Is this maybe the most overlooked of all their albums? Not quite a real album; it also was the last of the very first era. Big Hits No1 sums it up the way it's done later on, but the next one "Aftermath" is surely a new era.
I wonder if all here even own "December". Too often here it feels as if Stoner history starts with Banquet (with Satanic thrown in somewhere).
DC was more a US release to make up for some missed tracks, right? The 2 livetracks alone are worth the price IMO.
"She Said Yeah" the perfect opening song. 1 1/2 minutes of speed and heavy metal in 65. I defy anyone to try to sing those lyrics the way Jagger does them. A great soslo and a powerful riff. before it's time.
"Talkin 'bout you". Honestly: when I got this record (on vinyl) I was about 12-13. I played the opening guitarline and then the way it slides into the vocal "Let me tell you bout a girl I know" over and over and over. Just that little few seconds. It was the sleaziest coolest thing I ever heard.
"You better move one" - Maybe just needed an album to find a home on. They had been doing this live for a while. I think this appealed to Europena mainland market. It's one of the shmaltzy early ballads that are part of the Stones legacy. The Stones do itall. They tried out the Liverrpool style BU vocals goin "aah aah" - maybe Keith and Bill. The acoustic and then Keith's sycopated chak's come in on 2nd verse. It was all there. No way it was not going to be a minor hit.
"Look what you've done" - this and "Confessin ther Blues" (plus oddly enough those Steel Wheels Bsides that weree left off album) are that typical Stones Blues sound that came latr than their first 2 albums. They got a little heavier, definatly more American, more produced. Better studios. Somehow in 65-66 their Blues spread out a lot wider. Early on they were real thin, mono. Although piano, harps, echo vocalsm Keith leads were all there they were so cramped together in close proximity that they had one overall sonic stream. That of course has it's beauty too,But the Stone sobviously wanted to be able to hear themsleves and wanted their fans to be able to hear them better. These mid tempo shuffles are the way they started writing the Blues a little later too.
"The Singer not the Song" - one of the first songs I learned to play. It's pretty bad, no? In a way that is part of it's very charm; just how undevelpped their wrting still was. Using all the base chords, the bad bad harmony. Maybe one of their first message songs from the misunderstood musician-as-pop-idol.
"Route 66" - I heard this version before I heard the studio version and always liked this one more. The intro alone: "Let me hear you say it..."
"Get off of my Cloud" - also needed an album to live on. Cloud has never been my fave hitsong. The guitarlick and the drumming really mirror the intent of the words, which seems to be about keeping up with the ratrace of life. Jagger raps. And also provides us with one of the funniest dances ever on a TV performance of it.
"I'm Free" - I love this song. Tye guitar sounds great; the first few notes of the SOLO guitar even better. I love Jagger's accent: "..any ole tiyaim". How do you even spell that? The way he say 'time'? LOL The weird thing about "I'm Free" are the mistakes. There is this glaring fuckup they do in one of the "love me hold me" which sound weak all the way, but one time just fall flat apart.
"As Tears go By"- The 3rd 'hitsong'. It's the incluson of these already released singles that IMO really detracts from DC's identity. We all know the song..
"Gotta Get Away" - a very obscure one. I always think of this one together with "Doncha bother me no more" because they are both deep in the cellar. This one is really not bad. It's a pretty good vocal. Jagger stretches the notes and is up there pretty high at first,("Ba-aby..") then he comes down with authority (" ..so don't deny..DAArling.."). It's Jagger playing around with what he's got; maybe testing the waters. I don't have the recording right here so I can't even rememebr if there is a solo.
"Blue Turns To Grey" - this is a good song I have always though. They could have developed it into a strong bigger song because those are good words IMO. Good hook and a lilting melody. Produced just allright; you can tell it was conmsidered a filler, much like "Singer & Song". The jangle guitar. Again I don't have it here but for some reason I want to say that Brian is featured in this song somehow. Or is it on the outtake version of it?
"Im Moving On" - Another one of the alltime hottest, best, most rocking, on fire moments ever put on tape by the Stones. Ok, first that first wailing siren howl of the girls on top of Bill's driving Bass and Charlie's Hihat/snare! George Martin could not have produced those few seconds of power. It was a stroke of genius whoever kept it like that. Then the slide comes in behind Jagger "I warned you baby from tahm to tahm..." I wondr how the instruments worked on stge for that one. If Brian played th slide where is Keith? I can see Brian actually pounding his infamous taMBOURINE on this one but that puts Keith on slide, which he did not do yet back then. Neverhteless Keith chimes in in another one fo this song's Best-Rock-Moments at the end. By now Jagger is in the endvamp just going "Couse I'm goin to move". Keith is up there too singing in between "I'm mooovin..". Still in his young high tenor voice.

