I was reading the other thread on 'Undercover' dubs. I looked around on YouTube and found a couple live versions, one with Bill, one without. Neither version is successful. What other Stones songs have they attempted on stage and came away shaking their heads?

Anybody Seen My Baby?

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franzk
Anybody Seen My Baby?

flopped isn't a strong enough word in this case

Torn And Frayed ..at the Palais Royale 2002...hmmm..

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duke richardson
Torn And Frayed ..at the Palais Royale 2002...hmmm..

and the other time they tried it on the tour. kudos for trying, at least. and who knows with a little patience and practice.....

Anybody Seen My Baby without a doubt.

Maybe a controversial choice, but I'd go for Moonlight Mile.

It was a decent enough version, but for a song that theyd waited 28 years to unveil and which is (for me) a track that belongs in the top 10 songs that theyve ever released, it was a little underwhelming. Whether it was the arrangement or the vocal, it didnt quite reach the heights it could have done.

Credit to them for having a go at it, however.

I have never heard a succesful 'The spider and the fly' live with Stones..

2 1 2 0

One Hit (To The Body) (the couple of versions I've heard from 1989 sound pretty ropey)

Love Is Strong (Mick always seemed to struggle with the low notes)

Miss You, every time.

i'd have to agree with the moonlight mile entry...extra credit for trying, though. not a song meant for the stage...same case with ASMB, i think...

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Sleepy City
One Hit (To The Body) (the couple of versions I've heard from 1989 sound pretty ropey)

Love Is Strong (Mick always seemed to struggle with the low notes)

i'd agree on both counts there, too.

Ouch!

"Rocks Off" ; it's such a great song; one of the very best Stones songs IMO. But on stage it never worked. I was hearing a 72 version again this morning. Jagger can not get a decent melody to work with, to save his life. Thing about the studio version he was able to sing that melody in the lower register. And then he starts adding the overdubbed hi vocal. and it is a beautiful melody on top of a swinging rocker. The dual Keith guitars really move in a minimal way; the backup vocals in chorus are huge and intricate; the horn-chart, especially at the end is rousing. Nicky's piano is omnipresent and vital. Then there is the spooky bridge. None of this works on the live stage; the bridge is always just a head-scratcher of a mess. But it's mainly the lead vocal that fails.
I think "Miss You" has been great on stage; a top live number. Maybe people are just tired of it.
Anybody seen my baby has a similar problem like "Rocks Off" where the better vocal melody is lowdown. It is impossible for Jagger to project in a stadium singing lowdown like that. Plus, musically, there are too many subtleties; the guitars chord changes are not radical enough. That was the downfall for "Mixed Emotions": it slides into the chorus into that minor chord. A good strong Stones chorus for the live stage has to go hard; into a big powerchord. (This would be Jagger's view here).
I though "Moonlight Mile" could have easily gotten better. It was already getting better. but they needed to get more radical.

"She's a Rainbow" from the B2B tour. Just didn't work at all.

Sweet Black Angel, Ft Worth '72. Sounds like they almost had an idea of how the arrangement should go.

A case could also be made for the Philly '81 setlist.

Sway

Mick always struggles when songs are in a low register; unlike Iggy Pop (for example) he just can't project them live.

The success rate of songs from 1983 performed live has not been good. I'll exclude Keith lead vocals because they tend to be a different beast and his numbers are sadly ignored by general audiences at concerts unless it is "Happy."


