Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Let It Rock (live in Leeds 1971)
(Chuck Berry)

University Of Leeds, Leeds, UK, March 13, 1971

Mick Jagger - vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Mick Taylor - electric guitar
Nicky Hopkins - piano
Bobby Keys - saxophone
Jim Price - trumpet

In the heat of the day down in Mobile, Alabama
Working on a railroad with a steel driving hammer
I’ve gotta get some money, buy some brand new shoes
Tryin' to find somebody take away these blues
She don't love me, try to singing in the sun
Payday's coming and my work is all done

Yeah, in the evening when the sun is sinking low
All day I’ve been waiting for that whistle to blow
I’m sitting by the teepee built right on the track
Rolling them bones ‘til the foreman come back
Pick up you belongings, try to scatter about
We've got an off-schedule train comin’ two miles out

Yeah, everybody talking, trying to scramble around
Picking up their money, tearing the teepee down
Foreman want to panic, ‘bout to go insane
Trying to get the workers out the way of the train
Engineer blow the whistle loud and long
Can't stop the train, he had to let it roll on

Produced by Jimmy Miller

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Brown Sugar / Bitch / Let It Rock” 7” single
(Rolling Stones Records RS 19100) UK, April 16, 1971
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Let It Rock (live in Fort Worth 1978)
(Chuck Berry)

Will Rogers Memorial Center, Fort Worth, Texas, US, July 18, 1978

Mick Jagger - vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Ron Wood - electric guitar
Ian Stewart - piano
Ian McLagan - keyboards

In the heat of the day down in Mobile, Alabama
Working on a railroad with a steel driving hammer
I’ve gotta get the money, buy some brand new shoes
Tryin' to find somebody take away these blues
She don't love me, here him singing in the sun
Payday's coming and my work is all done

Yeah, in the evening when the sun is sinking low
All day I’ve been waiting for that whistle to blow
I’m sitting by the teepee built right on the track
Rolling them bones ‘til the foreman come back
Pick up you belongings, try to scatter about
We've got an off-schedule train comin’ two miles out

Yeah, everybody talking, trying to scramble around
Picking up their money, tearing the teepee down
Foreman want to panic, ‘bout to go insane
Trying to get the workers out the way of the train
Engineer blow the whistle loud and long
Can't stop the train, he had to let it roll on

Produced by The Rolling Stones

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Some Girls Live In Texas ‘78” CD
(Eagle Vision ERDVCD065GV) UK, November 18, 2011

Johnny B Goode with another lyrics...but it rolls

2 1 2 0

It's not Johnny B Goode! It has a very different feel to it. Personally it's one of my favourite live songs from the Stones. Really raunchy ragged Rock and Roll. This is what they do best and the live 1971 is amazing.

It's very good, but I don't like Keith's 1971 guitar sound as much as before or later on.

The Stones sure loved Chuck Berry around this time and this was their third cover of his in 2 years. It lacks the same impact that Carol and Little Queenie had on the 69 tour but it's always a gas to hear the Stones playing that primal rock'n'roll.

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Silver Dagger
The Stones sure loved Chuck Berry around this time and this was their third cover of his in 2 years. It lacks the same impact that Carol and Little Queenie had on the 69 tour but it's always a gas to hear the Stones playing that primal rock'n'roll.

Their fourth Berry-cover. They played Roll Over Beethoven as well

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DandelionPowderman

Quote
Silver Dagger
The Stones sure loved Chuck Berry around this time and this was their third cover of his in 2 years. It lacks the same impact that Carol and Little Queenie had on the 69 tour but it's always a gas to hear the Stones playing that primal rock'n'roll.

Their fourth Berry-cover. They played Roll Over Beethoven as well

AND Don't you lie to me!

C

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liddas

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DandelionPowderman

Quote
Silver Dagger
The Stones sure loved Chuck Berry around this time and this was their third cover of his in 2 years. It lacks the same impact that Carol and Little Queenie had on the 69 tour but it's always a gas to hear the Stones playing that primal rock'n'roll.

Their fourth Berry-cover. They played Roll Over Beethoven as well

AND Don't you lie to me!

C

Yep, and Bye, Bye, Johnnie, but the two latter was played in 1972

(Don't you lie to me is a Tampa Red cover, but they played Around and Around.)

I love the Texas 78 version, even though it takes some time for Mick to get the right groove.
It is a brave thing to open a show with a cover-song for a band that had so many great songs
of their own to chose from. Didn't Keith use the opening licks of this song in later years
to start It's only rock 'n roll?





Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

Quote
marcovandereijk
(Don't you lie to me is a Tampa Red cover, but they played Around and Around.)

