Showing posts with label Keith Richards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Keith Richards. Show all posts

Tuesday, 7 July 2026

Just My Imagination

Cover version of the month #122
The Rolling Stones cover The Temptations

I stumbled across The Rolling Stones 1978 album called Some Girls in a lovely bar in the old town section of Malia while on holiday with my wife (then girlfriend) back in 2003. The guy serving behind the bar was also DJ-ing and he played a song that captured my attention.

Me - Who is that?

Barman - The Rolling Stones.

Me - No way?

He passed the CD case across the bar. The song was Miss You, the lead song on (and single from) the album. Kind of disco, kind of soulful, kind of dirty - most definitely cool. I asked him to play it again as soon as it finished.

My wife and I ended up in this wee bar every night. The strip was most definitely not for us, while the old town had quaint little restaurants and bars to chill in. The barman played Miss You every time we went in and often just let the album run on. I bought a copy as soon as I got back to Scotland.

While I most definitely fell for Miss You and the groove of Beast of Burden,  I was also captivated by the Stones cover version of Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), a song I knew from a soul compilation album I had. 

The Stones are in the zone, they are in absolutely no rush, beautifully lazily loose. Charlie Watts gets a delicious crack from his snare, Keith Richards sounds like he is in love with his phaser pedal and the way his guitar gels with Ronnie Wood is utterly sublime. The Stones sound like the best band in the world - just jamming on a song they love.

The soul of the song is there, but the Stones take it from Motown to a place that maybe only the Stones know how to get to. They throw it under a new light ... or maybe they take it into the shadows, into the darkness. You can just imagine them playing in a dive bar down a gritty side street. 

Many cite the Stones Some Girls album as something of a rebirth, given that it was released in a world of punk and disco. Perhaps that inspired Jagger and co. Miss You definitely has a dirty disco groove and beat, while closing track Shattered is new wave before new wave. 

Setting up camp at Pathé Marconi studios in Paris, the Stones recorded on a 16-track and cut their band back to the bones with no session musicians. This was Jagger, Richards, Wood, Wyman and Watts. Richards felt that session musicians took the band away from their natural sound. As a result Some Girls was a lean, hungry and remarkably aggressive record, returning the band to a tight, street-wise, bar band. And that really comes across on their cover of Just My Imagination.

Jagger sneers and swaggers through the lyrics that sound so innocent in the original. Behind him, his band sound a few beers and smokes in, you can easily imagine bottle resting on amps and fags hanging from mouths as they play. Maybe in New York City, as Jagger changes the words in the final verse from The Temptations of all the fellows in the world, she belongs to me to and of all the girls in New York, she loves me true.

Jagger also ad libs in the second verse and sounds true to himself, rather than The Temptations.

I say I am just a fellow, with a one track mind

Whatever it is I want baby, I seek and I shall find

Listen to him harmonise with Richards on the chorus - ooft. What a band!

Richards fell for a MXR Phase 100 pedal that you can hear across the album. It creates a swirly, dreamy psychedelic effect, though through the interplay with Ronnie Wood and with Charlie Watts crack beat, the the Stones kick up the tempo. The little instrumental after the second chorus is stunning.

Respecting the melody (and band - they previously covered The Temptations Ain't Too Proud To Beg and My Girl), The Stones didn't quite run away with their imagination, but they definitely allowed it to drift enough to put their own stamp on the song. This is a magical cover version, for me, one of the bands finest covers in their massive catalogue.


The original is a Motown masterpiece - one of many!

Released in 1971, The Temptations' original version of Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) was written by the legendary powerhouse duo of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, it is a masterclass in sweet, symphonic soul. A beautiful, fragile orchestral piece of Detroit Motor City magic

Driven by the breathtaking, delicate falsetto of Eddie Kendricks, the track captures the ultimate bittersweet daydream. Lush, cinematic strings and a gently weeping French horn back a daydream of love, a relationship and marriage. It all seems so real that the author/singer is caught up in the romantic fantasy, before realising it is just his imagination.

