Customer Reviews

Some Girls

5 star:		(145)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Some Girls was originally released June 9, 1978, it went to #1 in the US and #2 in the UK. This is their best selling album ever (>8,000,000 copies to date). Although the Stones seemed to be on somewhat of a female bashing kick (and certainly aroused intense ire among feminist groups) with their billboards for Black and Blue and the album cover for some Girls (which produced lawsuits and a revised cover), the sessions for Some Girls were the most productive the Band would ever have and saved the Stones from oblivion. The album included not only the superhit Miss You (their first #1 hit in 7 years), but Beast Of Burden (Keith's tender last love song to Anita Pallenberg), When The Whip Comes Down, Shattered, Before They Make Me Run, Respectable, and Just My Imagination. Most people know the music, so in my reviews I try to give you data on the sessions and interesting facts connected with the songs and the album. Here we go:

Interesting notes include:
.....the most famous story about Some Girls concerns the cut-out cover which originally had images of Lucille Ball, Raquel Welch, Farrah Fawcett, and Sophia Loren, all of whom threatened legal action, causing a revised cover to be released (both the original and revised covers from the original vinyl album are easily available on e-bay and in vinyl shops)
.....the original album cover was issued in 3 different color variations
.....Keith argued (and won) to have Start It Up removed from the album because he was afraid he had copied the main riff from the radio (it turned out it was his own licks he had heard)
.....when asked by a reporter why the name Some Girls had been chosen, Keith replied, "Because we can't remember their (freak)ing names!"
.....the first Stones disco mix was made by Bob Clearmountain from a tape of Miss You

The sessions for Some Girls were the most productive the Stones would ever have. They started in Paris Oct 10, 1977 and ended Mar 2, 1978 with final mixing at Atlantic Studios in New York Mar 15-31, 1978. The sessions were:
Oct 10 - Dec 21, 1977 at Pathe Marconi/EMI Studios in Paris
.....Miss You (Mick on guitar)
.....When The Whip Comes Down (Mick on guitar)
.....Just My Imagination (Mick on guitar)
.....Some Girls (Sugar Blue on harmonica, Keith on bass & acoustic, Ron on acoustic, Mick on guitar, Bill Wyman on synthesizer)
.....Lies (Mick on guitar)
.....Far Away Eyes (Mick & Keith on piano, Ron on pedal steel)
.....Respectable (Mick on guitar)
.....Beast Of Burden
.....Shattered (Ron on bass, pedal steel, and lead guitar)
Jan 5 - Mar 2, 1978 at Pathe Marconi/EMI Studios in Paris
.....Before They Make Me Run

Everything Is Turning To Gold was also recorded (it was released as a B side and special collections track).

Tracks from these sessions that were never released included the famous Claudine (which was never released because it was sure to cause litigation from Claudine Longet after she was reprieved from killing her boyfriend), plus Everlasting Is My Love, Covered In Bruises, Indian Girl, Misty Roads, Jah Is Not Dead, We Had It All, Fiji Gin, I Can't Help It, Do You Think I Care, The Way She Held Me Tight, I Need You, Let's Go Steady, Petrol, No Spare Parts, You Win Again, It's A Lie, It's All Wrong, Never Let Her Go, Never Make You Cry, Not The Way To Go, Biscuit Blues, Disco Music, When You're Gone, Angeline.

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.

I'm really not sure how to grade this new Deluxe set. There's no way in the world I could ever give The Rolling Stones "Some Girls" anything less than 5 stars, but grading it as a deluxe package I'm not sure it is 5 stars. 12 bonus tracks from sessions that actually resulted in at least twice that many is a bit disappointing, but I have to say what they have included is great. "Claudine", "We Had It All" and "No Spare Parts" are all welcome additions to the official catalog. I can't understand however, the logic in not including great b-sides from this era like "Everything is Turning to Gold" and 12" mixes of "Miss You" etc.. The bonus disc is only 40 minutes long - there certainly was room!

