Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Stray Cat Blues
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK, April 3 & May 13 - 21, 1968 and
Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, July 7 - 25, 1968

Mick Jagger - vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar, bass
Charlie Watts - drums
Brian Jones - mellotron
Nicky Hopkins - piano
Rocky Dijon - congas

I hear the click-clack of your feet on the stairs, I know you're no scare-eyed honey
There'll be a feast if you just come upstairs, but
It's no hanging matter, it's no capital crime
I can see that you're fifteen years old, no, I don't want your ID
And I can see that you're so far from home, but
It's no hanging matter, it's no capital crime

Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
Oh yeah, don'tcha scratch like that
Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat, I bet your
Bet your mama don't know you scream like that
I bet your mother don't know you can spit like that

You look scared ‘cause you're so far from home, but you really miss your mother
Don't look so scared I'm no mad-brained bear, but
But it's no hanging matter, it's no capital crime, oh yeah

I bet your mama don't know that you scratch like that
I bet she don't know that you bite like that

You say you got a friend, that she's wilder than you, why don't you bring her upstairs
If she's so wild, then she can join in too
It's no hanging matter, it's no capital crime

Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
Oh yeah, don'tcha scratch like that
Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
I bet your mama don't know you can bite like that
I bet she never saw you scratch my back

Produced by Jimmy Miller

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Beggars Banquet” LP
(Decca SKL 4955) UK, December 6, 1968



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-10 11:25 by René.

So are we discussing Stray Cat Blues or Street Fighting Man ? Confused !

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

René's just checking whether we're paying attention :E

Quick on the copy/past-job this morning, René?

Stray Cat Blues is the Stones at their absolute best, imo. If there is a song that represents danger, wildness, creepiness and a general dark atmosphere, it's this one.

What lovely sounds they are creating here - marvellous!

Stright Cat...

One of the greatest Stones tracks. (Actually either one of them)

YaYa's Stray Cat Blues riff got nicked into Sweet Home Alabama.

Oops....

Thanks René...for the great weekly work.....

__________________________

Love this song! Very raw and brutal! The guitars are very loud and raunchy. The way Charlie drums is very cool. The whole song is almost grunge! Ahead of its time.

In my world is 'Stray Cat blues' one of their best songs recorded, and 'Street fighting men only OK in a group of 50 other OK Stones-songs...

2 1 2 0

Ahhh, now we are talking about the Stones at their finest. Stray Cat Blues is so steeped in delirious lecherousness that I’m surprised the band wasn’t immediately arrested and locked away the day it was released. Everything works perfectly here, starting with that coy, teasing introduction. Mick is at the height of his powers, dripping with unbridled lust and sexual come-ons. Those lyrics are poetic in their carnality. Even the guitars sound like they are engaging in wanton acts of debauchery! Brian’s yowling slide perfectly complements Keith’s growling rhythm. Charlie, Bill and (near the end) Rocky Dijon swing like nobody’s business. Nicky sounds wonderful, as always. And Jimmy Miller’s production is immaculate.

A lascivious masterpiece that pushed the boundaries of sexual mores and musical excellence in 1968, and which sounds every bit as daring and vital today.

Drew

It's incredible how such a messy bass works!






C

THIS remains the best live version





Second best was the Licks Tour versions (rearranged in open G btw), and not only for the finale - one of the best parts of the studio version which was unbelievably truncated in the Taylor versions - truly a great performance by the whole band





C



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-10 13:24 by liddas.

Nasty...! One of the mean and funky masterpieces on their first masterpiece album.There's no other Stones album with a sound like BB and no other track with a sound quite like this. And who'd have thought they'd borrow the intro sequence from VU's Heroin. Reminds us of why we were attracted to the Stones in the first place.

video: [www.youtube.com]

One of the most remarkable and controversial songs in the Stones canon.

It’s also one that owes nothing to any musical path that the band had taken before – not blues nor r’n’b or pop or the spangly psychedelia that was the current rage and had informed their previous album.

This was bold new ground, the dawning of the rock era and a very edgy sound that perfectly complemented its daring and challenging subject matter, but more about that later.

The song blazes open with Mick's sexually charged feline-like squeal sung in a lewd falsetto before descending to a debauched growl and a boast of “yeah I got some tail”. That’s some opening gambit and this dizzy up and down effect is echoed throughout the song with glissando slide guitars adding to the sense of unease and menace.