I love the Texas 78 version, even though it takes some time for Mick to get the right groove.
It is a brave thing to open a show with a cover-song for a band that had so many great songs
of their own to chose from. Didn't Keith use the opening licks of this song in later years
to start It's only rock 'n roll?

Yep, but as with Down The Road Apiece and Route 66, Berry also played it.

The opening lick on LIR has been used to start quite a few numbers (slightly different variations): Star Star, IORR etc.

Great Berry tune, a classic one, the Stones adaptation is great, too. Leeds is more subtle, Texas more energetic and a little bit messy, but charming in any case.

Detroit 1978 is the best ever, imo. Probably the best Stones show ever, as well:







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-05-21 13:58 by DandelionPowderman.

Quote
Silver Dagger
The Stones sure loved Chuck Berry around this time and this was their third cover of his in 2 years. It lacks the same impact that Carol and Little Queenie had on the 69 tour but it's always a gas to hear the Stones playing that primal rock'n'roll.

They surely loved Chuck Berry around that time as well but I think there was a slightly different feel playing Berry songs then than in 1962-64 when they defined their sound pretty much on Chuck Berry. It is in their DNA. But in 1969 they had so much original strong songs and a sound pretty much made by their own, so playing 'ancient' Berry numbers had some ort of of 'nostalgy' point at the time. They wanted to remind people from their origin, from which it all came from. And by the late 60's/early 70's Berry's music was 'old-time' 50's rock and roll, music from the past - before SERGEANT PEPPER, Jimi Hendrix, Dylan, etc. that defined always changing 60's hectic musical climate. So I hear a tribute in YA-YA's songs as well in "Let It Rock" as well. They not just played them but also profically released them on their records. They were proud of their roots. And it in a way suited to their "greatest rock and roll band of the world" image they created at the time. They knew the ABC of rock, and wouldn't hesitate being vocally 'conservative' in this matter. (Funny though, Jagger critizised new hot acts like Marc Bolan and Bowie for musically actually being "Chuck Berry" still...)

I think starting their concerts in 1978 with "Let It Rock" was also a kind of reminder to a new 'punk crowds' of the origin of the whole thing. That if you want to play rock and roll and go to 'basics', as the punks did (or at least claimed doing), you will have Chuck Berry in front of you. That's the skeleton of rock and roll. It all come from there and it all will end up there as well. I hear that as a statement from their side. And I respect that.

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-05-21 14:16 by Doxa.

Not my cup of tea, sorry.

Drew

To continue my post above - I had hasty memeories here, but I recall reading once that Jagger was fed up singing Chuck Berry songs any longer. That those songs didn't relate to him, or to the times or their style any longer. I recall this being in 1975/76.

This could make sense since I think in that tour (1975/76) they didn't play (until Knebworth?) any Berry songs. But as the band then went 'back to basics' (in El Mocambo and then in 1978 tour), most likely being inspired by new energetic bands like Dr. Feelgood, and The Sex Pistols) Jagger seemingly rethought his stance.

I am very thin ice here, so I wait to be corrected if my memory makes is typical tricks...

- Doxa

Quote
René
Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
________________________________________________________________________________

Let It Rock (live in Leeds 1971)
(Chuck Berry)

University Of Leeds, Leeds, UK, March 13, 1971

Mick Jagger - vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Mick Taylor - electric guitar
Nicky Hopkins - piano
Bobby Keys - saxophone
Jim Price - trumpet

In the heat of the day down in Mobile, Alabama
Working on a railroad with a steel driving hammer
I’ve gotta get some money, buy some brand new shoes
Tryin' to find somebody take away these blues
She don't love me, try to singing in the sun
Payday's coming and my work is all done

Yeah, in the evening when the sun is sinking low
All day I’ve been waiting for that whistle to blow
I’m sitting by the teepee built right on the track
Rolling them bones ‘til the foreman come back
Pick up you belongings, try to scatter about
We've got an off-schedule train comin’ two miles out

Yeah, everybody talking, trying to scramble around
Picking up their money, tearing the teepee down
Foreman want to panic, ‘bout to go insane
Trying to get the workers out the way of the train
Engineer blow the whistle loud and long
Can't stop the train, he had to let it roll on

Produced by Jimmy Miller

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Brown Sugar / Bitch / Let It Rock” 7” single
(Rolling Stones Records RS 19100) UK, April 16, 1971
__________________________________________________________________________________

Let It Rock (live in Fort Worth 1978)
(Chuck Berry)

Will Rogers Memorial Center, Fort Worth, Texas, US, July 18, 1978

Mick Jagger - vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Ron Wood - electric guitar
Ian Stewart - piano
Ian McLagan - keyboards

