At one of the Stones' concerts attended they played "Aint to Proud to Beg", which they obviously love playing as it has been played with frequency at numerous concerts over the years (I think).

The opening lyrics of this Temptations song are cool:
I know you wanna leave me,
But I refuse to let you go,
If I have to beg, plead for your sympathy,
I don't mind 'cause you mean that much to me.


However, "If you can't Rock Me" is preferable. Like "Monkeyman," it should be in every concert set list.

Always thought some of the greatest shorties solos were Taylor on IYCRM and on heartbreaker along with JH on little wing.

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DandelionPowderman
Earl's Court 1976

I never realized that they played Aint to Proud and If you cant Rock me in the same concert - probably on more occasions . Nice Post and Video

It’s always been my wish for a kickass opener of a show!

It’s uptempo and the best opening lyrics ever: “The band’s on stage and it’s one of those nights - the drummer think that he is dynamite (huge roar obviously).

And different and in your face kind of track. Easy for Keith to get in a groove with and for Ronnie to shine on the solo!

Maybe it’s just me :-)

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MichaelLassen
It’s always been my wish for a kickass opener of a show!

It’s uptempo and the best opening lyrics ever: “The band’s on stage and it’s one of those nights - the drummer think that he is dynamite (huge roar obviously).

And different and in your face kind of track. Easy for Keith to get in a groove with and for Ronnie to shine on the solo!

Maybe it’s just me :-)

It's not just you. I agree 100%.

Drew

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drewmaster
I simply LOVE this track; it’s the Stones in all their glory (although the rest of the album is definitely hit-or-miss). From Charlie’s opening gunshot salvo, to the glorious blending of Keith’s crunchy riffing and Taylor’s beautifully melodic guitar that chimes in perfectly a split second later, to Mick’s full-force-but-slightly-hoarse vocal, this one grabs the listener by the throat and never lets go. What a great, chugging rhythm (go Charlie go!!!), and those lyrics, baby, you gotta love ‘em… A thousand lips I would love to taste … I’ve got one heart and it hurts like hell … Who’s that black girl in the bright blue hair? … Rock and roll simply doesn’t get any better than this. I love how, as the song builds momentum in the final stretch of the song, Charlie’s drums go into overdrive, and Mick squeals in ecstasy.

Tight and loose at the same time, IYCRM swings like a motherfukker, and exemplifies the band I love.

Drew

I'd forgotten about the xtra jolt in the ending section. Yes Drew, the drums find a hidden gear and crank it up; and I think that clavinet, or is the fuzz bass comes growling in again too. ?? I cant listen right now
This song overall is pretty busy, but - at it's essence it is Keith's riff, and he proves once again (like he did on Honky Tonk Woman) his theory of 5 strings, 3 chords, 2 fingers and 1 @#$%&. IYCRM is full of great performances. A very tight track.

One of their best Rockers, one that should have been used on and off as a War Horse over the years, hopefully it will turn up again on the next tour, one can be hopeful because i love this Track, should have been a single too. .

They don't do pastishes like this no more...

I think SilverDagger from 2011 pretty much summered up my sentiments for this song - it is a good standard rocker, but nothing special in Stonesian terms. It is the lack of dynamics and that of natural drive that bothers me most. Some of that has to do with a typical bad production the whole album suffers from, but something to do with the substance as well. Despite having lot of good elements, the result sounds oddily forced.

If the point of opening IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL with "If You Can't Rock Me" was that of showing that the mature, moody sounds of GOATS HEAD SOUP was just a mistep, and that they are as energetic, wild and rocking as always, I think they simply fail. This is not "Rocks Off" nor "Brown Sugar". They sound for the very first time ever as old men trying to rock hard. Especially Jagger who seems to hide his lack of real inspiration and enthusiasism with over-interpreted vocals and self-caricatural lyrics. That pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album.

