Tell Me :
Talk
Back atcha whitem8.
And nice one drew, too!.
It is one of the most emotive songs in the Stones warchest.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-12-11 11:45 by Silver Dagger.
No, it's not, IMHO it is simply boring. The song came to life during the concerts, from the first performance during the Hyde Park Concert (great blues version! They still should release it in glorious stereo!) through another great blues version at Leeds 1971 (dito) to the 1972 and 1973 concerts, peaking with the Brussels version. But I even love the 1975 extended 'raw' version from LA, clocking in at over 14 minutes!
Later performances were solid, if a bit stale. I never really appreciated the piano-driven versions from the tours after 1989.
Probably there has never been another song in the RS repertoire that was so weak in the studio and so great on stage.
kids these days
Thanks, Silver Dagger! And thanks whitem8! Both of you beautifully articulated the majesty and wonder of MR.
Drew
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-12-11 17:29 by drewmaster.
I agree that the studio version is very special. The song soars live because of the opportunity to improvise, but for me nothing beats the raw visceral quality of the studio original.
The first time I heard this song was live 1969 in Chicago before Let It Bleed had been released. Trust me on this that the crowd had never heard this number and there was a stunned euphoric reaction to MR when they finished. It was a true WTF musical moment where you knew you had seen and heard something very special. The 1969 live versions otherwise remain my favorite treatment of this masterpiece.
Whitem8, I TOTALLY agree with your thoughts. Unfortunately, I tend to view my wife's reactions as having to do with her and the career field she works in. Over the 20 years she has worked with victims of domestic violence, she has seen the worst of human behavior and has difficulty with any media (tv, music) that tends to denigrate women and/or promotes violence in general....
When I first heard the live version of this tune on Ya Yas, I could only imagine how the audience received it in 69. I thought that this tune was so ahead of its time that if I was there in the arena, I probably would have needed a few minutes to recover from the intensity of it!
Hi Redhotcarpet - where does this great snippet come from? Is it a boot?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-12-12 11:53 by Silver Dagger.
Talk about your favorite band.
For information about how to use this forum please check out forum help and policies.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
memphiscats
()
Date: December 10, 2012 22:08
I always thought MR was completely overrated and tedious. However, after watching them do it live, my entire opinion changed. (When I say "live" I mean from a video clip of the Marquee performance.) However bad the quality of that footage might be, the smile on Keith's face when he plays this song is priceless. I really enjoy it...it's still not on my top 10, but at least I get why people groove on that song...it's mesmerizing.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
BJPortugal
()
Date: December 11, 2012 04:15
Top one! A true classic 
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
MKjan
()
Date: December 11, 2012 04:59
great posts on this thread.... whitem8,withsssoul,Silver Dagger,drewmaster, all spot on for this wonderfully insane song.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
pinkfloydthebarber
()
Date: December 11, 2012 06:53
i love it, but not so much on let it bleed
its ok there
but for me it took off live in 69 and especially 72
like took off on all realms, it became more menacing, even if maybe played too fast sometimes
showstopper then, live... but originally to me just an album cut
its ok there
but for me it took off live in 69 and especially 72
like took off on all realms, it became more menacing, even if maybe played too fast sometimes
showstopper then, live... but originally to me just an album cut
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
memphiscats
()
Date: December 11, 2012 07:04
Lovely. Well put...Quote
with sssoul
On the studio version, that very first sound is like the bottom dropping out of everything
and dumping you into another world: the dark howling paranoid brainbell-jangler landscape
i know i know - it's "just" Keith just brushing a string of a guitar plugged into a cranked-up-hot amp,
but it's brilliant
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
lazzzybones
()
Date: December 11, 2012 07:57
Would love them to do a live version that doesn't start so fast-let it build up-you know,more in keeping with the studio version-more harp riffing
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
Laughingsam
()
Date: December 11, 2012 08:14
Great thread!
