Deconstructing 'Gimmie Shelter'

[High Life Man]

A very cool breakdown.

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/deconstructing_gimme_shelter_listen/

[FORD]

Great stuff there, from the greatest goddamn band in the history of rock n roll. :gulp:

[chefcraig]

Great stuff there, from the greatest goddamn band in the history of rock n roll. :gulp:

No, that would be The Who.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad95/vtwin88cube/KeithMoonbangintheskinsforTheWho.jpg

[ThrillsNSpills]

It sounds great even when Merry Clayton's voice cracks.
You can't discount astounding performances.
Stones make you feel every note.
How do they isolate the tracks?

Should we isolate the vocals off van hagar tracks and send them to Dave to finish properly? :hitch:

[Satan]

ABKCO has pulled the goddamn tracks off the net. If y'all will excuse me, I've got to give the "pineapple treatment" to Allen Klein.

If you saw that movie where Adam Sandler played my son, you know what I mean..... http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/teufel/d010.gif

[chefcraig]

I have my doubts that is Wyman on bass. The playing is clumsy as hell, and sounds more like a guitar player's bass. In his book Life, Keith mentions playing bass on several Stones tracks, and I'm pretty sure he said something about this one. And that Jimmy Miller played drums on more than the one or two tracks that he is credited with.

[Kristy]

What makes that song so unique is Richard's amp reverb. Sounds as if he's playing more in a open room then relying upon the amp effect itself even Taylor's slide efforts become drowned in the booming riff. Jagger's singing is horrendous but it somehow fits perfectly with the song's message of one's own personal crisis and desperation to that of the world's. Even when the song builds like a oncoming cosmic orgasm when Merry Clayton gospel-like pulpit warning that brings the message back home Richards' guitar remains constant but slightly more intense as if the song shifted from anxiety to panic if humanity as a whole is crying out for a shelter of the oncoming apocalypse.

And to imagine they went from doing this to recording shit like 'Harlem Shuffle'

[Satan]

Actually, Mick Taylor didn't play on that track at all. Both the guitar parts are Keef.

[Kristy]

I'll argue that. Keith rarely, if at all, played slide.

[ThrillsNSpills]

I'll argue that. Keith rarely, if at all, played slide.

Now now, have some courtesy, have some sympathy, and some taste.

(sorry, couldn't resist)

[chefcraig]

I'll argue that. Keith rarely, if at all, played slide.

It was Keith. At this point, Brian Jones was still in the band, but was so out of it that Richards wound up doing all of the guitar parts. The song was recorded early in 1969, and Mick Taylor would not join the band until the summer of that year.

[ThrillsNSpills]

Mick Taylor played on 2 tracks on that album. So did Brian . Brian didn't play guitar it was autoharp on You got the Silver and percussion on Midnight Rambler. (but I haven't read Keith's autobiography yet)
And there's no slide on GS. He's just over bending the G string that gives that effect.
How great is the album cover!!
I'd bet he's using a Fender amp. Damn now I have to find out.

[ThrillsNSpills]

It's a shame those performances were removed. I never noticed there was another vocal part other than Mick and Merry C.
Those vocals were powerful.

[Kristy]

Mick Taylor played on 2 tracks on that album.

So he was there on those sessions.

[ThrillsNSpills]

So he was there on those sessions.

Live with Me and Country Honk, but not as an official member.
But you can't always count on album notes, since Taylor wasn't credited as writing Sway or Moonlight Mile, and the choir on You Can't always get what you want didn't want to be credited supposedly from Jagger's lyrics on Live with Me.

[ThrillsNSpills]

This works still. (at least at postin' time)

ya think they added a little reverb? :)

[chefcraig]

So he was there on those sessions.

Some, not all. Recording began around January, and stretched throughout the year until sometime in October. Taylor joined in early summer, and began recording in June. As was pointed out, "Gimme Shelter" had already been recorded by that time.

