I keep seeing this "new vocals" topic crop up in different threads re: the forthcoming bonus EOMS tracks ("why didn't they use the original vocals?" sorta thing) -- anyway, this sounds like they're *all* new vocals. From GQ:

GQ: So this new material — my understanding is that it's stuff that was recorded during the Exile era. How finished were the new tracks when you left them? What state were they in?

MJ: They weren't finished. None of them had vocals on, which is probably one of the reasons they never came out or whatever. We had so many tracks, but — this is what I said to you before — I could've finished them, but I didn't. Either I didn't have any ideas, or I couldn't be bothered or whatever — they're unwieldy in some way. They were very much like any other Rolling Stones song then or now, to be honest. You'd listen to them and you'd go, "Okay, so that needs a vocal, and that's the chorus, this is that." Some were pretty much together, and some were less together. And you just treat them if they were new, to be perfectly honest. It's always a bit odd to revisit things, but after you get used to them, it doesn't really matter if they were done last week or thirty-five, forty years ago.

GQ: It creates some interesting juxtapositions, though. You've got a forty- year-old guitar part...

MJ: Yeah, and a vocal I did recently. It just took a long time to finish. [laughs]

GQ: Now it's finally done.

MJ: It's kind of interesting, the process. It sounds a bit weird, but to be honest, if someone had sent me these tracks and told me, "You did those two years ago" — the process is exactly the same. It's not the best way of writing songs. My favorite way of writing songs is to have the melody and at least most of the lyrics while the music's there, but sometimes it happens that it isn't like that, and a lot of people work like that, that sometimes you have to write to a finished track. It happens like that and you just do it.

***

Full interviews w/Mick & Keith here:


[www.gq.com]

Thanks for posting - I hadn't seen this and haven't been on iorr all that much recently.

Wonder what Keith has to say, if anything about all this?

I read the stuff published last month--little dribs and drabs--but I guess I agree with what I've read in some of these threads about the Exile remix being Mick's project. if so, I'm less interested in it than would've been otherwise.

As someone said, Mick never really was satisfied with Exile. Frankly, the best of parts of Exile to me have always been the parts that Mick didn't mess too much with once he/they got to LA, some of which is way too layered with sound and backing vocals etc. The more stripped down the Exile songs, the more I like them.

Still all pretty cool tho.

GQ: There are a lot of bootlegs and outtakes from the Exile period floating around. Is there stuff on this reissue that fans who've sought out the bootleg material will have heard?

MJ: There are a lot of tracks floating around, but not with the current vocals on them, because they didn't exist.

WOW.

that was a great read, thanks

I was being facetious, of course.

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And you just treat them if they were new, to be perfectly honest

Which basically means you bring in Don Was to ruin them.

Great interview! One of the best done with Mick, where he sounds actually honest and at peace with his past. And very informative. Thanks for sharing!

Very interesting stuff. Thanks for posting

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

"We're exiled , baby, and this is how it goes".
My new cool Keith quote.

thanks for posting this

yeah. thanks for this, one of better interviews in a while. keith certainly gives the impression he's chomping the bit to record and/or tour again

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Glam Descendant
It happens like that and you just do it.

As Mick said, it is what it is. It may have not been his favorite way to record, but I'm glad they're releasing it. Sounds great to me!!

Thanks!

"MJ: They weren't finished. None of them had vocals on..."

The way I understand it, the only tracks with original vocals may be Loving Cup, Soul Survivor and Good Time Women.
They aren´t included in the available snippets of tracks, which all seem to have new vocals.