Some Girls is the last album on which the Stones manage to get their act together for a full set and make good on their self-proclaimed status as greatest rock outfit in the world. Devoid of the filler that has become a staple of recent albums, Some Girls is the perfect distillation of the late '70s vibe, in which punk, rock and even disco, all vied for commercial and/or critical supremacy. In vintage Stones' fashion, Mick and Keith employed all the styles and more, to create a stunningly diverse, yet cohesive record. Apart from the fact that most of the songs are in the same key, Some Girls never stays in one place for very long. The striding disco of 'Miss You' quickly gives way to straight-ahead rock of 'When the whip comes down' which then moves to the soul classic 'Imagination.' However, the best is definitely saved for last. 'Beast of Burden' to this day remains a slow rock standard, while the unashamedly sleazy 'Shattered' shows the lads mugging and jibing at their best. Recorded in the prime of Richards' heroin addiction and topped off with a classic cover and sleeve, Some Girls sublimely documents the turbulent environment in which it was conceived.

I remember well the orginal LP (that my brother brought home and said "don't let Dad hear this!") with the reversable sleeve to change the faces under the wigs. I love this recording and agree with most of the positive reviews here, however I'm writing this as 3 stars because I am deeply disappointed in the remastered version, and since most people looking at this CD are probably already familiar with these songs (unless they've been living in a cave without a radio for the last 25 years). The remastered version just sounds flat on everything from my Event studio monitors to the boom box in my garage. What happened to the let it bleed concept? Where is the air that gave the Stones such a great sound? It is there on my record, but not on this CD release. I think I'm going to find and play the record straight into the computer and make my own CD with NO remastering. Anyway 4 stars to the STones, -1 to those responsible for squashing the sound.

As the 70's wound down, disco and punk music were the sounds du jour, going to a club had become an all night activity, nobody had heard of AIDS, the standard mode of dress was arguably as grotesque as it ever had been, and there was a huge party going on everywhere. At least that's the way I remember it.

The Rolling Stones were quite a few years removed from their last really great work, Keith Richards was staring life imprisonment straight in the eye, due to yet another drug bust, Mick and Bianca Jagger were on the outs, and every magazine you picked up contained a photograph of one, two, or all three of them attending some party, premiere, or otherwise notable event, looking wasted.

Amidst the confusion, Jagger and Richards were able to get their heads together enough to write and record "Some Girls," an album that incorporated the big mess that had become their lives, and also an album that helped define the musical mayhem of the times. There's no question that, above all, Mick Jagger has always been a shrewd businessman, and even with all that was happening, he obviously had his finger firmly on the pulse of the music - buying public.

"Some Girls" managed to ignite controversy as soon as it hit the racks, the title track's racy lyrics and the album cover providing that punch. "Miss You," the song that seemed to be playing every time you turned around, found the Stones venturing into the disco / dance arena, but armed (unlike the myriad of others who tried) with a song that had an edge to it. Somehow, they made it work. The song became a classic, not a relic. The punk - driven "Respectable" and especially "Shattered" ("go ahead, bite the Big Apple, don't mind the maggots") found the Stones in top shape, and, unlike many of the bands of the punk era, these guys actually knew how to play instruments. What a novel concept. "Beast Of Burden" and the band's cover of "Just My Imagination" became hits, although they were, in my opinion, two of the weaker tracks on the album.

I was happy to see other reviewers mention "Before They Make Me Run," Richards' autobiographical tale of his problems with the law. It is indeed a great song, and even more than that, it has always been an undiluted pleasure to hear Richards blow the dust out of his vocal chords and sing a little bit. (His mid - 80's solo release "Talk Is Cheap" is proof that Richards has a respectable Rock and Roll vocal style).

"Far Away Eyes," a song dismissed by a number of reviewers, is, to me, The Stones' brilliant satirical goof on both the generic country music style of the day and on media evangelists. True, much of The Stones' early work was country - influenced, but not by the generic country style of the 70's. Mick's way over-the-top vocals are hilarious, and the lyrics even better. (...all I had to do was send ten dollars to the Church Of The Sacred Bleeding Heart Of Jesus, located somewhere in Los Angeles, California and next week they'd say my prayer on the radio and all my dreams would come true.) Jagger must have been laughing as listeners wondered why The Stones hadn't been able to capture the smooth, quasi - country sound of "Honky Tonk Woman."