As for Keith playing slide, it was Richards that brought open tunings to the band in this period. He devotes an entire chapter in his autobiography to the subject, including it's use for slide guitar. In fact, his signature tune "Happy" was written based on a slide guitar riff he came up with while screwing around one evening.

[FORD]

Keith wrote some of his best known riffs "accidentally". He literally wrote "Satisfaction" in his sleep, woke up long enough to put it on tape, and the next day, thought it was "rubbish". He wrote the riff to "Start Me Up" in 1975, and it would get kicked to the curb for six years and three albums before finally being yanked out of the vaults for Tattoo You.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=658taF-PWt0

[Nitro Express]

I started playing guitar seriously when Tattoo You came out. I really come from the Churck Berry/Keith Richards school of rythum. I cut my teeth on a lot of Stones songs doing the Kieth thing. I consider him a genious. Just an all around great band of characters. Charlie's fills, the bass playing off of that and the interaction of two guitars that trade places like magic. Not to mention one of the greatest frontman in rock putting a cherry on top of it. Wonderfiul!

[Nitro Express]

What I learned from the Stones is having great tone, holding down the rythum but adding some spice in the right places. The same goes for Eddie Van Halen.

[chefcraig]

Keith wrote some of his best known riffs "accidentally". He literally wrote "Satisfaction" in his sleep, woke up long enough to put it on tape, and the next day, thought it was "rubbish". He wrote the riff to "Start Me Up" in 1975, and it would get kicked to the curb for six years and three albums before finally being yanked out of the vaults for Tattoo You.

The genesis of "Start Me Up" is astounding. Apparently, the Stones cut two versions of the tune at the beginning of the 1975 session in a straight rock form, then spent the next three hours in frustration, trying to make it into a reggae tune. Keith was so pissed about this failure he told the producer to erase the tape. Luckily, the guy (sorry, don't recall his name-too many fried brain cells between then and now) simply shelved the tape, where it sat for years until it was discovered when the band was looking for material a few years later.

[Nitro Express]

I tell kids today who really want to play guitar learn to play rythum like Keith Richards and go from there. What better place to learn the mojo? It's 1 2 3 4. That keeps it getting chaotic but you need to learn the swagger and the magic or you will just bore people to death. Keith can do more with three chords than anyone I know.

[FORD]

The genesis of "Start Me Up" is astounding. Apparently, the Stones cut two versions of the tune at the beginning of the 1975 session in a straight rock form, then spent the next three hours in frustration, trying to make it into a reggae tune. Keith was so pissed about this failure he told the producer to erase the tape. Luckily, the guy (sorry, don't recall his name-too many fried brain cells between then and now) simply shelved the tape, where it sat for years until it was discovered when the band was looking for material a few years later.

Guess the tape wasn't rolling for the "straight rock" version then, because the reggae-ish version above is the only thing I've ever heard from 1975. The 1977 version from the Some Girls sessions is much closer to what would be eventually released in 1981....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFLN0JYv8GY

[Nitro Express]

Whenever i hear Tattoo You I can smell the smells of my guitar case, that old crazy tube amp I had that would smell hot when it warmed up (the plates would glow red, I did not know about biasing in those days), and the smell of the Chivas Regal I had hidden in my golf bag in my room. I liked to play slightly buzz and my golf bag had all the goodies from porn, booze, and pot. One time I actually went golfing and forgot to take some of that shit out, went to get some balls and out fell a couple of Penthouses. LOL!

[Nitro Express]

I'll argue that. Keith rarely, if at all, played slide.
That's Ron Wood's department.

[Nitro Express]

Keefs rig.

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[Nitro Express]

Old Twins and a Fulltone tape echo. He might have an old tube reverb but the camera didn't pan over far enough to tell.

[chefcraig]

Guess the tape wasn't rolling for the "straight rock" version then, because the reggae-ish version above is the only thing I've ever heard from 1975. The 1977 version from the Some Girls sessions is much closer to what would be eventually released in 1981...

