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Too Tight

Written by: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Recorded: March – July 1997, Los Angeles, California

Line-up: according NicoZ

Mick Jagger: Vocals
Keith Richards: Guitar, background vocal
Ron Wood: Guitar, Pedal steel
Charlie Watts: Drums
Bernard Fowler: background vocal
Jeff Sarli: Bass
Blondie Chaplin: Piano
Waddy Wachtel: Guitar
Jim Keltner: Percussion

Line-up: according (from timeisonourside.com) thanks to DP

Mick Jagger: Lead vocal
Keith Richards (incl. solo), Ron Wood & Waddy Wachtel: Electric guitars
Ron Wood: Pedal steel guitar
Charlie Watts: Drums:
Jeff Sarli: Acoustic bass:
Keith Richards, Bernard Fowler & Blondie Chaplin: Background vocals
Blondie Chaplin: Piano and Tambourine
Jim Keltner: Percussion

Too Tight

Baby, don't get too tight with me
Yes, you're far too tight for me

I got your messages
And how can I resist
But if you come around
Don't slap the cuffs upon my wrist

Baby you're tight for me
(I warn you) yeah
Far too tight for me
Yeah

Untie those sheep shanks, yes
And all those fancy knots
I'm not Houdini, honey
C'mon now and loosen up

(Tight)
(Too tight)
(Too tight)
(Too tight)

Yeah, don't try to reel me in
With all those charm school looks
I've seen it all a thousand times
I sung that song, I wrote that @#$%& book

Do yourself a favor now
Don't drive me 'round the block
Let's split another bottle, now
Let's take a hit, loosen up

Don't get too tight on me
'Cause I'm, I'm bound so tight I can't breathe

We'll watch the sun go down
Upon the swollen sea
Aahhhhhh
If you try to chain me up
I'll vanish like a broken dream

Don't get so tight to me
Don't get so tight to me
Too tight

Produced by: Don Was, The Glimmer Twins,

First released on: Rolling Stones BRIDGES TO BABYLON, September 27, 1997

Rolling Stones Record (Virgin)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-26 10:33 by NICOS.

D'you know what - I even had to look what album this came from. I don't remember the song at all so can't have been much cop. Probably one of those half baked riffs that they stitch together in the studios. Next!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-19 11:55 by Silver Dagger.

Nice Little Pop-song...

2 1 2 0

The band LIVE had a hit called Selling The Drama. When Too Tight came, I couldn't listen to it, since the melody it starts with is so similar. And LIVE isn't exactly my favourite band...

Here's a little comparison:

[www.youtube.com]







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-19 14:43 by DandelionPowderman.

The first 30 seconds of this track are delightful … the alchemy between Keith, Ronnie, and Charlie generates some seriously high-octane rock-and-roll magic. But after that – indeed, when Mick comes in – the song becomes strangely flat, clichéd even, and loses its appeal. At least to me.

Drew

Quote
drewmaster
The first 30 seconds of this track are delightful … the alchemy between Keith, Ronnie, and Charlie generates some seriously high-octane rock-and-roll magic. But after that – indeed, when Mick comes in – the song becomes strangely flat, clichéd even, and loses its appeal. At least to me.

Drew

I wonder why the Stones keep this Jagger-guy in the band. Everytime he comes in he spoils everything, turns the great to rubbish and he even dares to write songs for Stones-albums...

No, Too Tight is indeed one of the most enjoyable songs on the album. Mick sounds like he should sound like and the Stones sound like they should. The song can hardly be called a masterpiece, but it´s a good one, nothing special, but nothing to dislike. Little guitar-driven Stones-rockers like Too Tight seldom fail to please me.

And yes indeed, the first 30 seconds are Stones-magic, most effective, I love the guitar playing and the drums.

Mick sounds good indeed, but the melody wasn't his. That's my main beef with TT + the fact that it runs out of fuel and crashes as well after a while

EDIT: We shouldn't forget that it was indeed Keith who wrote Too Tight, and that Mick added lyrics and melody later.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-19 15:23 by DandelionPowderman.

It's songs like these that give the Stones a bad name. And not in a good way.

Great rocker. .. Love the guitars, the riff, and especially the vocals!

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DandelionPowderman
Mick sounds good indeed, but the melody wasn't his. That's my main beef with TT + the fact that it runs out of fuel and crashes as well after a while

EDIT: We shouldn't forget that it was indeed Keith who wrote Too Tight, and that Mick added lyrics and melody later.

So Mick added a melody that wasn't his?

Drew

Quote
drewmaster

Quote
DandelionPowderman
Mick sounds good indeed, but the melody wasn't his. That's my main beef with TT + the fact that it runs out of fuel and crashes as well after a while

EDIT: We shouldn't forget that it was indeed Keith who wrote Too Tight, and that Mick added lyrics and melody later.

