by Mott the Dog
5 Stars *****
The Rolling Stones, the “Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll
Band in the World”, has always been the claim. When you look back over
the last forty years, it is a pretty hard one to dispute. Starting off
playing Blues covers of their American heroes to a faithful few in South
London’s Youth Clubs, to worldwide domination of both the album charts
and, starting up and then ruling ground breaking huge money making Stadium
Rock.
Of course, along the way there have been various ups
and downs that, if anybody had written down as a work of fiction, people
would of claimed it to have been too preposterous to be anywhere near the
truth. After a few cover songs to break them into the British charts
(including the fabulous ‘I wanna be your Man’, written for them by
“The Beatles”), Jagger - Richards started writing hits of their own,
which would in turn be covered by almost every band that followed in their
footsteps. Hit albums followed with more hit singles; success
ful tours in
all parts of the globe ... Then it all went momentarily wrong. Original
leader and guitarist Brian Jones left the band and then mysteriously
drowned in his own swimming pool; drug busts and prison sentences (later
squashed after famously being compared to using a rack to crush a
butterfly in an open letter to “The Times”); a failed single;
difficulty with confectionery; and the keyboard seat becoming about as
welcome as the drum stool in Spinal Tap. The boys proved that, although
they looked and acted as the proverbial dirty rockers, there was a fair
amount of grey matter there too, so more hit singles were written, more
international best-selling albums were released, and more than all their
peers, The Stones kept on rolling.
As the years rolled past, each album was released to
great expectations (some living up to those expectations - some not). Each
world tour sold out faster than the last one and to bigger and bigger
audiences. Guitarists arrived, two even left. Mick Jagger made terrible
movies (I mean have you seen ‘Freejack’?) and he released even worse
solo albums claiming he did not need the rest of the band, and then
scampered back to the safety of the Stones when he realized he did. He had
more affairs with a string of glamorous and ever younger women than even
Casanova was reported to have had. Keith and Ronnie Wood made some
reasonable solo albums in their spare time, but not exactly
groundbreaking, while Charlie Watts was always just Charlie.
“No Security” is a collection of live songs from
the ‘Bridges of Babylon Tour’. A nice little memento if you caught the
tour or a reminder of what you missed if you didn’t. “No Security”
is the seventh Stones live album and their second in three years at the
time, so by its very notion it could not be a straight collection of songs
recorded as in concert running order. You cannot just go banging out
versions of ‘Jumpin Jack Flash’, ‘Honky Tonk Woman’, and
‘Satisfaction’ like a continuous conveyer belt of Greatest Hits every
time you go on tour, expecting your loyal fans to keep on forking out
their hard earned bucks. On the other hand, when so much work has gone
into a tour, why let the bootleggers get all the money by releasing the
live recording? So the Stones took a great attitude and released a
collection of songs from the tour that were a little bit special.
On “No Security” the Stones flex their collective
musical muscle by opening up with the aptly named “You Got Me
Rocking”, which immediately has Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood grooving
along on guitar with Keith delivering an awe inspiring solo.
Next up is the finest version of “Gimme Shelter”
this dog has ever heard, the whole band positively shimmers and when it
gets to the call and response chorus of “Just A Kiss away”, Mick
Jagger and the wonderful Lisa Fischer taunt each other to the end.
We then get a live version of probably the only good
song from the terrible mid-seventies album “Black ‘n’ Blue”
‘Memory Motel’. While a great version, I would still rather have Keith
Richards singing his half of the duet rather than special guest Dave
Matthews. I mean, he does a fair version, but then he is no Keith
Richards, but then who is?
The next guest is truly phenomenal, though, as long
time Stone inspiration Taj Mahal gets up to growl his way through a
version of his “Corinna”. This alone is worth the price of the album.
The beautiful ballad “Waiting on a Friend” is an
inspired run through with famous jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman taking the
solo (Bobby Keys is the regular saxophonist for the Stones and gets his
chance to shine on the final track, an extended version of “Out Of
Control”).
Keith gets his turn in the vocal spotlight with his own
“Thief in the Night”. The audience gets a chance to sing their
collective hearts out with Mick Jagger as the conductor on “Saint of
me”. “Sister Morphine” from the “Sticky Fingers” album is
completely rearranged for this live outing, and the band reach back to
1965 for their third British number one (when it meant something to have a
number one hit single). “The Last Time” they play with as much gusto
as if they had written it last week.
The version of “Respectable” from the “Some
Girls” album leaves the studio version in tatters. “Live With Me”,
the only song here repeated from the proper first Rolling Stones live
album “Get Your Ya Ya’s Out”. It shows the band has lost none of its
thunderous ability or masterhood of getting down and dirty with the best
of them. Nobody plays as sleazy as these boys. The opening bass line
leaves most jaws on the ground. Although probably not the best ever
“Rolling Stones” live album, it surely wipes the floor with almost any
other band.
On April 10th, 2003 the Rolling Stones are coming to
the Impact Arena, Bangkok, Thailand. It will be the first time the Stones
have played in Thailand and let me assure you, it is an event not to be
missed. The band, with its full entourage, has just swept through America,
Australia, and Japan. This leg of the “Forty Licks” tour is probably
the last time the band comes out and does such a large world wide tour. (I
use the word probably, as whoever knows with these guys. I mean Keith
Richards is the only man on the planet known to be indestructible, but on
the other hand sixty has passed by for some and is very close to others.)
Nowadays there are more than sixteen musicians on
stage, plus who knows how many others. Backstage, out front, in the back
office, in the wings, drivers, etc. ... it’s a long way from those
nightclubs in South London. All the tour reviews have been excellent and
the Stones are proud of the fact that they have rehearsed over one hundred
and forty shows and are tapering each show to suit their audience. It will
be interesting to see what they give to Thailand, but it will certainly be
Satisfaction (And hopefully “Midnight Rambler”).
Musicians
Mick Jagger - Vocals
Keith Richards - Guitar and Vocals
Charlie Watts - Drums
Ronnie Woods - Guitar
Darryl Jones - Bass
Bobby Keys - Saxophone
Lisa Fischer - Vocals
Many other assorted musicians, all excellent
Songs
Intro
You Got Me Rocking
Gimme Shelter
Flip The Switch
Memory Motel
Corrina
Saint Of Me
Waiting On A Friend
Sister Morphine
Live With Me
Respectable
Thief In The Night
The Last Time
Out of Control
To contact Mott the Dog email: [email protected]
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