just saw the commercial on tv for the moore movie...this is not a poltical post, and i didn't personally contribute to the 'sicko'
thread that got closed as political arguments got revved up...
this is simply a resonse to having the tv on in my office and catching a lot of those commercials featuring sfm...and my response to that...

sounds amazing...just cuts thru everything...
the original studio version of sfm is so totally over the wall killer in every way...

it has it's own eternal power...blah blah...stuff we all know...but it hit me fresh and it hit me hard...the acoustics were eating my face off thru the tv speakers!! toms were orchestral and serious business...the riff kills me...the 'sound' of it...it's pure...it's quicksilver mixed with gold...and explodes...ferocious, desperate, wise...beyond words...how do they make that 'b' section (what can a poor boy do...) sparkle like that...sounds like ancient horns from another epoch...it's older than dirt...it's alive...it's an acid trip without drugs...it's transportive...

that is one perfect gem; that is one fierce precious act of total pop genius and deeply rockin' perfection...the story behind it's recording has been well documented here and at timeisonmyside and elsewhere; and is fasinating for it's inventiveness and extemporaneous expression...it was it's own force before keith snagged it and mick pounced on it & charlie trotted over and killed it dead...just beautiful...nailed it...1000%...a zillion percent...
what a friggin' russshhhh...especially when it catches you out of the blue like that on a tv commercial...
it slays me...killed me when they opened licks hbo '03 msg thing with it...
sorry to go on and on about a warhorse instead of something more interesting and rare from their back catalog...but this one kills me...i'd want to hear it any and every show...
if you looked up the word 'killer' in the dictionary...there'd be a link to this song...
(and, also i suppose, a nice pic of ol' jerry lee... )

what the heck is sparkling and shooting off like that in the 'b' section...
mellotron 'brass' along with the guitars? indian instruments? fascinating track in every way...original studio version...so each time the commercial comes on, it totally transports me...
any comments or killer links to those particularly attracted to this one?

I am usually more inclined to listen to live as opposed to studio records, but this is one song where I think none of the live versions (with the possible exception of the 1969 tour) comes even close to recreating the magic of the studio version. Has a lot to do with the sound of that riff and the difficulty in replicating the vocals, IMO.

The only live version that came close to the original feel is from "Stripped".

the production is excellent.

the stripped version is great

john scialfa

I fully agree on this one: maybe the best studio production there is. I had listened to this for more than 30 years before I figured out (or read somewhere) that the zinging sounds were actually sitar. All of the sounds on this track from the acoustics to the drums to the sitar (and tablas! courtesy of Dave Mason) are taken out of their normal context, which is what takes this song to a totally different place. My favorite parts are where they go from the instrumental interlude to the last verse just revving the intensity - and the outro keeping the intensity going as it descends into total chaos. I picture them just ransacking the studio as this fades into oblivion.

One thing I have missed since those days is the sense of adventure that takes the instruments out of context the create a totally different panorama.

The live versions have their charms, but this one comes from another planet.

On a side note - if you haven't heard it: Lyla by Oasis is a true homage to SFM, from the driving acoustics to the vocals on the verse to the piano figure on the outro. I know they are famous for their theft of 60's popcraft, but this one hits home IMHO.

one question is why they didn't make many more productions like this? people gloat about the "back to basics" move of Beggars but in fact that album has some psychedelic textures and experimental sounds they wouldn't go near again.

it's a shehani that Dave Mason plays on this, no? and Brian on sitar and/or tamboura? (tabla is a percussion instrument)

>> it was its own force before Keith snagged it <<

yeah that thing is seething all right - just astonishing
the early version - Did Everybody Pay Their Dues - is freakin fine too



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-28 11:41 by with sssoul.

...oh i remember the shehani thread and all that now!!!...several months ago...mebbe longer...had a thread or two about that...
yikes how could i forget!!?...i was even posting on one of those discussions pretty sure...duh...now i recall...

thank you with sssoul and others here...oh yeah, it comes back to me now, sorry to forget...
it's just that it hit me absolutely fresh on the tv commercial...so magical....

the whole story is fascinating...the over-driven acoustics transferred thru that little mono cassette recorder of keiths...isn't that the one where charlie used the folding portable travel traps kit too? etc...yeh i recall now...amazing that it can hit me so absolutely fresh and timeless after all these years and countless listenings...ty all.

....yeah I remember that old shehani/sitar/tamboura thread too....thanks sssoul.....and beely for revisiting the song. When I saw the Stones in Nashville 2002 they opened with this song and it just felt perfect as an opener....

never heard a version of SFM that i didnt like - certainly qualifies as one of the mothers of all stones songs. (and rock songs, generally)

*and i'm just like that bird - singing just for you*

Feel the love!

I just think it's kind of bogus when keith goes on about how innovative he was for a few months in 1968. no journalist thinks to ask, why did you stop experimenting like that?

Hmmm, there's plenty other moments where Keith experimented, both in and out of the recording studio.

The live SFM from the B stage on the Twickenham Licks DVD is awesome.

I was at the actual show and it ROCKED - so powerful!!!!!!!!!!

The Live versions with Mick Taylor( and Ronnie in 75 );e.g., from Get Yer Ya Yas Out, blow the studio version away -- totally!!!!

That powerful lead is electrifying!!!


The live version from the licks tour is pathetic. I was at MSG September 2002 and the guy next to me asked sarcasticlly'Is 'Ron Wodd's guitar even plugged in??


Some think that Keith insits that the song be played that way too; and, that Keith has, moreover, been jealous of Ron's superior lead chops.

Due to that, we the fans, get a really lame live version of SFM. It's stuff like that and the uneven guiter playing (due mostly to drinking & drugging) that people say the Stones suck. It is not Jagger, Wyman, Watts, they are almost always on.

deadegad Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> The live version from the licks tour is pathetic.
> I was at MSG September 2002 and the guy next to me
> asked sarcasticlly'Is 'Ron Wodd's guitar even
> plugged in??


> Due to that, we the fans, get a really lame live
> version of SFM. It's stuff like that and the
> uneven guiter playing (due mostly to drinking &
> drugging) that people say the Stones suck. It is
> not Jagger, Wyman, Watts, they are almost always
> on.

I can´t agree. I wasn´t there, but the DVD version from MSG doesn´t sound bad.

I just hope they`ll bring it to the B-stage 1st August in Helsinki, cause sfm is my all time favourite!!!