I tell you, I can visualise it all you see
This couldn't be a dream, far too real it all seems

But it was just my imagination (once again)
Running away with me 

The bridge sees Kendrick lost in his fantasy and praying to the Lord not to take his love away from him, only to snap out of it before he hits the chorus again.

Ooh, her love is heavenly

When her arms enfold me, I hear a tender rhapsody

But in reality, she doesn't even know me 

While The Temptations original is a fantastic song and recording, The Stones version is my favourite. It just oozes cool and they really seem to be in the zone.

The Temptations original and The Rolling Stones cover version are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs listed below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month blogs

13. Hurt
39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash
64. Lola
82. Drop
87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire
101. Shout!


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Friday, 27 December 2024

The Last Time

Cover version of the month #103
The Andrew Oldham Orchestra covers The Rolling Stones

I consider The Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra cover version of The Last Time by The Rolling Stones to be a complete re-imagination of the song rather than a cover. I just don't hear anything remotely familiar to The Stones version.

Andrew Loog Oldham was (and no doubt is still) a creative soul, bursting with ideas and energy. Loog Oldham was still a teenager when he offered to manage The Stones after seeing them in 1963. When Andrew wasn't managing/producing The Rolling Stones, he was busy crafting marketing campaigns, setting up Immediate Records, producing, guiding and also forming his own 'orchestra'.

One story that I love is how Loog Oldham locked Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in a room together until they had written a song of their own. The Stones, like many bands of that era, started as a covers band. That song they wrote was As Tears Go By, which became a hit for Marianne Faithful. 

John Lennon also recounted a tale of taking the riff of I Wanna Be Your Man to Jagger and Richards and they liked it. Lennon and McCartney then went off to the corner of a room to dash the song off. The Glimmer Twins were amazed - a lightbulb moment! The song would become The Rolling Stones second single.

Although The Last Time was classed as an original composition, the song lifts the melody and lyrics from The Staple Singers This May Be The Last Time. Jagger adds a couple of verses, while Richards and Brian Jones bring a wall of sound rhythm and a distinctive piercing guitar riff to the party.

Everything rides on the riff, the groove behind it, Jagger singing along on top. 

Well I told you once and I told you twice
But you never listen to my advice
You don't try very hard to please me
With what you know, it should be easy

Well this could be the last time
This could be the last time
Maybe the last time, I don't know
Oh no, oh no

After two verses and choruses there is an instrumental, still based around the lead riff, into the chorus and another verse. One final chorus then lead into  50-second outro, Jagger ad-libbing and screaming over his band singing maybe the last time. It sounds incredible, Jagger let loose and going for it. The song fades out, I wonder how long it went on for.


The Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra version completely reimagines The Last Time, to the extent that you wonder if it is actually a cover version at all. There is no raw guitar riff, there is no sneering Jagger or a version of him, there is no dirty groove and rhythm. Instead, we have a sprawling, symphonic statement; layers of lush strings that sound timeless, cinematic and melancholic. 

The arrangement is sublime, this isn't a song anymore, it's a soundscape, an orchestral piece of music that flow, glides and soars effortlessly. If this is the first time you have heard this, it sure won't be the last time. I always have to listen to this 2 or 3 times if I play it. Once is never enough.

3 decades later, Richard Ashcroft and The Verve discovered the Loog Oldham version and were inspired, especially the section from 1-minute 37 seconds, to write and create Bittersweet Symphony. I'll maybe write about that incredible song another time.

The Rolling Stones original and the sensational Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra cover version of The Last Time are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs listed below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month blogs

13. Hurt
39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash
64. Lola
82. Drop
87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire
92. Valerie
101. Shout!

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Wednesday, 15 March 2023

Sympathy For The Devil

Cover version of the month #84
Sandie Shaw covers The Rolling Stones

Choosing to cover the Stones Sympathy For The Devil has to be classed as a bold move. I mean, it's understandable that artists would want to play the song, to jam the song, to feel it out ... as Sympathy For The Devil is an exceptional groove and an incredible song. But to cover it! 

