Customer Reviews

Between the Buttons

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's hard to call any Stones album "overlooked", but "Between The Buttons" comes closest to that tag. The US version available on CD includes both sides of the #1 single "Ruby Tuesday" (one of their all-time finest ballads, with a chorus which never grows tired even after hundreds of listenings) b/w "Let's Spend The Night Together", but there are many more delights to be found on the record: tentative attempts at psychedelia ("Yesterday's Papers", "All Sold Out"), Kinks-inspired music-hall kitsch ("Cool Calm Collected", "Something Happened To Me Yesterday") and some of their hardest rockers to date ("My Obsession", "Miss Amanda Jones") make this a unique and fascinating record in the group's career. The original UK album also featured the seductive French waltz "Back Street Girl" and Bo-Diddley-on-acid "Please Go Home". Those looking for the classic Stones sound found on "Beggar's Banquet"or "Exile" won't really find it here, but it's also refreshing to hear a great Stones album which doesn't adhere to their later formula. Overall, "Between The Buttons" reflects its era--post-"Revolver", pre-"Pepper" Swinging London at its glittery best--with a clutch of catchy tunes and varying moods. Jagger later professed to disappointment in the results, but since when was he ever right about anything!

This album was panned by the critics but is loved by those of us who have taken the time to check it out. My only complaint is the inclusion of Let's Spend The Night Together and Ruby Tuesday which do not belong on this album. They were only put on to cash in on their hit status. On the original UK version they are left off and the songs Back Street Girl and Please Go Home appear. Also if you have the original on vinyl there is a cartoon on the back drawn by Charlie Watts. Whether you have the US or UK version this album is a lot of fun to listen to. One of the many highlights of this album is Keith's vocals on Something Happened to Me Yesterday. Keith sings lead for the first time. This tune is supposedly about Mick's first experience with acid. This album is unique for the Rolling Stones. Noone has recorded anything like it before or since. The only thing that comes close (about a million miles away) is Paul McCartney's Wings Wild Life which was a radical departure from the rest of his work. When I first bought this album (US version) over 20 years ago I played it once or twice and forgot about it. Years later I bought it on cassette (UK version). I started playing it in my car and I was hooked. Don't overlook this album like I did. It is an underated, often forgotten Stones' classic.

I'm really more of a fan of stuff like Beggers banquet and Exile on Main Street but still, this is a pretty good album. I love how Mick Jagger was always so cynical about love in these early songs, hes always getting dumped or leaving some poor girl, always getting hurt or hurting his girlfriend. The only song not like that on this album is She Smiled Sweetly and he just doesn't sound like himself. Something Happened to Me Yesterday is a great song about taking LSD for the first time, Ruby Tuesday is one of their best songs,I think I read somewhere that its about a groupie. Cool, Calm , Collected is a neat, though rather different song. This album is one of the best albums of the mid sixties but its really not at all like their later albums, its more poppy, but still its a pretty good album and has a nice carnaby street sixties feel to it.

This is the un-remastered February 10, 1967 - U.S. London release. To further explain:

With the release of the remastered super audio CDs (SACD) of the Stones ABCKO catalog (which includes all the early Decca/London material), there are now 2 different Between The Buttons releases available, the original UK version that was released on January 20, 1967 and the US version that was released on February 10, 1967. There are now 2 US versions, the original CD release (which is the same mix as the original vinyl release) and the remastered version, which has much better sound, although some reviewers are commenting that not all tracks have been mixed to the same quality level.

In addition, the UK and US versions include different tracks. The Stones designed the UK release, which did not include the just released single Let's Spend The Night Together and Ruby Tuesday. The American record execs removed Back Street Girl and Please Go Home to make room for the two single cuts. To clarify:

There are 3 Between The Buttons releases:
January 20, 1967 - U.K. Decca (remastered on SACD)
.....does not include Let's Spend The Night Together and Ruby Tuesday
February 10, 1967 - U.S. London (remastered on SACD)
.....does not include Back Street Girl and Please Go Home
February 10, 1967 - U.S. London (not remastered)
.....does not include Back Street Girl and Please Go Home

Back Street Girl and Please Go Home were released in the U.S. on the Flowers album on July 14, 1967. Let's Spend The Night Together and Ruby Tuesday were released on an album in the U.K. on Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) on September 12, 1969.

