Customer Reviews

Flowers

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It is well known that London records needed some "product" for the shelves in 1967 while the Stones were busy sorting out their relationship with the police. This is somewhat of a "pot luck" album, containing miscellaneous singles and unreleased chestnuts (at least in the US). Skipping over the obvious hits (Ruby Tuesday, Let's spend the night.., etc.), there are some great tunes in this collection; Sitting on a fence, which features dual acoustic guitars (way before "unplugged" was conceived by MTV)and Mick crooning about every single male's dilemma (this song must still be relevant to him), Backstreet Girl; beautiful waltz/melody wrapped in acoustic guitar and accordion (way before John Mellencamp made it hip). Its subject matter is a little over the top. Even the strange but interesting, Please go home, which sounds as if the Stones (in a Bo Diddely mood that day) were making it up as they went along, sort of experimenting in the studio. I think Bill Wyman stayed home that day. Take it or leave it, a hit for the Searchers in the UK, Ride on baby, Out of time and My Girl are also nice honest pop oddities. I find myself listening to this CD more than I'm willing to admit. Maybe not a desert island disc, but a "good buy". How about the CD cover - understated psychedelic.

Wow.........some of the more negative reviews are harsh. 'WEEDS' is what one reviewer called 'Flowers'. First, I got to say that I'm a huge Stones fan. 'Exile' and 'Sticky Fingers' are my favorites, but it was 'Flowers', 'Between The Buttons' and 'Through The Past Darkly' that turned me on to the Stones when I was about 13 years old. I didn't know much about them before these records. What I do remember though, is how these records affected me. I would listen to 'Flowers' every morning before going to school and hum every song until I got home and then I'd put it back on the turntable again. 'Have You Seen Your Mother Baby....' is a GREAT single (although legend has it that a much better mix of the tune exists somewhere). 'Ride On Baby' is my favorite. 'Out of Time' is classic 1966 pop. 'Backstreet Girl' is very English. These songs are filled with Brian Jones colors.

This record led me to Stones. Like 'Yellow Submarine' led me to The Beatles. Buy it for your kids who are to young for 'Sister Morphine'.

Excellent overall, and the last two songs, "Ride On Baby" and "Sitting on a Fence", are two of the best songs the Stones ever recorded. They are much overlooked gems.

The story of this album is as follows: London Records cleans out the Stones vaults in 1967 and repackage a couple of recent singles to cash in on the psychedelic craze while the Stones take their time working on their follow-up to "Between The Buttons". There ARE some gems here on this album of leftovers if you're a Stones freak, notably two tracks left off the U.S version of Between The Buttons, "Please Go Home" and "Back Street Girl", as well as an obscure B-side or two. Not bad if you're looking for a mid-sixties "Greatest Hits" of sorts but there are better places for the casual fan to look, notably the "Hot Rocks" collections or "High Tide" single disc.

Flowers is a compilation of Stones singles, b-sides and songs that were omitted from the US versions of Aftermath & Between The Buttons. "Let's Spend The Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday" are well deserved classic, but other lesser known Stones songs shine. The caustic, feedback drenched "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing In The Shadows" is a 60's gem and "Mother's Little Helper" is a sarcastic ode to the modern day housewife. "Out Of Time" is an almost forgotten song that could have easily been a huge hit had it been released. "Ride On Baby" and "Sittin' On A Fence" are solid tracks while "My Girl" is a competent cover of the Temptations classic that doesn't match up to future covers they would do of their songs. Flowers is one of the better compilations to be released by the band as it combines the well known songs with lesser known ones to make for an interesting listening experience.

Flowers is good album. It may feature songs that appear elsewhere, but it is a pivotal album in the Stones catalog. It marks an important turning point in the band, representing the band's original sound and introducing sounds that would be hallmarks of future releases.

The one reason Flowers is getting 4 stars is because it has 3 previously released LP songs on it (Lady Jane, Ruby Tuesday, and Let's Spend...). Aside from them is an interesting collection of songs left off the American releases of Aftermath and Between the Buttons. Songs from the UK version of Aftermath include "Mother's Little Helper", "Take It Or Leave It", "Ride On Baby", and "Out of Time" (featuring Brian on marimba). From the UK version of Buttons, we have "Back Street Girl" (with Brian on glockenspiel and probably Ian Stewart on accordian) and the psychedellic "Please Go Home". Finally, it features the 1966 single "have You Seen Your Mother....", and 2 never before released tracks: "My Girl" (1965) and my personal favourite from this collection "Sittin' on a Fence" (1966). Too bad they couldn't have included B-sides like "Sad Day", "Who's Driving My Plane" and the single "Dandelion"/"We Love You" in place of the previously released tracks.

Ok. So my son bought me this because it was always playing in the background when he was small (along with "Little White Duck" and Leonard Cohen, of course). It doesn't matter that the songs are also on other albums...they have to be somewhere....

This album reminds me of what the hell I thought I was doing way back then. The attitudes represented in the songs are a fair representation of the mentality of the times. And remember,"Let's Spend Some Time Together" was left off this disc. It's worth going back to the source!

I'll say it again, The ROLLING STONES' version of MY GIRL is better than the Temptations. Just like their versions of AIN'T TO PROUD TOO BEG and JUST MY IMAGINATION are better too. This album also contains the hits; RUBY TUESDAY, HAVE YOU SEEN YOUR MOTHER BABY,STANDING IN THE SHADOW and LET'S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER. I don't see any reason to comment on these because if you are a Stones' fan you already know how great they are, and if your not buy this album and find out. Two tracks that got bumped off the US version of BETWEEN THE BUTTONS (and shouldn't have) BACK STREET GIRL and PLEASE GO HOME; the former features Jagger singing to his girl on the side to keep her place and the latter has some neat sound effects that were probably ground-breaking at the time. Two tracks from Aftermath; MOTHER'S LITTLE HELPER (bumped from the US version to make space for PAINT, IT BLACK)and LADY JANE. OUT OF TIME, which shows up(in a different version) years later on the wrongly maligned METAMORPHOSIS, (now out of print but worth looking for) is a pop sounding ditty telling a girl she's too late too get in on a good thing; ie. Jagger. Except for MY GIRL none of these songs is typical Stones' fare. They are very experimmental. The Late Brian Jones shows off his versatility. Brian doesn't get all the credit here, though. All of the Stones and Andrew Loog Oldham (their manager and producer) were bitten by the experimental bug around this time. The remaining three tracks {TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, RIDE ON BABY, SITTIN' ON A FENCE) and MY GIRL are not available elsewhere. They alone are worth buying this album for. My personal favorite is SITTIN' ON A FENCE. The lyrics nail down Jagger's personal feelings about relationships once and for all.

Strangely enough, this is the album that got me "into" the Stones. As a post-punk teenager, I had always dismissed the Stones . . . until I heard "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadows?" Wow, that song sounds like the Jesus and Mary Chain circa 1966! I believe it's only available on this record and MORE HOT ROCKS. Other great songs on this album (besides "Ruby Tuesday" and "Let's Spend the Night Together" which are too obvious to mention) are "Sittin' on a Fence," "Backstreet Girl," "Out of Touch," and "Please Go Home." What am I saying??? All the songs are good, except for that cover of "My Girl" (and I have to say I always thought the Stones were being ironic covering this song - why else would these infamous misogynists give it such a syrupy rendition?)