“Perverted, outrageous, violent, repulsive, ugly, tasteless, incoherent, a travesty > and that’s what’s good about them”
> wrote an English newspaper of the Rolling Stones. US magazine Newsweek chimed in, calling the Stones “a leering quintet obsessed with pornographic lyrics”.

“They’re shockers. Ugly looks, ugly speech, ugly manners”
> Sydney Morning Herald newspaper during the Rolling Stones first tour of Australia

“It was very soul influenced, which was the goal at the time > Otis Redding and Solomon Burke.’’
> Mick Jagger later said of the Stones second British release album

IT’S a smooth Southern groove as bass player Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts lock it in > ably abetted by back-porch harmonica and slices of blues and rock guitar.

Mick Jagger’s earthy tone accentuates the meanderings of the blues and soul maestros to which the Rolling Stones played homage on their second album.

THE SONGS

THE Stones second album starts with a rhythm-driven rendition of the Solomon Burke gospel anthem Everybody Needs Somebody to Love. Pastor Mick Jagger pulls off a fine imitation of preaching to the congregation.

He quickly disrobes for the lustful wanton blues of Down Home Girl. The band lays a laconic beat as Jagger struggles to contain his desires down by the river.

Then it’s running down the freeway of Chuck Berry’s You Can’t Catch Me as the Rolling Stones load up on rhythm and take a trip through the New Jersey Turnpike.

Time is on My Side > with its distinctive guitar over organ start and Keith Richards guitar solo > is a cover of a song put out by soul singer Irma Thomas a few months earlier and has become one of the Rolling Stones’ signature tunes > resurrected decades later on stage as a testament to their longevity.

What A Shame  > the first of three Jagger-Richards penned songs on this album > has a right homely feel, soothing harmonica and barnyard drums.

Hard chording closes out side one of this vinyl release with the self-penned, heavy on the cymbals Grown Up Wrong. It and Suzie-Q are almost off-kilter rockers that through their harder edge separate themselves from the rest of the album. They have almost a punk flavour > and this a good dozen years before Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols swore and spewed their way to stardom.

The guitar riffs rip on top of boogie-woogie piano as the Rolling Stones hit top gear on a cover of Chuck Berry’s Down the Road Apiece > a celebration of rock and roll roadhouses.

The band fail to deliver the smooth vocals of the Drifters [well, who could] on their version of Under the Boardwalk. The Stones version did make it to No.1 on the Australian singles charts in February, 1965.

The Stones are back in the subdued blues groove with I Can’t be Satisfied > Brian Jones on slide guitar.

Pain in My Heart >original hit for soul legend Otis Redding > shows Jagger’s vocal depth but things get a bit shrill on Off the Hook > before closing with the hard-edged Suzie-Q.

POINTS OF DIFFERENCE:  The Rolling Stones released different albums in the US and Britain > with different song lists and sometimes different album titles > up until Their Satanic Majesties Request in 1967.

The British versions are usually better as they have a more whole-of-album sound, whereas the American versions are more a bunch of songs cobbled together.

The Rolling Stones  third US album > The Rolling Stones, Now! > was released a month after the second album in Britain and featured seven of its 12 tracks, including a more rock-oriented version of Everybody Needs Somebody to Love.

Best of the five different tracks on The Rolling Stones, Now! are the sulking, don’t come near me girls Heart of Stone  and blues triumph Little Red Rooster > first recorded by Howlin’ Wolf.

Little Red Rooster features moody slide guitar by Brian Jones and is said to be his most cherished musical memory in a career that would be cut short in a mystery drowning several years later.

Both these songs are available on the excellent Rolling Stones singles compilation album Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass), released in Britain in April, 1966.

THAT’S REAL LOW BROW, DEANO

1950s American crooner Dean Martin attacked the Rolling Stones when they appeared on his Hollywood Palace TV show. Dean Martin said of the Stones: “Some people have the impression that some of these new groups have long hair. It’s an optical illusion, they just have low foreheads and high eyebrows.’’

BRIAN JONES > LEADER OF THE PACK

Guitarist Brian Jones was the band’s founder and leader > not Mick Jagger or Keith Richards, both of whom later became the songwriters for the group. Jones was also their most accomplished and versatile musician.

“The Rolling Stones that I joined were led by Brian Jones. There was no doubt whatsoever who led the group in every way,” Bill Wyman wrote in his autobiography Stone Alone.

> WORDS by MALCOLM LIVERMORE

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