Customer Reviews

Now

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

 

 

Perhaps the best "true" Rolling Stones. "You Can't Catch Me" and "Down The Road Apiece" are on fire and cut the master's (Chuck Berry) original versions. "Down Home Girl", "What A Shame", and "Mona (I Need You Baby)" are THE essence of the original Rolling Stones, and show Brian Jone's remarkable talent and leadership; "Little Red Rooster" is arguably the best Stone's blues ever recorded. "Heart Of Stone" and "Pain In My Heart" are the soul(ful) songs of the set. The only disappointment is "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", a Wilson Pickett tune: the original (and GREAT!) version is on the vinyl and cassete sets, but someone (unknowingly or uncaring) put a second rate version on the CD. If you can find this album on vinyl or cassette, the oringinal opening song is worth the price. Play it LOUD!

Probably Brian's best work with the Stones as a Blues player;the last album to present themselves as such before the mega hits."Little Red Rooster" is one of the highlites for it's threatening slide and even powerful vocal.The Chuck Berry covers are always some of the Stones best tracks,always fun.( with attitude! )A lost gem,'Heart of stone" seems to have been an effort the band was setting fire to.The lead guitar on the break,is some of the best found on any Stones work.It appears that Brian and Keith trade off lead parts although it may well have been just Brian.(playing a white Vox "tear drop" guitar.) For anyone who used to like the Stones when they were really the "Rolling Stones" ....this album is a must.Brian Jones at his guitar playing best,maybe the Stones best (and last) Blues albums ever.

More than any other Stones release, Now! showcases the original blues band that Brian was always so proud of. The way I heard the story, Brain used to play tracks from this era to show how good the band was before Mick and Keith took over. These included Down The Road Apiece, Little Red Rooster, Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, Bright Lights Big City, Down In The Bottom, & Road Runner (the 1st 3 of which are on Now!, the others were never released - except on bootlegs). Personally, I think Down The Road Apiece is the absolute best song they recorded during this period. The guitar work is so good that one reviewer here on Amazon even suggested it was Chuck Berry.....nope....it was Brian.....Chuck was never that good.

To understand the impact Mick had on the British scene, all you have to do is listen to Everybody Needs Somebody To Love. His command is impressive and this is really the first time you get to glimpse the superstar he was to become.

You Can't Catch Me is a great tribute to Berry, personally I've always liked Oh Baby (although many people, including the Stones themselves considered it a throwaway). Off The Hook is a decent early Mick & Keith song (although not good enough for Mick to keep putting it on all those greatest hits albums to generate songwriting royalities). Down Home Girl has resonated through my thoughts for over 30 years now....it just won't leave me alone, but neither will Down The Road Apiece, so to me these two are the reason you keep a good copy of Now! in your collection.

Released on April 16, 1964, this album was to be the American release of The Rolling Stones No. 2. As was common at the time, the American execs tampered with the original design of the album, substituting the new American hit Heart of Stone for Time Is On My Side and eliminating Grown Up Wrong, Under The Boardwalk, I Can't Be Satisfied, and Suzie-Q.

The tracks Mona, Oh Baby, Little Red Rooster, and Surprise Surprise were not on the UK release of No. 2, although Little Red Rooster was released as a single and became one of their signature songs in the UK.

I was hugely disappointed with most of the early ABKCO Rolling Stones "remasters" on CD (What? "Between The Buttons" in MONO? And what SOUNDS like 3rd Generation MONO, at that). I was AMAZED when I played "The Rolling Stones NOW" to find that Abkco used TRUE STEREO MASTERS of "Down The Road Apiece, What A Shame, and Heart Of Stone!" That alone is worth the price of the disc!

Arguably the strongest of the early Stones' releases overall. A huge step forward as compared to their 1st LP and 12X5 in regard to their playing, Jaggers vocal ability and overall sound producton. Their bad boy blues/r&b style continues on this disc but now with much more confidence, maturity and skill. Take a listen to Jagger's sleazy cockiness on "Down Home Girl" and "Off The Hook" or his fluid chug-a-long delivery on "You Can't Catch Me" and "Mona".

The band also demonstrates a much tighter sound on their respective instruments. The classic guitar interplay between Jones & Richards really begins to gel here. Jones' musical versatility begins to shine with his memorable slide on "Little Red Rooster", one of the discs best tunes. Overall the Stones really show here that they were the ones ready to break the mold on the traditional sound that had identified rock & roll up to this point (i.e. Beatles, Kinks, Elvis,etc.)

To me this disc presents one of the biggest mysteries to a Stones fan. It is said that Keith's guitar hero, Chuck Berry, was in the studio during the recording of "Down The Road Apiece". This is one of my all-time favorite Stones songs with some blistering "Berryesque" guitar work. Based on what I had heard prior to and after the recording of this song, I have to wonder if KR ever had the capability to play up to this standard; or if perhaps it is Mr. Berry himself playing lead on this tune. The question is; if Keith is the one smokin' on this lead guitar way back in 1965, why is he such a lousy lead guitarist today???