It's no secret that Jagger doesn't have a huge interest on looking to the past. He want to continue to prove that he is vital, etc. Given that, I was kinda surprised when I heard they were going to go into the vaults to dust off some unreleased tracks from the Exile era. Now, seeing how these old tracks have been treated, it all make a lot more sense to me. To me it appears Mick has used these old tracks as a vehicle to show he can still write, sing, etc. That's all fine and dandy and I can take these new tracks for what they are.
From what he's stated there wasn't a lot to work with in terms of unreleased tracks with finished (or close to finished) vocals. Given that, I'd have been just as happy (or happier) if they'd taken alternate versions of the Exile tracks we've known for years and given them the full remaster treatment. We've heard a lot of them via bootlegs but I'd love to hear those tracks cleaned up and there have to be takes that still haven't seen the light of day.
Like I said, I can take these "new" tracks for what they are but I'm not really sure that the band has produced the Exile "document" that they could/should have.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-04-17 15:04 by downagain.

i must say...the "treat them if they were new" statement is the perspective WE should take.
New music in the spirit of Exile.

i'm as guilty as any...of wondering why they would tamper with old stuff....and wondering if tacking it on to
original Exile stuff was messing with a classic...but....

it would be interesting if they released a stand alone album which only contained old/new/re-worked songs.
a few from '60s leftovers, '70s and so on. With no apologies. I guess it's not that much different than
releasing something like STRIPPED. It's ok to go back to the same well more than once. right?

But...if the Stones did that...I guess it would be like an admission that they have nothing new to offer.


IORR............but I like it!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-04-17 18:29 by sweet neo con.

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downagain
It's no secret that Jagger doesn't have a huge interest on looking to the past. He want to continue to prove that he is vital, etc. Given that, I was kinda surprised when I heard they were going to go into the vaults to dust off some unreleased tracks from the Exile era. Now, seeing how these old tracks have been treated, it all make a lot more sense to me. To me it appears Mick has used these old tracks as a vehicle to show he can still write, sing, etc. That's all fine and dandy and I can take these new tracks for what they are.
From what he's stated there wasn't a lot to work with in terms of unreleased tracks with finished (or close to finished) vocals. Given that, I'd have been just as happy (or happier) if they'd taken alternate versions of the Exile tracks we've known for years and given them the full remaster treatment. We've heard a lot of them via bootlegs but I'd love to hear those tracks cleaned up and there have to be takes that still haven't seen the light of day.
Like I said, I can take these "new" tracks for what they are but I'm not really sure that the band has produced the Exile "document" that they could/should have.

I agree 100% and you put it better than i could have done.I'm treating this as a new Stones cd,not an outtakes project and have done since i read about the vocal and other overdubs.Plundered My Soul is very good in my opinion and seems to be getting good reviews elsewhere,which in the end i guess gives Mick the vindication he needs,even if it's not what we all would have wanted.

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downagain
It's no secret that Jagger doesn't have a huge interest on looking to the past.

It reminds me the part of "Being Mick" when there are all these tapes .Does someone remember what is Jagger's answer to the filmaker who says something like "there are so many of them " ?

Nice read,Glam Descendant !



I am a Frenchie ,as Mick affectionately called them in the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977 .

If one is to bitch about this new material on the second Exile disc then they should bitch about Tattoo You as well, yet alone a number of songs on other albums yet alone Exile On Main Street not all being from the same sessions.

At least, by not considering it as 'new'. Does it matter? They haven't apologised for anything - nothing to apologise for. It seems they've been pretty straight up about it.

Either buy it or don't. The album is still what it is - untouched.

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skipstone
If one is to bitch about this new material on the second Exile disc then they should bitch about Tattoo You as well, yet alone a number of songs on other albums yet alone Exile On Main Street not all being from the same sessions. .

very poor analogy, skippy. do the math, ok? you know better than that....tsk, tsk, tsk...

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downagain
It's no secret that Jagger doesn't have a huge interest on looking to the past. He want to continue to prove that he is vital, etc. Given that, I was kinda surprised when I heard they were going to go into the vaults to dust off some unreleased tracks from the Exile era. Now, seeing how these old tracks have been treated, it all make a lot more sense to me. To me it appears Mick has used these old tracks as a vehicle to show he can still write, sing, etc. That's all fine and dandy and I can take these new tracks for what they are.
From what he's stated there wasn't a lot to work with in terms of unreleased tracks with finished (or close to finished) vocals. Given that, I'd have been just as happy (or happier) if they'd taken alternate versions of the Exile tracks we've known for years and given them the full remaster treatment. We've heard a lot of them via bootlegs but I'd love to hear those tracks cleaned up and there have to be takes that still haven't seen the light of day.
Like I said, I can take these "new" tracks for what they are but I'm not really sure that the band has produced the Exile "document" that they could/should have.

