The wonder of Jimi Hendrix was that he could stand up at all he was so pumped full of drugs." Patsy, Patsy Stone

Believe me; in three hours when all the so called Stones Rationalists
have been postin, we have gotten convinced its worthless & unplayable.

Great deep track! Got a lot of spacey groove to it and one of the better ones from TSMR!

a killer track. Some of the first hinting on what to come later. With hard riffing, that is.

I'm a little bit undecided about it. The riff starts promising, and the hazy vocals are fun. But it still sounds unfinished somehow, as if the spacey effects ought to cover a loss of substance. You can't help thinking about boys in a toy shop here. So it's more a kind of novelty song, I guess, but fun to listen to.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-05-25 11:59 by Greenblues.

I've always loved Citadel. Great song and I wish they'd do it live.

There aren't any real brass instruments on this track.

The Satanic Sessions box sets suggests that Brian doesn't play on Citadel, that Nicky did all of the mellotron parts as well as piano and harpsichord.

Where do you hear Marimba? Are you meaning the bright chiming sound? That was recorded at the same time as the main backing track, so it's probably Mick as he's heard talking during the backing session.

Mick is playing glockenspiel, isn't he?

The song's got a white noise-Velvet Underground thing going, and the lyric "Candy and Cathy" refer to two Andy Warhol-associated chicks from New York.

Love it.

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His Majesty
There aren't any real brass instruments on this track.

Then what are the brass-like instruments that are being played? 1967 was too early for the Stones to be using a synth.

I admit I'm puzzled seeing Brian listed as playing brass. I know he was multi-talented on various musical instruments, but I was unaware he could play brass.

killer song. great riff, great melody, great guitarsound!

Great tune. It's a shame they never played it live.

If they would have left off - pick something other than Citadel, 2000 Man, 2000 Light Years, On With The Show and She's A Rainbow - some of the other tunes and put on We Love You and Dandelion - now we're talking about a really good album.

His Majesty:

So the brass sound is really a mellotron?
And yes, I mean that bright chiming sound.

DandelionPowderman:
Yes, Mick plays glockenspiel, but I listed that as percussion.

With this info and with the suggested Satanic Sessions box set info, the line-up will be:

Mick Jagger - vocals, glockenspiel, marimbas
Keith Richards - electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Nicky Hopkins - piano, harpsichord, mellotron

Agreed?

René

<I admit I'm puzzled seeing Brian listed as playing brass. I know he was multi-talented on various musical instruments, but I was unaware he could play brass.>

Well, he did a sax-overdub on a Beatles-track, but that was a crazy one

The brass sounds are all from the Mellotron. There's also use of the Mellotrons mandolin and 3 violin sounds.

The mandolin sound is used during each chorus in tandem with harpsichord and mellotron brass, the strings can be heard in the background near the end.

Rene, I'd say the glockenspiel is what was used for the bright pinging sound. I don't hear Marimbas on the track.

There's no real hint that Brian was in attendance like there are on other track sessions from the box set. But of course it is possible that Brian over dubbed some mellotron later.

The track seems to have been near completed save for the vocals in one session.

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DandelionPowderman
<I admit I'm puzzled seeing Brian listed as playing brass. I know he was multi-talented on various musical instruments, but I was unaware he could play brass.>

Well, he did a sax-overdub on a Beatles-track, but that was a crazy one

Sax's are classed as woodwind though same as clarinets, or reeds.

Superb song and sounds!

Who says Brian don`t play mellotron on it?

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rootsman
Superb song and sounds!

Who says Brian don`t play mellotron on it?

A bootleg box set has lots of takes from the recording session, inbetween takes you can hear the group talking etc, but there's no sign that Brian is present.

best song on TSMR

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His Majesty

Quote
rootsman
Superb song and sounds!

Who says Brian don`t play mellotron on it?

A bootleg box set has lots of takes from the recording session, inbetween takes you can hear the group talking etc, but there's no sign that Brian is present.

OK!
So what do you think Brian plays on these two "Satanic Sessions" boxes?
And also on the finished LP/album?

Quote
rootsman


OK!
So what do you think Brian plays on these two "Satanic Sessions" boxes?
And also on the finished LP/album?

He plays a lot, but I don't think this is the right thread for this discussion.

Quote
skipstone
Great tune. It's a shame they never played it live.

If they would have left off - pick something other than Citadel, 2000 Man, 2000 Light Years, On With The Show and She's A Rainbow - some of the other tunes and put on We Love You and Dandelion - now we're talking about a really good album.

I've always thought this too Skipstone.
Here's the revised tracklisting I'd go with...

