I know of a few tunes played before the songs were officially released, but I'm wondering if there were any played live before they were recorded?

Lots of bands work out the tunes live to test them out and get the arrangements and performances tight before they go into the studio. Obvious advantages are a possible saving of studio time and more fully developed tunes. But, the Stones were know to use the studio to develop the songs, something they could obviously afford to do. But were there exceptions?

I remember Neil Young telling me he tried to record his tunes as soon as they were conceived. He thought the freshness was somehow apparent in the recording.

I'm guessing there were more of these in the Stones early career, something I'm still learning about and I'm hoping some of the informed and knowledgeable folks here can answer this question. Thanks. peace

BROWN SUGAR, 1969 AT ALTAMONT



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-02-01 04:28 by BILLPERKS.

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BILLPERKS
BROWN SUGAR, 1969 AT ALTAMONT

was recorded before the Altamont show

Most songs on their first album

You Can't Always Get What You Want was featured in Rock n Roll Circus. According to the TimeIsOnOurSide site, the recording date was February-March 1969. Of course, some don't consider the Circus an actual "live" performance.

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stonehearted
You Can't Always Get What You Want was featured in Rock n Roll Circus. According to the TimeIsOnOurSide site, the recording date was February-March 1969. Of course, some don't consider the Circus an actual "live" performance.

Close enough, especially since we have it on tape. Thanks for catching this one! peace

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Koen
Most songs on their first album

Yes, Honest I Do, Route 66, I'm a King Bee, Can I Get a Witness,You Can Make It If You Try and Walking the Dog were all played during 1963 shows but they weren't Rolling Stones songs.

Tell Me showed up in August 1964, after the first record was recorded and released.

peace

Worried About You was played at El Mocambo some 4 years before it's release on Tattoo You.

Midnight Rambler, Honky Tonk Women and Love In Vain - Hyde Park


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[glimmerkkp.blogspot.com]

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sittinonafence
Worried About You was played at El Mocambo some 4 years before it's release on Tattoo You.

Yes but recorded earlier for Black and Blue.... peace

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sittinonafence
Worried About You was played at El Mocambo some 4 years before it's release on Tattoo You.

Good catch.

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glimmerkkp
Midnight Rambler, Honky Tonk Women and Love In Vain - Hyde Park

All recorded in the spring of 1969, before the July 5 Hyde park concert. Although Honky Tonk Women was the only one released prior to that date...by one day. peace

Nearness Of You - Cirkus Krone 2003. Yet to be recorded in the studio as far as I know, though. A live recording wound up on FF and LL.

Hound Dog, Memphis 1978.

If we're including numbers they've played in concert but never recorded (yet), we'll be here all day.

But meanwhile, how about Gimmie a Little Drink/Loving Cup at Hyde Park?
(They had cut a demo version, but maybe we can slide it in under the radar.)

Yeah DP you're probably right about the recording but both of those tunes are covers. Any Stones penned tunes tried out publicly before laying them down in the studio? peace

Some of those live recordings were recorded and released, with sssoul That narrows it down a bit...

Rough Justice and Oh no not you again at the Press conference for ABB tour at least a couple of months before release.


sc uk

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straycatuk
Rough Justice and Oh no not you again at the Press conference for ABB tour at least a couple of months before release.


sc uk

I do not think Rough Justice was played at the press conference. Only ABB song played at ABB tour press show was Oh No, NOt You Again.

Also, Nearness of You was recorded by Keith in 77 or 81, no?

stonesstein

Kick me like you did before
I can't even feel the pain no more
Rocks Off, 1972

Cherry Oh Baby MSG 1975

An interesting issue. The problem seems to be that - as far as originals go - is that the way the Stones learned to 'write' was that of doing it in a studio. The sketch ideas were then and there transformed into a form of finished a band effort Stones song. That's why it is difficult to find any not yet (somehow) recorded Stones played live before, since the studio was a part of the creative process. So the good suggestions offered here - "Loving Cup", "Worried About You", "Oh No Not You Again" - do not quite qualify. If the criterion would be 'not released prior the first live performance' then we could include those and some other songs (especially from LET IT BLEED and STICKY FINGERS).