I like this too. It's hard, though.

I want to hear this stuff, but a true Exile document would have been way better. (How many repeated listenings your average rock fan would give something like that it is another matter.)

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redsock

I like this too. It's hard, though.

I want to hear this stuff, but a true Exile document would have been way better. (How many repeated listenings your average rock fan would give something like that it is another matter.)

How many repeat listens is the average rock fan going to give these new tracks?

People are going to continue to discover Exile for the masterpiece that it is so I think a true document of the material recorded at that time would have stood the test of time more than what they have chosen to do.

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StonesTod

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skipstone
If one is to bitch about this new material on the second Exile disc then they should bitch about Tattoo You as well, yet alone a number of songs on other albums yet alone Exile On Main Street not all being from the same sessions. .

very poor analogy, skippy. do the math, ok? you know better than that....tsk, tsk, tsk...

That ain't an analogy. That's realistic by making the point that a lot of the albums are stretches, not all from one session. There are others that speak of these same things. It was said with a slight wink - you just can't see it.

"You know, a lot of the record was made in a big house, in a sort of big social circumstance. It wasn't made in a studio. Making records in a studio can concentrate you—in a studio, you're just going to do one thing. It makes it more finite.
You've got a deadline and that sort of thing. When you move into a house and you don't have a deadline—the process, the whole thing, and all the people, it's just a longer piece of string.
It's the same with film—they just don't really want to stop. It's such a good time. Why would you want to stop? You need someone to say, "OK—that's it, now." And we weren't doing that ourselves, so it probably went on a bit longer than it needed to."

So true!

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skipstone

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StonesTod

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skipstone
If one is to bitch about this new material on the second Exile disc then they should bitch about Tattoo You as well, yet alone a number of songs on other albums yet alone Exile On Main Street not all being from the same sessions. .

very poor analogy, skippy. do the math, ok? you know better than that....tsk, tsk, tsk...

That ain't an analogy. That's realistic by making the point that a lot of the albums are stretches, not all from one session. There are others that speak of these same things. It was said with a slight wink - you just can't see it.

The key difference for me being that the album they put out was called Tattoo You. It wasn't called the Goats Head Soup re-issue, the Black and Blue re-issue, etc. As I've stated, I can happily take these tracks for what they are but if all the "new", previously unreleased tracks were done in the style of Plundered My Soul, then you can hardly call this a document of the original album, time, circumstance, etc.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-04-18 16:10 by downagain.

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downagain

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skipstone

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StonesTod

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skipstone
If one is to bitch about this new material on the second Exile disc then they should bitch about Tattoo You as well, yet alone a number of songs on other albums yet alone Exile On Main Street not all being from the same sessions. .

very poor analogy, skippy. do the math, ok? you know better than that....tsk, tsk, tsk...

That ain't an analogy. That's realistic by making the point that a lot of the albums are stretches, not all from one session. There are others that speak of these same things. It was said with a slight wink - you just can't see it.

The key difference for me being that the album they put out was called Tattoo You. It wasn't called the Goats Head Soup re-issue, the Black and Blue re-issue, etc. As I've stated, I can happily take these tracks for what they are but if all the "new", previously unreleased tracks were done in the style of Plundered My Soul, then you can hardly call this a document of the original album, time, circumstance, etc.

Fair points and criticism.

But to use an old cliche this is mainly an 'issue of semantics' here. All seems to indicate that TATTOO YOU is made almost identical way than the 'enlargement' of EXILE. But this time around they decided to deliver it differently - mostly due to teh fact that it is different time and place and that the 'new album' is intentionally planned to back up th new EXILE project, and seemingly - Jagger the perfectionist, took the project more seriously as anyone - including himself - would have guessed.

