I was listening to a Stonesalbum yesterday, as happens every now & then. It was "Undercover". And I consider this one still a "regular" Stonesalbum.
But at that point the writing had to already be very divided. So I wondered which would be Mick's and which would be Keith's. I was taken aback that again it SEEMS like Keith did not write too many.
Undercover - Jagger; with Keith and Ronnie playing the lead lines.
She Was Hot - Jagger. This one strikes me as one of those songs that if it were divvied up I'd say the verses are Mick and the great chorus is Keith. Stones outsiders would probably assume it is the other way around, but then they don;t know.
Tie You Up - sounds like it comes out of a jam; pretty standard changes; but Jagger probably called the shots.
Wanna Hold You - Keith
Feel On Baby - also out of a jam, but I would think this is Keith. Not only because it is reggae, but the way Keith sings here sounds like it was originally a leading vocal; also the verse chords sounds like Keith.
Too Much Blood - Jagger
Pretty Beat Up - Ronnie, plus Jagger adding the vocals. Ron does a solo version with Bernard that is better than this one.
Too Tough - now this one I think might actually be Keith (and Ron). What I love about this song is how tight the rhythm section is. One main thing I notice in TT: it is the first appearnce of Ronnie's "new" style of solo-ing. Here it is a good solo, but he will come to do this a lot; kind of meandering, schizoid ramblng.
All the Way Down - not sure; one would assume it is Jagger all the way, but Keith often comes up with these type tunes. It could be that he or the whole band had the groove and changes, and when Jagger added the style of singing it changed a lot.
Must be Hell - Keith and Mick I would say; it could be Bill for all it matters,.

If I remember right Too Tough is originally from Black and Blue sessions....
I have an instrumental version of the song.

Yeah, I THINK it is on one of the Emotional Rescue Outtakes.

When's the last time that Keith and Mick really wrote together in the old style rather than agreeing to meet on some Caribbean island and pen some songs to order for the upcoming album? By old style, I mean on the road or one dropping round to the other's house for structured songwriting.
Does anyone know if they've written on the road during the ABB tours?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-09-07 19:09 by Silver Dagger.

<When's the last time that Keith and Mick really wrote together in the old style>

France 2004?

Too Tough started out as Cellophane Trousers during the March and April 1975 B&B sessions according to nzentgraf.

It's obvious UOTN is totally a Mick song. There has been hints that Keith didn't even play on it at all but I'm not sure what to believe of what Ronnie says.

I've always thought of She Was Hot as a Mick and Keith song in the proper sense - Keith's got the riff, Mick's got the melody and chorus. Great song too, one of my all time faves.

Tie You Up seems to be similar. Another fantastic song and one of my faves.

Too Tough, All The Way Down and Must Be Hell are certainly Keith lead tunes. I would think in most cases that when the tunes start out like those do that they are Keith riff tunes with Mick lyrics mainly.

I've always loved All The Way Down.

Yes , agreed that "hell" should be Keith's. I did not state that fact on purpose, because it is just so puzzling to me that he so blatantly repeated himself with the riff. I am not at all wild about that song; it is one of the very few times where I totallty agree with some outsider reviewer saying that the Stones sound tired and are rehashing "Stones-y" vibes and riffs.