I’d classify Stray Cat Blues as one of the Stones’ devil songs – right up there with the darkness evoked in Sympathy, Midnight Rambler, Gimme Shelter and Sister Morphine. There’s an inherent evil creeping all over it. An invitation to an orgy with the main participants being underage girls.

That see-sawing effect reminds me a little bit of The Beatles’ Helter Skelter – a song which actually did go on to inspire unspeakable evil.

Where did the music come from? I’ve read somewhere that Jagger was inspired after hearing The Velvet Underground’s Heroin which has a similar intro. But as the song peaks it becomes almost shamanic and trance inducing. Was Brian was responsible for this with his interest in Moroccan pan music, I wonder?

I can also hear elements of the experimental London underground sound being created by Pink Floyd around this time, especially the last 90 seconds of the song which has Mick ad libbing some unintelligible words as it reaches its climax with tribal drumming and a deranged cacophony. It’s heady stuff and very powerful.

So onto the subject matter. Sex with a minor. You couldn’t get away with that now and you shouldn’t have been able to get away with it then. But musicians did – both in real life and on record.

Mick sneers: “I can see you’re 15 years old, I don’t want your ID.” It’s a shocking statement and one that must have sent shivers down the spines of parents everywhere.

Donovan went one further in the song Mellow Yellow – a top 10 hit – in which he proclaimed “I’m just mad about 14 and she’s just mad about me”. Crazy times. The cops would have been knocking on their doors if that would have been now.

In fact Mick went one worse on the 1969 US tour when he changed the lyric to “I can see that you’re just 13 years old”.

Stray Cat Blues is a true one off, a real rarity and a great example of the band's experimental side.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-10 14:24 by Silver Dagger.

It's very hard to pick one greatest tune from the Stones catalogue......but this is one of the few songs I listen regular the Beggars or Ya Ya's version...love them both, so the song is there in my top 3 somewhere....the guitars rhythm section Micks voice everything seems perfect come together.
The magic in the song is i.m.o. the guitar riff from Keith...looks like he plays backwards guitar instead forward ;o) ( assumptive that normally you play forward)

__________________________

Quote
NICOS
The magic in the song is i.m.o. the guitar riff from Keith...looks like he plays backwards guitar instead forward ;o) ( assumptive that normally you play forward)

Yes, almost like the Sway riff but backwards.

!semit yzarc erew esohT

Quote
liddas
It's incredible how such a messy bass works!



C

Agreed. But was it Bill or Keith on bass? René lists it as Keith and elsewhere I've seen it listed as Bill.

Drew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-10 15:16 by drewmaster.

Quote
drewmaster

Quote
liddas
It's incredible how such a messy bass works!



C

Agreed. But was it Bill or Keith on bass? René lists it as Keith and elsewhere I've seen it listed as Bill.

Drew

Try play it backwards

__________________________




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-10 15:43 by NICOS.

Quote
drewmaster

Quote
liddas
It's incredible how such a messy bass works!



C

Agreed. But was it Bill or Keith on bass? René lists it as Keith and elsewhere I've seen it listed as Bill.

Drew

Keith all the way. Absolutely no doubt.

C

Love that Keith bass. The lines that shine through in the soundscape are the most important ones for the song - and boy do they shine

Quote
Silver Dagger
One of the most remarkable and controversial songs in the Stones canon.

It’s also one that owes nothing to any musical path that the band had taken before – not blues nor r’n’b or pop or the spangly psychedelia that was the current rage and had informed their previous album.

This was bold new ground, the dawning of the rock era and a very edgy sound that perfectly complemented its daring and challenging subject matter, but more about that later.

The song blazes open with Mick's sexually charged feline-like squeal sung in a lewd falsetto before descending to a debauched growl and a boast of “yeah I got some tail”. That’s some opening gambit and this dizzy up and down effect is echoed throughout the song with glissando slide guitars adding to the sense of unease and menace.

(...)

That see-sawing effect reminds me a little bit of The Beatles’ Helter Skelter – a song which actually did go on to inspire unspeakable evil.

Where did the music come from? I’ve read somewhere that Jagger was inspired after hearing The Velvet Underground’s Heroin which has a similar intro. But as the song peaks it becomes almost shamanic and trance inducing. Was Brian was responsible for this with his interest in Moroccan pan music, I wonder?