Terrific description and insight into this song! I was born a little after the LP version came out, so I became acquainted with the Ya Ya's version more than the original. Then when it grew into such a beast during live shows, I forgot about the LP version altogether. But I have to agree that the original, on closer inspection, is by far the most cinematic and emotionally seductive version.
Quote
Silver Dagger
This song is a Stones masterpiece and the one by which we now measure their live shows. It's also, when played live now, just about the last vestige of a bygone era, a spyglass peak into the great tours between 69 and 76 and a look at how their incredible rhythm section works.
It's the song that allows the band to open the throttle, shift up a few gears and take the Stones mobile out onto the open highway and give that amazing engine of their's a good work out.
It's the song that naturally follows up all the imagined wickedness of Sympathy For The Devil and the imminent threat of disaster in Gimme Shelter to create a blues odyssey into the heart of darkness and the mind of a serial killer.
This is the sound of Jagger giving notice of his acting ambitions and stepping into character of Albert DeSalvo, the notorious Boston Strangler.
And of course it's possibly Keith's finest moment, constructing a deranged symphony of crazed, wailing, undulating guitars that are every bit as unsettling as Mick's frenzied lyrics.
And what a shame that poor Brian didn't have much to do with it because this is in essence everything that he probably would have wanted to explore with a new band - a futuristic blues that looks back at the riff heavy stompers of Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf but stretches them out into another dimension.
Terrific description and insight into this song! I was born a little after the LP version came out, so I became acquainted with the Ya Ya's version more than the original. Then when it grew into such a beast during live shows, I forgot about the LP version altogether. But I have to agree that the original, on closer inspection, is by far the most cinematic and emotionally seductive version.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
whitem8
()
Date: December 11, 2012 08:45
silver dagger and Drewmaster, great posts! Really wonderful to read both your writing. Creative and inspiring.
How can this song be described as tedious by anyone!? Just stuns me this isn't a unqualified universally loved song by Stones fan. One of their crowning achievements. So much to love about it.
How can this song be described as tedious by anyone!? Just stuns me this isn't a unqualified universally loved song by Stones fan. One of their crowning achievements. So much to love about it.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
rob51
()
Date: December 11, 2012 09:21
Don't know about Desalvo but the Manson murders were done in early August 1969 so so much for your winter time fog.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
Redhotcarpet
()
Date: December 11, 2012 11:36
And yes the studio version is underrated. The sound of Keiths guitar in the intro (withsssoul mentioned earlier) is the monster waking up. The guitars and the harp are splendid on the studio version.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
Silver Dagger
()
Date: December 11, 2012 11:44
Quote
whitem8
silver dagger and Drewmaster, great posts! Really wonderful to read both your writing. Creative and inspiring.
How can this song be described as tedious by anyone!? Just stuns me this isn't a unqualified universally loved song by Stones fan. One of their crowning achievements. So much to love about it.
Back atcha whitem8.
And nice one drew, too!.
It is one of the most emotive songs in the Stones warchest.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-12-11 11:45 by Silver Dagger.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
saltoftheearth
()
Date: December 11, 2012 12:18
Quote
Redhotcarpet
And yes the studio version is underrated.
No, it's not, IMHO it is simply boring. The song came to life during the concerts, from the first performance during the Hyde Park Concert (great blues version! They still should release it in glorious stereo!) through another great blues version at Leeds 1971 (dito) to the 1972 and 1973 concerts, peaking with the Brussels version. But I even love the 1975 extended 'raw' version from LA, clocking in at over 14 minutes!
Later performances were solid, if a bit stale. I never really appreciated the piano-driven versions from the tours after 1989.
Probably there has never been another song in the RS repertoire that was so weak in the studio and so great on stage.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
StonesTod
()
Date: December 11, 2012 14:23
Quote
ohotosQuote
StonesTodQuote
ohotosQuote
StonesTodQuote
howled
To me it's just a standard Boogie with Mick once again using dark imagery for the lyrics.
