Customer Reviews

Sucking in the Seventies (Dig)

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4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Odds and Sods recording is unlike anything else in the official Stones catalog and I have often wondered what the impetus was to put it out.

This is not exclusively a rarities collection nor is it a greatest hits. It is made up of deep album cuts (non-single rock radio favorites), a b-side, an unreleased alternate version and a live track from a tour with no official live release. It is very listenable and the rarities stuff make it a must buy. The highlights:

1. Everything Is Turning To Gold is an energetic Ronnie Wood penned funk rocker that the band should dust off for their live shows. Great track.

2. When The Whip Comes Down is a savage, quasi-punk rock live version from the '78 tour, which amazingly has never been documented by an official live release. This version will make you want to holler and break stuff

3. Time Waits For No One is the IORR version but remember this is the greatest song Mick Taylor ever crafted and did not get credit for.

Two major complaints:

1. I bought this on vinyl, I bought the original CD release and now they are trying to sell me a "Re-Mastered" version that is not even in the SACD format that they made such a big deal about when the ABKO-era stuff was dusted off a few years ago

2. Why Lord, why won't The Greediest Rock And Roll Band In The World load something like this up with additional b-sides, rarities and live stuff from the era? Bowie does it. The Who do it. The Beatles even opened the vaults with the Anthology discs for heavens sake!

I was very pleasantly suprised to see this re-issued on CD. In the early 80's I somehow got hold of this on cassette and really enjoyed some of the unreleased tracks on here. On top of that the tracks fit together really well, even the straight blues Mannish Boy cover. For my taste, the Stones at their rock and roll best was their work with Mick Taylor (Sticky Fingers) and the mid 70's work with Ron Wood. This CD captures the brilliance of Keith Richards and Ron Wood's ability to blend blues, R&B, and funk/disco guitar stylings while still remaining true to down and dirty Stones rock n'roll. If I was a Dancer is a great song and my favorite on here. Kieth Richards once said that Fool to Cry was not really one of his favorite songs to play, and once while playing it in concert (during the days when smack was his party favor of choice) he was so bored he fell asleep mid-song only to be awoken by the sound of his hand hitting the guitar strings! So that's the picture that come's to mind every time I listen to Fool to Cry on this CD. I'd give this CD 5 stars if it weren't for the fact that most of the songs are available on other CD's.

Back in 1981, when we saw "Sucking In The Seventies" for the first time in record stores, it almost became the first Stones album I didn't buy. The cover was nothing, it had "contractual fulfillment" written all over it, and though it was the band's first 'hits' set since "Made In The Shade" came out in 1975, it actually eschewed some of the group's biggest hits of the 1976 - 80 period ("Miss You," "She's So Cold," and "Emotional Rescue) for a rather odd mix of singles ("Shattered," "Beast of Burden") - many edited, and the three from "Black and Blue" seemingly remixed (only "Fool To Cry" presents an interesting contrast to the original) and rarities. And yet, and yet...somehow it manages to hang together pretty well 25 years later.
The key is the sequencing and the rarities. "Shattered" closed "Some Girls" but opens this set, followed by its non-lp b-side, the Jagger/Richards/Wood "Everything Is Turning To Gold," four-plus minutes of rather a unusual mix of loose funk and grunge, chugging KR rhythm and rolling rhythms (has Charlie ever relied more on cymbals?) that seem sloppy at first until you realize the seemingly wandering pulse is deliberate and the track builds momentum, climaxing with a pair of unusual, almost Moroccon bits (Sugar Blue's harmonica and Mel Collins' sax add to the gumbo) that evoke nothing as much as Ornette Coleman's "Dancing In My Head." Raw, steamy, sweaty - yet dynamic and exciting, definitely a keeper. The original side two opened with the live "Mannish Boy" that is here in a superior mix to the "Love You Live" version - a hot, inspired take on Muddy Waters' classic from the infamous El Mocambo club show of 1977, with the whole band doing what comes naturally, but better. Another live track, the previously unreleased "When The Whip Comes Down" is next, and this relentless, breathtaking version shows the Keith/Ron guitar team at a peak circa '78, and the new remaster preserves the grunge and the recaptures the sting in this dirty piece of Stones rock - it's four-and-a-half minutes packs more energy and is more focused than the entire "Love You Live" and "Still Life" concert sets. I'm happy to have rediscovered it. Finally, the six-minute unreleased (or "Part 2") version of the funk gem "If I Was A Dancer," with developed lyrics (unlike the "Emotional Rescue" version) and splendid guitar interaction from Keith and co-author Ron Wood, who also plays the funk bass. Is it better than the ER opener? I don't know, but it's different, enjoyable, and I'm glad to have it.
As for the rest, well it flows ok, but I have it all elsewhere, but if you like this band the rare stuff on this cd has some of what makes them a great one, at their post-"Some Girls" peak - prime examples of deep blues, languorous funk, and punky high energy rock 'n' roll. Consider it an great ep plus bonus tracks, and you'll find the fine 2005 remaster satisfyingly discounted, too.

