<<Interesting question: who, besides Mick and Ry Cooder are playing on the Performance version (also on London Years and Best Of Mick Jagger) of Memo from Turner?>>

In Sean Egan's book on the making of 'Let it Bleed' there is quite a bit on this question, and it states that indeed did Jim Capaldi and Steve Winwood play on the one from Performance and the Jagger solo single.

yes and in the booklet of "the very best of Mick Jagger", it read:
Ry cooder, bottleneck guitar.
Steve Winwood, Bass.
Jim Capaldi, drums

and yet, here : [www.winwoodfans.com],
Stevie Winwood, himself, denied.

Wow - I can't believe that people prefer the Metamorphosis version better than the Performance version. It's far superior being more raw and dirty, which is the way it should be.

Who the @#$%& is CindyC ?












































Just joking ............I'm with you Cindy, long time not spoken with you everthhiiinng allllrighttt

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Steve Winwood on Memo From Turner





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Search this subject as a session musician who played on the officially released Performance version says who played what and how the track came to be.

The 2nd version of the song which includes the released Mick vocal take was sent to america with just the drums/click track and Micks vocals, the american musicians including Ry Cooder then overdubbed on to this tape.

The recording order of Memo From Turner is:

Metamorphosis version(the stones with Al Kooper?)

The slow version with piano, bass, lead guitar etc. Of all the tracks this has the most Winwood/Capaldi feel to it, but who knows for sure!?

Performance(slow version II) This has the same vocal take by Mick as version 2, but with american musicians overdubs.

Interesting remark by Mick in the Whistle Test interview (thank you Nicos): "Stevie Winwood played on that" Q: "Is Ry Cooder on as well?" A: "No I don't think so, actually. Stevie plays everything apart from drums".

I mean, if there is one person who could answer the question it would be Mick, but he seems not to be sure if Ry Cooder plays on Memo at all. The best thing I can make up from this is that Memo was not recorded in some sort of jam session. Maybe His Majesty is right about Mick recording just a vocal take and others filled in the instrumental part afterwards?

The slide guitar is obviously Ry Cooder. One of the most distinctive guitar styles you'll ever hear. One of the things about slide players is way they hear pitch and vibrato differently...that's what gives the unique flavour of the playing.

marcovandereijk Wrote:
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> Interesting question: who, besides Mick and Ry
> Cooder are playing on the Performance version
> (also on London Years and Best Of Mick Jagger) of
> Memo from Turner?
>
> According to Nico Zentgraf an early version with
> Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi (on drums) was
> recorded in september 1968.
> Later (around november 1968) Al Kooper supposedly
> joined in on guitar for the Metamorphosis
> version.
> No one knows for sure if Keith plays on any
> version at all (some suggest he might even hate
> the song, because Mick and Anita were "getting
> along nicely" during the filming of Performance).

No one knows for sure, as only Jimmy Miller was present at all sessions. The released Performence version was started in London, but the tape with Jagger's voice was taken to LA's Sunset Studio by Jimmy Miller, and all instruments were rerecorded by session musicians. The vocal of the slow black Box version is exactly the same as the Performance version. We know Ry Cooder is there, but that's it. Steve Winwood and Al Kooper both have denied they are on the track. If Miller used befriended musicians changes are that Jesse Ed Davis, Dave Mason and Jim Capaldi are on the track, but this is all uncorfirmed.

Jagger was asked who are on the track (I believe in Rollin' Stone), and he said that he only knew Cooder was on the track.

Mathijs

marcovandereijk Wrote:
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> I mean, if there is one person who could answer
> the question it would be Mick, but he seems not to
> be sure if Ry Cooder plays on Memo at all.

Well, if we learned anything by the Beatles anthology series it is that nobody's memory can be trusted ;-) Especially about anything relating to the 60's ("if you can remember the 60's - you weren't there" as the saying goes).

Also, I believe, Mick Jagger's biography was not halted only because it was boring but also because he could not remember a thing. I remember Bill Wyman at the time saying in an interview that Jagger had tried to pick his brains - but Wyman had told him to wait for his (Wyman's) book to come out ;-)

I have a theory about the drummer on the performance version.
Jagger has stated that his vocals were done before the instruments on the finished article.
If you listen to the bootleg jagger version, the vocal take is identical.
The performance version is based on this version with brand new instrumentation.
Both Jim Capaldi and Gene Parsons of the byrds have been credited as the drummer for this track. If you listen to the performace version, it is without question Gene Parsons. The drumming is typical of his style and sound. For instance, When he hits a crash cymbal, he always tends to back it up with a snare drum whereas most people would back it up with the bass drum. This is not unique to him, but it is very prominent in his style of playing.
Also, some of the fills he plays and the tone of the toms remind me of his work with the Byrds.

I believe that Jim capaldi is on the basic "bootleg" version and Gene Parsons is responsible for the new overdubbed drums on the performance version, although this has not been credited properly in sleevenotes over the years.

Just a theory, don't shoot me! :-)

Well, Mick's memories suggest to me that the first slow version features Steve Winwood(the guitar, bass and piano really sounds like his playing circa 1968-69), whilst the actual released take is most definitely Ry Cooder etc.

When Stevie says he did not play on the track, he is perhaps meaning the released take. How this question has been put to him will obviously influence how he answers. Perhaps he's been played the released take and that obviously doesn't feature him.

Mick must be getting the 'Winwood on memo' thing in his head from somewhere. So it seems most likely tome that it would be the first rough slow version that was scrapped and then forgotten about. Mick then went on to send the tape with the vocal and a click/drum track over to Jack Nitzsche.

As I understand it, Jack Nitzsche was responsible for the recording and arranging of the Performance album. The musicians he used for the other tracks such as Dead Gone Train etc are the same ones used on the released Memo From Turner. Jimmy Miller didn't have any involvement with the film version of the song.

This from Russ Titelman... [209.85.135.104]

"In 1969, you found yourself playing guitar on 'Memo From Turner', for Jack Nitzsche's soundtrack to the Mick Jagger film, Performance.

Actually, the core of the studio band on that record was Randy Newman, Ry Cooder and myself, and it was recorded in Los Angeles at Western Studios. But Jagger wasn't there during our sessions. The band Traffic had done a recording of 'Memo From Turner', but Jagger and Nitzsche didn't like it. So we replaced their track, playing along to Jagger's existing vocal and a click track. I played the Keith Richards-sounding "jing-a-jing" on rhythm guitar, and Ry Cooder did the slide guitar parts.

And then Jack and I wrote 'Gone Dead Train', and Randy Newman sang it, and we cut it live. They needed a song for the credits and Jack said he wanted to lyrically use all this voodoo and blues terminology for this story of this faded rock star, a burnt-out character who can't get it up anymore. I saw the track part as Chuck Berry-like in feel but more raucous."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-10-23 15:24 by His Majesty.

His Majesty Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> As I understand it, Jack Nitzsche was responsible
> for the recording and arranging of the Performance
> album. The musicians he used for the other tracks
> such as Dead Gone Train etc are the same ones used
> on the released Memo From Turner. Jimmy Miller
> didn't have any involvement with the film version
> of the song.

I never understood this part comepletly. I distinctly remember interviews with both Miller and Jagger which stated that "Miller too the tapes to LA and recoreded Memo there". As far as I know, Miller is not credited on the track, is he?

Mathijs