I can also hear elements of the experimental London underground sound being created by Pink Floyd around this time, especially the last 90 seconds of the song which has Mick ad libbing some unintelligible words as it reaches its climax with tribal drumming and a deranged cacophony. It’s heady stuff and very powerful.

(...)

Stray Cat Blues is a true one off, a real rarity and a great example of the band's experimental side.

Well put, Silver Dagger! To me the vicous, primitive sound of this track, especially the guitars, is even more impressing and suggestive than the depraved lyrics. To me the VU-Connection makes sense, not so much regarding "Heroin" (exept for the intro), but the White Light/White Heat album. There*s also some "drone" element in the loud, shrieking guitars of Stray Cat Blues, I guess, just as in Street Fighting Man (you pointed out the possible Mproccan influence), which is also present in certain Velvet tracks. Anyway, I think this is a most interesting moment in Stones history... even more interesting in a way than, say, the Exile Period.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-10 16:33 by Greenblues.

Quote
Silver Dagger

Quote
NICOS
The magic in the song is i.m.o. the guitar riff from Keith...looks like he plays backwards guitar instead forward ;o) ( assumptive that normally you play forward)

Yes, almost like the Sway riff but backwards.

!semit yzarc erew esohT

.pu em tratS dna raguS nworB ekil tsuJ

Great track, Stray Cat Blues. Could as well have been on Let it Bleed.

Quote
Greenblues

Quote
Silver Dagger
One of the most remarkable and controversial songs in the Stones canon.

It’s also one that owes nothing to any musical path that the band had taken before – not blues nor r’n’b or pop or the spangly psychedelia that was the current rage and had informed their previous album.

This was bold new ground, the dawning of the rock era and a very edgy sound that perfectly complemented its daring and challenging subject matter, but more about that later.

The song blazes open with Mick's sexually charged feline-like squeal sung in a lewd falsetto before descending to a debauched growl and a boast of “yeah I got some tail”. That’s some opening gambit and this dizzy up and down effect is echoed throughout the song with glissando slide guitars adding to the sense of unease and menace.

(...)

That see-sawing effect reminds me a little bit of The Beatles’ Helter Skelter – a song which actually did go on to inspire unspeakable evil.

Where did the music come from? I’ve read somewhere that Jagger was inspired after hearing The Velvet Underground’s Heroin which has a similar intro. But as the song peaks it becomes almost shamanic and trance inducing. Was Brian was responsible for this with his interest in Moroccan pan music, I wonder?

I can also hear elements of the experimental London underground sound being created by Pink Floyd around this time, especially the last 90 seconds of the song which has Mick ad libbing some unintelligible words as it reaches its climax with tribal drumming and a deranged cacophony. It’s heady stuff and very powerful.

(...)

Stray Cat Blues is a true one off, a real rarity and a great example of the band's experimental side.

Well put, Silver Dagger! To me the vicous, primitive sound of this track, especially the guitars, is even more impressing and suggestive than the depraved lyrics. To me the VU-Connection makes sense, not so much regarding "Heroin" (exept for the intro), but the White Light/White Heat album. There*s also some "drone" element in the loud, shrieking guitars of Stray Cat Blues, I guess, just as in Street Fighting Man (you pointed out the possible Moroccan influence), which is also present in certain Velvet tracks. Anyway, I think this is a most interesting moment in Stones history... even more interesting in a way than, say, the Exile Period.

I don't think the Stones get their fair credit for helping to introduce world music/droning experimental sounds to a wider pop audience.

The Beatles and The Kinks are often cited as leading the way with the songs Norwegian Wood, Tomorrow Never Knows and See My Friends. The Stones charged into this area wholeheartedly with wild tracks such as Gomper, Sing This All Together (See What Happens) and Stray Cat Blues. In fact let's not forget the importance of Sympathy For The Devil as helping to introduce samba rhythms to a mainstream rock audience.

Quote
Silver Dagger

Quote
Greenblues

Quote
Silver Dagger
One of the most remarkable and controversial songs in the Stones canon.

It’s also one that owes nothing to any musical path that the band had taken before – not blues nor r’n’b or pop or the spangly psychedelia that was the current rage and had informed their previous album.

This was bold new ground, the dawning of the rock era and a very edgy sound that perfectly complemented its daring and challenging subject matter, but more about that later.

