People like to slag Taylor for "over the top" playing, but nothing he ever played on stage with the Stones comes close to the excess of Ronnie's solo on YCAGWYW. It is another low point for the band. That solo is one long non sequitar. It sounds like someone in his garage showing his mom every phrase he's learned how to play. It's that unmusical. "I can play thi
Forum: Tell Me

The Rolling Stones doing a blues show? Bad idea. It is amazing to me how enduring is the image of the band. The image is mythic. The band is not a blues band and whatever it has done in the blues genre that bears any authenticity was done with guitarists who are no longer in the band. The number of people who would enjoy that type show would number a few thousand. The rest of the 60,000 peo
Forum: Tell Me

Beautiful Boy by John Lennon - For obvious reasons. Helpless by Neil Young at The Last Waltz - Don't know why exactly, but it gets to me. Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Judy Garland - Her and Janis dig so deep it's scary. In My Room by Brian Wilson - A fragile soul looking for peace. Don't we all? With God On Our Side by Bob Dylan - So sad because it's so horrifyi
Forum: Tell Me

<<Recently I found a Mick Taylor show in my collection that was not even listed on Nico's site. The first thing I did (without hesitation) was to upload this show to dimeadozen.>> You're a good man! It's exciting to hear there is some Forum '69 footage available. If it is the 2nd show, I was there. Maybe I'll get to see it before I die. I feel the sam
Forum: Tell Me

Curious after all these years...I've never heard of anyone coming forward to say "I said that. That's me." Has anyone seen anything about the identity of that girl? I read someone claiming to be Dylan's "Judas" shouter has appeared.
Forum: Tell Me

It's been a number of years since I read Graham's autobiography, so I hope I recall this correctly: For Graham promoting the Stones was the top of the heap. Business and personal-wise he was very proud of that. According to Graham he sat next to Jagger on an airplane and tried to talk him into having him promote the next tour. He asked Jagger "Really, what is the difference betw
Forum: Tell Me

>>Can someone please post this? I have both shows of 9/8 but cannot find 9/9, Wait, is it on Definitive Brussels disc 2? I'm at work and can't check.>> Yeah, Zack, it is. <<Gimme Shelter - Philly '72>> Yeah, that would be one of many picks. The 7/21, 1st, performance is killer.
Forum: Tell Me

Take your pick, but the point is: After all these years it's music still worth listening to...closely. I am grateful that the booters have preserved so many of these shows. Best? Who knows? There's lots of them. But my fav is the Brussels TD. Who'da thunk that there could be a groove within a groove and that it could swing and be so exciting? That performance is like a sym
Forum: Tell Me

Yes, it's a must have. The sound quality is terrific and it's the band at the end of its still "small" period. Taylor playing on DF and LIV makes it vital. And there's a very funky Satisfaction. They don't experiment like that anymore. I've seen written by someone that '70-'71 was the band at its best. It's not worth arguing about, but I unde
Forum: Tell Me

In January I saw Brian perform Pet Sounds live in Oakland. He was on stage with 11 (if a recall correctly) other musicians, including the always supportive Al Jardin. It occurred to me that I never understood Pet Sounds. Brian had outgrown the Beach Boys format. He was painting on a much broader palette. He wasn't writing Beach Boy songs anymore. He wasn't writing for Capitol Reco
Forum: Tell Me

Speaking of Brian...I am no expert on what is available on video from the Brian era, but if there is anything better than the TAMI show footage, I'd like to know about it. It has been a long time since I'd seen that show. I watched it again recently. Lots of fun stuff there, but the Stones performance knocked me out. The camera work is stunning. A wonderful reminder about why they
Forum: Tell Me

<Ohhhhh, I see...you're supposed to play the guitar at the end of the song instead of waving.> Funny! I've often thought Taylor's last dozen or so notes at the end of a song are better than another's solos.
Forum: Tell Me

Relationships get to critical points. You break-up or adapt. By '73 Taylor was getting bored and I think he wanted to make HIS mark and get HIS due. It is understandable for a man at that time in his life. Looking back on it he overestimated his ambition. But I do not "freeze" him in time when I speculate what would have happened if he stayed. Once he got past the need to mak
Forum: Tell Me

When it is all said and done, when you no longer have the benefit of SEEING them, you will be left with the music. Some of it will stand the test of time. Some of it already has. Some of it won't. Not only do I not enjoy the boots anymore, once you get past the impact of seeing them on stage and tune in to what is being played, they ain't too exciting live either. As long as peop
Forum: Tell Me