Nothing really special about it compared to some other Sones songs IMO.
I think it's a good number to play live.
precisely...a glorified blues shuffle, but as songs go, it's purty pedestrian...
somehow it's taken on mythic status over the years, while much better songs have been left in the dustbin....
I was really feeling the same until now. I wouldn't have minded a setlist without MR in Brooklyn and get CYHMK instead (with or without MT) but this Saturday's show completely changed my mind - what an amazing song!
after 42 years you changed your mind based on one performance??
I haven't been listening to MR for 42 years, I'm younger than that. Before I saw MR as just another warhorse (there are other warhorses that I prefer) that I could have passed on. But the performance was really that good that it heightened my interest in the song again, what's wrong about that?
kids these days
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
drewmaster
()
Date: December 11, 2012 14:27
Quote
Silver DaggerBack atcha whitem8.Quote
whitem8
silver dagger and Drewmaster, great posts! Really wonderful to read both your writing. Creative and inspiring.
How can this song be described as tedious by anyone!? Just stuns me this isn't a unqualified universally loved song by Stones fan. One of their crowning achievements. So much to love about it.
And nice one drew, too!.
It is one of the most emotive songs in the Stones warchest.
Thanks, Silver Dagger! And thanks whitem8! Both of you beautifully articulated the majesty and wonder of MR.
Drew
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-12-11 17:29 by drewmaster.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
filstan
()
Date: December 11, 2012 17:04
MR may be one the greatest tracks ever recorded by Jimmy Miller with the Rolling Stones. Charlie is way up front in the mix. One of Charlie's greatest efforts in my opinion. Keith and Charlie drive it and Mick is a man possesed with the vocals and harp playing. Bill just keeps the engine room steaming hot. The band is simply dialed in. Within this song is the essence of what made this band great. Swamp blues, sex, darkness. One of the best songs they ever recorded.If you can get this in mono it's even more direct and effective.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
TheDailyBuzzherd
()
Date: December 11, 2012 17:37
Count me in the minority as preferring the studio version most. Love the live version,
but again, there's something very APE about the studio cut that comes from the core
of The Stones. Everyone's on there, despite Brian on the outside of sorts. Keith is at
his rubbery rhythmic best, and if there's one complaint, he sure could use a partner
to spar with, as if he was doing hand-to-hand battle with the psycho. No matter.
Jagger is at his most camp and even though he's gone on record to maintain he's
not The Rambler, you do believe he'd stab you, dear listener, square in the back.
but again, there's something very APE about the studio cut that comes from the core
of The Stones. Everyone's on there, despite Brian on the outside of sorts. Keith is at
his rubbery rhythmic best, and if there's one complaint, he sure could use a partner
to spar with, as if he was doing hand-to-hand battle with the psycho. No matter.
Jagger is at his most camp and even though he's gone on record to maintain he's
not The Rambler, you do believe he'd stab you, dear listener, square in the back.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
filstan
()
Date: December 11, 2012 17:57
Quote
TheDailyBuzzherd
Count me in the minority as preferring the studio version most. Love the live version,
but again, there's something very APE about the studio cut that comes from the core
of The Stones. Everyone's on there, despite Brian on the outside of sorts. Keith is at
his rubbery rhythmic best, and if there's one complaint, he sure could use a partner
to spar with, as if he was doing hand-to-hand battle with the psycho. No matter.
Jagger is at his most camp and even though he's gone on record to maintain he's
not The Rambler, you do believe he'd stab you, dear listener, square in the back.
I agree that the studio version is very special. The song soars live because of the opportunity to improvise, but for me nothing beats the raw visceral quality of the studio original.