The 1977 tape was used and edited/overdubbed onto to make the finished version of the song. The two "rock" versions from the Black & Blue sessions served as the inspiration for the idea, but were unusable, mainly because of Keith's (at the time) druggy playing.

[ThrillsNSpills]

That version of Brown Sugar with slide guitar is incredible.

But back to Tattoo You, was all of that older tracks?
Did they write anything new for that album?

[chefcraig]

But back to Tattoo You, was all of that older tracks?
Did they write anything new for that album?

I'm pretty certain that there were only two "new" songs on Tattoo You, one of which was "Heaven", which technically wasn't even a Stones recording. As I recall, only Jagger and Watts played on it.

[FORD]

I'm pretty certain that there were only two "new" songs on Tattoo You, one of which was "Heaven", which technically wasn't even a Stones recording. As I recall, only Jagger and Watts played on it.

Actually Bill Wyman was there too. He played one of the guitars on the track, Mick played the other. Wyman also did the keyboards on the track, along with his usual bass, of course.

Supposedly it was recorded in the fall of 1980, but I'm thinking this could be an error. It would make more sense if it was recorded in 1979 when Keith & Woody were on the road with the New Barbarians, which would explain the absence of both in the studio.

Weird song in either case. Almost sounds more like the Bee Gees than the Stones.

[sadaist]

No, that would be The Who.



I kinda agree with you there. But it's like picking my favorite testicle. I like em both about the same...although I may favor the right one because the left is the low-hanger of the bunch. After a long hot shower, that's kinda annoying.

Gimme Shelter is one of my all time favorite songs...from any band. And to hear it live at Jack Murphy Stadium in the pouring rain with 60,000 of my closest friends drinking Yukon Jack from a leather flask. PRICELESS!

Almost had the same thing happen with Baba O Reily at the same stadium. Except the Yukon was Jim Beam, and there wasn't any rain.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

I kinda agree with you there. But it's like picking my favorite testicle. I like em both about the same...although I may favor the right one because the left is the low-hanger of the bunch. After a long hot shower, that's kinda annoying.




:lmao: poor ace :lmao:

[chefcraig]

:lmao: poor ace :lmao:

Yeah, no wonder the poor bastard walks in circles.

[Jagermeister]

:biggrin:Whatever you do Pete's Brother DO NOT LOOK AT THE CHAT!

[ThrillsNSpills]

It's hard to imagine a vocal that kicks ass so much that her voice can crack twice and it's still a perfect take, so to speak.

ain't dat some shit.:)

[PETE'S BROTHER]

:biggrin:Whatever you do Pete's Brother DO NOT LOOK AT THE CHAT!

which hairdo did you have then?







sorry, ford :baaa:

[ThrillsNSpills]

An isolated guitar track of Monkey Man wouldn't suck.

[ThrillsNSpills]

strange but this one seems to be playable now but wasn't last time I tried to access it.

[ThrillsNSpills]

I tell kids today who really want to play guitar learn to play rythum like Keith Richards and go from there. .

It's really a great idea. With these isolated tracks people can pick up on the nuances of the performance. Just listening to the isolated Gimme Shelter part I can tell Keith's using his fingernail instead of a pick on the intro. It might seem like an insignificant thing but actually makes all the difference in the world if you're trying to cop the feel of what he's doing.

[GreenBayLA]

So delicious to sample all the ingredients that make up the tasty treat known as Gimme Shelter. It encapsulates the 60's to me, hope, love loss. Always been my favorite Stones song and one of best rock songs of all time.

[GreenBayLA]

Merry Clayton is the icing on that cake for sure. Just realized one of my fave Zep tracks is The Battle of Evermore with Sandy Denny on vox, another song with female singer that really puts it over the top.

[Kristy]

The genesis of "Start Me Up" is astounding...