But that said, there is a lot of interesting things going on. Even though if the classical Richards/Taylor showcase, backed up by Charlie, is a bit unimaginative and repitive - I can see a frustrated Jagger going 'don't you guys can come up with something a bit more fresh' - I like the over-all structure of the song. A nicely, even cleverly written rocker (compare that to, say, "Dance Little Sister"). The funky slowed-down part of the song adds a nice extra. And if I analysize the whole thing into pieces, I won't discover much to complain about: Keith's riff is okay, as are Taylor's leads (like always), there is a certain charm in Mick's over-mannered vocals and funny and wit lyrics, Charlie is there (but shockingly Bill not!), the use of percussion is tasty and clever, etc... But somehow the sum is not more than its parts - the over-all impression sounds a bit tired and forced.

---

Okay, my review so far was has been just as tired and forced as the track is. Let me try to find something a bit more original to say.

About the lyrics: what it tries to say? Because I am a rock star, everyone should want to have sex with me if I'm in town? Clearly a sister tune to "It's Only Rock'n'Roll", and continuing the theme of "Star Star", something an innocent upstart pop star already touched ages earlier in "Spider & The Fly", but not having any of that deeper emotional reflection of the road as in "Moonlight Mile" or "Torn & Frayed".

Since the lack of real musical inspiration, the stance of Jagger's lyrics is probably the most in interesting feature not just in "If You Can't Rock Me" but also some other key songs in the album - the self-belittlening in the title track, the reflection of mortality in "Time Waits For No One", the mocking of ordinanary 'salt of the earth' people in "Luxury", the justification of his own life style in "If You Really Want To Be My Friend", the self-paranoia in "Fingerprint File"... There is an interesting tension between (1) recognizing and being explicit of the hedonism and ego-play of the world's biggest rock star, and (2) reflecting a certain shallowness and emptiness in his much heralded 'charmed life' or in his supposed art, and how it is isolated from anything 'real' and 'important'; that him or his art should have a some kind meaning or purpose outside of his/its own little world... He is a rock star - and what that actually is? None of the 60's consciousness, idea to change the world and the old customs is left, not even to reflect the world critically, but just enjoying the pure star status and privileged life attached to it. Even FBI supposed to keep six papers high on him, but that's surreal. He is not a threat to anyone any longer, he is not there to change anything but just to perform and be a 'star' and take any advantage of it. The only cash value of it is just to have sex more than nobody else (like his natural right), and that's about the only 'issue' troubling him: he needs to beg sex both in "If You Can't Rock Me" and "It's Only Rock'n'Roll". Him?! World's biggest rock star! The world of Mick Jagger starts to be really small in IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL. Basically all there is left is basically just his ego.

But at the same time: I don't recall any major rock star ever really reflecting the matters with such a wit and critical insight 'inside', within the game. Bob Dylan or John Lennon might have, but they stepped out of the game by then, reflecting it from a distance, if at all. All those new rock stars of the 70's and on, especially the ones longing to be new mickjaggers enjoying and mimicking the life style of the Rolling Stones - and today we can find 'rock stars' anywhere from the spheres of life - never (self-)reflected that issue, or at least to an extent Jagger does in IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL. It could be that without intention the album might be Jagger's most revealing and honest album ever, a kind of rock star's BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, to name an incredible masterpiece from the same year.

"If You Can't Rock Me" is a honest representation from that era: even in hindsight it reveals so clearly how the Stones were doing at the time. 'Junkie' Keith had run out of any novel and genius ideas and 'jetset' Jagger was too full of himself (add there Taylor being bored, and Charlie and the absent Bill couldn't care less)... But still it sounds damn good!

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-10-31 12:20 by Doxa.

To make the stance of IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL more explicit, most cleverly manifested in the the title track, but also in "If You Can't Rock Me", I think it is revealing to compare it to some 60's masterpiece songs, which I think actually set the stage for the stance of It'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL to come (I recall talking about this years ago, so I might repeat myself here).