The Rolling Stones recording of the song, over 5-days in June 1968, was captured on film by Jean-Luc Godard and released under the title One Plus One. It's quite something as The Stones really take their time on it. You can find it on YouTube

You see Jagger and Jones working on the vocal melody, soon joined by Richards, looking resplendent in shades. Richards adds a bit of groove, Charlie Watt adds the beat while Bill Wyman looks bored and stoned on bass. 

Richards groove is stripped back, Jagger slows things down and he has been quoted as saying he originally intended it to be a folk-y Dylan number. How things change!

The footage is extraordinary. Richards jamming on a bass, the band taking it down a blues-y route and then just before the 24-minute mark in the documentary, we heard extra percussion being introduced. The groove is back, faster, pacier and it is hugely enhanced. I love the scene with The Stones and friends all crowded round a microphone recording the woo woo's, the camera then pans round a screen and you have Jagger singing the lead vocal. Incredible stuff.

Sympathy For The Devil opened the Stones Beggars Banquet album and became a real highlight of their live sets. Jagger would act possessed and really play to the audience and cameras, as demonstrated on The Rock n Roll Circus album/film.

The groove running through Sympathy For The Devil is simply extraordinary, the Stones are in top form. Lyrically, Jagger touches on Christ, the Russian revolution,  the Kennedy's (with the remarkable line -  I shouted out who killed the Kennedy's, when after all, it was you and me), cops and finally introduces himself as Lucifer.

Decades down the line, favourite bands of mine like Primal Scream (Loaded) and The Charlatans (One To Another) would take inspiration from Sympathy For The Devil, recognising the importance of the groove and how the woo woo's could be sung en masse by their fans.

Sandie Shaw's version doesn't stray too far from The Stones. After all the riff and groove are both so unbelievably strong, why change?!

Her guitarist goes for it, the beats and percussion are 100 mph at times, the bass is just about keeping it all together and Shaw's voice cuts through everything like a knife. 

At around 4 minutes 10 seconds things slow down and Shaw is almost whispering her vocal, but as the instruments cut, her voice rises with dramatic effect to deliver the line;

I was around when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain

I made damn sure that Pilate, washed his hands and sealed his fate

Everything comes back in and the closing 50 seconds are absolutely furious as the beats and percussion get faster and faster. Everything eventually fades out. Somewhere, lurking in a studio vault, is the recording. I'd love to hear how long it went on for and if it eventually just collapsed. The drummer and percussionist would probably be in a heap!

Nothing can top The Stones though! Just check the 8-minute + official video from the Rock n Roll Circus. Jagger is on fire, whipping himself, his band and the crowd into a frenzy!

Sympathy For The Devil official video (live from the Rock n Roll Circus)

Album version

Sandie Shaw version

All previous cover version of the month blogs are listed below. 

I've also compiled the Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist, featuring original versions and covers on Spotify. CLICK HERE The Stones original and Sandie Shaw's cracking cover have been added.

Previous covers of the month

13. Hurt
39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash
64. Lola
82. Drop


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Tuesday, 20 November 2018

Jumpin' Jack Flash


Called supernatural Delta Blues by way of swinging London by Rolling Stone magazine, Jumpin' Jack Flash was released by The Rolling Stones 50-years ago back in 1968.

It still sounds absolutely incredible. The guitars crash and collide, sounding raw and vital, the beat kicks in and so does Jagger.

I was born in a cross-fire hurricane
And I howled at the morning driving rain
But it's all right, now, in fact it's  gas
But it's all right, I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash
It's a gas, gas, gas

The line in the second verse I was schooled with a strap right across my back is brilliant, the riffing and grooving is relentless and the whole song and performance just oozes cool.

Here are the Stones getting it on in Texas in 1972 and click here for the original. 


How on earth do you even dare to cover so thrilling?!


