In a (recent?) interview, Keith explained they wanted starting the Steel Wheels tour to give a rendering of the songs which was quite similar to the studio versions.
He sort of said that was the general audience was willing to listen to, and prior that hat they had "road versions", very different from the studio tracks.... Of course, it goes with the big band they started to have also with the Steel Wheels.
I miss these "road versions", rearranged for two guitars... You Can't Always Get What You Want (1972-1973) come to mind, as well as Under My Thumb (1969)... Opinions?

Under My Thumb 1981
LSTNT 1981
TIOMS 1981

Still Life


I also like GOOMC and IORR from 1976 (Love You Live)

I think the guitar driven live versions of Sympathy for the Devil from the '69/'70 and '75 tours are far superior to the post 1989 drum loop track / piano thing they do now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-10-10 20:52 by goinhome.

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goinhome
I think the guitar driven live versions of Sympathy for the Devil from the '69/'70 and '75 tours are far superior to the post 1989 drum loop track / piano thing they do now.

Yes

"No Anchovies, Please"

sympathy

It didn’t last very long, but they technically did the same thing to JJF in ‘89 by adding the studio intro.

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tommycharles
It didn’t last very long, but they technically did the same thing to JJF in ‘89 by adding the studio intro.

They tried once, but it didn't work

still life... I think you will find 3 or 4 guitars on most tracks, Keith added them for the live album, but didn't for the live in leeds roundhay park dvd!

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goinhome
I think the guitar driven live versions of Sympathy for the Devil from the '69/'70 and '75 tours are far superior to the post 1989 drum loop track / piano thing they do now.

Amen.

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goinhome
I think the guitar driven live versions of Sympathy for the Devil from the '69/'70 and '75 tours are far superior to the post 1989 drum loop track / piano thing they do now.

I wonder what SFTD would have sounded like live in '72 with Nicky Hopkins.

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xke38

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goinhome
I think the guitar driven live versions of Sympathy for the Devil from the '69/'70 and '75 tours are far superior to the post 1989 drum loop track / piano thing they do now.

I wonder what SFTD would have sounded like live in '72 with Nicky Hopkins.

Yeah, and it was excellent with Nicky on Rock'n'Roll Circus.

What OP says is a major point. And it has a lot to do with why my interest in late era Stones has dissipated; has fallen away.
I always thought that one of the best things about the Stones was how they re-arranged, and re-thought songs for the live stage. Many tracks didn't even find their true identity, until they'd been slapped around on a live stage for a couple of years.
"Midnight Rambler" - mic drop.

In '78 they took the entire SG album on the road and played the hell out of those songs.
In '81 they overhauled a major portion of their catalog.
And in '89 it was very intentional that they put much effort into recreating the studio effect again. It was the era of new stage technology and sound.
And even with VL, and more so B2B they took those albums on the road. And obviously worked them hard. But by then it was only Keith and his songs where there was some out of the box approach.
But anything with Jagger was getting a perfunctory deal. This is why all the requests for "Sway", or "She was Hot" etc. are kind of a joke. They were all massive let-downs. Jagger is mainly concerned with saving his breath for running those stadium laps..
And even all those guest star slots became a super awkward 5 minutes that you wish you hadn't seen. Tom Waits up there for "Rooster" should have been legendary.

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xke38

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goinhome
I think the guitar driven live versions of Sympathy for the Devil from the '69/'70 and '75 tours are far superior to the post 1989 drum loop track / piano thing they do now.

I wonder what SFTD would have sounded like live in '72 with Nicky Hopkins.

Holy shit that wouldve been great.

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Palace Revolution 2000
What OP says is a major point. And it has a lot to do with why my interest in late era Stones has dissipated; has fallen away.
I always thought that one of the best things about the Stones was how they re-arranged, and re-thought songs for the live stage. Many tracks didn't even find their true identity, until they'd been slapped around on a live stage for a couple of years.
"Midnight Rambler" - mic drop.