In "Street Fighting Man" Jagger recognizes the boundaries of his act: "what can a poor boy do expect to sing in a rock and roll band". That's probably one of the most cleverest lines ever said in a rock and roll song. Sharp like knife. The supposed rock star, like any reflective person, is damn awere of what's going on in the world, but is painfully awere of his own limits. He would like to contribute, but since knowing the nature of his own game of his act cannot. (Almost like Wittgenstein talking about the boundaries of language, and the meaningful uses of sentences...) Lennon, by the way, made a similar distinction in "Revolution", but that's too much affected by his own ego, and not having that universal appeal as "Street Fighting Man" has. I mean, the subject of rock star in "Revolution" is this pseudo-intellectual John Lennon voicing his personal opinion, but in "Street Fighting Man" that is any "poor boy" who has any pretensions to do something, and choosing the career of a rock star simply means nothing as far as real action goes.

In "Salt of the Earth" Jagger makes a similar distinction within a song: just after praising the hard working people (a part which, interestingly, Keith sings), he, when entering to a scene, starts to talk about a "faceless crowd", which doesn't even seem "real" but "strange" to him. The world of rock star starts to be isolated from that of the 'ordinary' people and Jagger doesn't even claim that he is somehow any longer in touch with that world.

In "Midnight Rambler" Jagger talks about some really nasty and evil business going on in the world, but makes the important distinction by throwing one important line there: "honey, it's no rock and roll show" - once again, underlining the artificial and limited world of his own art. Here the stance or pespective is that of a serie-killer and him reminding us that this a real thing not just bloody entertainment business. I don't think anyone else than Jagger could have thrown that one, but significiant line.

In "Monkey Man" we are introduced to the colourful varieties of old blues metaphors and limitless sexual appetite of a rock star, but once again, by such a typical and wit Jaggerian fashion, we are reminded "that's not really true" and "we just love to play the blues"... like a sudden burst of reality in the middle of painting the Oldham-kind of decadent fresco. The same goes for "Live With Me" - a caricature of their just achieved filmographic decadent and hedonist life style via best Oldham marketing style. They were more than awere how much that image - how people see them - means for them. And they were playing with that.

But by IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL the world outside of rock and roll performer's world had escaped away from his hands. And he, arrogantly, doesn't even care about it any longer - it is just his own self-created domestic world that is self-sufficient and independent of anything else. He is not interested in reflecting and commenting the world outside of his world - the way "Can't Always Get What You Want" or "Gimme Shelter" or "Sympathy For The Devil" masterfully does, not even in ironic terms of "Sweet Black Angel" or obscure terms of "(Doo Doo Doo) Heartbreaker" (and we don't even need to mention the mid-60's clever satisfactions, mother'slittlehelpers, 19thnervousbreakdowns, getooffofmyclouds, etc.). The reflection of the stance of avarage joe in "Luxury" is so absurd that it needs to be a bad joke. It's like stating - 'look, me, a big rock star is having a fun of lesser mortals'. Not anything of the sheer empathy of "Factory Girl" or "Salt of The Earth" is left (though I don't think that was so convincing even in BEGGARS BANQUET, but there was a real concern and urge). All there is a rock and roll show, and that's all a poor boy is doomed to do. And what other option there is intellectually to do than making a caricature of it? Showing the whole banality of it? With that, Jagger succeeds big time in IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL. Was that a purpose or not, I don't know. Probably Jagger was just way too honest and artistic-minded to do anything else but following his muse.

I think the legacy of IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL era is that of if one puts the clown hat on, and starts to play with his own image, and ends up making a caricature of himself, it is pretty hard to be taken seriously again. Not that he has tried that much (he is too clever for that), but when he occasionally tries to somehow show his social or political conscience, or express anything that is not directly connected to his own ego or immediate objects of perceptual and physical experience (like sex & women), the results are not that convincing. "Indian Girl", "Undercover of The Night", "Too Much Blood", "Must Be Hell", "Primitive Cool", "War Baby", "Highwire", "Blinded By Rainbows", "Sweeet NeoCon", even lately "Gotta Get A Grip", "England Lost"... Nothing directly to do with the quality of the songs, but it is the Singer Not The Song indeed...

Lastly, I'd like to say thank you to Swayed1967 for his comment in "Silver Train" thread. It was that post that made me think more - or even opened my eyes - in reflecting Jagger's role in the artistic downhill of The Stones during the 70's, and more importantly, how they lost quite quickly their relevance back then. I just painted one and pretty limited sketch of it here. The whole story is much bigger...