The song blazes open with Mick's sexually charged feline-like squeal sung in a lewd falsetto before descending to a debauched growl and a boast of “yeah I got some tail”. That’s some opening gambit and this dizzy up and down effect is echoed throughout the song with glissando slide guitars adding to the sense of unease and menace.

(...)

That see-sawing effect reminds me a little bit of The Beatles’ Helter Skelter – a song which actually did go on to inspire unspeakable evil.

Where did the music come from? I’ve read somewhere that Jagger was inspired after hearing The Velvet Underground’s Heroin which has a similar intro. But as the song peaks it becomes almost shamanic and trance inducing. Was Brian was responsible for this with his interest in Moroccan pan music, I wonder?

I can also hear elements of the experimental London underground sound being created by Pink Floyd around this time, especially the last 90 seconds of the song which has Mick ad libbing some unintelligible words as it reaches its climax with tribal drumming and a deranged cacophony. It’s heady stuff and very powerful.

(...)

Stray Cat Blues is a true one off, a real rarity and a great example of the band's experimental side.

Well put, Silver Dagger! To me the vicous, primitive sound of this track, especially the guitars, is even more impressing and suggestive than the depraved lyrics. To me the VU-Connection makes sense, not so much regarding "Heroin" (exept for the intro), but the White Light/White Heat album. There*s also some "drone" element in the loud, shrieking guitars of Stray Cat Blues, I guess, just as in Street Fighting Man (you pointed out the possible Moroccan influence), which is also present in certain Velvet tracks. Anyway, I think this is a most interesting moment in Stones history... even more interesting in a way than, say, the Exile Period.

I don't think the Stones get their fair credit for helping to introduce world music/droning experimental sounds to a wider pop audience.

The Beatles and The Kinks are often cited as leading the way with the songs Norwegian Wood, Tomorrow Never Knows and See My Friends. The Stones charged into this area wholeheartedly with wild tracks such as Gomper, Sing This All Together (See What Happens) and Stray Cat Blues. In fact let's not forget the importance of Sympathy For The Devil as helping to introduce samba rhythms to a mainstream rock audience.

And before that: Paint It, Black

Quote
LuxuryStones

Quote
Silver Dagger

Quote
NICOS
The magic in the song is i.m.o. the guitar riff from Keith...looks like he plays backwards guitar instead forward ;o) ( assumptive that normally you play forward)

Yes, almost like the Sway riff but backwards.

!semit yzarc erew esohT

.pu em tratS dna raguS nworB ekil tsuJ

Great track, Stray Cat Blues. Could as well have been on Let it Bleed.

For that album we had the equally incredible Monkey Man. Quite similar in the way that it builds to an amazing peak with guitars sliding across the musical spectrum to create an astonishing cathedral of sound.

I always thought that Let It Bleed was sequenced to complement Beggars Banquet as much as possible. Look at each album track for track - the songs achieve a similar sense of purpose, even though Let It Bleed is one track shorter.

Beggars Banquet
Sympathy For The Devil
No Expectations
Dear Doctor
Parachute Woman
Jigsaw Puzzle
Prodigal Son
Stray Cat Blues
Factory Girl
Salt Of The Earth

Let It Bleed
Gimme Shelter
Love In Vain
Country Honk
Live With Me
Let It Bleed
Midnight Rambler
You Got The Silver
Money Man
You Can't Always Get What You Want

Quote
Silver Dagger

Quote
Greenblues

Quote
Silver Dagger
One of the most remarkable and controversial songs in the Stones canon.

It’s also one that owes nothing to any musical path that the band had taken before – not blues nor r’n’b or pop or the spangly psychedelia that was the current rage and had informed their previous album.

This was bold new ground, the dawning of the rock era and a very edgy sound that perfectly complemented its daring and challenging subject matter, but more about that later.

The song blazes open with Mick's sexually charged feline-like squeal sung in a lewd falsetto before descending to a debauched growl and a boast of “yeah I got some tail”. That’s some opening gambit and this dizzy up and down effect is echoed throughout the song with glissando slide guitars adding to the sense of unease and menace.

(...)

That see-sawing effect reminds me a little bit of The Beatles’ Helter Skelter – a song which actually did go on to inspire unspeakable evil.

Where did the music come from? I’ve read somewhere that Jagger was inspired after hearing The Velvet Underground’s Heroin which has a similar intro. But as the song peaks it becomes almost shamanic and trance inducing. Was Brian was responsible for this with his interest in Moroccan pan music, I wonder?

