I have recently been listening to a lot of demos, rehearsals and alternate takes for EOMS, GHS and IORR and started to wonder if these albums reached their true potential or if the released tunes suffered from being overdone in search of perfection?

I have read about Keith making the band play take after take until he reached what he was looking for. I wondered whether as drugs took over the sessions to a greater extent the focus was lost and songs were played past the point of magic.

I should be clear I love EOMS, enjoy a lot of GHS and don't think much of IORR. It maybe that the simply novelty of hearing different versions of favourite tunes makes me think they are better than they are?

Songs I prefer as rough run throughs include Loving Cup, Good Time Woman, Get a Line On You, Mr D. Alternate mixes I prefer include Dance Little Sister and If You Can't Rock Me.

first off i love when the Stones release alternate takes and cuts that wound up on the cutting room floor .I also understand why a lot of these tracks never made it on to proper studio albums also. Every one including the Stones and the fans have very high expectations about new album releases ,so i get where Jagger/Richards are coming from when stuff gets chopped and not released.

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TheGreek
first off i love when the Stones release alternate takes and cuts that wound up on the cutting room floor .I also understand why a lot of these tracks never made it on to proper studio albums also. Every one including the Stones and the fans have very high expectations about new album releases ,so i get where Jagger/Richards are coming from when stuff gets chopped and not released.

+1

I prefer the 1969 Loving Cup to the Exile version, not due to the novelty of it being different, just because it sounds so damn good. Kinda more fitting to the lyrics too.

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His Majesty
I prefer the 1969 Loving Cup to the Exile version, not due to the novelty of it being different, just because it sounds so damn good. Kinda more fitting to the lyrics too.

Yes. It was written for LIB

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pepganzo

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His Majesty
I prefer the 1969 Loving Cup to the Exile version, not due to the novelty of it being different, just because it sounds so damn good. Kinda more fitting to the lyrics too.

Yes. It was written for LIB

Well, it was written, but not for Let It Bleed as such.

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His Majesty
I prefer the 1969 Loving Cup to the Exile version, not due to the novelty of it being different, just because it sounds so damn good. Kinda more fitting to the lyrics too.

Me too - for the same reason + the (possible Hiwatt) guitar sound. I can understand why they wanted to make it a little different, though, since Torn And Frayed has these steel guitar licks, reminiscent of Keith's licks on the early LC-take.

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FP
I have recently been listening to a lot of demos, rehearsals and alternate takes for EOMS, GHS and IORR and started to wonder if these albums reached their true potential or if the released tunes suffered from being overdone in search of perfection?

Perfection I don't know but this is basically what Andy Johns said of the early 1974 IORR sessions : they would play take after take, each one worse and more tepid the previous one, until Keef would suddenly declare without any reason "that's it! that's the one!!".

Otoh since AJ was deep into H himself he might not be too reliable as a direct witness.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-09-03 15:44 by dcba.

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dcba

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FP
I have recently been listening to a lot of demos, rehearsals and alternate takes for EOMS, GHS and IORR and started to wonder if these albums reached their true potential or if the released tunes suffered from being overdone in search of perfection?

Perfection I don't know but this is basically what Andy Johns said of the early 1974 IORR sessions : they would play take after take, each one worse and more tepid the previous one, until Keef would suddenly declare without any reason "that's it! that's the one!!".

Otoh since AJ was deep into H himself he might not be too reliable as a direct witness.

LOL!

Everytime I hear rehearsals and alternate takes from famous artists I Think...WOW, They sound just like us when they repeat ...Exception, Bob Dylan ... He's exceptionally good always.



2 1 2 0

No, Keith did absolutely right (like always).
But he should have removed Moonlight Mile.
Maybe he wanted to do so, but Mick started crying.

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His Majesty

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pepganzo

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His Majesty
I prefer the 1969 Loving Cup to the Exile version, not due to the novelty of it being different, just because it sounds so damn good. Kinda more fitting to the lyrics too.

Yes. It was written for LIB

Well, it was written, but not for Let It Bleed as such.

Loving Cup was on early Let It Bleed acetates, so...

"Did Keith overcook tracks after Sticky Fingers?"

No, Mick did.

Interesting concept but I think, in general, the Stones are one of those bands which really needed to play the songs repeatedly in the studio just to get an acceptable take. They just didn't seem to be capable of getting early take magic going.

The stories of how terribly sloppy the early attempts at songs were are legendary. Something not lost on Bill who apparently used to even sit out until they were finally good enough for his efforts.

Perhaps there were cases where the 10th take wasn't that much worse than the 40th take but since we'll never hear most of that stuff, we've just got to trust Keith and co. that they picked the best ones. I do however understand that a sense of true magic can be lost sometime after the 3rd take or so and agree the drugs were probably somewhat necessary to extend that to 30!

But that professional garage band sound continues to this day and is one of the things that makes them so accessible and interesting. Tight is never an adjective I'd use for their live shows.

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rbk
"Did Keith overcook tracks after Sticky Fingers?"

No, Mick did.

Yes, again!

Free Keith!

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mitch


Loving Cup was on early Let It Bleed acetates, so...

At the time of recording they had a number of names and plans for more than one album.

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His Majesty
I prefer the 1969 Loving Cup to the Exile version, not due to the novelty of it being different, just because it sounds so damn good. Kinda more fitting to the lyrics too.

Is that Nicky Hopkins? On youtube [www.youtube.com] one guy says it is Stu. I think Hopkins. Great version

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DandelionPowderman

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His Majesty
I prefer the 1969 Loving Cup to the Exile version, not due to the novelty of it being different, just because it sounds so damn good. Kinda more fitting to the lyrics too.

Me too - for the same reason + the (possible Hiwatt) guitar sound. I can understand why they wanted to make it a little different, though, since Torn And Frayed has these steel guitar licks, reminiscent of Keith's licks on the early LC-take.

The HiWatt / Gibson ES-330 sound for sure.

Mathijs

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dcba
Perfection I don't know but this is basically what Andy Johns said of the early 1974 IORR sessions : they would play take after take, each one worse and more tepid the previous one, until Keef would suddenly declare without any reason "that's it! that's the one!!".

I thought that was Glyn who said that?

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His Majesty

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mitch


Loving Cup was on early Let It Bleed acetates, so...

At the time of recording they had a number of names and plans for more than one album.

Hum, at early stage acetates already contained 75% of the final Let It Bleed tracks, so we can think it was originally planned (along with Sister Morphine).

Side one:


Side two:

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mitch

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His Majesty

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mitch


Loving Cup was on early Let It Bleed acetates, so...

At the time of recording they had a number of names and plans for more than one album.

Hum, at early stage acetates already contained 75% of the final Let It Bleed tracks, so we can think it was originally planned (along with Sister Morphine).

Side one:


Side two:

And the title of that acetate was...?

I think it was "Assistance! I'm Bleeding Here" but they changed it

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Munichhilton
I think it was "Assistance! I'm Bleeding Here" but they changed it

Let It Stick!

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DandelionPowderman

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Munichhilton
I think it was "Assistance! I'm Bleeding Here" but they changed it

Let It Stick!

Leave It Be

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Munichhilton

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DandelionPowderman

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Munichhilton
I think it was "Assistance! I'm Bleeding Here" but they changed it

Let It Stick!

Leave It Be

Begging Fingers