I'm quoting Mathijs here from another Sway thread to try and focus this thread exclusively on re-arrangement suggestions without the usual carping of "the song was great", "the song sucks"....

....not because I agree with his conclusions one bit, but I think his individual criticisms have some merit... ALSO it's important that this was the first time this gem was played live. It has often taken this band several arrangements and re-arrangements to get a great live version of a great studio recording.

Actually the "first shot" at Sway I think met or exceeded any reasonable expectation for the first stage version. BUT the arrangement could definitely use a little "tweaking" and Mathijs provides a good listing of some areas to improve the arrangement:
******************************************************

Mathijs Wrote:
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> Of all the legendary gems that we hard core fans
> so badly wanted to play, this is the absolute
> worst ever rendition of a song.

Not remotely true. The majority of fans on this board would have carped if this was the "worst rendition"... What is so interesting about the song is how WELL it came out the first time around DESPITE the legitimate criticisms in this post... Because Mathjis does have legitimate gripes. Interesting that while each gripe has some merit, the "sum of the parts" was still quite a nice song...

This is just plain
> terrible. In my opinion, someone should take
> Wood's guitar, kick his arse and send him home.

Well Woody was PLAYING, but for about the first half of the recording it's like his guitar mike is set on overload so it just comes out as one high tone with the flow of the lines barely distinguishable. This can probably be adjusted in the studio. Towards the 2nd half of the recording Ronnies guitar is much more distinctive, quite nice I think. The "solo" should be extended about 30 to 60 seconds I think, the song ends just when Woody is really getting into it... that's more a choice of song length than guitar work which I think was quite adequate...

> Let Wood forever drink beer and paint ugly
> paintings at his house, but don't ever let him
> ruin these songs again. This version is just
> painful: terrible drumming,

The drumming is a bit "off" here... not so much off as "not well integrated"... again I would look for this to easily smooth out as they work with the arrangement a bit, but it's a fair criticism...

>Jagger sings badly,

THIS is probably the biggest area that needs improvement. It's not that Mick sings BADLY at all, his voice is great. It's the emotive feeling which is more "lighthearted"... he signs with emotion more towards "Sweet Virgina" than towards the authentic feel of studio Sway...

he needs to shift to a slightly more "mournful" emotive value AND punctuate a few searing phrases and he will nail it perfectly... again, just a slight tweak in the arrangement can have a monster payoff... I though Mick's cadence was about right...

> and then the solo.... Wood also ruined every rendition of Worried About You...

REMEMBER that Woody plays WITHIN the band... he's just not gonna jump out ahead of what the other guys are doing. It's really TWO GUITARS working together, that's just the way he and Keith have played forever... I thought Ronnie's "solo" (i.e. the last minute) was much more audible on the tape (I'm going by Drake's tape, BTW)... but getting back to the solo, the song just ends a bit too abruptly... give it another 30 to 45 seconds of musicianship at the end and they should have a really nice rendition.

> Just my two cents.
> Mathijs

So, with this initial listing of suggested re-arrangements, what are your ideas ?

"Leave it alone"... "play it exactly as it was" is a legitimate answer, of course.

Link to Drake's Sway recording post is below:
[iorr.org]


"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..."



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2005-09-25 22:35 by BornOnTheBayou.

slow it down and sing with more gusto

Table it and try a good song like Mother's Little Helper.

melillo Wrote:
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> slow it down and sing with more gusto

It's like Jagger's emotive quality doesn't say "I just woke up to a day that broke up my mind"...

"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..."

Play it slower, with special guest Mathijs on slide guitar. Come one, Mathijs, show them how it's done

I think if they just introduced it every night as a song we've never played (well*) live and then just played the record and went for a smoke and a beverage, well, that would work because . . .

A) They've added something new to the set list
People who wanted to hear Sway are happy, and
C) People who complain that it doesn't sound as good as the record made nearly 35 freakin' years ago have nothing to complain about . . . unless they played the cd, and that would be trouble.

*Mick could whisper this word.

For a 1st timer Sway was good,,Hey Midnight Rambler from the early 69 shows was very lame ,, good thing they didn't scrap that 1 or we would'nt have the infamous ya yas version,,, argubly the greatest live rock song ever

camper88 Wrote:
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> I think if they just introduced it every night as
> a song we've never played (well*) live and then
> just played the record and went for a smoke and a
> beverage, well, that would work because . . .
>
> A) They've added something new to the set list
> People who wanted to hear Sway are happy, and
> C) People who complain that it doesn't sound as
> good as the record made nearly 35 freakin' years
> ago have nothing to complain about . . . unless
> they played the cd, and that would be trouble.
>
> *Mick could whisper this word.