So probably the only ones are the covers from their first album, and afterwards, some cover material they cut at Chess studios, (such as "Down The Road Apiece", etc.) they had played earlier during their club circuit days.

- Doxa



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2015-02-01 16:55 by Doxa.

As far as covers go, definitely "Little Baby".

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Naturalust

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glimmerkkp
Midnight Rambler, Honky Tonk Women and Love In Vain - Hyde Park

All recorded in the spring of 1969, before the July 5 Hyde park concert. Although Honky Tonk Women was the only one released prior to that date...by one day. peace

You're confusing releases with recordings. All of those were recorded pre-Hyde Park.

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Naturalust

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glimmerkkp
Midnight Rambler, Honky Tonk Women and Love In Vain - Hyde Park

All recorded in the spring of 1969, before the July 5 Hyde park concert. Although Honky Tonk Women was the only one released prior to that date...by one day. peace

Recorded in the winter of 1969, not spring! February.

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straycatuk
Oh no not you again at the Press conference for ABB tour at least a couple of months before release.

But it was recorded months before the press conference.

Strictly regarding live performance before album appearance, Like A Rolling Stone is the only one I can think of from the last, oh, at least 4 decades. But that's not a Stones song.

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django
Cherry Oh Baby MSG 1975

Was recorded before the tour.

Maybe the title should be "played live prior from being released on record".

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GasLightStreet

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Naturalust

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glimmerkkp
Midnight Rambler, Honky Tonk Women and Love In Vain - Hyde Park

All recorded in the spring of 1969, before the July 5 Hyde park concert. Although Honky Tonk Women was the only one released prior to that date...by one day. peace

Recorded in the winter of 1969, not spring! February.

HTW and LIV recorded in March and MR written in April, probably recorded in May or June. Guess it depends on when in March whether it was winter or spring.

Anyway I knew this would be a short list and so far it looks like the only original tunes the Stones tried (risked) to develop or introduce live before recording them are:

You Can't Always Get What You Want - Rock and Roll Circus ( thanks stonehearted)
Loving Cup- Hyde Park (thanks with sssoul)

Based on this you could argue that the Stones are strictly a "studio band" when it comes to songwriting and development. Probably why the live songs stick so close to the recorded versions. I wish Gazza was around because I have a feeling he could add to the list.

peace

Well the B2B Tour started in september 97 and i think i'm right in saying that the album came out october 97. So recorded but not released they will have done 2 or 3. Flip The Switch, Out Of Control, Saint Of Me during those first shows prior to release.

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Naturalust

Anyway I knew this would be a short list and so far it looks like the only original tunes the Stones tried (risked) to develop or introduce live before recording them are:

You Can't Always Get What You Want - Rock and Roll Circus ( thanks stonehearted)
Loving Cup- Hyde Park (thanks with sssoul)

I don't think either of them is qualified. The sessions for "You Can't Always Get What You want" already took place before ROCK AND ROLL CIRCUS, late 1968. It was one of the - or even the very - first of the songs they started doing for the next Stones album after BEGGARS BANQUET (and if memory serves, and some rumours are true, it is one of those tunes Brian Jones totally lost the interest contributing any further, which, of course, is secondary for the issue in hand.). What goes for "Loving Cup", the so called "drunk version" (that was somehow edited/mixed and released in EXILE bonus album) has exactly the same guitar sound as "Honky Tonk Women", which implies that was recorded approximately about the same time as it. My guess is that it was the thing they had just cut in the studio, and they wanted to play it 'fresh' at Hyde Park - just like they did with "Brown Sugar" some half a year later in Altamont. Even though they they did re-record it later (for EXILE), the song didn't essentially change at all, just the arrangement. The melody, the chord pattern, and the lyrics are all there in the 'early' version. (By the way, I think they thought exactly the same with "You Can't Always Get" in R&R CIRCUS - they had just cut it, and knew they had a new killer in their hands they wanted to share).

So my claim is that in both cases the Stones had something in the can already before they played the songs live. A further claim: I don't think the Stones at the time had any original song they could have played live without doing it first in a studio (due to the way their crafted songs).

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-02-02 03:42 by Doxa.