I don't put on DC much anymore myself. having just writtne this "review" makes me want to go dig it up. I really just wrote all this because we seem to ignore the first 5 albums too often.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

A great album , IMO, I can't listen to I'm Moving On once - I always have to listen two or three times at least. I have the vinyl and cd of this album.

Its a great record for what it is....taken from various UK singles, eps, etc. Not really an LP that the Stones did. There is a great acetate out there, with alternate versions of several songs...

JR

Absolutely agree. December's Children is tremendous.

It's ironic that the Stones didn't intend for several of the songs on that album to be released, because the record as a whole seems to flow incredibly well together, even with the great diversity of styles (and perhaps because of that).

Yeah, I too cannot listen to 'Movin' On' only once gmanp - I have to play it 2 or 3 times as well. Also, ChelseaDrugstore is right about Charlie's mistakes on 'I'm Free' and elsewhere. Some of those songs appear to have been work tracks that the Stones didn't consider final product, but they're great!

'Talkin' Bout You' is incredibly funky. It almost seems to anticipate the later 'Soul Makossa' by Manu Dibongo. It's an amazingly mean groove for 1965 and shows how truly tough the Stones could (and can) sound.

Given how infrequently people talk about DC, you may be right, it may be the Stones' most overlooked great album.

Ha ha! This is a great review.

I don't agree with CD opinion on two songs, though. I'm free - that I used to love - but I find it "slightly" boring now.

And Cloud, it's great, absolutely great! It has this absolute punk feel that I love

Those early records have some truly great stuff in them!

C

Blue turns to Grey is one of my favorite early Stones, overlooked tunes! There's so many of them from this band - Flight 505, Sittin on a Fence, Backstreet Girl, Fortune Teller, Poison Ivy...

gmanp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A great album , IMO, I can't listen to I'm Moving
> On once - I always have to listen two or three
> times at least. I have the vinyl and cd of this
> album.


"Got live if you want it" - the EP from which this song is taken is one of the most underrated releases of their entire career.

dec children was the 1st studio album i got..it hooked me..my 1st lp was got live if you want it!!!

anyway, decembers children is one of my all-time fav!!!!

stone-relics Wrote:
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> Its a great record for what it is....taken from
> various UK singles, eps, etc. Not really an LP
> that the Stones did. There is a great acetate out
> there, with alternate versions of several
> songs...
>
> JR

Is this the one with the instrumental version of Gotta Get Away - a one-sided acetate as far as I can remember?

silkcut

I bought this used vinyl in 1983. I discovered it again in 1987 and listened to it to death. It is, in my opinion, #2 after LIB. It has all their styles, incl. two scintillating live performances.

That is a good version, but there is another acetate with alternate version of Cloud, and Blue Turns to Grey, with horns, and completely different vox. Much longer version, too.

JR

Time for a rant. Being from the US, I of course have the US albums. I loved the early discs: Hitmakers, 12X5, Now, Out of Our Heads, December's Children etc. I thought they were fine albums & loved DC for many of the reasons already stated above. As I got older I knew there were differences in the US/UK releases but it wasn't until the ABKCO remasters that I really got into the UK releases.

Looking at DC & the other US releases vs their UK counterparts I think the Stones management did them a disservice. The band put out 3 singles & one EP before their first LP. Of these 10 songs, only one - Little By Little made their first UK LP. The rest of these songs other than Not Fade Away have been over looked in their catalogue. A first LP with I Wanna Be Your Man, Come On, Fortune Teller, Poison Ivy etc would have been very interesting.

Because their singles very rarely made it onto the UK LPs, many of their greatest songs were regulated to greatest hits albums. Before anyone chimes in thats how it was done back then, please check out the Beatles singles & EPs you will find most on LPs. Anyway, this forced the US market to add these hits and in effect change or create new LPs. The problem with this is DC has 3 songs from UK Out Of Our Heads, 3 new songs, 3 from EPs & the rest UK singles. In effect it is really a collection of songs and not a proper LP.

