what book by Bill Jankowitz?
and: try out the ventilator = gun idea in the lyric and let me know how it fits for you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-01-08 17:31 by with sssoul.

with sssoul Wrote:
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> what book by Bill Jankowitz?
> and: try out the ventilator = gun idea in the
> lyric and let me know how it fits for you.


The Exile book...
You don't know it?

The Ventilator = Gun works too. If a ventilator is a gun in the lyric, Mick doesn't just want to get some fresh air and get out of the studio: He wants to kill himself (And everyboy else too) just to get away from the Nellcote madness. I must say that this is in pure Mick Jagger golden era lyrics fashion. Great song too.

JumpingKentFlash

are you sure it's a Mick lyric and not a Glimmer Twin collaboration?

as for what Jankowitz book: i figured out what you meant in the meantime, thanks -
do you mean it's the source of the details Lightnin' posted, or ... ?

with sssoul Wrote:
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> are you sure it's a Mick lyric and not a Glimmer
> Twin collaboration?

I don't know actually. Could be. It's a valid guess anyway.


> as for what Jankowitz book: i figured out what you
> meant in the meantime, thanks -
> do you mean it's the source of the details
> Lightnin' posted, or ... ?

It's been sometime since I read it, so I can't remember. I only remember that it was a great read apart from the few bits I didn't like.

JumpingKentFlash

>> I don't know actually. Could be. It's a valid guess anyway. <<

i don't know either. it sounds like someone whose stash has run out and whose dealer hasn't shown up -
that kind of shaking, paranoid dismalness - which doesn't mean Mick didn't write it, of course.
but ... i don't know, the whole lyric just sounds like a collaborative effort to me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-01-08 20:32 by with sssoul.

I didn't know either for the ventilator being a gun.
(I never found "ventilator" in slang or blues dictionary)
But it seems that you are right, with sssoul.
It fits well with the lyrics.
Thanks for that.

cool, i'm glad - sorry i didn't mention it earlier, but it's one of things that was always so plain to me
that i never thought before about it not being plain to everybody. i think it may be straight out of
Chicago gangster films, where an offer to ventilate somebody doesn't mean with a fan.
Chicago gangster films are full of charmingly witty idioms like that.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-01-09 00:59 by with sssoul.

Once again I thank with sssoul AND Lightnin' for additional info & reminders in the latter's case.

Thinkin' of it in a gun-sorta way, it all fits.

Still... Imagine the scent down there... All the pot.. Cigs, fags.
And Keef on the loo all the time.........

Nice insight fellas

VB is one of the meat and potatoes songs from Exile that powerfully and falsely created the image of the band as an authentic, gritty blues/boogie outfit tapped into the American roots of that music. The other songs are SYH, CBoogie,TOTR, SBD and to some extent T&F. I say powerfully because those songs have an indeliable impact on the image of the band or the image of the sound of the band. I say falsely because that sound has never been or has never been adequately reproduced on stage. And the band has hardly tried. As far as the band's live sound goes, those songs are fictions. It is only a product of the Exile album.

For a '72 change of pace the Vancouver show is well worth revisiting IMO. The Idol Mind version is the better of the two. It has clumsy moments, true, but there is an authenticity to what you hear and a charming lack of guile. Listen to T&F stumble before Keith and Taylor find their spots. This is music being played, not merely performed. Same with VB. We are all familiar with the sound of the band on that tour in Texas, Philadelphia and NYC. But I find that first show refreshing to listen to.

Trivia time: The Vancouver show is the only show that I know of where Keith stood stage left, not stage right.

bit of a contradiction here:

pmk251 Wrote:
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> falsely created the
> image of the band as an authentic, gritty
> blues/boogie outfit

> true, but there is an authenticity to what you
> hear

or I guess I don't get what you're trying to say. Why is it "false" or fictitious to sound different live from studio, even if one agrees that they do sound different? Is it "false" that they never sounded like "Moonlight Mile" onstage, or "We Love You"?

> that I know of where Keith stood stage left, not
> stage right.

you probably mean the reverse.

After the elaborate explanations above of the meaning of ventilator in Chicago slang I am feeling quite embarrassed to share my interpretation of the "don't fight it" line in combination with a ventilator as being some Don Quijote reference.

But hey, I am from the country of the windmills, so please excuse me.

I listened to the Vancouver '72 show again. They are working through the arrangements. There are some different rhythm patterns than they eventually settled on. They stumble a couple of times during some songs and a couple of ending are awkward, but there is no denying the power of the guitar work. Most of that show is very nice and the "extra" songs make this show notable. They find a groove on VB, but then it ends rather abruptly. Not sure why. Taylor has a wonderful run during T&F. Again, the Idol Mind version is the better of the two. It is not a great recording, but very listenable even for the casual collector.

Speaking of the Exile period, I think the Montreux rehearsal footage provides as close a look at what those sessions must have sounded like, at least with respect to the boogie sound on SYH.