This was the last great example of Brian and Keith working well together. Brian's autoharp sounds so beautiful and lends a country feel to the track. Keith's guitars are great here, particularly his Robert Johnson-style acoustic chords in the beginning. The first two-thirds of the song is great, but it loses me just a tad when it gets loud at the end with Keith clearly not able to reach those high vocal notes. I just love the southern Mississippi vibe of this track, kind of like No Expectations. Job well done!

I don't know, Keith failing to hit those notes, back then, had a certain charm to it. I wonder if he ever saw someone about trying to save some of his voice before it was completely gone, as on the Shine A Light DVD.

This track is a thing of beauty. Keith sang the hell out of it. Wish that when he finally did his solo album there would have been some stuff like this on it. The man has Country in his soul.

I prefer the Jagger vocal version...

It's a great track, Keith's voice makes it all the more poignant.

There's also a bit of irony or whatever in that one of the last things Brian played on which got released is a song which is most likley about Anita.

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Sleepy City
I prefer the Jagger vocal version...

Agreed! And it's not just the vocals that are superior, it's a better mix too, with more of Brian's autoharp.

One of the best songs Keith ever wrote. But are those backwards guitars on the track? Never could quite work them out but they sound great.

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Sleepy City
I prefer the Jagger vocal version...

You really hear the autoharp on this version. Keith's voice is better suited for this song however, despite those missed notes at the end.

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Silver Dagger
One of the best songs Keith ever wrote. But are those backwards guitars on the track? Never could quite work them out but they sound great.

The autoharp? It's brilliant. Better than I thought. Keiths slide is great as is his voice. Mick cant sing it, this is Keiths and Brians strange homage to Anita. Their saddest song.

The backwards thing is backwards echo effect, note that it's not on the Jagger vocal version.

Some info on backwards echo...

[www.led-zeppelin.org]

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His Majesty
The backwards thing is backwards echo effect, note that it's not on the Jagger vocal version.

Some info on backwards echo...

[www.led-zeppelin.org]

Thanks HM! Good info. although I love everything Keith sang from 1968-1978 and maybe 1982 this could be the his best vocal.

The Jagger version is ok but this is Keith's song and it is a magical song one of his best!!!

What "missed notes"?

If the rumours about Mick and Anita at the set of Performance is true, then it's actually funny in a bittersweet way that Mick sings it,

Anyway. I think that the song shows a very naked and honest Keith. He really sings with his heart on that song and of course it's the released version with him on vocals that is the superior one. Love it! I find it ironic that Brian appears on it at all after everything. But his autoharp is beautiful and fits, as always, perfectly.

Love this song. Love the original, and love the version with Mick singing lead. Also love Keith's versions from the '99 tour. Just a great song! And as it ends, I wanna hear those opening notes to Monkey Man....... the whole LIB album is so wonderful.

I had the pleasure of hearing Keith sing this live a few years ago....and I have to say, he did a fine job. I wish he'd stick to this kind of song when he does his mini-set. I do prefer Mick's vocal,however. Ronnie played slide along side Keith and Keith just sang, he didn't play guitar at all. A great Stones moment!

THANK YOU for that fantastic alternate take ... YEAH! I can finally hear the autoharp! Listened for it for years too ... talk about buried – that's as deep in the dirt as one can get!

This is one of those things that (despite being heavily bootlegged) should see an official release.