For two reasons I think Brussels is the most significant Stones recording of the post-Brian era. It documents so well what has never been sufficiently released to the general public, i.e., the band playing live with Mick Taylor on lead guitar. And it is hard to get past the wonderful sound quality. Having said that and with a couple of exceptions I think I could go through the setlist song by
Forum: Tell Me

This topic caught my eye because I spent time in the last few days re-visiting the '64 TAMI show. I has been a while since I'd last seen it. I would like to know if there is better BJ era footage because this is pretty damn compelling. There is one marvelous shot during "It's All Over Now" when the camera pans behind Brian toward Jagger and you can see the audience fro
Forum: Tell Me

bp617: I think that is a fair comment about those BS performances. The guitars rocked and Bob sang the words like "Who cares?" That Fall '02 tour was interesting. Bob put down the guitar (thank god!) and got out of the way of his players, Larry Campbell and Charlie Sexton, who can really drive a song make it swing. The numerous cover songs were fun too. Red Bluff is one of my
Forum: Tell Me

It is the subtle difference between playing and creating music and merely performing it. Where you draw that line is difficult, but the two are worlds apart. You instinctively feel it in your gut. In '72 the band was a guitar band, playing TO the audience. As time went on it became a performance band, playing FOR the audience. It became a facsimile of itself.
Forum: Tell Me

IMO the quintessential live "Exile" version is MSG 7/26/72. Everything they played before or after, no matter how good, is a variation.
Forum: Tell Me

To lift a word from a friend, I find that performance "compelling." The show the following day was one of the greatest the band ever gave.
Forum: Tell Me

The Bluesbreakers Reunion period from '82-'84 showcases some of Taylor's best playing. He is in his element here. He's the star of the show without having to be the star. Mayall is supportive and encouraging and gives him plenty of room to move. He would often put his guitarist on the spot and egg him on. During these shows Taylor's guitar really swings. Recordings
Forum: Tell Me

I don't remember this being a particularly good recording, but for the two acoustic blues which come through very nicely. Doesn't Jagger blame his voice on the "desert?" This was the 7th show in 5 days. No wonder. I'll have to re-visit this one again
Forum: Tell Me

Generally speaking, Woody's slide playing tends to be repetitve. He grabs a phrase and plays it over and over, like he's stuck on it. He has neither the imagination nor the skill to expand it. If he talked the way he plays guitar he would say a few words, then either stop or start stuttering. And what he says is not interesting. He is a guitar player of no significance. His guitar
Forum: Tell Me

The '84 European tour is not a popular one with the Bobcats, but it is a treasure trove for Taylor fans. It is basically Bob fronting an English RnR band. It was an under-rehearsed tour. Early in the tour the band is winging it. The band was sloppy and confused, but got much better as it went along. Bob does not take 7 weeks to rehearse songs he's been playing for years. I think t
Forum: Tell Me

The Janis footage is priceless. She is fun, energetic, positive and imminently REAL. When she is "on" she is fearless, completely out on the limb, tears her heart out and leaves blood on the stage. This country has produced no better blues and soul singer. When she does "Ball & Chain" she gives me goosebumps.
Forum: Tell Me

<It would be great to have a few soundboards w/just bass, drums and Keith's guitar in the mix. His sound was a little muddy on that tour, maybe because of the obscene volume the music was amplified to.> I suggest the Pittsburgh '72 soundboard. I call that recording a basic Stones 101 in guitar playing. There is almost complete separation of the guitars in the left and right c
Forum: Tell Me

OOC: A song about emotional turmoil that the band cannot pull off without cueing the audience with flashing lights and a spastic dance. It should be re-named "I'm Having A Fit." Ronnie wails away on the wah-wah satisfied that he's making noise. Can't the band convey anything musically without the cues? Interesting that MR is mentioned here because the band is doing th
Forum: Tell Me

I was listening to some Europe '70 shows and was struck my Jagger's singing. He was playing with the phrasings and it was at times very soulful.
Forum: Tell Me

Hard to argue about the famous Wembley '73 performance, but I would point out that it was the show closer for that era and designed to be wild, psychedelic and make the audience feel like they've been run over by a truck. It is a performance suited to the song's purpose in the setlist. I would mention the JJF>SFM from Frankfurt '73, 2nd. Listen to Taylor sitting on the
Forum: Tell Me

Time has a way of preserving the best and submerging the trite. When it's all said and done, when people no longer have the benefit of SEEING this band or experiencing its now waning charisma what will be left is the music...what has been released and what has been preserved by the bootleggers. There are now Stones boots that are 40+ years old, so there is no reason to think that they will
Forum: Tell Me