The first time I heard this song was live 1969 in Chicago before Let It Bleed had been released. Trust me on this that the crowd had never heard this number and there was a stunned euphoric reaction to MR when they finished. It was a true WTF musical moment where you knew you had seen and heard something very special. The 1969 live versions otherwise remain my favorite treatment of this masterpiece.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
Sighunt
()
Date: December 12, 2012 04:57
Midnight Rambler is far and away this fan's favorite Stones tune. IMHO, MR is the showcase of Get Yer Ya Yas Out. My preference is for the '69 versions of this song. Even though it has continued to be a highlight of live Stones shows over the years, I tend to prefer the '69 versions as they really had that element of menace.
On another sensitive note, although I have always dug this tune, my wife who works with victims (i.e. usually women) of domestic violence HATES this song and continues to badger me about why I like it (for me, more for the way it rocks and breaks into that instrumental section rather than the subject matter). My wife and I have had many conversations over the years about Midnight Rambler and why she believes that it denigrates women and glorifies violence, rape & murder. Unfortunately, my wife has never shared my passion for the Stones. She views Midnight Rambler along with other songs as Under My Thumb, Stupid Girl, etc as songs that are anti-women. In the Stones defense, I then point out songs that are more pro-women such as She's a Rainbow, Ruby Tuesday, Angie, Wild Horses, etc. but that doesn't always sway her to my side. Probably why my wife loves Bruce to pieces (he's more respectful & inclusive LOL!!!).
On another sensitive note, although I have always dug this tune, my wife who works with victims (i.e. usually women) of domestic violence HATES this song and continues to badger me about why I like it (for me, more for the way it rocks and breaks into that instrumental section rather than the subject matter). My wife and I have had many conversations over the years about Midnight Rambler and why she believes that it denigrates women and glorifies violence, rape & murder. Unfortunately, my wife has never shared my passion for the Stones. She views Midnight Rambler along with other songs as Under My Thumb, Stupid Girl, etc as songs that are anti-women. In the Stones defense, I then point out songs that are more pro-women such as She's a Rainbow, Ruby Tuesday, Angie, Wild Horses, etc. but that doesn't always sway her to my side. Probably why my wife loves Bruce to pieces (he's more respectful & inclusive LOL!!!).
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
whitem8
()
Date: December 12, 2012 05:08
Sighunt,
Interesting, and I would agrue it actually does not glorify violence, but is more of a "newspaper" approach, and then like an actor he is giving a horrifying performance that shows the terror and dread. Like movies, this a dramatic song about real Midnight Ramblers. It isn't a literal call to become a serial rapist and murderer.
Interesting, and I would agrue it actually does not glorify violence, but is more of a "newspaper" approach, and then like an actor he is giving a horrifying performance that shows the terror and dread. Like movies, this a dramatic song about real Midnight Ramblers. It isn't a literal call to become a serial rapist and murderer.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
Sighunt
()
Date: December 12, 2012 05:16
Quote
whitem8
Sighunt,
Interesting, and I would agrue it actually does not glorify violence, but is more of a "newspaper" approach, and then like an actor he is giving a horrifying performance that shows the terror and dread. Like movies, this a dramatic song about real Midnight Ramblers. It isn't a literal call to become a serial rapist and murderer.
Whitem8, I TOTALLY agree with your thoughts. Unfortunately, I tend to view my wife's reactions as having to do with her and the career field she works in. Over the 20 years she has worked with victims of domestic violence, she has seen the worst of human behavior and has difficulty with any media (tv, music) that tends to denigrate women and/or promotes violence in general....