The remaining tracks are also solid, the band tight (Charlie Watts' drumming is particularly superb), the production and arrangements perfect for the sound the band needed.

Another interesting footnote is that The Stones, by 1978, were already considered to be among the old geezers of Rock. Their time had come and gone, according to a lot of experts. Imagine that - here we are, 22 years later and, while the albums may not be as frantically great as they once were, the Stones remain one of the few bands that can sell out a 50,000 seat stadium. Not only that, but Keith still plays with the enthusiasm of a teenager who just got his first guitar, and he seems to be in pretty good shape, for the shape he's in.

"Some Girls" is not in the same league as "Exile On Main Street", "Beggars Banquet", "Sticky Fingers," or "Let It Bleed." Few recordings are. It is, however, a strong album that captures, perfectly, a brief moment in time.

This was the first Rolling Stones album I ever purchased, when I was just a lad, and even today, it sounds as fresh and as raw as when I first heard it. It's the rare case of a record perfectly capturing its time, its place, and its creators, for posterity. In 1978 the band was struggling to remain relevant to fans of popular music; mellow California sounds from one side, disco pumping from New York and other urban locations, and punk rock from the band's native England were threatening to toss the Stones onto the ash-heap of rock history---and then, they put out this record! "Miss You" apes the Donna Summer/ABBA disco sound, and ups the ante by adding snarling, inner-city bite to its inexorable beats; "Shattered," "Lies" and "Respectable" shout down the Sex Pistols, revealing them as the one-trick ponies they really were; "Far Away Eyes" is a brilliant Nashville joke, so effective it is often played in honky-tonks to this day. The record pulsates with new energies, without sacrificing the band's own sound. Keith Richards and Ron Wood play guitar riffs so jagged they could tear your flesh; Charlie Watts, the finest drummer in rock, never loses the backbeat, even when asked to play a disco four-ono-the-floor; Bill Wyman's bass keeps the whole thing anchored. As a late-model example of the band's greatness, it may pale next to "Beggars Banquet" or "Sticky Fingers," but it puts their Eighties work to shame. It's a classic rock album, and a great document of the late Seventies. Buy it, play it, live it.

Some Girls, The Rolling Stones' last great album, has just received the deluxe edition treatment. The original 1978 album, remastered, has been released with an accompanying 12 track cd of out-takes and curios from the same recording sessions.

By then the Stones were at a crossroads - although the three studio albums following their early seventies masterpiece Exile on Main Street had their moments, each was flawed, lacking in direction and gave rise to the suspicion that the Stones were teetering on the brink of self-parody. Songs like "It's Only Rock and Roll" and "Fool to Cry" sounded self-satisfied and arcane at a time when the energy and attitude of punk was beginning to revolutionise popular music.

But the Rolling Stones are nothing if not resilient - their continued, scarcely credible existence today as a working band almost 50 years after they were formed bears witness to that fact. And so, over a period of five months from October 1977 to March 1978, in studios from Paris to New York, the Stones took their critics head on, crafting an album dripping with style, sleaze and sly humour inspired by the prevailing musical trends of the time, yet remaining true to their rock and blues roots.

"Some Girls" kicks off with the irresistible four on the floor disco beat of "Miss You", the first hit single from the album. From the very beginning the record exudes a rude energy and immediacy - the recent addition of then new guitarist Ronnie Wood seems to have galvanized the band, freshening up Jagger and Richards' songwriting and the Stones are suddenly back to the irresistibly sloppy-yet-tight ensemble playing of their heyday.

Although much is made of the disco influence on the album, which only occasionally peeks through, some of the standouts for me are the rockers. "When The Whip Comes Down", "Lies", "Respectable" and "Shattered" all pack a fair punch, songs influenced by the rising tide of punk and new wave, but still quintessentially the Stones.

The guitars of Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood intertwine to the point where it's difficult to tell who's playing what, while the stalwart rhythm section of Bill Wyman and, in particular, Charlie Watts on drums, are reinvigorated and drive these songs with precision and verve. Cameos from Chicago blues harp maestro Sugar Blue, and the Faces' and Small Faces' very own Ian McLagan on keyboards, among others, all add to the mix.

