The other night my son and I were driving back from Phoenix through the biblical storms outside of Los Angeles. We cranked get your Ya Ya's out end to end and I swear that may be the best rock'n roll record of all time--when I say evil, I mean it in the best of ways.

Cranked up in the night through a driving storm, hearing that band stir through a cauldron of 13-year-old girls, divorcees, devils, street fighting men, hit and run rapers, girls that look 17, little queen's, midnight ramblers, crossfire hurricanes and more, I'm not sure I ever realized how much flesh and blood pours from that record - how much dope and sex and taboo and intensity - a whole new thrill.

Hmmm...first off, how old's ya son? Didja share these thoughts and insight with him or keep them as your own secret? Don't get me wrong. Just askin'. And, now, I'm gonna have to find a copy of Ya-Ya's and listen to it under the cool desert night sky here in Aridzona, looking to hear all the things you mentioned.

You may be right............ after all they are the bad guys.............and there are some songs I don't share with my kids although most of them are adults...............

__________________________

If evil is live spelled backward, it is very much the opposite of evil!

my son is 23 - a stones die hard - and yeah we talked about it

A journey through hell with The Rolling Stones.

I just subjected myself to the experience this morning on a drive; at proper deafening volume. It is w/o doubt the greatest r&r show ever laid down on tape.
What gets me all through the album, and it's something that they never regained after '74, is that mighty chugga chugga. The overall rhythm of the band.
Charlie played a lot more inspired, Bill was turned up loud, and played a Fender, ( vs the cleaner Travis Bean later), but mainly it is Taylor IMO.
Mathijs, who's opinion I really respect, doesn't think much of Taylor on rhythm, but I think he made a better foil for Keith. Keityh goes on about the weavin etc, but Ron is too much of same thing. Taylor is a better yin to Keith's yang.
Why do we always talk about 'Carol', that rhythm machine, "Rambler" bulldozing along. On "Rambler" when Jagger starts doing the 'dont do that', Taylor is really strumming it. Even if on it's own, what Taylor does is not all that astounding, together with Keith and Bill abd Charlie it works perfect.
Taylor had way better control of his sound. Keith was all volume back then. I love how as "Street Fighting Man" builds and builds, Keith's sound is approaching white noise. I can just see the roadies, and Cutler behind the amps frantically blowing and fanning them to keep them from overheating and exploding.

Some of your favourites have Keith on both guitars for quite a while, though (Carol, Little Queenie).

But indeed this album has great, great guitar playing, even though the roles of the guitarists are a bit too much diversified to my liking. Other bands did the lead/rhythm separation-thing better than the Stones, imo.

I love Ya Yas as much as Live In England 65 and Live In Texas. It's fantastic

It is THE album that cast a spell on me from it's release. Can't break the spell....wouldn't want to!

"Gonna find my way to heaven ..."

My favorite "official" live LP,has been for decades...for me there has never been a tour that had "that feel",i'll always believe that 69 was the boys at their peak...

YaYa's, S.Fingers and Exile was full of all that.It's not really new.

and they didnt play, or hadnt yet written, some of their best work on that album...

This album does something that is hard to describe. If I have Street Fighting Man loud enough it can make me punch out a stranger and laugh at him. (I have never done this and wouldn't). You know what I mean though? Its truly the "evil" period of whatever was going on with them and its translated through that LP to those of us that get it.

What I really love about Ya Ya's is that every song is stunningly better than the studio versions...

I wouldn't say HTW, LIV or SFM are better than the studio versions. Not even close, but they're still very good.

filthy little thing ain't it? gives me the creeps

I like at the start when you here is everything ready,and then the greatest rock-n-roll band THE ROLLING STONES, THE ROLLING STONES. btw my Aunt had a nick name for me,she called me ya ya.

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DandelionPowderman
I wouldn't say HTW, LIV or SFM are better than the studio versions. Not even close, but they're still very good.

It's a close call on HTW & SFM...I'd concede those two...but I'm confident that most would put the live LIV over the studio version any day...But boy, did they ever elevate the studio versions of all the songs to a whole other level!