01. Sing This All Together
02. Citadel
03. In Another Land
04. 2000 Man
05. We Love You

06. She's A Rainbow
07. The Lantern
08. Dandelion
09. 2000 Light Years From Home
10. On With The Show

I think this would've been a much better choice for the album!!!

Greenblues is probably right that this song isn't totally finished. It's basically just the same few parts over and over again, whereas if keith were more on his game, he'd have paced and arranged things more brilliantly. Still, a treasure of a tune.

My favorite track from the lp. I agree if dandelion & We Love You was added, this would have been a much better received lp & history would have been much kinder.

It's so very lonely, you're 2,000 Light Years from home

I love the mellotron on that track no matter who played it. Underrated song on an underrated album IMO.

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tonterapi
I love the mellotron on that track no matter who played it. Underrated song on an underrated album IMO.

I completely agree!

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vudicus

Quote
skipstone
Great tune. It's a shame they never played it live.

If they would have left off - pick something other than Citadel, 2000 Man, 2000 Light Years, On With The Show and She's A Rainbow - some of the other tunes and put on We Love You and Dandelion - now we're talking about a really good album.

I've always thought this too Skipstone.
Here's the revised tracklisting I'd go with...

01. Sing This All Together
02. Citadel
03. In Another Land
04. 2000 Man
05. We Love You

06. She's A Rainbow
07. The Lantern
08. Dandelion
09. 2000 Light Years From Home
10. On With The Show

I think this would've been a much better choice for the album!!!

You can't axe Gomper!! No No No!

The Lantern should go instead. Gomper has got some great instrumental sounds and a totally psychedelic lyric. Without STAT(SWH) to totally burn you out on weirdness first, it's sweet.

Quote
His Majesty

Quote
rootsman


OK!
So what do you think Brian plays on these two "Satanic Sessions" boxes?
And also on the finished LP/album?

He plays a lot, but I don't think this is the right thread for this discussion.

From the discussion we had about a year ago we got a "most likely" play list, judged on the 8 CD Outtakes set:


>>>>
Citadel

Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman
Electric guitar: Keith Richards
Glockenspiel (? The high pitched “ping”): Mick Jagger
Shaker: Mick Jagger
Mellotron (Mandolin): Nicky Hopkins
Mellotron (strings): Nicky Hopkins
Mellotron (brass): Nicky Hopkins
Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Harpsichord: Nicky Hopkins


2000 Light Years from Home (Toffee Apple)

Electric guitar: Keith Richards
Bass: Bill Wyman
Drums: Charlie Watts
Mellotron (strings): Brian Jones
Shaker: Mick Jagger

We Love You

Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Bass: Bill Wyman
Electric guitar: Keith Richards
Mellotron (brass): Brian Jones

She’s Like a Rainbow (Flowers in your Barnett)

Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Acoustic guitar: Keith Richards
Tambourine: Mick Jagger
Congas: Mick Jagger
Mellotron (Brass): Brian Jones
Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman

Child of the Moon
Acoustic guitar: Keith Richards
Drums: Charlie Watts
Vocals: Mick Jagger
(Electric) Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Hammond (?): Brian Jones ?


In Another Land

Harpsichord: Nicky Hopkins
Bass: Bill Wyman
Drums: Charlie Watts
Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Acoustic guitar: ?
12 string acoustic guitar: Steve Marriott ?
Mellotron (flutes): Nicky Hopkins

Sing This All Together

Mellotron (flutes): ? The long jam suggests Brian Jones.
Electric guitar: Keith Richards
Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Drums: Charlie Watts
Percussion: ?
Bass: Bill Wyman

The Lantern (Fly My Kite)

Takes 1 to 5:

Electric guitar: Keith Richards
Acoustic guitar: Brian Jones
Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman

Take 10 – 17
Acoustic guitar: Keith Richards
Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Organ: Brian Jones
Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman

On With the Show

Drums: Charlie Watts
Electric guitar: Keith Richards
Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Mellotron (brass): Brian Jones
Bass: Bill Wyman

Gomper:

Electric 12 string: Keith Richards
Vox Bijou (electric dulcimer): Brian Jones
Organ: Nicky Hopkins
Percussion: ?
Bass: Bill Wyman

2000 Man

Organ: Nicky Hopkins
Electric guitar (6 and 12 strings): Keith Richards
Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman

Jigsaw Puzzle

Bass: Bill Wyman
Electric slide: Keith Richards
Drums: Charlie Watts
Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Guide vocals: Mick Jagger
Guide acoustic guitar: Mick Jagger

Mathijs