Recorded & mixed:

August 3-11, 1966: RCA Studios, Los Angeles, USA
November 8-26, 1966: Olympic Sound Studios, London, England; Pye Studios, London, England
December 13, 1966: Olympic Sound Studios, London, England

Producer: Andrew Oldham
Engineers: Dave Hassinger & Glyn Johns
Released: January 1967
Original label: London Records (Polygram)

Contributing musicians:

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Jack Nitzsche, Nicky Hopkins.

Track List:

Let's Spend the Night Together
Yesterday's Papers
Ruby Tuesday
Connection
She Smiled Sweetly
Cool, Calm & Collected
All Sold Out
My Obsession
Who's Been Sleeping Here?
Complicated
Miss Amanda Jones
Something Happened to Me Yesterday

What are your thoughts on this album?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-12 23:46 by DandelionPowderman.

Only early record where I like the US version better. guess why

You like singles included on the albums?

I do, as it so happens Dandelion is part of Satanic Majesties in my itunes library. Incorrect maybe, but easier for overview.

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Nikkei
I do, as it so happens Dandelion is part of Satanic Majesties in my itunes library. Incorrect maybe, but easier for overview.

You should add We Love You and Child Of The Moon, too

But let's discuss this next week

I did, but I'll leave that for TSMR as you suggested. A little tip on digital music libraries in general though: it gets instantly organized by renaming your albums in this fashion:

1965 - Out Of Our Heads
1966 - Aftermath
1967 - Between The Buttons
and so on

Putting the Single-only releases on the nearest albums is a nobrainer then.

Perhaps an underrated album, I don't know, but it surely would deserve more attention
also by the Stones themselves.
If Aftermath was the album that formed a breakthrough for their song writing abilities,
this album marks the phase when they seem not really sure what to do with these newly
discovered talents.

When it comes to lyrics, it seems a dictionary was close at hand to find words to ryme
on Obsession, Connection, Collection, Complication etc. Still, there are some beautiful
references to ways of life in London at the time. Ray Davies probably was a source of
inspiration, but these lyrics here don't sketch the scenery of Waterloo sunsets, but
more of discotheque crowds and upperclass girls keeping their care under their hair.
Bob Dylan might have been another inspiration, with echoes heard in Who's been sleeping here?

Musically it is a rather adventurous album, combining all sorts of musical styles.
There's all kinds of pop music, music hall, rock 'n roll, country rock, soul.
The album grooves and there's never a dull moment.
All sold out steps out as a song with guitar parts we haven't heard before by the band.
And of course the experiments with all these instruments, from recorder to chello,
from melotron to all sorts of woodwind instruments played by Brian.

It would sure be appreciated if they played more of these songs in concert.

Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

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marcovandereijk
When it comes to lyrics, it seems a dictionary was close at hand to find words to ryme
on Obsession, Connection, Collection, Complication etc.

That's also true for One More Shot and I Can't Take It No More. Good observation!

They could easily pick up more from this album and play them more often in concert.

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Nikkei

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marcovandereijk
When it comes to lyrics, it seems a dictionary was close at hand to find words to ryme
on Obsession, Connection, Collection, Complication etc.

That's also true for One More Shot and I Can't Take It No More. Good observation!

I must admit that the good with sssoul made this observation a couple of years before me,
so every compliment should be directed at her.

Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

what is most exciting about this album is that it captures brian at what might have been his peak in terms of creating innovative sounds.

i would also say that it is from their period where they were copying the beatles the most.

keith grabbing the wheels of the car and taking a hard left turn after satanic majesties to steer into BB has got to be one of the most pivotal moments of 60s rock.

but i digress.

I agree that BtB sounds the most Beatlesque, but the apogee in terms of copying is TSMR.
Also Brian's most innovative sounds are on the singles IMO

What songs are Nick De Caro and Shirley Watts on and what do they play?

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DGA35
What songs are Nick De Caro and Shirley Watts on and what do they play?

Nick De Caro played accordion on "Back Street Girl" and Shirley Watts sang backing vocals on "Please Go Home", neither of which are on the US version.


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

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DandelionPowderman

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Nikkei
I do, as it so happens Dandelion is part of Satanic Majesties in my itunes library. Incorrect maybe, but easier for overview.

You should add We Love You and Child Of The Moon, too

But let's discuss this next week

And possibly Sad Day too? I can't remember which track that was a b-side for, but i think it was Satanic era.