Note: ABCKO acquired the Stones' catalog when Allen Klein became their manager in the 70s. The resulting legal battles produced releases that the Stones opposed (they took out full page adds asking fans not to buy them), including the controversial Metamorphosis releases (which are now available on CD for the 1st time ever). But the sad fact is that the Stones lost control of their great early material. With the remastered SACD releases, we at last have some idea of what they really sounded like in the studio. I guess if we had these 40 years ago they would have ended up Greatest Rock And Roll Band in the Universe instead of just the Greatest Rock And Roll Band in the World.

The Between The Buttons tracks were recorded in 1966 as follows:

Aug 3-11, 1966 at RCA Studios in Hollywood
.....Who's Been Sleeping Here?
.....Miss Amanda Jones
.....Connection
.....Back Street Girl
.....All Sold Out
.....Please Go Home
.....Let's Spend The Night Together
.....Something Happened To Me Yesterday
.....Cool, Calm, Collected
.....Complicated
.....Yesterday's Papers
.....She Smiled Sweetly
.....My Obsession
Nov 9-26, 1966 at Olympic and Pye Studios in London
.....Ruby Tuesday
.....final mixes were done on all the Aug RCA Studio tracks as well

Tracks recorded at the Aug RCA sessions but not released on Between The Buttons were:
.....Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?
.....Who's Driving Your Plane (also released as Who's Driving My Plane)
Tracks recorded at the Aug RCA sessions but never released were:
.....Panama Powder Room
.....Godzi
.....Get Yourself Together
.....Something BB
Tracks recorded at the Nov Olympic/Pye sessions but not released on Between The Buttons were:
.....Dandelion
Tracks recorded at the Aug RCA sessions but never released were:
.....Trouble In Mind
.....English Summer

An interesting note is that English Summer was intended as a UK single release, but it was put on hold (and never released) when Brian, Mick, and Keith's arrests began in the summer of 67. We Love You was released instead. It was recorded with Nicky Hopkins, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney as a thank you for fan support during the trials.

This information comes from "It's Only Rock And Roll: The Ultimate Guide To The Rolling Stones" by Karnbach and Bernson and from my own collection.

Bah...Between the Buttons was one of my favorite Stones albums, and I guess it still is, but....well, this release really shows you how awful ABKCO's treatment of these classic works is. Hissy, and using the "incorrect" American tracklisting, the album loses lots of its power. It is, however, still excellent...I just wish that a competent CD company could release this material.

The last of the "butchered" Stones titles is an odd collection of songs which Jagger once labeled, "...a complete wash but for one or two tracks...". The UK pressing did not contain either of the hit singles related to the recording sessions of this album, yet the two alternative selections were impressive. The US pressing omitted 2 great songs from the earlier UK issue (Please Go Home & Back Street Girl), replacing them with the double-hit, Let's Spend the Night Together/Ruby Tuesday. Upon release this title was not well received but has since been recognized as a Jones-era classic. Miss Amanda Jones provided a theme to the 1987 film Some Kind of Wonderful, and She Smiled Sweetly offered a touching moment from The Royal Tenenbaums. Still hard to listen to from start to finish, it is nonetheless valuable for at least a few reasons. Keith gets his first shot at lead vox, sharing the spotlight with Jagger on Something Happened To Me Yesterday. Back cover art by Mr. Charlie Watts.

Buttons is not your conventional Stones LP, but give it time, it'll grow on you. The 2 sole hits are Let's Spend the Night Together (heavy on piano and organ) and the sensitive Ruby Tuesday (a ballad featuring Brian on recorder). The catchy Connection and the hard rocking Miss Amanda Jones (they should consider adding these 2 songs in concert if they ever tour again) are 2 more great underrated tracks. All Sold Out sounds like a precursor to Citadel. The most interesting "strange" tracks include Something Happened to Me Yesterday (obviously a drug song with a Salvation Army style band in the background), the cockney flavoured Cool, Calm, and Collected, and the folksy Who's Been Sleeping Here? (which of all things is about the 3 Bears!) Charlie's liner notes and drawings are amusing and as a whole, this album is a great moment before the infamous drug busts which would come to the Stones only months before this release.

Here's a group known for playing more American forms of music - rock, blues, country, soul - going completely British on us. It's an eccentric, goofy, piano-dominated album that sounds like some weird theater music. But it's fun! Ah, yes, it is the most fun album in the Stones catalogue! I like this one a lot, I do.

There is a bit of rock, but just a bit. On the (slightly) more rockin' side is "Connection," which has a fuzzy guitar, "Let's Spend the Night Together," which is just amazing (I shouldn't need to talk much about it, because you probably already know it, but I love the harmonies on it), the grumbly blues-rocker "My Obsession," the heavy, fuzzed-out "All Sold Out," which even then has this awesome flute part that is not rock at all, and "Miss Amanda Jones," a blast with some searing guitars. And even then, none of those are the classic butt-kickin' warhorses like "Jumpin' Jack Flash" or "Satisfaction." "Amanda Jones," for instance, has tinkling cabaret piano in the choruses.