Incredible album - One of the best ever. The whole band is locked in.

So much rhythm, power & menace. Yep EVIL

Here's an excerpt from Stanley Booth's great book. The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

The big yellow-blue-white spot bleached out Jagger as he came onstage, twirling overhead his Uncle Sam hat, not smiling, gaze fixed on fate. In a breathless rush of silence the Stones came out, Charlie settling onto the drums, the others, quick and businesslike, plugging their guitars into the amplifiers, twisting dials, setting levels, until Keith hit the opening chords of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” Mick started to howl about being born in a crossfire hurricane, and the kids all stood up and screamed. Glyn Johns stopped me in the corridor at the Plaza the next day to say that he had been backstage in a sound truck and the truck was jumping on its springs. “So I got out to see who was shaking it—I thought there might be some kids on top of it—but there was nobody there, the truck was just picking up the vibrations from the house, the whole bloody building was shaking.”
.

ive always liked the live version of Live With Me on Ya Ya's..

but I find the studio version way better.

that bass and drums intro gets me every time, as does Bobby's solo...

One of the greatest, if not THE greatest live albums of all time for sure (The Who Live at Leeds gives it a run for its money IMO). First song I ever learned on guitar was the version of Sympathy - I still say, if you want to learn how to play R&R guitar, listen to Ya Ya's and try and get some of those basics down - it's THE blueprint for rock and roll. Classic.

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DEmerson
One of the greatest, if not THE greatest live albums of all time for sure (The Who Live at Leeds gives it a run for its money IMO). First song I ever learned on guitar was the version of Sympathy - I still say, if you want to learn how to play R&R guitar, listen to Ya Ya's and try and get some of those basics down - it's THE blueprint for rock and roll. Classic.

No truer words have ever been written!

As far as live vs studio, Midnight Rambler is just as great either way. Studio version may have a slight edge...

I've listened to that album a thousand times and, still, I have this sense of anticipation before every cut. The greatest live album ever.

Ya Yas was the first Stones album I bought. I was in to them before then but when this piece of Live Stones vinyl came along..........KAPOW! there was no turning back. For sure one of the finest Live albums by any band - evil/live/vile - probably all those things in its own way. Play it black and paint it live you devils!

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DEmerson
One of the greatest, if not THE greatest live albums of all time for sure (The Who Live at Leeds gives it a run for its money IMO). First song I ever learned on guitar was the version of Sympathy - I still say, if you want to learn how to play R&R guitar, listen to Ya Ya's and try and get some of those basics down - it's THE blueprint for rock and roll. Classic.

Tough one, was playing Live at Leeds Deluxe recently and it takes some beating, the medley on My Generation amazing. This and Ya Ya's surpass any other live album with Live and Dangerous in 3rd place.

THE best live album ever-it's almost hard to believe they put out beggars,let it bleed,through the past darkly,ya ya's,sticky and exile in that 4 or 5 year span.

as to the original post-it is amazing when you hear this stuff under certain conditions and the original spirit of it returns and it comes back to life in an almost sinister way.it's bone the chilling.

Sympathy's an evil song but Keith's solo is pure bliss. The extra tracks from the box set should've been included originally and made a double album.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-02-25 00:43 by shadooby.

Heavenly

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DandelionPowderman
Some of your favourites have Keith on both guitars for quite a while, though (Carol, Little Queenie).

But indeed this album has great, great guitar playing, even though the roles of the guitarists are a bit too much diversified to my liking. Other bands did the lead/rhythm separation-thing better than the Stones, imo.

I love Ya Yas as much as Live In England 65 and Live In Texas. It's fantastic

It's live, so how would Keith be playing two guitars? I know about overdubs on Ya-Ya's, and it seems those were mainly vocals. But also - all one has to do is listen to other 69 boots to get a very similar feel esp. on the Berry numbers.
One interesting topic you bring up though, is the whole two guitar thing, and other groups doing it. Love that topic. Who do you prefer?

Stones at their best. Taylor was the bomb made Keith better as well. My favorite official live album, I like Brussels a little better but Ya-Ya's is awesome!