I can also hear elements of the experimental London underground sound being created by Pink Floyd around this time, especially the last 90 seconds of the song which has Mick ad libbing some unintelligible words as it reaches its climax with tribal drumming and a deranged cacophony. It’s heady stuff and very powerful.

(...)

Stray Cat Blues is a true one off, a real rarity and a great example of the band's experimental side.

Well put, Silver Dagger! To me the vicous, primitive sound of this track, especially the guitars, is even more impressing and suggestive than the depraved lyrics. To me the VU-Connection makes sense, not so much regarding "Heroin" (exept for the intro), but the White Light/White Heat album. There*s also some "drone" element in the loud, shrieking guitars of Stray Cat Blues, I guess, just as in Street Fighting Man (you pointed out the possible Moroccan influence), which is also present in certain Velvet tracks. Anyway, I think this is a most interesting moment in Stones history... even more interesting in a way than, say, the Exile Period.

I don't think the Stones get their fair credit for helping to introduce world music/droning experimental sounds to a wider pop audience.

The Beatles and The Kinks are often cited as leading the way with the songs Norwegian Wood, Tomorrow Never Knows and See My Friends. The Stones charged into this area wholeheartedly with wild tracks such as Gomper, Sing This All Together (See What Happens) and Stray Cat Blues. In fact let's not forget the importance of Sympathy For The Devil as helping to introduce samba rhythms to a mainstream rock audience.

Another pioneer in this field were the Yardbirds (Heart Full of Soul, Happenings Ten Years Time Ago etc. Their Train Kept A Rollin' pastiche Stroll On also has a certain wildness to it. But none of this matches the fusion of menance and drone feel that Stray Cat Blues achieves.

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
Silver Dagger

Quote
Greenblues

Quote
Silver Dagger
One of the most remarkable and controversial songs in the Stones canon.

It’s also one that owes nothing to any musical path that the band had taken before – not blues nor r’n’b or pop or the spangly psychedelia that was the current rage and had informed their previous album.

This was bold new ground, the dawning of the rock era and a very edgy sound that perfectly complemented its daring and challenging subject matter, but more about that later.

The song blazes open with Mick's sexually charged feline-like squeal sung in a lewd falsetto before descending to a debauched growl and a boast of “yeah I got some tail”. That’s some opening gambit and this dizzy up and down effect is echoed throughout the song with glissando slide guitars adding to the sense of unease and menace.

(...)

That see-sawing effect reminds me a little bit of The Beatles’ Helter Skelter – a song which actually did go on to inspire unspeakable evil.

Where did the music come from? I’ve read somewhere that Jagger was inspired after hearing The Velvet Underground’s Heroin which has a similar intro. But as the song peaks it becomes almost shamanic and trance inducing. Was Brian was responsible for this with his interest in Moroccan pan music, I wonder?

I can also hear elements of the experimental London underground sound being created by Pink Floyd around this time, especially the last 90 seconds of the song which has Mick ad libbing some unintelligible words as it reaches its climax with tribal drumming and a deranged cacophony. It’s heady stuff and very powerful.

(...)

Stray Cat Blues is a true one off, a real rarity and a great example of the band's experimental side.

Well put, Silver Dagger! To me the vicous, primitive sound of this track, especially the guitars, is even more impressing and suggestive than the depraved lyrics. To me the VU-Connection makes sense, not so much regarding "Heroin" (exept for the intro), but the White Light/White Heat album. There*s also some "drone" element in the loud, shrieking guitars of Stray Cat Blues, I guess, just as in Street Fighting Man (you pointed out the possible Moroccan influence), which is also present in certain Velvet tracks. Anyway, I think this is a most interesting moment in Stones history... even more interesting in a way than, say, the Exile Period.

I don't think the Stones get their fair credit for helping to introduce world music/droning experimental sounds to a wider pop audience.

The Beatles and The Kinks are often cited as leading the way with the songs Norwegian Wood, Tomorrow Never Knows and See My Friends. The Stones charged into this area wholeheartedly with wild tracks such as Gomper, Sing This All Together (See What Happens) and Stray Cat Blues. In fact let's not forget the importance of Sympathy For The Devil as helping to introduce samba rhythms to a mainstream rock audience.

And before that: Paint It, Black

And let's not forget Mother's Little Helper. I think they must have lived near a kebab shop as there was certainly a strong Turkish influence in their music!