Perhaps it's just me but Between the Buttons is an album that very rarely seems to get mentioned or discussed eventhough it was recorded at the height of the Stones popularity.

According to Wikipedia, Between The Buttons was number 355 in Rolling Stone Magazines list of 500 greatest albums of all time and yet Mick Jagger said Between The Buttons was "rubbish".

Would just be interested to hear peoples opinions of it good or bad.

What are the best/worst tracks?

How does it compare to the rest of the groups catalogue?

My opinion is that it is good.

I love the album!!!

Of course the phrase "Who wants yesterday's papers" is famously quoted from the opening track. Yes, it is an underrated album in that it has no giant warhorse classic hits and maybe you won't be humming the tunes from it 2 days after you listen to it. But Between The Buttons is one of those good, solid Stones albums where you find yourself pleased with all the hidden gems as well as the dirty-sounding distortion of the guitar chords on such tracks as All Sold Out and Amanda Jones and of course there is the sparkling gem "Back Street Girl." Wish they would revive that one for the concert stage, as it would be as a great and classic a live moment as Lady Jane.

Haven't played it for ages but remember thinking it was pretty weak overall. Syd Barrett loved it. Possibly worst lp of the Jones era ? I'll dig it out and give it a spin.
One thing though...in the early nineties or very late 80s(?) wasn't a master tape or multitrack reel up for sale at somewhere like sothebys or christies and alongside the usual tracks from this album was a track called Aftermath ? I could be wrong on this but i'm pretty certain i'm not...really stood out in my mind and was noted in the article in record collector.
I know Fing Andrew has been included on various boots as Aftermath but can anyone provide any info on this tape ?? it had a proper studio tape box fully annotated etc. i always meant to chase it up . any ideas anyone ?
i'll play between the buttons at breakfast tomorrow...see what my kids think too. they are 10 and 8 and very well educated musically.

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ash
Haven't played it for ages but remember thinking it was pretty weak overall. Syd Barrett loved it. Possibly worst lp of the Jones era ? I'll dig it out and give it a spin.
One thing though...in the early nineties or very late 80s(?) wasn't a master tape or multitrack reel up for sale at somewhere like sothebys or christies and alongside the usual tracks from this album was a track called Aftermath ? I could be wrong on this but i'm pretty certain i'm not...really stood out in my mind and was noted in the article in record collector.
I know Fing Andrew has been included on various boots as Aftermath but can anyone provide any info on this tape ?? it had a proper studio tape box fully annotated etc. i always meant to chase it up . any ideas anyone ?
i'll play between the buttons at breakfast tomorrow...see what my kids think too. they are 10 and 8 and very well educated musically.

Do you mean this track? It's an instrumental jam from Regent Studios on February 4, 1964. It's titled Aftermath, AKA Mr. Spector and Mr. Pitney Came To, and AKA 1964 Jam Blues.

Great album in MHO!

Jagger was right.

Although I can handle Connection and Something Happened to Me Yesterday.

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salty
Perhaps it's just me but Between the Buttons is an album that very rarely seems to get mentioned or discussed eventhough it was recorded at the height of the Stones popularity.

According to Wikipedia, Between The Buttons was number 355 in Rolling Stone Magazines list of 500 greatest albums of all time and yet Mick Jagger said Between The Buttons was "rubbish".

Would just be interested to hear peoples opinions of it good or bad.

What are the best/worst tracks?

How does it compare to the rest of the groups catalogue?

Buy the album and listen for yourself - form your own opinion - never mind Wickpedia

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salty
Perhaps it's just me but Between the Buttons is an album that very rarely seems to get mentioned or discussed eventhough it was recorded at the height of the Stones popularity.

According to Wikipedia, Between The Buttons was number 355 in Rolling Stone Magazines list of 500 greatest albums of all time and yet Mick Jagger said Between The Buttons was "rubbish".

Would just be interested to hear peoples opinions of it good or bad.

What are the best/worst tracks?

How does it compare to the rest of the groups catalogue?

Ah sorry there, I didn't know you hadn't heard it, I thought you were just starting a discussion of the album for the hell of it. Have you heard Back Street Girl, which is in my opinion the best track on the album? You can find it on the Flowers comp as well, but just for that song Between The Buttons is worth the price of purchase. Of course I'm talking about the UK version. The U.S. version has instead Let's Spend The Night Together/Ruby Tuesday. So if you pick up the U.S. version for those hits, you should pick up the U.S. comp for Back Street Girl.

Between the Buttons(UK version) had...IMO

Good ones: Yesterday's Pappers,Back Street Girl, All Sold Out, Complicated, Miss Amanda Jones and Who's Been Sleeping Here.

