On previous tours I have attended some very good versions which included good Keith's solo's. Don't count me between IORR "haters". I think what annoys many people (i mean fans) is that the song sounds as typical Chuck Berry number live while the studio version could be the best Ti - Rex track ever... No problem to me.

I used to love the song and still think the Love You Live version is brilliant (overdubs an all) I think it's lost it's way over the decades and only worked when Keith and Ronnie provided raw backing vocals. I agree, these days it is all a little flat and Bernard/Lisa backing is too smooth. It's a raucus R&B sing a long, or should be. Still, it is one of the best song titles ever and I reckon if they did it as an acoustic version it would still sound edgy and meaningful.

One of the BEST live Stones song of course!

Wonder why Mick doesn't play acoustic on this? Something needs to happen with the arrangement now that it has become a sure thing in the setlist.

I never liked the studio version in E and much prefer it in B. However, since '89 they've played it too fast and it sounds thin and too polished.

My favorite version of it is L.A. Friday (7/13/75), slower, sloppier, and raggedly glorious. Back in '76, I taped a friend's vinyl bootleg of the 3LP set from the 1975 LA Forum shows. That performance is the one that flipped the switch and made me appreciate IORR. 38 years later, I haven't heard a better one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-01 19:15 by ab.

It' like Miss You: nowadays too on autopilot.

Have they ever performed it live, as recorded in E?

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crumbling_mice
I used to love the song and still think the Love You Live version is brilliant (overdubs an all) I think it's lost it's way over the decades and only worked when Keith and Ronnie provided raw backing vocals. I agree, these days it is all a little flat and Bernard/Lisa backing is too smooth. It's a raucus R&B sing a long, or should be. Still, it is one of the best song titles ever and I reckon if they did it as an acoustic version it would still sound edgy and meaningful.

+1

I have to say that, to me, the way they play it on this tour it is a great song. I really like that fat guitarsound from keiths guitar. Heard it a couple of times during the Oslo rehearsal last week and since that I have listened to it a lot here at home. I also like the intro and keiths solo. One of the few he manage almost (!) everytime....

Yes, it is Chuck Berry style. But, isn't that where Stones got much of their inspiration in the first place?

I do like the studio version, but the way they do it now fits well in the set. Imho.....

I like it because it's one of Keith's best moments these days playing the ES 355 which sounds perfect.

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SWAYZ
Since the Vegas era began it's worse than Miss You IMHO. I hate the Chuck Berry intro, the flat vocals by Mick, and the overall delviery. It's a total snoozer.
I have yet to hear a decent version from '89 onward.
At leaste when Mick was on SNL a few years back he tried to sing it the original way.

I give it a thumbs down too. Silly lyrics and more

I love this one... Keith's amp in your face --

Old time playing...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-01 21:49 by Powerage.

the real problem with it nowadays is LISA......much like she ruins satisfaction, jjf, and ycagwyw......she sings these terrible opera/gospel notes that ruin it.....what's worse is she over powers mick with the opera during the chorus and shes not even on the stage while doing it

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mjmjr
the real problem with it nowadays is LISA......much like she ruins satisfaction, jjf, and ycagwyw......she sings these terrible opera/gospel notes that ruin it.....what's worse is she over powers mick with the opera during the chorus and shes not even on the stage while doing it

Lisa is a problem that most people don't want to admit. We always hear about all the octaves she can sing, how she deserves a spot in the show, etc. My personal favorite line from the apologists -- she wouldn't be there if Mick didn't want her there.

I'm with you -- her vocals can be really obnoxious.

My favorite indictment of Lisa comes from Dean Goodman's Oslo review:

The low points, for me, involved Lisa Fisher, who has taken over from Chuck as the most entitled wannabe Stone. I was shocked when she walked halfway down the walkway by herself at the start of "Gimme Shelter," and stayed there when Mick came down. She doesn't even try to approximate Merry Clayton, and the audience didn't seem too enthusiastic. She also hogged the spotlight during "Sympathy" and drowned out Mick and the Edvard Grieg Youth choir with her strained soprano acrobatics and wild hand gestures and facial tics. It is really becoming uncomfortable to see her. Bernard does the heavy lifting in a less-showy style.

My least favourite warhorse. Though I think it's better than YGMR. But I like it when MJ does the "pussy in town" part.

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Hanns Rainsch
My least favourite warhorse. Though I think it's better than YGMR. But I like it when MJ does the "pussy in town" part.

I like "I bet you think you're the only pussy in Portland" from 1998.

It's good when played on the b stage

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laertisflash
On previous tours I have attended some very good versions which included good Keith's solo's. Don't count me between IORR "haters". I think what annoys many people (i mean fans) is that the song sounds as typical Chuck Berry number live while the studio version could be the best Ti - Rex track ever... No problem to me.