I always liked this one, as I do all the earlier albums, but maybe not quite as much. They definitely did some quite interesting experimental things here, with She Smiled Sweetly, Cool/Calm, My Obsession.

Top tracks? The singles of course! Connection too! Miss Amanda Jones - killer, and it has an appearance in that Can't Buy Me Love movie.

And, not sure how others feel about this one, but to me, Who's Been Sleeping Here? is just fantastic!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-13 00:01 by LeonidP.

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Nikkei
I agree that BtB sounds the most Beatlesque, but the apogee in terms of copying is TSMR.
Also Brian's most innovative sounds are on the singles IMO

Disagree entirely, I'm afraid - why this obsession with comparing with The Beatles?
It is the sound of London 1966 (released Jan 67) - if anything, The Kinks are the closest sounding 'major' band at the time but there were many others.
TSMR is not even close - again the sound of London in 1967 - Piper At The Gates OF Dawn by Pink Floyd is a much closer point of reference IMHO.
The UK version is preferred (the two songs left out fit in much better to my ears) - but I would probably say that anyway as that is how I always listen to the album!

I don't obsess with comparing, but I thought Turner68 statement that BtB is most beatlesque needed to be diversified.

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Nikkei
I don't obsess with comparing, but I thought Turner68 statement that BtB is most beatlesque needed to be diversified.

I absolutely never said it was their most beatlesque. You restated what I said as something different entirely, and then objected to it. LOL



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-13 00:16 by Turner68.

okay I just like to use that word

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Turner68
i would also say that it is from their period where they were copying the beatles the most.

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Nikkei
okay I just like to use that word

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Turner68
i would also say that it is from their period where they were copying the beatles the most.

Do you still not see the difference?

If we start to differentiate between copying the Beatles in terms of sound or appearance or if we'd let our daughter go out with 'em, we gonna upset Zagalo.
I'm actually not that much of a Beatles expert so I couldn't back up my wild theories. As you said before, I digress.

I apologise for starting this little disagreement off - it wasn't meant to anyone personally!
It has been stated often by many others (over the many years) of the 'Stones copying the Beatles' - I just happen to disagree strongly

The truly great stuff has never been a ripoff. It's certainly pointless to compare Paint It Black to Norwegian Wood

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Nikkei
If we start to differentiate between copying the Beatles in terms of sound or appearance or if we'd let our daughter go out with 'em, we gonna upset Zagalo.
I'm actually not that much of a Beatles expert so I couldn't back up my wild theories. As you said before, I digress.

I was talking about a period in time, not an album.

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Zagalo
I apologise for starting this little disagreement off - it wasn't meant to anyone personally!
It has been stated often by many others (over the many years) of the 'Stones copying the Beatles' - I just happen to disagree strongly

My point, before it got changed and cut, was that btb is a great album that showcases Brian's talent but also was very much an album of the times - we can broaden it - and that it illustrates all the more how monumental and revolutionary the shift in sounds from TSMR to BB was when it happened. It's with BB I believe that the stones reasserted themselves as leaders and innovators in the UK music scene.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-13 00:35 by Turner68.

This is one of the only Stones albums where I can tolerate nearly every song... and the others are the Golden Four and Some Girls. I'd say that's pretty good company! Of course, this album isn't there most creative or exploratory, even if it does go psychedelic in spots. But it's fun to listen to.

great album, so underrated which is a shame cos it shows the stones were so diverse back then. there seems to be some theory within the stones contingency that a stones song has to sound in a certain manner for it to be good. a lot of people diss this album cos its not hard enough or sounds like the beatles. to be honest theres some great songs in there much better than what the beatles produced.

I really like the U.S. version simply because of the inclusion of Let's Spend The Night Together & Ruby Tuesday. These two tracks round out the others featured on the Between The Buttons album and improve it imo. Plenty of nice songs still left on the U.S. version, and that for me is the strength of the album.

I know that Aftermath in terms of the songs might be better for most Stones fans, but for me I still prefer Between The Buttons for the overall listening experience.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-13 04:37 by nightskyman.

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HearMeKnockin
This is one of the only Stones albums where I can tolerate nearly every song... and the others are the Golden Four and Some Girls. I'd say that's pretty good company! Of course, this album isn't there most creative or exploratory, even if it does go psychedelic in spots. But it's fun to listen to.

100% agree!