Undercover of the Night - tepid
She Was Hot - tepid
Harlem Shuffle - dreadful live despite being a very good studio performance
One Hit - dreadful live, guitar work was lost in a wash of keyboards
Mixed Emotions - elicited mixed emotions live
Sad, Sad, Sad - keyboard intro overshadow ed Mick's guitar work, tepid at best
Terrifying - actually okay live
Blinded By Love - nice, but rarely played
Rock and a Hard Place - okay, but never caught fire live
Almost Hear You Sigh - actually well done live
Love is Strong - lacklustre in concert, sadly
You Got Me Rocking - worked surprisingly well
Sparks Will Fly - keyboard overshadowed guitar work yet again, a miss
Moon is Up - worked live, but a true rarity live
Out of Tears - nice live, but sadly forgotten
I Go Wild - tepid
Brand New Car - okay live, but rarely played
Jump On Top Of Me - worked live, but a true rarity live
Anybody Seen My Baby - tepid with the rap becoming a live train wreck
Flip the Switch - worked live, but sadly forgotten
Low Down - okay live, but a true rarity
Out of Control - worked very well live, sadly neglected
Saint of Me - worked very well live, sadly neglected
Juiced - an improvement live, but a true rarity
Don't Stop - worked live, but now forgotten
Rough Justice - tepid at best, contrived song to begin with in my view
It Won't Take Long - okay live, but a true rarity
Rain Fall Down - worked live, a missed opportunity as first single
Streets of Love - an improvement live, but doomed to obscurity
Back of My Hand - worked live, but now forgotten
Oh No, Not You Again - tepid at best, a missed opportunity in studio as well

Tops

Tried in '81 and a total fail. Too bad cause it's a great tune. vocals are just too tough.

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Rocky Dijon
The success rate of songs from 1983 performed live has not been good. I'll exclude Keith lead vocals because they tend to be a different beast and his numbers are sadly ignored by general audiences at concerts unless it is "Happy."


Undercover of the Night - tepid
She Was Hot - tepid
Harlem Shuffle - dreadful live despite being a very good studio performance
One Hit - dreadful live, guitar work was lost in a wash of keyboards
Mixed Emotions - elicited mixed emotions live
Sad, Sad, Sad - keyboard intro overshadow ed Mick's guitar work, tepid at best
Terrifying - actually okay live
Blinded By Love - nice, but rarely played
Rock and a Hard Place - okay, but never caught fire live
Almost Hear You Sigh - actually well done live
Love is Strong - lacklustre in concert, sadly
You Got Me Rocking - worked surprisingly well
Sparks Will Fly - keyboard overshadowed guitar work yet again, a miss
Moon is Up - worked live, but a true rarity live
Out of Tears - nice live, but sadly forgotten
I Go Wild - tepid
Brand New Car - okay live, but rarely played
Jump On Top Of Me - worked live, but a true rarity live
Anybody Seen My Baby - tepid with the rap becoming a live train wreck
Flip the Switch - worked live, but sadly forgotten
Low Down - okay live, but a true rarity
Out of Control - worked very well live, sadly neglected
Saint of Me - worked very well live, sadly neglected
Juiced - an improvement live, but a true rarity
Don't Stop - worked live, but now forgotten
Rough Justice - tepid at best, contrived song to begin with in my view
It Won't Take Long - okay live, but a true rarity
Rain Fall Down - worked live, a missed opportunity as first single
Streets of Love - an improvement live, but doomed to obscurity
Back of My Hand - worked live, but now forgotten
Oh No, Not You Again - tepid at best, a missed opportunity in studio as well

wow - you've put thought and effort into this! i'd say get a life if i weren't so impressed.

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Rocky Dijon
The success rate of songs from 1983 performed live has not been good. I'll exclude Keith lead vocals because they tend to be a different beast and his numbers are sadly ignored by general audiences at concerts unless it is "Happy."