Two great blues songs: Down Home Girl is just a great song and the remake of Willy Dickson's Little Red Rooster is even better than Willy's own version.

Heart of stone is a classic song that you have all heard.

What a Shame is a semiblues pop song that you will want to hear again and again.

I love the version of Mona (I need you babe)great riffs and superb C.Watts drums Down the road apiece has that great charlie watts Kieth Ricahd sound Excellent Jerry Lee Lewis sound.

You can't Catch me is the prefect Chuck Berry cover done with love and reverence for a guitar god. As well Charlie is flawless on this song.

If you haven't heard the early stones blues sound then don't miss this.

This is the lowest-charting studio album released for the US market in the history of the Rolling Stones. Though reaching #5 is commendable, the consumer was in want of something fresh to bite into, and this album did not offer much. The Stones were well aware of their situation, and promptly dealt with it from this point forward. As the first top-twenty single in the US written by Jagger/Richards, Heart of Stone made it's album debut as track #4. The amount of eventual B-sides outnumbered the hit singles on this release. Though listed as running under three (3) minutes, the opening track Everybody Needs Somebody to Love is actually over five (5) minutes in length. You Can't Catch Me was listed as running four (4) minutes and thirty (30) seconds but is actually over three (3) minutes and forty (40) seconds. What A Shame was the b-side to Heart of Stone and the first Jagger/Richards penned blues song. It was released on The Rolling Stones No. 2 with Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, Down Home Girl, You Can't Catch Me, Down The Road Apiece, Off The Hook, and Pain In My Heart. Oh! Baby (We Got A Good Thing Going) was released in the UK on Out Of Our Heads with Heart of Stone. Mona (I Need You Baby) was releaed in the UK on The Rolling Stones the year before. Little Red Rooster was released the next year on the UK Big Hits (High Tide an Green Grass). Surprise, Surprise was released as a single with Street Fighting Man in 1968. It wasn't released on an LP until 1973 on No Stone Unturned.
So once you have this, sit down and listen to it...NOW!

A British LP with these songs on it was my first exposure to the Rolling Stones. A friend of my sister's was brought it by her father, an airline pilot. There is every reason to believe that this was the first Stones LP to be played in Israel. I got it because my sister's friend didn't like it. It was unintelligible to me at first. The music ambiance there and then was Israeli folk music, or pre-Beatles, post Elvis: Cliff Richards, The Searchers; ballads. It was so unlike anything Israelis or the expatriate community had been exposed to that it might as well have come from the moon. We had no idea that the songs were covers of blues songs; we had never heard them sung by the original artists. It was like, decades later, the impact of Asleep At the Wheel on a public that was too young to have heard of the Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys. So the Stones actually preceded the Beatles into the nascent pop music scene in Israel that emanated from the American International School in Kfar Smariahu and was immortalized in the 70s by Danny Sanderson's Lahakat HaKaveret. My best friend left it on bus one day, and I looked for a replacement for over 35 years. Everybody Needs Somebody to Love never made it to any of the stateside editions, and became the Holy Grail for those of us wishing to relive the moment we "got it". Had it not been for the song's appearance in Animal House, I would have begun to doubt its existence. My daughter found this CD on line last year. I was almost afraid to play it; fearing that the memory was greater than the actuality. I need have feared not. With the first notes of Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, I was on my feet. Wonderful. For me the first few albums and 45s the Stones put out before 1967 will always be the high water mark of rock and roll. In those days the only competition was the Beatles, and the Stones were winning. A truly essential album.

The Rolling Stones, Now! is one of the most deeply rooted in R&B albums the Stones have ever done. Songs ranging from Chuck Berry Berry's "You Can't Catch Me" to Bo Diddley's "Mona" to Otis Redding's "Pain In My Heart", the band wears their R & B influences on their sleeves. "Heart Of Stone" is an excellent Jagger-Richards original and "Little Red Rooster" is tailor-made for Mr. Jagger's strutting persona. Now! is one of the least commercial albums the band has released, but they put their blood and guts into it.

Early twelve track Stones release, from 1965 - wow! Don't think I remember this record, but I do recognize most of these songs. This is simply a must-have by all fans of blues rock, classic rock, British Invasion, etc. Tracks that more than managed to hold my full attention were the standard "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", "What A Shame", the toe-tapping "Mona (I Need You Baby)", the rousing "Off The Hook" and the unforgetable "Little Red Rooster" {hadn't heard this song since I was like maybe ten years old}. Also liked "Down The Road A Piece" quite a bit. So recommended, it hurts.