So Mick added a melody that wasn't his?

Drew

Well, just parts of it, and it might be coincidental, of course.

Quote
DandelionPowderman
EDIT: We shouldn't forget that it was indeed Keith who wrote Too Tight, and that Mick added lyrics and melody later.

Well considering song copyrights are largely based on the melody and lyrics I'd say Mick wrote the song too. Sounds like a Jagger/Richards collaboration similar to the great majority of Stones songs.

Are you suggesting Keith had a complete song with his own melody and lyrics and Mick took it and did his own thing?

it is interesting how among people who likes the Stones to death, one song can be excelent for somebody and a bad filler to others.

In this case with Too Tight for me in one of the best song of the album, the one with still some R & B wich is not easy to find in the latest Stones songs.

bye from Argentina
Fernando

Is September 27 correct? I thought it was September 29.

.....

Olly.

I like the song, not something new, maybe Stones-by-numbers but it's simple rock n roll. Nothing more, nothing less and that's something I like about it. It does not have to be that difficult, every Stones album has some of these songs they could probably do in their sleep. Good ol'rock n roll, but I like it

I tend to agree that the band does a great job on this but something about Mick's performance actually detracts from the song from me. It's probably a combination of another lyrical statement about Mick evaluating another woman in his life (yawn) and the way the vocals are mixed. Jagger was so much more effective when he was doing alot of doubling and harmonies and buried more in the mix, that classic Stones vocal sound is what I crave and is missing from Too Tight, imo.

I actually think this is the problem with ALL the modern records. Compare the vocals on any of them to the way Exile was done and it's easy to see the change.

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Naturalust
I tend to agree that the band does a great job on this but something about Mick's performance actually detracts from the song from me. It's probably a combination of another lyrical statement about Mick evaluating another woman in his life (yawn) and the way the vocals are mixed. Jagger was so much more effective when he was doing alot of doubling and harmonies and buried more in the mix, that classic Stones vocal sound is what I crave and is missing from Too Tight, imo.

I actually think this is the problem with ALL the modern records. Compare the vocals on any of them to the way Exile was done and it's easy to see the change.

While I fully agree with you about the Stones "modern" vocal sound (we discussed it in another thread lately), I must say that I find Too Tight one of their better efforts in the past decades - what has largely to do with its melodic quality, un- or at least rarely heard in Stones rockers since the 70's. When Bridges came out, I used to listen to Too Tight full blast while driving on highways, an experience of a lifetime, I can tell you - this song did not make it easy to stick to any speed limits!

Quote
Naturalust
I tend to agree that the band does a great job on this but something about Mick's performance actually detracts from the song from me. It's probably a combination of another lyrical statement about Mick evaluating another woman in his life (yawn) and the way the vocals are mixed. Jagger was so much more effective when he was doing alot of doubling and harmonies and buried more in the mix, that classic Stones vocal sound is what I crave and is missing from Too Tight, imo.

I actually think this is the problem with ALL the modern records. Compare the vocals on any of them to the way Exile was done and it's easy to see the change.

I agree. The vocal is definitely too up-front, too in-your-face, like on a Jagger solo record. And the yet-another-woman-who-needs-to-back-off lyrics are really becoming boring.

Drew

Quote
drewmaster

Quote
Naturalust
I tend to agree that the band does a great job on this but something about Mick's performance actually detracts from the song from me. It's probably a combination of another lyrical statement about Mick evaluating another woman in his life (yawn) and the way the vocals are mixed. Jagger was so much more effective when he was doing alot of doubling and harmonies and buried more in the mix, that classic Stones vocal sound is what I crave and is missing from Too Tight, imo.

I actually think this is the problem with ALL the modern records. Compare the vocals on any of them to the way Exile was done and it's easy to see the change.

I agree. The vocal is definitely too up-front, too in-your-face, like on a Jagger solo record. And the yet-another-woman-who-needs-to-back-off lyrics are really becoming boring.

Drew

I agree of course but I'll go further: This song basically consists of one line that is repeated for 4 minutes. It’s a one-line song. I’m sorry but bad lyrics = bad song – it’s that simple. Jagger being up in the mix doesn’t help but it doesn’t particularly matter either when the lyrics are so static. He used to offer songs with emotional and/or intellectual depth. Why on earth would anyone praise this flimsy excuse for a song? I really can’t understand it – you can’t just give them a pass on the tossed off lyrics. Oh I suppose there are few exceptions where the lyrical content can be secondary to the vibe a la Start Me Up or Hot Stuff but this ain’t no Start Me Up. (It’s smells like an early version of ‘Don’t Stop’ actually.)