In '78 they took the entire SG album on the road and played the hell out of those songs.
In '81 they overhauled a major portion of their catalog.
And in '89 it was very intentional that they put much effort into recreating the studio effect again. It was the era of new stage technology and sound.
And even with VL, and more so B2B they took those albums on the road. And obviously worked them hard. But by then it was only Keith and his songs where there was some out of the box approach.
But anything with Jagger was getting a perfunctory deal. This is why all the requests for "Sway", or "She was Hot" etc. are kind of a joke. They were all massive let-downs. Jagger is mainly concerned with saving his breath for running those stadium laps..
And even all those guest star slots became a super awkward 5 minutes that you wish you hadn't seen. Tom Waits up there for "Rooster" should have been legendary.

Good post. A song like Sway could ONLY be a letdown...Mick would never risk his voice digging deep for the emotion necessary to nail it onstage.

If they ever play Let It Loose, it would be similarly disappointing.

Mick's onstage M.O. post-'89 has largely been to (a) preserve his voice by not venturing outside his comfort zone often, and (b) preserve his wind for dancing and running.

Now, before people post a ton of videos to refute the above, I said "LARGELY", not entirely. Of course Mick has delivered many great vocal performances live over the past 30 years (That's How Strong My Love Is, I Got The Blues, Moonlight Mile), but the overall rule stands.

Yes, at this particular time they turned into their own cover band … with some exceptions, e.g. the Club Shows in the middle of the nineties. But over all there is a road of decline in the last 30 years.

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DandelionPowderman

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tommycharles
It didn’t last very long, but they technically did the same thing to JJF in ‘89 by adding the studio intro.

They tried once, but it didn't work

Which 1989 show was that?

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EasterMan

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DandelionPowderman

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tommycharles
It didn’t last very long, but they technically did the same thing to JJF in ‘89 by adding the studio intro.

They tried once, but it didn't work

Which 1989 show was that?

[www.youtube.com]

Philly soundcheck it says.

Toronto September 3, 1989 too...

[youtu.be]

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goinhome
Toronto September 3, 1989 too...

[youtu.be]

Yes, it was definitely more than once...Toad's Place warm-up show, Philly soundcheck (and I assume both Philly shows), Toronto, Alpine Valley...and perhaps a couple more early in the tour.

Alpine Valley September 11th:

[youtu.be]

Makes sense. They just try and get through the warhorses as close to remembered as possible. It's an audience that expects that. No surprises. It's sad for long time, discerning fans, but they've come to the realization that the Golden Era ended thirty years ago, with occasional bursts, few and far between, of the old flame. There is Stones magic on Blue and Lonesome. They feel no such comfort with their old songs. God bless them for entertaining the casual fans.

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Palace Revolution 2000
What OP says is a major point. And it has a lot to do with why my interest in late era Stones has dissipated; has fallen away.
I always thought that one of the best things about the Stones was how they re-arranged, and re-thought songs for the live stage. Many tracks didn't even find their true identity, until they'd been slapped around on a live stage for a couple of years.
"Midnight Rambler" - mic drop.

In '78 they took the entire SG album on the road and played the hell out of those songs.
In '81 they overhauled a major portion of their catalog.
And in '89 it was very intentional that they put much effort into recreating the studio effect again. It was the era of new stage technology and sound.
And even with VL, and more so B2B they took those albums on the road. And obviously worked them hard. But by then it was only Keith and his songs where there was some out of the box approach.
But anything with Jagger was getting a perfunctory deal. This is why all the requests for "Sway", or "She was Hot" etc. are kind of a joke. They were all massive let-downs. Jagger is mainly concerned with saving his breath for running those stadium laps..
And even all those guest star slots became a super awkward 5 minutes that you wish you hadn't seen. Tom Waits up there for "Rooster" should have been legendary.

One thing is Jaggers vocals, but the real bad thing about their live version is the rythm. Why are they changing it from the original?

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The Joker
In a (recent?) interview, Keith explained they wanted starting the Steel Wheels tour to give a rendering of the songs which was quite similar to the studio versions. [...]