In the heat of the day down in Mobile, Alabama
Working on a railroad with a steel driving hammer
I’ve gotta get the money, buy some brand new shoes
Tryin' to find somebody take away these blues
She don't love me, here him singing in the sun
Payday's coming and my work is all done

Yeah, in the evening when the sun is sinking low
All day I’ve been waiting for that whistle to blow
I’m sitting by the teepee built right on the track
Rolling them bones ‘til the foreman come back
Pick up you belongings, try to scatter about
We've got an off-schedule train comin’ two miles out

Yeah, everybody talking, trying to scramble around
Picking up their money, tearing the teepee down
Foreman want to panic, ‘bout to go insane
Trying to get the workers out the way of the train
Engineer blow the whistle loud and long
Can't stop the train, he had to let it roll on

Produced by The Rolling Stones

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Some Girls Live In Texas ‘78” CD
(Eagle Vision ERDVCD065GV) UK, November 18, 2011

Probably the definitive Keith Richards recording in more ways than one.

Fantasmagorical!

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DandelionPowderman

Quote
liddas

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
Silver Dagger
The Stones sure loved Chuck Berry around this time and this was their third cover of his in 2 years. It lacks the same impact that Carol and Little Queenie had on the 69 tour but it's always a gas to hear the Stones playing that primal rock'n'roll.

Their fourth Berry-cover. They played Roll Over Beethoven as well

AND Don't you lie to me!

C

Yep, and Bye, Bye, Johnnie, but the two latter was played in 1972

And move on 4 years to Knebworth and you get Around And Around and Route 66 thrown in to the set as well. While Chuck covered Route 66 it wasn't written by him but by Bobby Troup, husband of the sultry Julie London.

1978 is a pale remainder of the epic 1971 Leeds version. I still get chills whenever I hear Charlie drop that first snare beat, and Keith's several solos are perfect. 1978? Eh.

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71Tele
1978 is a pale remainder of the epic 1971 Leeds version. I still get chills whenever I hear Charlie drop that first snare beat, and Keith's several solos are perfect. 1978? Eh.

Although I see your point, I don't agree Tele about the 78 LIR being a "pale" comparison to what they did in 1971. It was just a little bit different approach. The song has been great every time they played it. Did the one from the 1971 goodbye tour stop at Leeds shine? Absolutely, but the 78 LIR opener was a brilliant call with the band going back to their roots and laying down a fantastic Berry cover as only the Stones can. I just think they have nailed Chuck Berry songs whenever they have covered them.

Fantastic version, Nicky on fire and Keith plays his best Berry solos ever, not relying (like he did on Ya-Ya's and on most Berry covers from those years) on bending that double-stop 15 times in a row.

Let It Rock from Leeds is a killer, great solos (and the guy calls: "Paint it Black" just before) .... looking forward to hear the complete show in stereo as one of the next archive-releases!

Rock 'n' roll at its finest surpassing Chuck Berry's original.

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DandelionPowderman
Detroit 1978 is the best ever, imo. Probably the best Stones show ever, as well:

Straying OT...but God, I love Detroit '78.

Quote
71Tele
1978 is a pale remainder of the epic 1971 Leeds version. I still get chills whenever I hear Charlie drop that first snare beat, and Keith's several solos are perfect. 1978? Eh.

I love the Leeds version, but those intro chords by Keith on the Leeds version have always struck me as underpowered and puny, or "tinny", like he's playing a banjo or something. But they kick up a groove after that.

See also this thread comparing various versions:

[www.iorr.org]

What's that man shouting just before the Leeds performance? And who is he anyway? Somebody in the band yelling "Let It Rock", or some random fan wanting them to play Paint It Black? Click here for the full half-hour argument on the subject...

[www.iorr.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-02-28 21:46 by Green Lady.

Don't Lie to me is not a Berry Song. Tampa Red recorded it in 1940!

Quote
Doxa
To continue my post above - I had hasty memeories here, but I recall reading once that Jagger was fed up singing Chuck Berry songs any longer. That those songs didn't relate to him, or to the times or their style any longer. I recall this being in 1975/76.

This could make sense since I think in that tour (1975/76) they didn't play (until Knebworth?) any Berry songs. But as the band then went 'back to basics' (in El Mocambo and then in 1978 tour), most likely being inspired by new energetic bands like Dr. Feelgood, and The Sex Pistols) Jagger seemingly rethought his stance.

I am very thin ice here, so I wait to be corrected if my memory makes is typical tricks...

- Doxa

In short...It was cool again so Mick was happy ;^)

Wish we had a studio version of it. One from the Sticky Fingers sessions, and another from the Some Girls sessions.

Despite my criticisms of the playing, I thought it was a refreshing choice for an opener, though 90% of the audience had no idea what song it was.