LOL! It could be like in Spinal Tap during the drum solo, where they show the various band members backstage doing their respective things. While the record plays, the video screens could show Jagger working out, Keith beating the crap out of people who have tried to eat his shepherd's pie, Charlie listening to some jazz, and Ronnie painting a picture of the correct finger placement on a guitar during the slide part in Sway.

It's just that IORR fans want me to sing this gem...
another victory of us, keep on rocking mick

Are you guys nuts!?

The Rolling Stones pulled out 'Sway', a song they have never played live! It was great. Sure it was rough in spots, but it will only get better. Ronnie did fine. I'd be interested to hear this song in about 5 shows to see how it has developed. As for Mick's voice, I'd like there to be more "power" and some screams as well, but it also sounds good as is.

deuce Wrote:
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> Are you guys nuts!?
>
>

what a dumb question! of course!

Debra: You say that Mick and Charlie don't mess up songs? Have you heard Stray Cat Blues from Circus, Stockholm? Mick's totally out of it....
Have you heard Let's spend the nught together from Knebworth 75/76? Charlie uses like 3 minutes to get into the groove....
And my god, listen to Keith.... I was in MSG a couple of weeks ago and he completely screwed up the set by playing Satisfaction instead of Shattered, at Globen in Stockholm he started You got me rockin' instead of If you can't rock me, leaving Ronnie playing air-guitar for half a song, and not during all the club shows he was able to play Hand of fate right!

I think Roonie gets much too much bull from people who would love to see Taylor back in the band. Ronnie will never ever play like him, and I think that's the right thing to do.

Compare Lynyrd Skynyrd to the Stones. Skynyrds changed the whole guitar lineup, except for Rossington, several times, and all the guitarist play Kings, Collins and Gaines, solos exactly the same way they did. Note by note! It's terribly boring, and shows that they are just replicas of the inventors of the solos. They are not musicians, they are just people who are good in copying.

Ronnie has always put his mind to bringing his own style into the Stones. Just like Taylor did when he replaced Jones. They are true musicians!

It would be no problem at all for the Stones to replace Ronnie with some guy who could play the solos like Taylor did. There are thousands of bands who can actually copy every note the Stones have played. But do they sound like them? NO! Why? Because they don't play all the small mistakes and all the different ways that the Stones do. The Stones is a living band, developing all the time. Skynerd is dead and has been for two decades at least, along with a lot of other bands.

Ronnie, you're doing the right thing. That's exactly why Keith wants you by his side, and why Charlie and Mick added you and have kept you in the band!

Oh god these Sway threads are showing just how sad u all are.

Niklas Wrote:
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>
> Compare Lynyrd Skynyrd to the Stones. Skynyrds
> changed the whole guitar lineup, except for
> Rossington, several times, and all the guitarist
> play Kings, Collins and Gaines, solos exactly the
> same way they did. Note by note! It's terribly
> boring, and shows that they are just replicas of
> the inventors of the solos. They are not
> musicians, they are just people who are good in
> copying.

In fairness I think Ricky Medlocke is a pretty authentic player... do you think there's as much "room for variety" in a typical Skynyrd song as there is in a Stones song ?

>
> Ronnie has always put his mind to bringing his own
> style into the Stones. Just like Taylor did when
> he replaced Jones. They are true musicians!

Amen.

"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..."

Hey, just dump the song off the list altogether! You guys did'nt really want to hear that song anyway and you know it! Lets really hear them cook on a Chuck Berry cover like Around and Around or Down the Road Apiece. Sway while being a great song is not a song that lends itself to being played live. The Rolling Stones at this point are nothing more than the Greatest Garage Rock'in Roll band in the World and thats a beautiful thing. I love Ronnie Wood even when he's sloppy and play a bad solo. I'll pay my 65.00 or 400.00 gladley anytime they come through my town, bad solo,bad drumming bad singing and all and so will Mathjis because he loves this band as we all do. Were just like any other disfunctional family,we complain and gripe but in the end were all there for each other. Like Ronnie says "Heads down meet you at the end". LoL..you guys are nuts!!!

How about "be happy and shut t f up"? Does that work for anyone?

They should just come out, play Sway any way they want to, and leave the stage. That would serve us right for this bull.

That won't work....

NIKLAS, I SAID THEY DON'T MESS UP OFTEN! OFTEN ALLOWS FOR THE OCCASIONAL MISTAKE, ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY are HUMAN!