Fascinating, they talk rarely about their musical arragements. Is there a link to the interview or a magazine name?

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Pokalheld

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The Joker
In a (recent?) interview, Keith explained they wanted starting the Steel Wheels tour to give a rendering of the songs which was quite similar to the studio versions. [...]

Fascinating, they talk rarely about their musical arragements. Is there a link to the interview or a magazine name?

Sorry, can't remember... Maybe it was a video... But "road versions" is something he said, for sure.

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Pokalheld

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The Joker
In a (recent?) interview, Keith explained they wanted starting the Steel Wheels tour to give a rendering of the songs which was quite similar to the studio versions. [...]

Fascinating, they talk rarely about their musical arragements. Is there a link to the interview or a magazine name?

My memory is that Keith was being Keith and saying that previous to 1989 they just showed up and played and rolled with what that sounded like. I think that's a hypderbole beause certainly they made decisions about horns and sidemen and on some tours they had all kinds of people on stage and then for the SG tour they were more stripped down.
What I remember Keith saying is that for 1989 they really went into their catalog during rehearsals and did their best to recreate the songs. I think they've always been more 'professional' than their image, but in 1989 they were very organized and deliberate. I think they found the liked working like that, even Keith. He could stay 'show up and play' but now he had a template to follow. I think they all accepted this was a machine and they had to fill their roles.

Oh yes, the arrangements were and are defintively planned in some ways. I only remember a story about Keith bringing Bobby Keys back in 1989, because they needed his help for the horn section. Maybe I read this in one of the older Keith biographies.

I would like to learn more about these decisions at all stages of their carreer. The slow and dangerous sounding approach in 1969, the faster pace in later years, the syntheziser and second drum/percussion in 1975/76, the back to roots sound two years later, the most ambitious 1981/82 tour with new songs and old hits in one super long setlist, back to the studio versions in 1989, the "fruit of the loom" LICKS tour and so on.

It's great to have so many versions. It would be great to get even more stories behind this evolution. For example, how became Billy Preston part of the guest musicians? When and how exactly was Ernie Watts recruited? I think, he joined way after the tour start. What an odd way to do! After the rehearsels, after the tour start, they hired him and that changed the sound massively.

Of course, the musical differences between, let's say, 2002 and 2019 are just in the details. Until the BTB-/NS-tour I can recognize the year by listening to the first two seconds of a song. Every tour had its destinctive sound. It's harder to tell after 2002 or 2005, at least for me.

Back in the day, they changed the arragement the big way. I took me ages to realize that Strange Cat Blues on Beggars and Strange Cat Blues on GYYYA is the same song. For me at first, it was like two songs with weirdly the same title.

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keefriff99

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EasterMan

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DandelionPowderman

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tommycharles
It didn’t last very long, but they technically did the same thing to JJF in ‘89 by adding the studio intro.

They tried once, but it didn't work

Which 1989 show was that?

[www.youtube.com]

Philly soundcheck it says.

This is really amazing. You can hear a real band here, harking right back to the Sixties Stones. Without the pressure to "deliver" sometimes the rehearsals give you the true unadulterated band. I was almost shocked listening to it.

Pokalheld, I definitely agree and would love to hear some serious analysis from Mick and Keith as to planning that went into not just their various tours but the albums, too. But both of them have been reluctant to discuss those things. Keith wants you to believe that everything just happened, man, and Mick pretends he's forgotten everything -- Bobby Keys? Was he before or after Ernie Watts?
It's a shame. They have a rich artistic legacy and plenty of other bands draw you into their artistic process.

I think this began with Mick's solo Japanese gigs in 1988. It's a shame that the road versions have ended. However, that doesn't mean that what they've been doing since 1989 lacks validity.

You just can't imagine them doing what Dylan does on stage though.

Well, this is a roadversion. Mick holds his ears and thanks Ronnie when it’s over: thank goodness


[youtu.be]

As much as I enjoy Gimme Shelter now, I do really like the Brussels take. That bass!