I used to love Mott. The campiness. The weird English accents (to my California ears). Ian Hunter was a pretty good lyricist. The band's cover of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane" is the best version of that song ever recorded. And you're right, "Mott" is a little masterpiece. "Drivin' Sister" is a blistering rock song, a genuine classic. I used to put it o
Forum: Tell Me

Wht they ought to call it: The "Don't Let Your Ass Hit the Door on the Way Out" tour.
Forum: Tell Me

This is a joke, right? The National Forest Service doesn't put up markers to commemorate people like Gram Parsons or celebrity overdoses. This LA Times article mentions make-shift markers in the park, but that's about all there is. Have you been to Joshua Tree?
Forum: Tell Me

Loved him! I hope this new documentary sparks an interest in his music. He covered so much ground. His early records reflected the Brill Building sound of the Ronettes and early Phil Spector. For his third album "Le Chat Bleu" (1979), he used Edit Piaf's arranger and recorded the album in Paris. I think this one is his masterpiece. He moved to New Orleans in 1990 and recor
Forum: Tell Me

When "Hot Stuff" came out in 1976, a lot of people said it showed the Stones were through. Disco was already three or four years old by then. Why were the Stones playing this old-hat music? I think it's the weakest song on "Black and Blue," weaker even than "Crazy Mama."
Forum: Tell Me

Peelleart also did the cover of David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" album. His "Rock Dreams" book was popular when it came out in 1973. Diamond Dogs on Wikipedia
Forum: Tell Me

According to Variety magazine, there is a new documentary about Anita Pallenberg called "Anita." It's "one of the darkest portraits of the rock world," the magazine says. "Anita" review
Forum: Tell Me

Loved his novels! A very funny man, an acrobatic linguist, a keen critic of modern culture.
Forum: Tell Me

Hilarious! Thanks for sharing.
Forum: Tell Me

The song owes a lot to the great Billy Preston, who came up with the bass line. What's a disco song without a good bass line? Preston should've been given a writing credit, but the Stones were never very generous giving those away.
Forum: Tell Me

I sometimes wonder what he would be doing if he were still alive. He was deep into psychedelics. He would've outgrown that and become a great blues musician, I bet. Jimi was doomed to die early. The gods loved him. They wanted him for themselves.
Forum: Tell Me

I was in a taxi cab in New York City. I was a tourist there. The driver was what we used to call a "greaser" -- a guy with his hair slicked back 1950s style. The news came over the radio. The driver wept.
Forum: Tell Me

Dr. John was a great musician. I saw him on December 31, 1975 at the Los Angeles Forum, opening for Frank Zappa. Can't say I enjoyed it very much, The Doctor wasn't meant to play arenas. His funky "Right Place, Wrong Time" was a breath of fresh air on the radio in 1973.
Forum: Tell Me

A Willy DeVille documentary, "Heaven Stood Still," is supposed to come out soon. I'm a big Willy DeVille fan. Jack Nitzsche said DeVille was the best R&B singer he ever worked with, and he worked with Jagger.
Forum: Tell Me

Interesting take on "Gimme Shelter" from rock critic Greil Marcus. "The end of the 1960s for me...was when the Rolling Stones played 'Gimme Shelter'." How Rock & Roll Provoked The 1960s To Begin & To End
Forum: Tell Me

In California in the 1970s, if you asked someone how they were doing, they might answer "Seeds and stems again." It was part of the vernacular.
Forum: Tell Me

The great mystery to me is not whether they dye their hair, because of course they do. The mystery to me is why those old men have full heads of hair. Some sophisticated new hair implant technology, I reckon.
Forum: Tell Me

It's kind of hard to disassociate the album covers from the music on the album. I always thought the "Let It Bleed" cover was kind of daft (cake and bicycle wheel floating above disembodied stereo needle and record), but the music inside is so good, who cares?
Forum: Tell Me

"All Down the Line." Listen to the fillers. All Down the Line
Forum: Tell Me

A beautiful woman. Her collaboration with the Chieftains on "Red Is the Rose" is one of my favorite songs: Nanci Griffith & The Chieftains - Red is the Rose
Forum: Tell Me

I'm sure the different jazz musicians all had their reasons, mercantile or otherwise, for playing with the Stones. A word about Sonny Rollins' contributions to "Tattoo You": He made that record much, much better than it would otherwise have been. His playing on "Slave" and "Waiting on a Friend" push those songs to a higher level. Has anybody ever made
Forum: Tell Me

Thanks for posting this. You had me going back to the Ya-Yas version, which I haven't listened to in a long time. I like the straightforward simplicity of the 1969 recording. Still, no matter, the 1972 Ladies and Gentlemen version is my favorite.
Forum: Tell Me

Jethro Tull was big in the early 1970s. Where I come from in California at least, their Englishness was considered very exotic. All the cool kids had their albums. "Locomotive Breath" is my favorite Jethro Tull song. With "Bungle in the Jungle" in 1974 (their last hit) their music started to fall off and die a quiet death. Funny how few people care about them now when yo
Forum: Tell Me

Love the man! I wish him all the best and hope he gets back to himself very, very soon. His drumming is the secret sauce in the Stones' sound. He's a jazz drummer, and a good one, in a rock and roll band. Get well soon Charles Watts!
Forum: Tell Me

The Big Lebowski - Tell Me About Yourself Jeffrey.
Forum: Tell Me

Elvis Presley is number 100 and Sid Vicious is number 74? How are you supposed to take a list like this seriously? This list is a big troll. Don't feed trolls.
Forum: Tell Me

You can't go ranking the 18 songs on "Exile on Main Street." There are no songs on that album. There are 18 movements. You have to listen to that record in one sitting in order from the first movement, "Rocks Off," to the last, "Soul Survivor." Along the way you will explore many peaks and valleys. You will hear something you never heard in the 412 previous time
Forum: Tell Me

Best blues number in my opinion is "Love in Vain" live, both the version recorded in New York in 1969 ("Ya-Yas Out") and the 1973 version recorded in Belgium ("Bedspring Symphony") The song is a cover of a Robert Johnson classic. What I like about these recordings is how slow and sad they are. The song is a very, very sad one. A man takes the lady he loves to board a
Forum: Tell Me

Glad to find out others like "Melody." I really thought I was the only one.
Forum: Tell Me

I was first on my block to get it because the guy at the local record store knew what a big Stones fan I was. He had a copy especially for me. I took it home and played it right away. I told my mom I couldn't come to dinner because I had something very important to do. I was disappointed on the first hearing, but the album has grown on me over the years. "Fool to Cry" is a beaut
Forum: Tell Me