By the way, the version that can be heard in the promo video is very different. Are there any reliable sources on what's the story behind this? I've heard people claim that these are the original electric guitar tracks by Ron Wood, but I haven't found any proof of that. It's certainly missing some guitar parts, but I'm not sure if it contains anything that's not present in the album version.

it's more like T.Rex meets the Stones.

i think this is in the guinness record book as the rock'n'roll song with the most guitar tracks? i believe the final count was 473...

When I first heard it on a radio in 1974 I was very disappointed. Angie had been a fantastic single, but Goats Head Soup was a step down. I was hoping they'd come roaring back, forgiving them GHS because maybe they were burnt out after Exile. Hearing IORR on the radio I thought "Uh-oh", they may not have the magic anymore. IORR sounded pedestrian, almost like Mick saying, "Hey, quit expecting so much from us, I mean it's ONLY rock and roll, right?" Making excuses seemed lame. Then when the album itself came out, there wasn't much to lift it to their former level of greatness.

Having said that, the track itself has grown on me over the years. Taken within its context it's an interesting mid-70s track, and kind of fun. It's not an up upper tier cut, but it's kind of funky and catchy. It doesn't come off live with it's original funkiness intact. It's kind of 'Happy Days' campy on stage, like Springsteen playing 'Glory Days'.

Mick said he wrote the song because he was sick of a lot of critics putting the Stones down a lot around that time. (Incidentally, I read Mick's comment in the liner notes for the album below. I never bought the album because I had all the songs. But I saw it in my library last week, and checked it out because I'd only recently read the liner notes included interview comments from Mick and Keith about each song. And they do, and Mick's and Keith's comments are fairly extensive. So if your local library has this album—and, of course, if you don't own it already!—check it out it just for the Mick and Keith comments.)

This is one of the strangest songs in the Stones canon. Perhaps it is because of all the re-working done by Keith to try to turn it into a "classic" Stones song. It has a certain allure on the record but whatever magic was in the original (much overdubbed) track is completely lost in the various live treatments they have given it over the years. I also remember the Taylor quote Doxa cites: That they were "trying" to come up with a song in the "classic" Stones style. You can, for the first time hear the "trying", the effort, rather than the pure inspiration and genius of previous efforts. Still makes for a great track, it just is a demarcation point for me for when the Stones started to get self-referential, and when studio craft began filling in for inspiration.

The studio track is fantastic. First thing that hits is the majestic tone this song has. The two main electric guitar parts laid down by Keith - the groovie boogie woogie line on the low E chord, and the double stop riffs higher up the neck - are a masterclass on how to create dynamics in a rock and roll song. Simple perfection. Yes, tricks and fingerings come directly from Chuck Berry, but the way all this works againt the tempo is 100% Keith. Ronnie's acoustic is another key ingredient, both for the tonal colour it adds, and, and above all, for the rythm kick it gives to the whole song. No wonder it was not deleted!!

Jagger, well, the studio interpretation is in his top 10 best singing with the RS.

The story of this song on stage is very similar to the Devil's one: sublime in 75/6 - forgettable (to be kind) ever since.
Charlie and Bill clearly built their parts on Keith's guitar work and Mick's
singing rather than on the original drumm and bass.
The result is one of the best rhythm work ever created in
rock and roll ...
Absolutely killer!
Just listen to the hell the Stones rise in the first few bars
of IORR on LYL. How the accents change all the time. I don't remember the band ever playing such intricate stuff ever again and since. Add all the bag of ususal tricks, the great intuition of moving the tonality to B, the usually great outro ... MASTERPIECE!

Unfortunately there is not one single decent version of Iorr (or davil, for what matters) from 89 - included - to date. How could this happen, is one of the great RS mysteries of all times!


C


C

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StonesTod
it's more like T.Rex meets the Stones.

Yes, the verses always remind me of this one

Good point about T Rex. That was all the rage at the time, and Mick (as usual) was wanting to keep "current".

This is a rocker for real..same class as Chuck Berry and Ronnie Wood wrote it and gave it to Mick it said in the book....

2 1 2 0

DandelionPowderman
Not always, but while Ronnie was creating this song (intended for his solo album), he had Kenney Jones from the Faces on drums and Willy Weeks on bass. Then Mick and Keith took over...
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It's only true. RONNIE WROTE this song. And Mick like it. And he gave Ronnie other song (I forget name) for IORR. It's explained perfectly somewhere.

I like the lyrics to this song, and Jagger just rambles some non sense these days until the chorus.

This & 'Starf*cker' are the kind of songs Chuck Berry should have been writing in the 70s...

Just listening to this closely today. I hear 2 acoustic guitars, one in each channel. Am I mistaken?

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donvis
Just listening to this closely today. I hear 2 acoustic guitars, one in each channel. Am I mistaken?