Mid ones: Connection, Please Go Home and She Smiled Sweetly.

and bad ones: SHTMY and My Obsession.

Here's one of the best rocking numbers, Miss Amanda Jones.





And here's another, All Sold Out.





Please Go Home is found on the UK version (along with Back Street Girl), otherwise it can be found on the U.S. comp Flowers.

She Smiled Sweetly is kind of a unique song with an unusual organ, It really grows on you, it's not Rock and Roll but I like it!

Of course it's great.....it's the Rolling Stones "Between The Buttons" LP.

Also, Between The Buttons is also an album that is very much of its time in terms of musical influences. You get an idea of what members of The Stones were into in 1966, and the role that the popular folk artists of the time played as musical influences. The opening of Yesterday's Papers sounds like a minor-key version of Donovan's Sunshine Superman, and the tempo changes and melody of She Smiled Sweetly remind one of Bob Dylan's Just Like A Woman.

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stonesnow
Also, Between The Buttons is also an album that is very much of its time in terms of musical influences. You get an idea of what members of The Stones were into in 1966, and the role that the popular folk artists of the time played as musical influences. The opening of Yesterday's Papers sounds like a minor-key version of Donovan's Sunshine Superman, and the tempo changes and melody of She Smiled Sweetly remind one of Bob Dylan's Just Like A Woman.

Nice post! Interesting assessment of those two songs, never would have thought of them in that way until you mentioned it. I wonder if it is known for sure who pays the organ and who is on piano on She Smiled Sweetly.

Ok, just looked up on Keno's site...they say Jack Nitzsche on piano and Brian Jones on organ on She Smiled Sweetly.

The US version and UK versions differ as the two singles Let's Spend the Night Together and Ruby Tuesday are on the album and Please Go Home and Backstreet Girl are not they turn up on the US only compilation Flowers. i prefer the UK version as I do Aftermath. I really like this album. It has lots of hidden gems. The Dylanish Who's Been Sleeping Here?, the early Keith power chords of Miss Amanda Jones and Yesterday's Papers, Complicated and My Obsession are also very good I love the feel that those two songs have. Backstreet Girl is one of the most overlooked songs in the Stones cannon. Cool, Calm & Collected and Something Happened To Me Yesterday are just bizarre but in a good way and I've always loved Connection. It's a great 60's album. I don't play ot often but always enjoy it when I dig it out and I love the cover. It seems as though Brian is starting to fade away in those shots.

I've always quite liked "BTB" -- it is most definitely "of its time" and along with the preceding "Aftermath" and subsequent "Satanic Majesties", the furthest they would stray from their roots in their prime years. One thing worth mentioning is how little time there was between albums in those days -- I think this followed "Aftermath" by 7 or 8 months. Thereby there is "filler", but high quality I'd say. I like the throwaways here. "Miss Amanda Jones" would be a great left field choice to put on a set list today.

You also get the picture they are very aware of what the other major players are up to, as were all of them in those days. Most definitely the Beatles of course and Dylan, but I also hear "Face to Face" era Kinks. And the Donovan comment was right on.

Great LP, man!

Brian Wilson loves this album and I think it's easily one of the most innovative things they've ever done. The songwriting is outstanding. It is the biggest shame ever in terms of their albums that it was so horribly recorded. Jagger has talked about how this album was basically lost because of how the sound was lost. If it had been recorded like some of the other stuff they recorded, people would talk about it in a different light. Satanic Majesties was sort of an attempt at innovation and it was okay but Between the Buttons is the real thing but lost to the horrible sound.

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Blue
She Smiled Sweetly is kind of a unique song with an unusual organ, It really grows on you, it's not Rock and Roll but I like it!

Listen to Dylan's Blonde On Blonde album, then listen to She Smiled Sweetly. I love the brief period of Dylan influence in the Stones.

Musically it's probably like Jagger says: Rubbish! but for us who digged it 1967 it's Precious!



2 1 2 0

Jagger said that Frank Zappa loved it.

between the buttons is a great album, superb sound to it, great songwriting and a mix of songs of various speeds.

miss amanda jones
connection
complicated
something happened to me yesterday
back street girl
cool, calm collected

are the highlights.

if you add in we love you
ruby tuesday
lets spend the night together
dandelion
sittin on a fence

and half of satanic majesties

then 1967 was a very productive era.

shame it gets dismissed as rubbish by so many.

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Blue
She Smiled Sweetly is kind of a unique song with an unusual organ, It really grows on you, it's not Rock and Roll but I like it!