Most the album is screwed-up music hall. "Cool Calm and Collected" is a jolly good time, a jaunty piano tune with solos by everything from harmonica to kazoo. "Yesterday's Papers," augmented by a harpsichord, is bouncy fun, and "Complicated" sounds like a totally groovy spy movie theme with Keith doing a hilariously stupid pirate laugh. And how can you not like something as fun as "Something Happened to Me Yesterday?" It's like Monty Python! How can you not like Monty Python? Keith sings on it, too! And it's about tripping on acid, man! And it's got stupid show tune horns! I mean, it's hilarious! These songs are even more un-Stonesy than Aftermath, but they work, because they're the Rolling Stones and they're absolutely brilliant. Go figure.

"Ruby Tuesday" also deserves a lot of recognition, being one of the Stones' greatest ballads (though I still think "Wild Horses" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" are stronger). Brian Jones is at his finest playing that beautiful recorder that supplants the melody and makes the song something truly memorable. I mean, the song had a fantastic melody and top-notch vocal in the first place, but the recorder really pushes it through the top. I love the choruses, too, when the song abruptly speeds up thanks to Charlie's awesome, unexpected drum entrance. Ah, what a song, that "Ruby Tuesday!"

Obviously, not every song is as awesome as "Ruby Tuesday" or "Let's Spend the Night Together." I probably would've wanted a couple more of those to push the rating on this one even higher. But hey, every song is enjoyable to some degree, even the infamous Dylan rip "Who's Been Sleeping Here?" and the uneventful but melodic "She Smiled Sweetly," a barely audible ballad. It's another side of the Rolling Stones, a side you're probably not used to, but give it a chance. It's great!

After releasing the dark and moody "Aftermath", The Rolling Stones released in 1967, "Between The Buttons" which is the antithesis of "Aftermath." Both this album and "Aftermath" are the best Rolling Stones albums before they went into their classic album period("Beggars Banquet," "Let It Bleed," "Exile On Main Street" etc..) "Between The Buttons" is an upbeat collection of pop driven songs with fun lyrics, no blues or bad boy lyrics here. It manages to be upbeat and poppy without copying its contemporaries like The Beatles or The Beach Boys which were doing "upbeat" music; "Between The Buttons" is still a Rolling Stones album. This may in fact be one of the most brilliant moves The Stones have made in their careers and "Between The Buttons" needs to get more attention. The best song on the album is "Ruby Tuesday," which I would rank high on a list of my favorite Stones songs of all-time. Other notable songs are: "Let's Spend The Night Together", "Cool, Calm and, Collected," "Connection," and "Miss Amanda Jones." The Rolling Stones never did get as fun as this, so if you own all The Rolling Stones essentials, pick "Between The Buttons" up.

1967 was a glorious year indeed, for British pop music. The music of bands such as the Beatles (Seargeant Pepper's) and the Who (Sell Out) was becoming increasingly more stylized and conceptual as the focus continued to shift further away from the singles format towards the greater artistic freedom found in the long play record. This time was also ground zero of the hippy/psychedelic movement on both sides of the Atlantic, and the veritable tidal-wave of good vibrations seemed to infuse itself into the music of the leading bands. The Stones were no exception to this. Although they would eventually fall prey to the inevitable excesses of this era (see Their Satanic Majesty's Request,) Mick, Keith and the rest of the boys surfed the initial crest of the zeitgeist in true style. Following the groundbreaking if at times nasty, Aftermath, Between the Buttons is a veritable feast of soul, jangly guitars, sitars and shouted out choruses. This is by no means the best Stones album, such honours are reserved for Exile on Main Street, but it may well be the most fun to listen to. Songs like 'Connection', 'Let's Spend the Night Together', and 'My Obsession' get the mojo working, while ballads such as 'Ruby Tuesday' and 'Who's Been Sleeping Here?' will thaw even the coldest of dispositions. Check the sitar-tinged psychedelia of 'Cool, Calm and Collected' and you'll realize just how valuable Brian Jones was to the band.

After the crash and burn of Their Satanic Majesty's Request, the Stones ditched pop and flower-power and adopted a new guise, that of street-fighting blues rockers. The style of pop found on Between the Buttons was never to be returned to. All of which makes this album an indispensable document of a lost era in the history of the Rolling Stones.