Well it has been covered well over 1,000 times! However, if you are someone called Ananda Shankar you turn it into a largely instrumental psychedelic sitar infused jam with soaring backing vocals for the hooks. This version was released on an album of covers back in 1970. I first heard this a long, long time ago in one of my best friends bedrooms. We'd meet up on Friday and Saturday nights and play each other the latest records/cd's we'd bought and discuss the music news from the NME and Melody Maker - simpler times!

Reddy had stumbled across a David Holmes mix/compilation and this was on it. It blew our minds and was yet further evidence of Holmes impeccable taste and crate digging credentials.

It is very different, yet it keeps the groove you can feel the energy from the song, just like the Stones. With a song like this I don't think you could contain the energy from the lyrics and groove.

Enjoy.


Previous covers of the month


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Thursday, 11 January 2018

Not Fade Away

Cover version of the month #32


The Stones cover Buddy Holly


The Rolling Stones launched in June 1963, releasing a cover version of Chuck Berry's Come On, they would follow that with a Lennon and McCartney number I Wanna Be Your Man that the duo bashed out in 20-minutes to help The Stones and their manager Andrew Loog Oldham.  In search of original material there are stories that Loog Odham eventually resorted to locking Jagger and Richards in a room until they came up with something!

Their third release, in February 1964, was a scorching cover of Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away. They transformed the song, stamping their identify of rock n roll blues all over it. Brian Jones playing the mouth organ sounded a million times more exciting than when Lennon played his less than 2 years previously on The Beatles Love Me Do.

The original by Buddy Holly and The Crickets was written in 1957 and released as a b-side to the single Oh Boy and on the album The Chirping Crickets in 1958. The Stones keep the structure of the song but they turn it into raw and electric rock n roll. The difference is quite staggering, the drummer for the Crickets pounds the beat on a cardboard box! Through each recording you see the move from skiffle to rock n roll. No-one would ever look back.

The urgency in Jagger's voice is striking from the off. When Jagger sings it you believe him, you believe he's a lover and you kind of fall for him; hook, line and sinker.

I wanna tell you how it's gonna be, you're gonna give your love to me,
I wanna love you night and day, well love is love and not fade away

The handclaps, beats, Brian Jones on harmonica, the acoustic rhythm and the explosion of Richards on electric guitar sound incredibly exciting - even in 2018. The Stones transform the original and in under 2-minutes display the energy that captivated audiences across the globe.

Check the magnificent interview and performance from 1964 below and then the studio recording, followed by the original by Buddy Holly and The Crickets.








Previous covers of the month

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Sunday, 9 December 2012

The Rolling Stones in 1972 - the perfect band?

I'm still pretty blown away by the fantastic Crossfire Hurricane documentary that aired on BBC3 a week or so ago. Having watched it a few times (with no uge to delete it from my Sky+ planner at all) it has got me thinking, were The Rolling Stones circa 1972 the perfect band, the definitive band?

The documentary is certainly evidence in support of that question. Jagger is just incredible, a ball of energy, twitching, strutting, dancing, teasing, pouting and singing with all his soul, the ultimate front man, you just can't take your eyes off him. The band just lock into grooves, each seemingly knowing where the rest are going, playing with a 'tight looseness' that other bands could only dream of finding. Richards is 'rock star' personified, the combined sound of Richards and Mick Taylor's guitars is like nothing before or since.

They look fantastic, both Jagger and Richards have haircuts of the coolest order. Jagger is in peak shape, toned and muscular. Charlie Watts looks like nothing could ever phase him, and in 1972 he must have seen some sights!

They just let rip, touring their exceptional 'Exile On Main Street' double album. They had an edge; though drugs, the volatile relationship between Jagger and Richards and just the sheer energy from their songs and performance.

Looks, songs, performance and the lifestyle, the Stones in 1972 had it all. Here are some highlights.

All down the line


Happy


Jumpin' Jack Flash


Brown Sugar


Gimme Shelter


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