What you get with this album (that you don't get with 'Made in the shade") is not only a selection of music on already released music from the stones, but a few unreleased gems.

These gems are:
- Everything is turning to gold
- Mannish Boy (Live)
-When the Whip Comes down (live)
- If I was a Dancer (Dance part 2)

Of these gems, for my money, the best are evertything is turning to gold and If I was a Dancer.

Worth the price of admission for the unreleased stuff alone, however the stuff included is also great and the album really plays well as a whole.

The number of Rolling Stones compilation albums is staggering, and this album is an oddity among them: not a greatest hits album, not a rarities album, it is a little bit of both, and some more. Originally issued on vinyl in 1981, it had been long out of print on CD, but now it is finally reissued, and in great remastered sound.

"Sucking in the Seventies" (10 tracks, 41 min.) starts off with a blistering "Shattered". The sequencing of songs has no rhyme or reason. From a reggae-flavored "Hot Stuff" (from the "Black and Blue" album) we go back to the 1974 ballad "Time Waits for No One". "Fool to Cry" is one of the few true greatest hits on here, which is followed by 2 obscure live tracks (the bluesy "Mannish Boy" and the terrific "When the Whip Comes Down"). We then get the outtake "If I Was a Dancer (Dance Pt. 2)" (from the "Emotional Rescue" recording sessions), and my favorite track here. The album closes with the great rocker "Crazy Mama" and the ballad "Beast of Burden".

Regretfully this reissue comes without any liner notes or credits whatsoever, what is up with that? Also, while the original vinyl album was constrained in length, there are no additional songs (why not include "Miss You" or other obscure live tracks?). Nevertheless, despite its flaws, "Sucking in the Seventies" contains a lot of great music, some of which you can't find on any other Stones albums.

Good album, noteworthy for a good live version of "When the whip comes down" and a cool B-side, "Everything's turning to gold". Also, the continuation of "Dance Pt. 1" as "If I were a dancer". This album is only essential if you must have everything by rock's bad boys.

...But who can resist a compilation that opens with the punky, repetitive groove of 'Shattered', finds the Stones returning to their roots with a sizzling live version of Muddy Waters's 'Mannish Boy', and slows things down with the gorgeous, oddly reflective ballad 'Time Waits for No One'? Hits, B-sides, album tracks, live recordings..."Sucking in the Seventies" has a little bit of everything, although "Sucking in the Mid-to-Late Seventies" would have been a more accurate title. Best of all is 'Everything Is Turning to Gold': lyrically it's subpar, but musically it's a minor masterpiece. The interaction between guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood is dazzlingly gritty on this track, while guest players Mel Collins (sax) and Sugar Blue (harp) slather on so much atmosphere that you'll be able to picture yourself walking down a dirty, windswept New York City street in 1978.

Sucking in the Seventies is indeed another 70's compilation album because all 10 songs on this album came out in the 1970's decade. How good is it? It's pretty good for a 70's compilation album, but is also considered another one of those essential 70's compilations.

Played this side by side with my old copy and no comparison in sound. Like night and day.

Spanning 1974 (It's Only Rock-n-Roll) to 1980 (Emotional Rescue), the ten tracks provide a fleeting glimpse into a period where the band was exploring the rhythms of reggae & disco and the unbridled power of punk.

Released in April 1981, the most interesting cuts are the rarities - Everything Is Turning To Gold, the B-side to the single, Shattered; a remix - If I Was A Dancer (Dance Pt. 2) - and a wicked live version of When The Whip Comes Down, fron 1978 in Detroit.

While an electic compilation, what was missing then and now is the long version of the titanic dance classic, Miss You, the mix which was originaly issued on vinyl as a 12-inch disco single.

The trio of cuts is enough for for those who are seeking rarities through official releases. But the scope is limited and affordable enough - four albums - where most fans can get a complete picture without these bits and pieces.