I shut up my mouth for some time now...

- Doxa



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2018-10-31 15:55 by Doxa.

Good post, Doxa. A nice read, with some good points.

Although I think Mick has succeeded with some of the latter-day lyrics about society (Undercover Of The Night and Highwire, in particular), it's hard to stay relevant when you get old, conveying your message to younger generations who care less than past generations about issues of society. The old fans are already in the choir he's preaching to, and many of them couldn't care less, either. On the contrary, many of the fans bought the decadence-stuff, and react with jaw-dropping to the serious stuff.

A tough task...

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DandelionPowderman
Good post, Doxa. A nice read, with some good points.

Although I think Mick has succeeded with some of the latter-day lyrics about society (Undercover Of The Night and Highwire, in particular), it's hard to stay relevant when you get old, conveying your message to younger generations who care less than past generations about issues of society. The old fans are already in the choir he's preaching to, and many of them couldn't care less, either. On the contrary, many of the fans bought the decadence-stuff, and react with jaw-dropping to the serious stuff.

A tough task...

True. I also think that both "Undercover of The Night" and "Highwire" are pretty good stuff lyrically, but neither got much impact. I think especially the latter was almost ridiculed for the old 60's legends trying to say something controversial. The reaction was like "aargh, c'mon, Mick, please..." But by contrast, had, say, Bob Dylan written them, those would have been praised to death, and old Bobby once again showing that he is in the nerve of times...

- Doxa

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Doxa

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DandelionPowderman
Good post, Doxa. A nice read, with some good points.

Although I think Mick has succeeded with some of the latter-day lyrics about society (Undercover Of The Night and Highwire, in particular), it's hard to stay relevant when you get old, conveying your message to younger generations who care less than past generations about issues of society. The old fans are already in the choir he's preaching to, and many of them couldn't care less, either. On the contrary, many of the fans bought the decadence-stuff, and react with jaw-dropping to the serious stuff.

A tough task...

True. I also think that both "Undercover of The Night" and "Highwire" are pretty good stuff lyrically, but neither got much impact. I think especially the latter was almost ridiculed for the old 60's legends trying to say something controversial. The reaction was like "aargh, c'mon, Mick, please..." But by contrast, had, say, Bob Dylan written them, those would have been praised to death, and old Bobby once again showing that he is in the nerve of times...

- Doxa

And the timing of Highwire was hopelessly bad, of course. It just came out too late. Way too late

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DandelionPowderman

And the timing of Highwire was hopelessly bad, of course. It just came out too late. Way too late

True... But I still would claim that had Dylan came up by that late, people wouldn't have minded at all....

- Doxa

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Doxa

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DandelionPowderman

And the timing of Highwire was hopelessly bad, of course. It just came out too late. Way too late

True... But I still would claim that had Dylan came up by that late, people wouldn't have minded at all....

- Doxa

Dylan is never that explicit, is he? He's a bit smarter

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DandelionPowderman

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Doxa

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DandelionPowderman

And the timing of Highwire was hopelessly bad, of course. It just came out too late. Way too late

True... But I still would claim that had Dylan came up by that late, people wouldn't have minded at all....

- Doxa

Dylan is never that explicit, is he? He's a bit smarter

Well, "Hurricane" was a rather explicit (and some others as well) but yeah, generally that holds true. But it is easier to imagine him to write "Highwire" than, say, "Sparks Will Fly"... (although I am sure had Zimmy written the latter, even in that case people would have something genius in it..) ><

- Doxa

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drewmaster

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MichaelLassen
It’s always been my wish for a kickass opener of a show!

It’s uptempo and the best opening lyrics ever: “The band’s on stage and it’s one of those nights - the drummer think that he is dynamite (huge roar obviously).

And different and in your face kind of track. Easy for Keith to get in a groove with and for Ronnie to shine on the solo!

Maybe it’s just me :-)

It's not just you. I agree 100%.

Drew

+1