I think their back catalogue would be viewed quite differently if they didn't leave off some great singles & completely issue very different US releases. While I love this LP, I find it harder to listen to and have been listening to the UK versions of the early LP and the appropriate singles they released prior to the LP.

Much prefer the UK releases.....but grew up with the US ones....both have their merits, thats why I collect them all.....Anybody else out their have 30+ variations of the 1st LP (US AND UK) alone...?

JR

Betwen the Buttons and Aftermath - is has to be Decca.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

Stone-relics, which alternate versions are you talking about? What boots are they on? Different Cloud or Blue/Grey?

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

There's definitely an alternate version of 'Blue Turns To Grey', circulating on boots, in which Mick sounds like Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits. Very VERY pop. I'll take the DC version of that song any day.

"(And Everybody's)" !


i have to work from the american releases because that's what i grew up with and am most familiar with...from the very first shot 'she said yeah' this was obviously an incredible incredible rock album...for me there's not one bad, or even medicore track on the entire album...not even one. this is pure stones and strong stuff...i personally consider everything from those london/decca years part of the 'golden period'...for me it is...tho i understand the banquet thru eoms or even iorr that is mostly regarded as such...i can never get too far away from the stones sixties studio albums...this is a brilliant album...everytime i put it on it gets left on all thru, everytime...since i was just a boy and still to this day...it's great. it's all there. starts out with incredible energy, and continues to stun...this is a furious, curious, gracious, diverse and brilliant record ALBUM, imho.

I do like this album, but I personally find Out of Our Heads to be much superior to this one...

Scaffer, I knoe that version; it sounds to me like Relics is talking aBOUT another version.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

I agree the early records don't get enough attention. My favorite is 12x5 mostly for Mona and That's How Strong.... Now is also great, and I likd DC, thouugh I think the critics put DC at the bottom of the early list.

>My favorite is 12x5 mostly for Mona and That's How Strong....

Except "Mona" is on NOW! and "That How Strong..." is on OUT OF OUR HEADS!

not "real album"for europeans ,the best is too,,do the uk "out of our heads" wit h bonus tracks,,from u.s .out of our heads & december children,& singles ,,
the you get the all rec late 64 & 1965 recordings onto one cd......

... no ones going to mention the cover ???

I really love Gotta Get Away! MEZ

ChelseaDrugstore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If Brian played th slide where is Keith? I
> can see Brian actually pounding his infamous
> taMBOURINE on this one but that puts Keith on
> slide, which he did not do yet back then.

On Moving On, Keith plays the rhythm guitar that can be heard in the background. Why do so many people automatically assume that Keith was the featured guitar player on every Stones track during the 60's?- or that he HAD TO BE the featured guitarist on every 60's track? There was another very good guitarist in the band, and his name was Brian Jones. Hello?! Yes, that's right, Keith Richards sometimes would let Brian play the lead guitar as they were part of a DUO guitar tandem (the first in rock!) that would interchange lead roles from song to song. There were TWO GUITARISTS in the band back then-let's not forget that.

why the title?

Anyone got any idea?

People forget one thing:

Today, December's Children is a standard Stones album. It's avaliable on both sides of the atlantic and has unique material.

Personally I prefer the US albums up to and including Decembers Children, simply because they have almost everything they recorded up until then. All of the early Stones releases -UK or US- were kind of compilations anyway, as they were recorded in different studios on both sides of the atlantic.

I don't miss No. 2 anymore, after i discovered that both 12X5 and NOW! were far superior. I don't even think the Stones cared how their albums were put together before Aftermath...

From 1966 it's another story: Aftermath, Between The Buttons -> buy the UK albums as they intended them!

December's Children is great fer sure. She Said Yeah is a personal favourite of mine.
BTW: Macca does a great She Said Yeah on Run Devil Run.

JumpingKentFlash

Check 'em out: The Stones doing She Said Yeah on Hullabaloo in 1965.




JumpingKentFlash

>> why the title? <<

the main reason was to trick my guardians into thinking the Stones had turned cuddly,
and it worked: they bought the album for my sister and me. brilliant!

another explanation:
"It was our manager (Andrew Oldham)'s idea of hip. Beat poetry."
- Mick Jagger, 1995 - from [www.timeisonourside.com]