The title track snakes its way along with Mick Jagger's knowing and deliberately provocative lyrics, and the band also clocks in a more than decent cover of the Temptations' "Just My Imagination".

In an album full of highlights, special mention has to be made of "Before They Make Me Run", Keith's scabrous junky anthem, which he delivers with a certain wasted panache, the tough but tender "Beast of Burden" and the hilarious but somehow still affecting country gem "Far Away Eyes".

"Some Girls" sees the Stones with their backs against the wall, railing against the dying of the light and producing some of the finest rock and roll of their career. They would never be this great again.

The bonus cd of the deluxe version reflects the creative renaissance the Stones were going through at the time - although some of the tracks are filler, much of the blues, country and rock contained therein wouldn't be out of place on the original album.

And that's a compliment indeed.

There's little about "Some Girls" that hasn't been said already. Essentially, it's the last great Stones album, although I would argue that "Tattoo You" should hold that title rightfully. Nonetheless, "Some Girls" has been given the "Deluxe" treatment and it doesn't disappoint. The remastering is crisp, clean and sounds terrific. No major revelations here, just a really excellent remaster of a musical masterpiece (IMHO). Yeah, I know, some folks are complaining about the ostensibly inexplicable exclusion of the extended version of "Miss You," but I could care less.

The real surprise here is the bonus disc. I'm a Stones fan of long-standing, but am not obsessed with them ... so, virtually all of the material on the bonus disc is new to me. Much of it is fresh and exhilarating, showing an emphasis on country music influence. Apparently, some of the tunes on the bonus disc were unfinished in '78 as the Stones concentrated more on the final tunes appearing on the main album. So, Mick and company went back into the studio some 30 years on to finish 'em up to make them "release ready." While this may offend some purists, it doesn't bother me at all. I'm really diggin' the bonus material (despite the freshening up) as it's stuff originating from a time when the Stones were at the top of their game. The synergy between Keith and Ronnie heard on the bonus material, particularly on tunes like "Keep Up Blues," is worth the price of admission.

All in all, I like this package a lot.

It is easy now to take critical shots at The Rolling Stones because the quality of music has tailed off drastically since the latter 1970s. But I give the band credit for soldiering into the studio before touring and simply not becoming a "Greatest Hits" package every couple of years before a live audience.

But with that said, the last great album worth of material was Some Girls. The production was pared down and the arrangements showed the influence of Mick Jagger picking up the vibe from the New York City new-wave/punk clubs.

From the funk of Miss You to the punk of Shattered, it is no wonder why the LP surged to the top of the album chart in the U.S. and number two in the UK in 1978.

The rocking When The Whip Comes Down gives way to a nod to Motown, Just My Imagination. The controversy surrounding Some Girls and the country hoedown of Far Away Eyes has Jagger firing off some of his best ironic lyrics ever.

Keith Richards takes an outlaw rocker stance in Before They Make Me Run and the opening riffs to Beast Of Burden remain a rock classic.

Some Girls may not your first stop in building a collection of Stones' CDs. But it is an essential part in appreciating the power of the band that has stood the test of time.

The Stones have always been adept at putting their own touch on different musical styles. When they first started out, they played their version of Chicago R&B and they went on to explore the sounds of country, blues & reggae among others. When Some Girls was released in 1978, disco and punk were the new musical stylings and the album contains the band's attempts at those genres. As usual, the Stones were able to employ musical elements from those styles and make it sound all their own. From the opening of the discoized number hit of "Miss You" to the closing of the frenzied punk of "Shattered", the Stones bounce around the musical map. You get strong punk influenced rockers like "When The Whip Comes Down", "Respectable" & "Lies" to the goofy country of "Faraway Eyes" to the midtempo of "Beast Of Burden" & "Some Girls". They transform the Temptations' "Just My Imagination" from the original ballad to a ripping rocker. Some Girls is the last album by the Stones that goes from beginning to end without a throwaway track. They went on to release some very good albums after this one, but this was their last truly great one.