Could be one guitar track, Ronnie's 12-string. Do they both have that jangely 12-string sound? Are they playing the exact same thing? Doubling tracks with a slight delay in one speaker was/is a common studio technique to fatten up the guitar sound.

its quite average and sadly i feel this song should never had been a warhorse, just dont see the point in playing this to death almost every gig for years while ignoring better songs, not as if its ever performed well live because it never is.

the promotional video and song together are quite entertaining though, but its never a classic.

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Naturalust

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donvis
Just listening to this closely today. I hear 2 acoustic guitars, one in each channel. Am I mistaken?

Could be one guitar track, Ronnie's 12-string. Do they both have that jangely 12-string sound? Are they playing the exact same thing? Doubling tracks with a slight delay in one speaker was/is a common studio technique to fatten up the guitar sound.

You're getting to the meat of what I love about this track. This track might "wobble" more than any other. A guitar playing, casual Stones fan friend of mine caught me the other day and gushed about all the layers and time manipulations of this one. It's almost paradoxical to listen to- As a whole, it's hard to keep track of all the nuances, if you focus on a single track, you lose sight of it's purpose.

Ironically, it's one of the best drum tracks on a Stones record, and it's not Charlie!! Kenny Jones really has a strong Mick Fleetwood feel going on- the off-kilter single snare in the first verse, falling in to more of a standard 4/4 type thing makes it. It may not be intensional, but it's genius! We know it's basically a demo track, and he seems to be just "finding" the rhythm at first......and it's perfect.

Despite the naysayers it is my favorite Rolling Stones song! Followed by Moonlight Mile, Street Fighting Man, Respectable and Gimme Shelter.

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JJackFl
DandelionPowderman
Not always, but while Ronnie was creating this song (intended for his solo album), he had Kenney Jones from the Faces on drums and Willy Weeks on bass. Then Mick and Keith took over...
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It's only true. RONNIE WROTE this song. And Mick like it. And he gave Ronnie other song (I forget name) for IORR. It's explained perfectly somewhere.

At Ronnie's I'VE GOT MY OWN ALBUM TO DO session, Mick took IORR, and gave Ronnie I CAN FEEL THE FIRE.

Ronnie thought it's not fair, but he made a compromise with this deal.

this is their manifesto for the next 40 years. it basically spells it all out - we are going to become a nostalgia act. it's all there in the lyrics. you don't like the ticket prices or set list? you were warned in IORR back in 1974.

apart from Satisfaction and Miss You, IORR is one of their most identifiable tracks on commercial radio....sounds great every time too.......signature tune...and makes you want to dance.

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StonesTod
it's more like T.Rex meets the Stones.

i think this is in the guinness record book as the rock'n'roll song with the most guitar tracks? i believe the final count was 473...

i agree, always heard T. Rex in it

regardless of the count of guitar tracks, they do sound great layered one upon another.

it's clear that ron wood saved this album.

Great song! The only stand out track on the entire album but I agree they never have been able to do a live version that captures the groove of the studio release.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-08-17 18:58 by Ket.

A visitor could be forgiven for thinking this site is devoted to It's Only Rock 'n Roll at the minute...

.....

Olly.

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Olly
A visitor could be forgiven for thinking this site is devoted to It's Only Rock 'n Roll at the minute...

it's the week of dandelion's "album talk: it's only rock-n-roll"

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Turner68

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Olly
A visitor could be forgiven for thinking this site is devoted to It's Only Rock 'n Roll at the minute...

it's the week of dandelion's "album talk: it's only rock-n-roll"

Yes, and all very readable content; it's just the first time I've seen four different Track Talk threads all relating to songs from the same album as the top four non-Sticky discussions.

.....

Olly.

I 'm so glad that the original demo finally surfaced.
IMO this is such an odd track. I thought it was because Keith forced his electric guitars on top, or that it was Kenney on drums. But now when I listen, it may be that Bass track.
It sounds like Weeks is trying to decide which way to go with it. On the Stones side, I think only Taylor would have done somthing similar on Bass.

Not a great Stones. Popular, but lower level. I remember hearing it in a headshop for the first time. Very disappointed. It felt like they were trying too hard, and ending up banal. It's okay to hear when it comes on the CD player, but it's gotten way more mileage than it deserves.

I really wish they would bring this back to the setlist. While they've never quite played it properly, it's one of those things that you don't really miss until it's gone - same with Brown Sugar.
I remember it being blasted al over the radio when it was released as a single in the summer of '74...brings back many fond memories of hot and sunny beach days.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

I like the studio version, the live version.....eh.

The IORR album is very strong in my opinion.

I know the Stones kept Wood’s acoustic guitar and erased his electric guitars,when the Stones recorded over it, but I only hear the acoustic in the intro and outro of the song.Is it audible throughout the song because all I hear are what sound like3electric guitars when I listen to it without the drums and vocals