Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Cops And Robbers
(Kent L. Harris)

Camden Theatre, London, UK, March 19, 1964

Mick Jagger - vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Brian Jones - harmonica

As I was driving home along the boulevard late one night, I saw a guy in the corner Bumming all alone, as I passed him by, I heard him holler out: Hey!
I slowed down to see what he said, he said: Eh, by any chance, are you goin' my way?
I said: Sure baby, hop on in and give me a cigarette
Then he reached out in his pocket and that was the moment I regret

Well, now boy, reach for the sky, because I, I don't understand, Sir
Don't you try no monkey business, I got a stopper in my hand

And then he said: You see this rock I got in my hand? This is a 38 pistol built on a 45 frame, it shoots tombstone bullets an' a ball and chain, he said: I ain't tryin' to shake you up, but I just want you to know, if the cops start to crowding me in, you're gonna be the first to go, you just drive on just like there ain't nothin' happenin'
That's what he told me, he wouldn't even let me look back at nothin'
And he said: When you get to that red light, I want you all to do, jump back your left and then switch back your right, he said: Now, I want you to park up in that alley
Ah, not that alley, that one over there, and cool it behind that liquor store and keep a sharp lookout at all times, while I sneak in that back door, that's what he told me
He said: Keep your foot on the gas and always be on guard, 'cos when I come runnin' out the liquor store with all that money, he wanted me to mash on it real hard
He said: Now, don't you come out of there an' try me a double-crossed
Because it's murder when the heats on

Well, now boy, reach for the sky, yeah, but I don't, I don’t understand, Sir
Don't you try no monkey business, I got a stopper in my hand

While I was sittin' there just tremblin', a spotlight hit me dead in the face and a cop pulled up behind me and said: Move up a bit man, for we want to take your place
An' then this guy come runnin' out of the store with the money in his hand and said: Oh, there you are, he made a mistake in the dark and ran and leaped in the police car
When they put the handcuffs on him, I said: Child, your crime must have outgrew him
And then they said: Yeah, we gonna put him so far back in jail this time
That they're gonna have to pump air into him

Well, now boy, reach for the sky, yeah, but I said, I don't understand, Sir
Don't you try no monkey business, I got a stopper in my hand

Produced by Ian Grant

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Grrr!” 5CD bonus 7” single
(Abkco / Polydor / Universal 3712341) UK, November 9, 2012

Superb track with great vocals and harmonica!
It should be on every "best of the 60`s" compilation.><

This is the real deal. It's up there with the most electrifying performances the Stones gave in their formative - pre-pop hit years. Actually I'll correct that - it's one of the most electrifying performances the Stones ever gave!

And ain't it authentic sounding!

It's not an easy song to deliver by any standards but Jagger sounds so convincing, so down home and relaxed, so like the guy that the cops have just caught up with and are quizzing about the robbery at the liquor store.

I'd like to say he's at the top of his game here but that is still a long ways off. He's still only 20-years-old here but sounding like an old Chicago blues hound. He's not even been to America yet.

And the rest of the band sound equally down right mean and nasty in this version which I even think outdoes Bo's hit version.

Did Keith ever play a more vibrant guitar? And Brian on the harp is simply outstanding with Bill and Charlie locking together to create that frenetic beat. The crowd must have gone wild watching this.

Recorded in the Camden Theatre which went on to become famous punk venue The Music Machine in the 70s, New Romantic hangout The Camden Palace in the 80s and is now known as Koko.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2013-05-13 11:57 by Silver Dagger.

...What's a 'stopper'?!

Great Sixties Stones Blues track
I've got Cops And Robbers on "Miscellaneous" vinyl boot and on the amazing;
"The Beatles and the Rolling Stones-Sing This All Together" double vinyl boot.

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RoughJusticeOnYa
...What's a 'stopper'?!

A rod. A piece. A gun. i.e. it'll stop ya in yer tracks.

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Silver Dagger

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RoughJusticeOnYa
...What's a 'stopper'?!

A rod. A piece. A gun. i.e. it'll stop ya in yer tracks.

Cheerz!

NOW we're talking!! Cops and Robbers is absolutely sensational, and one of the great undiscovered jewels in the Stones catalog.

The confidence that the Stones exude here is just breathtaking; how on earth can this possibly be the same band that just a year earlier had recorded the rather tentative-sounding IBC sessions?

