IMO, the best soul ballads the Stones ever wrote and recorded.

Which one is the best? A hard one for me, but I think I'll go for I Got The blues.

two absolute masterpieces... I Got the Blues sounds more natural while Let It Loose is much more complex... I can't decide anyway.

Let it loose by a mile.

It's not that I don't like Blues, it's great but only a little "over blues", fake is too much, but a little forced, yes!

Loose has a more positive vibe, besides having a superb guitar work and one of the best singig Jagger has ever put on record!

C

I think both songs have some of the best singing I've heard by Jagger.

I Got The Blues has the best interplay by Keith and Taylor ever, imo.

Yes, I agree Let it Loose by a large margin. I like I've Got the Blues. Great song, but not as original as Let it Loose. The opening riff to I've Got the Blues is almost identical to Get Yer Ya Ya's version of Love in Vain.
Let it Loose is one of, if not Mick's best vocal performance period. The entire band is cooking and the production is that murky swamp mix of Exile that brings out the dread and decadence of decay that The Stones do so well. A tour de force!

Let it Loose....by a long way. As people above have said, I've Got the Blues is a quality song but its a little too formulaic and too similar to Love in Vain whereas Let it Loose is like no other song and has a beautiful guitar part and lyrics. Jagger on top form.

Dig both, but LIL has a soft spot, in my heart.

I got the blues for sure...


Ronnie Keith Mick

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I've never liked the guitar sound on Let It Loose (it reminds me of late era Beatles, arrggh!), though I also agree that I Got The Blues lacks originality...

Long Long While is the Stones greatest self-composed soul ballad imo.

I Got the Blues without a doubt. the lyrics are fantastic and Jagger has never been better.

I always think the guitar part on Let it Loose is almost classical. I spent a few hours learning it and when you play it it just sounds awesome even on it's own without accompaniment. Was it Taylor who wrote it or Keith?

I just rememeber that long ago I did a tape for a girl who was very surprised that the tape was far from a typical "Greatest Hits" tape. Both songs were indeed included.

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Sleepy City
I've never liked the guitar sound on Let It Loose (it reminds me of late era Beatles, arrggh!), though I also agree that I Got The Blues lacks originality...

Long Long While is the Stones greatest self-composed soul ballad imo.

Haha, it's that guitar with a leslie on it. Harrison played it on Let It Be and several other songs. Keith used it on Coming Down Again and Through The Lonely Nights. I love it.

Tough call. But I'd pick Let It Loose, because it in fact seems a litlle bit more natural, whereas "I Got The Blues" sounds like an (absolutely superb) Otis Redding pastiche.

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LieB

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Sleepy City
I've never liked the guitar sound on Let It Loose (it reminds me of late era Beatles, arrggh!), though I also agree that I Got The Blues lacks originality...

Long Long While is the Stones greatest self-composed soul ballad imo.

Haha, it's that guitar with a leslie on it. Harrison played it on Let It Be and several other songs. Keith used it on Coming Down Again and Through The Lonely Nights. I love it.

And on If You Really Want To Be My Friend, I think?

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crumbling_mice
I always think the guitar part on Let it Loose is almost classical. I spent a few hours learning it and when you play it it just sounds awesome even on it's own without accompaniment. Was it Taylor who wrote it or Keith?

It is a great part, I think Keith plays it on the record, does Taylor play on Let It Loose?

i got the blues , for the guitar interplay , the solo going to a minor key , and the lyrics spanning the bridge and the next verse ,

Every night youve been away
Ive sat down and I have prayed
That you're safe

in the arms of a guy
Who will bring you alive
Wont drag you down with abuse

and one of mick jaggers finest moments

and who can stop themselves singing this line Wont drag you down with abuse
and not stick your chin out during the last word ?

well very hard to choose, a cruel dilemna !
I'd go for Let it loose cos it sounds more original to me and I like the gospel atmosphere.

LIL

These are both fantastic ballads. IGTB has the switch to a minor mode for Billy Preston's wonderful organ solo, and another unexpected switch to a minor chord right at the end where Jagger sings "at 3 o'clock in the morning". Excellent song-crafting. But LIL wins out, with its swirling Leslie guitar and probably Jagger's most soulful singing, as well as some of his best lyrics. The icing in the cake is when the whole song winds down, when the gospel singers and Keith's guitar fades out.

Let It Loose is definitely superior because of the music.

The instrumental version says it all :

Let It Loose, Jagger's greatest performance ever and Nicky and the horns are beautiful, and Keith's Leslie guitar and Charlie and Bill are good tonight.
I Got The Blues is fantastic too, but it's less "original", it's the Stones doing Stax, and doing it great.

Let it loose is one of the best songs anybody ever made. I got the blues is a joke. Its not a "real" song, it's kids trying to compose a blues song. I cringe when I hear it.

Yeah Let It Loose is by far better! Basically cos IGTB's opening is to much like LIV.

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LieB
Haha, it's that guitar with a leslie on it. Harrison played it on Let It Be and several other songs. Keith used it on Coming Down Again and Through The Lonely Nights. I love it.

Yeah great sound, I can emulate it very nicely using a MXR90 type phaser with the speed all the way up. And a great (but tricky) arpeggio in the intro, lots of fun to play.

I prefer I Got The Blues. Let It Loose is a bit boring and too long. IMO a shorter version would've been better.

Two great great songs, both are part of my fav. Stones songs, and Jagger at his best
byeeee
jeroen

Let It Loose, without a doubt, BUT I love I Got The Blues a lot. Only heard it live ONCE in 36 shows and it was incredible---Hartford, 1999. I sure don't understand why they're allergic to playing such great songs. Great that you pointed that out WHITEM 8, that Love In Vain has the exact same chord progression as I Got The Blues. I'm sure many of us KNEW that but you verbalized it! Great version of Love In Vain in " Ladies and Gentlemen--The Rolling Stones". How can anyone deny the power of MT's playing!?