Um, no it isn't. When the Stones hired Chris Kimsey to take on the production of the album seems Jagger/Richards had no more ideas of their own due to Keith's numerous legal troubles at the time and Mick turning from rock star to socialite. There were reasons why Keith's riffs from 6 years ago (or so) were in the can - because they sucked. Tattoo You, although contained a few good tracks and the album that preceded it Emotional Rescue started to spell the end of the Stones. What followed was worse: Undercover and the fucking unlistenable Dirty Work.

Kimsey have a golden opportunity to kick both Mick and Keith in the ass in order to get them to come up with new ideas. Instead, he recycled old ones. Even to this day do I think the Stones as a whole ever recovered from it.

[FORD]

Most of the Tattoo You tracks were in the vault because they were either instrumentals, or the vocals that existed weren't exactly up to commercial release standards. Like, for example "Tops" which was originally from the Goats Head Soup sessions. (Sorry, can't find that one on YouTube at the moment).

While Mick's vocal gymnastics there - going from Barry Gibb falsetto to Barry White pimpin bass - was a fascinating take on the song, there's no fucking way they would have got Ahmet Ertegun to release it like that in 1973. So it sat in the vault, and 8 years later Mick wrote a proper set of lyrics for it, and sung them in a normal voice.

Similar with many of the "new" tracks on the Exile remaster, really. The tracks were more or less done musically, and Mick just slapped a vocal track on them.

[chefcraig]

Um, no it isn't. When the Stones hired Chris Kimsey to take on the production of the album seems Jagger/Richards had no more ideas of their own due to Keith's numerous legal troubles at the time and Mick turning from rock star to socialite. There were reasons why Keith's riffs from 6 years ago (or so) were in the can - because they sucked. Tattoo You, although contained a few good tracks and the album that preceded it Emotional Rescue started to spell the end of the Stones. What followed was worse: Undercover and the fucking unlistenable Dirty Work.

Kimsey have a golden opportunity to kick both Mick and Keith in the ass in order to get them to come up with new ideas. Instead, he recycled old ones. Even to this day do I think the Stones as a whole ever recovered from it.

What stinks is that the Stones have been effectively re-recording what is essentially the same damned record over and over again since Emotional Rescue. While I pretty much agree with your assessment of things, the fact that a surefire hit like "Start Me Up" was dismissed and shelved for several years is astounding, as it accurately reveals that artists are never the best judge of their own material.

[Mama's Fool]

The output the last couple decades is scattered at best but "Rough Justice" makes up for all of it. That song would be played on classic rock radio along side Brown Sugar, Gimmie Shelter, et al. had it been released in that era.

[FORD]

Yeah, Rough Justice was easily the best advance single from a Stones album since "Start Me Up".


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NHKSpXik-E

[Kristy]

What stinks is that the Stones have been effectively re-recording what is essentially the same damned record over and over again since Emotional Rescue.

'Steel Wheels' I did enjoy ("Almost Hear You Sigh almost makes me break down and cry every time I hear it) but it sounded much like Keith's first solo outing in that he was borrowing a lot of riffs from that record and integrating them to the band hoping the band wouldn't notice. 'Voodoo" I really didn't care for and 'Babylon' was better except that it was about 5 songs too long. And even though the 80's wasn't all that kind to the Stones in the 90's they sounded flat and sterile. Songs like 'Gun Face' would be classic if it wasn't so saturated in the digital ether recording technique that was so prevalent in that decade.

To me, the Stones are all about raunch where you can hear the dirt and cigarette ash on Keith's strings. Really, the last gritty record they ever did was 'Black & Blue' but they never even quite captured that after the departure of Taylor.

[Nitro Express]

I remember riding to Phoenix to see the Rolling Stones in 1981. Everyone in the car was saying we better see them before Keith kicks the bucket. LOL! He looked ragged then. Charlie didn't even have his grey hair yet but we thought they were old and were going to break up anytime.