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
whitem8
()
Date: December 12, 2012 05:18
This is one of the things I love about The Stones, how often they have great studio versions then add something special to the live version. I love both incarnations of Midnight Rambler. I agree, Keith is stunning on the studio version. He is alone, playing all the guitar, and comes up with one of the most unique but familiar blues riffs. Harkening back to Serves You Right to Suffer and Catfish Blues, he channels John Lee Hooker giving dark heavy slabs of mennace perfectly sparing with Mick's vocals. How he plays the vicious licks in the middle part as if the Rambler is parting the curtains to a bedroom ready to pounce on his unsuspecting victim. It is heavy and heady stuff, played convincingly and beautifully. Mick gives that wonderful breathy vocal approach he does so well. Being restrained full of dread, and when he unleashed the beast in the final stanzas it is a cathartic death wale that brings the realization you are about to meet the Midnight Rambler. I can't imagine how powerful this would have been in 69 witnessing this before the album came out. I would have had to be sedated and given electric shock therapy.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
Sighunt
()
Date: December 12, 2012 05:25
Quote
whitem8
I can't imagine how powerful this would have been in 69 witnessing this before the album came out. I would have had to be sedated and given electric shock therapy.
When I first heard the live version of this tune on Ya Yas, I could only imagine how the audience received it in 69. I thought that this tune was so ahead of its time that if I was there in the arena, I probably would have needed a few minutes to recover from the intensity of it!
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
Rip This
()
Date: December 12, 2012 05:46
a freight train. What an engine.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
talkcheap
()
Date: December 12, 2012 06:02
From the first seconds I heard this haunting opening riff I knew it was a dark masterpiece.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
pmk251
()
Date: December 12, 2012 06:04
I did not know it at the time nor did I think about stuff like this then, but I saw the 4th live performance of this song. It was a complete unknown. As the song wound down I thought it was alright, then I (and the audience) realized...Oh.... there is more...and we witnessed Jagger's psychodrama and experienced the big groove ladened finish. It is hard to grasp a new song heard live for the first time, but it was certainly sexual and like many songs that night musically sexy. After what seemed a long slow or mid-tempo section of the show (it was the wee hours of the morning) the MR performance started a wonderful race to the finish.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
saltoftheearth
()
Date: December 12, 2012 09:55
I really love all kinds of live versions, among them Hyde Park and GYYO, but I will never forget how I played the Brussels 1973 version for the fist time on a bootleg called Nasty Music back in 1977. The brilliant sound quality & the stunning performance jsut left me speechless! It was by far the best-sounding live Rolling Stones recording, and even the opening dialogue was amazing:
Mick Jagger: Ooooh baby...
Audience member: Jagger!
Mick Jagger (something like): Quick along, Mick!
I do believe that Bob Clearmountain erased the fan's shout which for me had the same importance as the 'Paint it black, you devils' shout on GYYA.
Listening to Nasty Music for the first time was one of the most exciting moments in my 'fan carreer'.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-12-12 09:56 by saltoftheearth.
Mick Jagger: Ooooh baby...
Audience member: Jagger!
Mick Jagger (something like): Quick along, Mick!
I do believe that Bob Clearmountain erased the fan's shout which for me had the same importance as the 'Paint it black, you devils' shout on GYYA.
Listening to Nasty Music for the first time was one of the most exciting moments in my 'fan carreer'.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-12-12 09:56 by saltoftheearth.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
Redhotcarpet
()
Date: December 12, 2012 10:06
video: [youtu.be]
Please listen to this and tell me theres a better live version. That's right. Ft Worth June 24 1972.
Please listen to this and tell me theres a better live version. That's right. Ft Worth June 24 1972.
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
Redhotcarpet
()
Date: December 12, 2012 10:41
Nicky's piano isolated live 1972
Re: Track Talk: Midnight Rambler
Posted by:
Silver Dagger
()
Date: December 12, 2012 11:03
Quote
Redhotcarpet
Nicky's piano isolated live 1972
Hi Redhotcarpet - where does this great snippet come from? Is it a boot?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-12-12 11:53 by Silver Dagger.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
Online Users
alexander paul , Doxa , fortilix , jumpingjackflash5 , keefgotsoul , loog droog , Papo , syrel , UGK56
Guests:
2765
Record Number of Users:
206
on June 1, 2022 23:50
Record Number of Guests:
9627
on January 2, 2024 23:10