In its time I for one did not become fan of the Stones from one moment to the next. That was instead the result of a process in fact that took a couple of years, starting as early as 1964. "She Smiled Sweetly" was the very song that ended the process. Because if they could meet me also in that mood, I understood that they most certainly could cover almost any mood for me. I ended up as a fan.

BETWEEN THE BUTTONS is probably not their very best album, even if it is a good one. However, I think its my candidate to be their nicest album. I am very fond of it. It is not messianic or satanic, but more like an emotional friend. In other words: I sincerely love it.

[ I like to add: It is the UK version of BETWEEN THE BUTTONS that I relate to.]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-11-30 11:31 by Witness.

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stonesnow

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ash
Haven't played it for ages but remember thinking it was pretty weak overall. Syd Barrett loved it. Possibly worst lp of the Jones era ? I'll dig it out and give it a spin.
One thing though...in the early nineties or very late 80s(?) wasn't a master tape or multitrack reel up for sale at somewhere like sothebys or christies and alongside the usual tracks from this album was a track called Aftermath ? I could be wrong on this but i'm pretty certain i'm not...really stood out in my mind and was noted in the article in record collector.
I know Fing Andrew has been included on various boots as Aftermath but can anyone provide any info on this tape ?? it had a proper studio tape box fully annotated etc. i always meant to chase it up . any ideas anyone ?
i'll play between the buttons at breakfast tomorrow...see what my kids think too. they are 10 and 8 and very well educated musically.

Do you mean this track? It's an instrumental jam from Regent Studios on February 4, 1964. It's titled Aftermath, AKA Mr. Spector and Mr. Pitney Came To, and AKA 1964 Jam Blues.

No it's not that one ....unless the band were thinking of putting it on BTB. This tape box had (i think) all the uk lp tracks and the last was called Aftermath. The article pointed it out as something of interest. This must have been between 1988 and 1993ish this was in record collector in the news/auction pages.

Between the Buttons is not a power striking album such as Aftermath or Big Hits[High Tide And Green Grass] but I wanted to listen to it myself at the time and I do prefer the UK version cause of Please Go Home, other tracks I do like are;
My Obsession
Yesterday's Papers
Back Street Girl
Complicated
Cool Calm and Collected
Nice cover photography/Gered Mankowitz Vinyl
Back cover; Drawings/CHARLIE WATTS
'Between The Buttons'
To understand this little rhyme
you first must tap your foot intime.
The the buttons come much nearer
and the Stones you see much clearer.

Buttons is a lovely album. It doesn't have a mega hit on it; well - the US version might, but the "real" version is IMO the Decca with "Please Go Home" and "Back Street Girl".
It is one of the very first Keith - guitar albums with him dominating, and experimenting with newer sounds.
Re "Yesterdays papers", check out the early boot outtakes, to appreciate the beautiful harmonies that end up in finished version. And not only vocal harmonies.
I can not understand how someone can call "Obsession" a weak track. Might be the repetition, but that is part of it's identity. The power of the instrumental breaks is awesome. And I dont use that word lightly. It is one of those intangible Stones ingredients that no one can replicate: this bluesy avalanche of overdriven bass and piano.
"She Smiled Sweetly" one of the more unique Stones cuts - I always thought it was Keith on organ and bass. What I LOVE about this song is it's sparseness, and the in-your-face quality of Jagger's lead vocal.
"All Sold Out" is so peculiar - the two individual parts are strong, yet as a whole it has a very ramshackle feel. Charlie's Hi Hat is present.
One of Jagger and Keith's great mid 60's ballads is "Whos Been Sleeping Here". Good lyrics, good guitar, is it 12 string? What I really love in this song is that tiny little break where it steps up the beat a bit, and an electric comes in riffing for a minute.
"Complicated" IMO much stronger than the other C- song. This is one that I have always thought should have been done live. Has the hooks, has the set-up for horn-lines, has the drum breaks, has a "nah-nah" vocal chant...
"Miss Amanda Jones" a cool little rocker that would have fit well on "Emotional Rescue" album.
Others have already talked about the beauty of "Back Street Girl".

This was my very first Stones album. The one that started it all for me, so has a special place.

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71Tele

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Blue
She Smiled Sweetly is kind of a unique song with an unusual organ, It really grows on you, it's not Rock and Roll but I like it!

Listen to Dylan's Blonde On Blonde album, then listen to She Smiled Sweetly. I love the brief period of Dylan influence in the Stones.

Yes! Listened to Blonde on Blonde many times, love it! ( favorite track = I Want You )a remarkable, unique and classic album. Interesting, though, back then never really thought about the connection musically, between Dylan and the Stones...Dylan was considered a bit more folksy and philosophical..