But to think that they had used the TATTOO YOU policy here: just released the whole thing as a new record: would THAT have sounded good? I guess not because we would have known the 'truth'. So I think it is better to keep the whole thing under the EXILE scheme and famework - where it all started. It is a nice, interesting experiment they did. A bit of time travel... but I think the historical correctness, the documentary value of it should not be stressed too much. That's NOT the point of this record.

I think teh the real 'problem' is taht Jagger really got so into it, and found an almost lost muse in him. And he couldn't keep his head cool in 'historical correctness', as he never has. That's why we will hve a kind "odd", anomaly project here, and we don't know how to deal with it. A kind of Monty Python project...

I confess that I have always thought that touching to "historical" tapes is a crime an sich, and I was sure that the results will be horrible. Fortunately - there are people like Mick Jagger who don't think the same and are brave enough to try something as crazy...

Well, I have only heard one song from it yet, so let's see how it is with the others. It will be intersting to see how the new EXILE enlargement is to be viewed in future - how does it is seen and rated within the Stones legacy, etc.

But lastly: FINALLY SOMETHING NEW!!! Honest question: when was the last time The Stones really surprised us - did something totally unexpected?

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-04-18 16:58 by Doxa.

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skipstone

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StonesTod

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skipstone
If one is to bitch about this new material on the second Exile disc then they should bitch about Tattoo You as well, yet alone a number of songs on other albums yet alone Exile On Main Street not all being from the same sessions. .

very poor analogy, skippy. do the math, ok? you know better than that....tsk, tsk, tsk...

That ain't an analogy. That's realistic by making the point that a lot of the albums are stretches, not all from one session. There are others that speak of these same things. It was said with a slight wink - you just can't see it.

well, type the effing wink (;-)) next time. ok - so gimme one other example in the history of record-making where an act has written new lyrics, put on a fresh vocal and guitar parts to an original recording of 40 years-old. i'll give you until EOD....

I don't want to get caught up at all in criticisms of this project. It is great. But downunder said something good: they have not produced the Exile document that they could have. Maybe we could preface it with 'yet'.

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Palace Revolution 2000
I don't want to get caught up at all in criticisms of this project.

why not? you got sumthin better to do today? come one, come all! it's a party!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-04-18 17:32 by StonesTod.

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downagain
It's no secret that Jagger doesn't have a huge interest on looking to the past. He want to continue to prove that he is vital, etc. Given that, I was kinda surprised when I heard they were going to go into the vaults to dust off some unreleased tracks from the Exile era. Now, seeing how these old tracks have been treated, it all make a lot more sense to me. To me it appears Mick has used these old tracks as a vehicle to show he can still write, sing, etc. That's all fine and dandy and I can take these new tracks for what they are.
From what he's stated there wasn't a lot to work with in terms of unreleased tracks with finished (or close to finished) vocals. Given that, I'd have been just as happy (or happier) if they'd taken alternate versions of the Exile tracks we've known for years and given them the full remaster treatment. We've heard a lot of them via bootlegs but I'd love to hear those tracks cleaned up and there have to be takes that still haven't seen the light of day.
Like I said, I can take these "new" tracks for what they are but I'm not really sure that the band has produced the Exile "document" that they could/should have.

VERY well said. If Mick "treat(s) them as if they were new" and if I'm supposed to "treat them as if they (are) new" why the hell are they packaged as "Exile On Main St." outtakes when they aren't being treated as such?

Like you said, give me the alternates, an the semi-finished stuff. That's what I want to hear in "Exile On Main St." outtake material -- the creative process and the ideas they were thinking of and recording during that time period. not what they were thinking and sounding like 40 years later with a completely different band, producer, studio, technology.....

J



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-04-18 18:29 by JMARKO.

>gimme one other example in the history of record-making where an act has written new lyrics, put on a fresh vocal and guitar parts to an original recording of 40 years-old

The Beatles: "Free As A Bird" (not new lyrics though)