Undercover of the Night - tepid
She Was Hot - tepid
Harlem Shuffle - dreadful live despite being a very good studio performance
One Hit - dreadful live, guitar work was lost in a wash of keyboards
Mixed Emotions - elicited mixed emotions live
Sad, Sad, Sad - keyboard intro overshadow ed Mick's guitar work, tepid at best
Terrifying - actually okay live
Blinded By Love - nice, but rarely played
Rock and a Hard Place - okay, but never caught fire live
Almost Hear You Sigh - actually well done live
Love is Strong - lacklustre in concert, sadly
You Got Me Rocking - worked surprisingly well
Sparks Will Fly - keyboard overshadowed guitar work yet again, a miss
Moon is Up - worked live, but a true rarity live
Out of Tears - nice live, but sadly forgotten
I Go Wild - tepid
Brand New Car - okay live, but rarely played
Jump On Top Of Me - worked live, but a true rarity live
Anybody Seen My Baby - tepid with the rap becoming a live train wreck
Flip the Switch - worked live, but sadly forgotten
Low Down - okay live, but a true rarity
Out of Control - worked very well live, sadly neglected
Saint of Me - worked very well live, sadly neglected
Juiced - an improvement live, but a true rarity
Don't Stop - worked live, but now forgotten
Rough Justice - tepid at best, contrived song to begin with in my view
It Won't Take Long - okay live, but a true rarity
Rain Fall Down - worked live, a missed opportunity as first single
Streets of Love - an improvement live, but doomed to obscurity
Back of My Hand - worked live, but now forgotten
Oh No, Not You Again - tepid at best, a missed opportunity in studio as well

I'd agree with most of that but disagree on She Was Hot. I loved that live!

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Come On
I have never heard a succesful 'The spider and the fly' live with Stones..

There's only one in circulation (Paradiso '95 was the only performance since 1965) - so unless you saw them in the US in '65, thats the only version anyone has ever heard.

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Gazza
Anybody Seen My Baby without a doubt.

Maybe a controversial choice, but I'd go for Moonlight Mile.

It was a decent enough version, but for a song that theyd waited 28 years to unveil and which is (for me) a track that belongs in the top 10 songs that theyve ever released, it was a little underwhelming. Whether it was the arrangement or the vocal, it didnt quite reach the heights it could have done.

Credit to them for having a go at it, however.

Agree with you on Moonlight Mile. Damn shame too, as I waited all those years to hear it live. At least they tried.

Personally, I never thought IORR worked on stage. They have tried it in different keys, regular stage and "B" stage, and it always seems forced to me.

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Vocalion
Sway

it get's a B- from me

same as CYHMK

neither was a complete pratfall, imo

And IORR was best in the Love You Live version IMHO

i think IORR has largely worked ok on the stage, as long as one doesn't try to compare it to the studio version, which is a marvel. on the stage - somehow it got turned into a rave up chuck berry tune...and it's never looked back....

I'm judging "She Was Hot" on SHINE A LIGHT alone. The only other versions I've heard were poor audience recordings. The band isn't bad (Keith and Ronnie in particular, but the fire of the studio version isn't there - they sound a bit unsure of themselves) Mick's vocals sound bored and he messes up the lyrics and deliberately omits lyrics to make the song simpler.

This latter point is common with live arrangements. Bernard once said that along with vocal arrangements, another part of his job that most people don't know he did (and he was smart enough not to irritate the Glimmers by discussing it publicly) was to run through songs and make them more conventional by dropping verses and removing lyrical variations from choruses. He did the same for Ronnie with "Breathe On Me" in the early nineties.

Personally, this irks me but I understand its simpler for them now and certainly for the multitude of sidemen if the songs are as conventional and simple as possible. The Jagger/Richards songwriting method of editing down long jams and overdubbing onto them did not lend itself to Songwriting 101 working techniques.

She's So Cold. Mick flubs the lyrics every time!

and Some Girls. Love the song but doesn't jive live.

and why the HELL can't they perform Bitch the correct way?! (album version)

The arrangement they use live takes the power right out of that amazing song.

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StonesTod
i think IORR has largely worked ok on the stage, as long as one doesn't try to compare it to the studio version, which is a marvel. on the stage - somehow it got turned into a rave up chuck berry tune...and it's never looked back....

I agree...and to what do you attribute that to? I believe a big part of the problem is they play it too fast generally. They're not hitting the groove as they do on the stoodeo version.

I thought "She Was Hot" was pretty solid in SAL, actually. Especially when you consider how few times they'd done it. Ronnie and Charlie nailed it, Keith was good overall, and Mick's only problem was he seemed afraid to reach for the higher notes. It's a lot more fun to watch the movie than listen to the cd though, especially seeing as how into it Mick gets toward the end.