Yup. Live it sounds Chuck Berry like Star Star, with no semblence to the hard rocking studio version. This is one number that could do with a 3-guitar attack. Closest to the original was the SNL Jagger + Foo Fighters version (around 2mins in video below). Guess the lyrics otherwise make for a fun nolstalgic sing-a-long.





Here's what a three guitar attack on Bitch, courtesy of Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters/Nirvana, sounds like:

Nothing rocked better than IORR on b stage in MSG 1998

Don't really understand why this song got elevated to a warhorse. It's a minor song in the Stone's canon that signaled a pulling back after the glory years. It's almost as if the title is more important than the song. But they'll make you hear it at every show. And yet it's only the 2nd most obnoxious song on their calcified setlist, the winner being Sympathy For the Devil.

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GJV
It' like Miss You: nowadays too on autopilot.

Yes, that's probably why it comes off the way it does. Every now and then they
do an inspired version, but their work is cut out for them here. They're probably sick of it themselves. Which is different from JJF, where some sense of enjoyment and energy blows through. I love the song (IORR) and I have heard recent live versions that move me. But they are rare. People seem to enjoy it though, so I guess it won't be dropped.

Never liked it, studio or live, think it's just too poppy and novelty like. I think Mick could write a hundred songs like this if he wanted to.

" It's Only Rock 'n' Roll ( But I Like It ) " does seem to work best either on the B-Stage or as the concert closer as it was performed early on during the 2005 tour.

In general,I hate the 1989 - 1995 versions. It seemed to start to improve when they brought it to the b-stage in the middle of the Bridges tour.

I can't remember anything to write home about with the No Security Tour 1999 versions either but,it sounded great @ Gillette Stadium in 2002 and then even a little better at Fenway Park in 2005. Unfortunately,by the end of the fall 2006 tour in Atlantic City,it stood out as a low point in the concert. On this tour,some performances have been better than others.

What it comes down to is that there is nowhere else to go with the song. They have tried everything aside from the "Saturday Night Live" 2012 style arrangement. Only a few shots were attempted with it as an opener and a few more with it as a closer.

Everyone who is interested now knows that "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll , But They Like It " , Like It , Yes They Do. It's time for something else from that album !! ( and not Ain't Too Proud To Beg either ) !!!!


To the original topic,yes,it ( IORR ) can be one of their worst live numbers. It's now right there with the recent arrangement of "Sympathy" behind "Miss You" which is probably the worst live number they do these days , overall.

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treaclefingers

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dcba
Funny that most of you hate it : it's one of the songs that most evolved over the years (along wit SFTD) : change of key, change of tempo, a constantly revamped intro.
No really I don't understand the whining here...

could be because of the key and tempo changes, and of course the constantly revamped intro.

Some people like the Stones being a live juke-box, some other prefer when they take some liberty with their repertoire.
I personnaly prefer being surprised by a new arrangement than a copy-paste try from the album.

Too much female backing vocals on some songs that originally had male backing. I particularly don't like the female falsetto on IORR...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-02 14:18 by kwf.

Perhaps one day when the Stones decide to compile an anthology type album will we be treated to the original version with Bowie on.

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kwf
Too much female backing vocals on some songs that originally had male backing. I particularly don't like the female falsetto on IORR...

There are no falsetto on IORR live, but Bernard has a high pitched voice, and while reproducing Mick's high lines from the chorus of the original version, some of the punch vanishes, imo.

That said, a show without singing along to the IORR-chorus would feel a bit weird...

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treaclefingers

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Rokyfan

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dcba
Funny that most of you hate it : it's one of the songs that most evolved over the years (along wit SFTD) : change of key, change of tempo, a constantly revamped intro.
No really I don't understand the whining here...

someone doesn't like one song and it's whining? You really don't understand that someone can be a Rolling Stones fan and not like a particular number, or that one? I really don't understand posts like this one.

Any song you can think of you can find some Stones fans who don't like it. Unanimity is not required in the real world.

I think that is something we can all agree upon.

funny..........

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mitch

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treaclefingers

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dcba
Funny that most of you hate it : it's one of the songs that most evolved over the years (along wit SFTD) : change of key, change of tempo, a constantly revamped intro.
No really I don't understand the whining here...

could be because of the key and tempo changes, and of course the constantly revamped intro.

Some people like the Stones being a live juke-box, some other prefer when they take some liberty with their repertoire.
I personnaly prefer being surprised by a new arrangement than a copy-paste try from the album.

While I completely agree with that, I'd just add that sometimes it doesn't work very well, and that's ok. IORR I think is in that latter category.

It would be better played closer to the album version, sort of like the Mick/Foo Fighters SNL version.