Re: Controversial: ER is better than SG
Date: February 29, 2012 15:12
My thoughts on Some Girls:
Some Girls – 1978 (US #1; UK#2)
Miss You • When The Whip Comes Down • Imagination • Some Girls • Lies •
FarAway Eyes • Respectable • Before They Make Me Run • Beast Of Burden • Shattered
Stones Fan – *****
Casual Listener - *****
The Rolling Stones dominated the summer of 1978 and it made you proud. After the relatively disappointing commercial successes of the last two studio albums, The Stones came back in a huge way and it felt so good. We know the theory that perhaps it was punk rock that pushed the Stones to work harder so that they weren’t labeled obsolete. With Ron Wood firmly entrenched in the lineup (Some Girls was his first full length studio Stones album), The Stones and especially Mick Jagger, as he clearly spearheaded this album, truly had a fire lit under them and they delivered in a monster way.
The album starts off with Miss You, which was inescapable on the radio in June of 1978, peaking all the way at the top of the US singles chart (the last US chart-topper, #3 in the UK). The critics claimed the Stones had gone disco. I never really saw it that way. True, Charlie’s four of the floor drumming and Wyman’s awesomely funky bass lines have a disco influence. But Miss You maintains a more R&B feel than disco, as the song has none of the glossy production or synth textures that was a disco trademark at the time. Miss You may be a bit dated today, or overplayed, but Jagger’s vocals, lyrics along with Sugar Blues dynamic harp work still sounds great.
Make no mistake that Some Girls is Jagger’s album and his response to any perceived threat from punk rock. When The Whip Comes Down features Jagger on electric guitar along with Keith and Ronnie, creating a hard driving song. This is powerful rock music that can easily compete with the younger punk generation. Jagger’s vocals and lyrics are powerful and raw, and the band is truly burning by the end fadeout.
Like they did with Ain’t Too Proud To Beg two albums earlier, The Stones take on The Temptations again. And like they did before, they totally reinvent a Motown classic into a truly classic Stones take. Just My Imagination is a completely different song from the Temp’s version. The song starts off with a nice groove and has it builds, starts to rock harder and harder. Jagger’s vocals with Keith kicking in on harmony vocal, are fantastic. No unnecessary polish or gloss, just some serious rock with a great groove and powerful guitar interplay with Jagger adding the third electric guitar to the mix.
The title track, Some Girls, is one of the great relatively unknown Stones tracks. They finally played it live on the No Security tour 11 years later, and what a treat it was. Jagger’s lyrics were (and still are) controversial and he relates his woes on what Some Girls do to him, as well as describing what various ethnic girls want. But this is classic Stones fun, set to fantastic driving bloozy music aided by additional great Sugar Blue harp.
Lies closes out side one in 3 minutes of raucous punk rock abandon. Beyond Jagger yelling Lies, who knows what he’s yelling, but it’s great fun. Lies would not be out of place on the Sex Pistols album. It’s raw guitar punk rock and although on first listen, it may sound like a throwaway, it sounds great in the context of the album.
After what came before, FarAway Eyes sounds almost shocking as we’re greeting by the sweet lilting sounds of Ron Wood on pedal steel guitar and Jagger talk singing about his tale with the girl with FarAway Eyes. It almost sounds like a goof at first, but when the chorus kicks in with “when you’re down on your luck”, you realize this is seriously great country music and catchy as hell. In fact, this Miss You B-side was getting flipped and seriously played on country stations.
Respectable repeats the formula of side one, except rocks even harder than When The Whip Comes Down. The Stones 3-guitar army is in full flow on this edgy hard rocking song. Jagger’s singing, and the band’s playing, is harder than ever before. Jagger’s sneering about being respectable and pillars of society is fierce and powerful. Respectable easily matches the best punk rock at that time and The Stones were definitely making a statement by releasing this track as the 2nd UK single to show they could compete. The fact that it peaked at UK #23, didn’t matter. The Stones put down the gauntlet that they weren’t going anywhere.
Keith hadn’t really done a solo lead vocal track since Happy from Exile, so it was a treat to hear Keith’s lead vocal kick in after another classic opening riff. When Keith, sings “I’m gonna find my way to heaven, because I did my time in hell” and “I wasn’t looking too good but I was feeling real well”, you realize this is prime Stones. In fact, after Happy, Before They Make Me Run is the greatest Keith lead vocal Stones track in the cannon, filled with great lyrics and catchy riff music.
Beast Of Burden is next and it’s simply one of the greatest Stones tracks ever. Opening with one of the Stones tastiest guitar intros and carried through with masterful drum licks, this is incredible music. It’s a ballad, yet it rocks and grooves. Again, Jagger’s lyrics and vocals are spot on. He never over-sings once. His voice is perfectly placed in the mix, sinewing along with the guitar fills, licks and drum grooves. This is classic rock and was the 2nd US single, peaking at number 8, although to me, this is #1 material.
Shattered, with that instantly recognizable guitar riff, closes Some Girls. The music is powerful and driving, yet overtime, the riff does become a bit monotonous. What makes Shattered a classic is Jagger’s incredible lyrics about NYC and fantastic vocals. If you’re a New Yorker, lyrics don’t come much better and Jagger’s phrasing is amazing here. And those “Shedoobies” are so catchy. Shattered is another classic Stones track. It was the 3rd US single from the album, peaking at #31, but it really wasn’t single material.
Overall, Some Girls is Mick Jaggers’ masterpiece. After his over the top singing on Black And Blue and feeling threatened by punk rock, he put it all together here. Punk, disco, R&B, country influences all abound here, but Jagger mixed all these ingredients together and created a rock masterwork. It was deservedly a huge success (topping the US charts, peaking at #2 in the UK). The Stones toured in June/July 1978 to promote the album, but it was a unique tour in that they only played 25 shows in about 7 weeks. They mostly played stadiums with some surprise theater shows mixed in. With the exception of a surprise NYC Palladium show and surprise Capitol Theater show in NJ, JFK Stadium in Philadelphia was the closest they played to the Big Apple. The live show focused on the music and not a show and they featured almost every song from the album. Every song has now been featured live in concert.