Mick sounds so natural, so at ease in his fabulously-entertaining vocal performance, and it really is one hell of an impersonation ... about as far away from a middle-class white English boy as one can possibly imagine. Absolutely riveting.

Brian's harp is equally phenomenal, snaking through the song with dazzling finesse. The perfect complement to Mick's vocals, it soars and it glides and it wails and it pleads. And the interplay between Brian and the rest of the band is just breathtaking. Like they've ALWAYS played together, since time immemorial.

The result is a joyous, swaggering romp through the urban jungle. Everything just meshes perfectly here to create the synergy and the magic that only this band can bring.

Drew

Seems like perhaps where Jagger got the inspiration for Far Away Eyes, the dialog aspects of the song.

Original by Boogaloo and His Gallant Crew - 1956 and it's a good record ...
The b-side Clothes Line ain't too shabby either and must surely have influenced Coasters- Shopping For Clothes



ROCKMAN

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Rockman
Original by Boogaloo and His Gallant Crew - 1956 and it's a good record ...
The b-side Clothes Line ain't too shabby either and must surely have influenced Coasters- Shopping For Clothes

And let's not forget Bob Dylan & The Band's Clothes Line Saga and of course The Roche's version of that song too.

Love this.If Bo was still alive....

Why Cops & Robbers was never officially released until now and got dropped from their live set so early is a mystery - it's a little lost masterpiece, as Silver Dagger & drewmaster have said.

I know Rockman doesn't do YouTube, but for the rest of us, here's Boogaloo And His Gallant Crew, posted by the splendidly named "snapcracklepop54" - thanks, Rockeee, this is FUN - and clearly not the vocal Mick was copying.











Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-05-22 13:15 by Green Lady.

..One of their best live tracks...why..why not officially issued in 1964..???!!

One of my favorite Rolling Stones tracks of all time! Did anyone get the vinyl copy in the deluxe GRRR? Would love to have that.

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Rockman
Original by Boogaloo and His Gallant Crew - 1956 and it's a good record ...
The b-side Clothes Line ain't too shabby either and must surely have influenced Coasters- Shopping For Clothes

Rockman: Bo didn't do this first? No wonder he laughed it off when I asked him about it years ago (he was playing pool at the time).

I remember when I bought the stereo bootleg EP in the early 70's, I was really impressed about the quality and song (not sure on what LP they should have released it, a B side maybe)....but hearing the original the Stones missed the the intention of the song............

[www.youtube.com]

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Rockman: Bo didn't do this first? .... no Boogaloo cut it first ....



ROCKMAN

..Boogaloo was a pseudonym for the composer Kent Lee Harris..Bo Diddley recorded it some months latter..

..And above all it's a very difficult track to sing..and Mick sang it so easily !!

Bo Diddley recording details ............



ROCKMAN

Rockman...is your music collection a National Australian Historic Site yet?

Like Warakurna?

....it's nuffin' compared ta some cats I know ...



ROCKMAN

Why do wives make us get rid of old lps?

...it's a power thing ...
just watch a woman when she's walking a dog on a lead.... SIT!!...WALK!!!...STOP!!! ....SIT!!!! ....GO!!! ....WAIT!!!!...SIT!!!!



ROCKMAN

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Munichhilton
Why do wives make us get rid of old lps?

...oh boy, can I relate to this one

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Rockman
Original by Boogaloo and His Gallant Crew - 1956 and it's a good record ...
The b-side Clothes Line ain't too shabby either and must surely have influenced Coasters- Shopping For Clothes

Well, Chuck Berry recorded "No Money Down" in Dec 1955..could that be the original influence Rockman?

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Munichhilton
Why do wives make us get rid of old lps?

that's what divorce is for. Take it from me...

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71Tele

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Munichhilton
Why do wives make us get rid of old lps?

that's what divorce is for. Take it from me...

I decided to keep her...heck I hide the drinking...I can hide some LPs...I think

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Munichhilton

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71Tele

Quote
Munichhilton
Why do wives make us get rid of old lps?

that's what divorce is for. Take it from me...

I decided to keep her...heck I hide the drinking...I can hide some LPs...I think

You ain't hiding nothing Munich, I'm sure she knows all about it.

I would never ask anyone to part with old LP's, it's the dozens of boxes of connector cables I want gone...and how many old car parts do you all need?

Jeez, don't get me started...