In case someone misunderstood what I said: Keith wrote the riff and the guitar stuff - Mick wrote the words/melody. There are sources (both Mick and Keith) confirming that.

However, the verse is suspiciously similar to that of Live's Selling The Drama, hence my comment of «the melody not being his». That is a stretch, of course - especially since no one else here is having trouble with the similarity

"Too Tight"... for some reason for me one of the most enjoyable of those latter-day Stones-by-numbers rockers that unfortunately are doomed to be nothing but forgettable album fillers in the long run.

Good features: a fresh feel, the melodic hook of the main melody line (borrowed or not), the whole song written well (a real Jagger/Richards baby!), Jagger's delivery - gives me nice recollections of good old rockers, of that sound ("Rocks Off", "She Was Hot", even "Miss Amanda Jones" etc.)

Bad features: a bit too obvious, creatively boring arrangement ideas typical for latter day efforts (Jagger too upfront, seperation of the instruments, etc.) the lyrical content, that annoying, always similar 'aah-aah-ahh-aah'- background singing idea Keith came up with during the late 80's or so - the charm of the track fades a bit too quickly, and gives no reason to go back.

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-20 10:46 by Doxa.

Quote
Doxa
"Too Tight"... for some reason for me one of the most enjoyable of those latter-day Stones-by-numbers rockers that unfortunately are doomed to be nothing but forgettable album fillers in the long run.

Good features: a fresh feel, the melodic hook of the main melody line (borrowed or not), the whole song written well (a real Jagger/Richards baby!), Jagger's delivery - gives me nice recollections of good old rockers, of that sound ("Rocks Off", "She Was Hot", even "Miss Amanda Jones" etc.)

Bad features: a bit too obvious, creatively boring arrangement ideas typical for latter day efforts (Jagger too upfront, seperation of the instruments, etc.) the lyrical content, that annoying, always similar 'aah-aah-ahh-aah'- background singing idea Keith came up with during the late 80's or so - the charm of the track fades a bit too quickly, and gives no reason to go back.

- Doxa

That's my experience, too.

A fresh and quite superb rocker. Not revolutionary, but a filler, that becomes more than a filler. Well the lyrics might not be nobel prize material, but there is a no nonsense feeling in them, that I like. Literally a man wanting some space in the relationship. And Jaggers way of delievering it makes it a boasting complaint from a man who's todger is too big (the aaahs are well put I think) for the tight lady, he is attracted to. It might not be sophisticated, but it's funny, me thinks. It's in the vain of many blues lyrics "I eat more chicken than any other man" etc. and of Under my thump and many more.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-20 11:43 by GetYerAngie.

It has a great intro!

Interesting comments from a lot of y'all up there. I don't think about lyrics that much as a rule -
the guitars and the beat are the main things I respond to. But GetYerAngie's interpretation really made me laugh - thank you! -
and I do wonder how Swayed1967 feels about Dance Little Sister, which I think has the title phrase repeated more times than any song ever.

Always loved that track. But the thing I remember most about it is a B2B album review by J.D. Considine in which he suggested "Too Tight" was a ripoff of Husker Du. I thought then and now, There's no way in hell Keith has ever heard of Husker Du, full stop, let alone copped a riff from them.

And where is Considine today? As Keith says on "Amnesia" ... Nowhere ... nowhere.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of love for this one. I always thought it's one of the stronger tracks on B2B - (certainly better than the very below average Gunface or, yawn, Always Suffering).

Open G heaven from Keith, great backing vocals - also really like the little bridge sections ("Don't try to reel me in with all those charm school looks...")

Quote
with sssoul
It has a great intro!

Interesting comments from a lot of y'all up there. I don't think about lyrics that much as a rule -
the guitars and the beat are the main things I respond to. But GetYerAngie's interpretation really made me laugh - thank you! -
and I do wonder how Swayed1967 feels about Dance Little Sister, which I think has the title phrase repeated more times than any song ever.

you're welcome, with sssoul. If a latterday compilation was made I think TT belongs there.

I did listen to the song a couple of times this week....afterall it isn't that bad......never was a fan of B2B.....but I find it enjoyable

__________________________

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Mel Belli
Always loved that track. But the thing I remember most about it is a B2B album review by J.D. Considine in which he suggested "Too Tight" was a ripoff of Husker Du. I thought then and now, There's no way in hell Keith has ever heard of Husker Du, full stop, let alone copped a riff from them.

And where is Considine today? As Keith says on "Amnesia" ... Nowhere ... nowhere.

That band is named after the dullest norwegian tv show ever. Don't ask why

[www.youtube.com]







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-20 16:10 by DandelionPowderman.

The last classic Stones rocker ... great guitar work from beginning till the end.