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

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt

14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine

16. California Soul

18. Wonder wall 

19. Dancing In The Dark

20. Always On My Mind

21. Ceremony

22. Heroes

23. Different Drum

24. Wild Horses

25. Respect

26. Mr Tambourine Man

27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine

28. Superstar

29. Twist and Shout

30. Purple Rain

31. Baker Street

32. Not Fade Away

33. Stop Your Sobbing

34. I Don't Want To Grow Up

35. Serious Drugs

36. Dancing With Myself

37. How Does It Feel To Feel?

38. Love Buzz

39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash

41. Discoland

42. Varshons 2 by The Lemonheads

43. The Langley Schools Music Project
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down 
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday 
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U

56. Hey Jude

57. Seven Days Too Long

58. L.O.V.E Love

59. Into Your Arms

60. Heart Of Glass

61. Take Me To The River

62. We Can Work It Out 

63. Talking In My Sleep

64. Lola

65. Lost In Music

66. My Little Red Book

67. Isn't It A Pity

68. Walk On By

69. Walk Away Renee

70. Tainted Love

71. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

72. Listen The Snow Is Falling

73. Mrs Robinson

74. He's Gonna Step On You Again

75. In My Life

76. Caravan Of Love

77. The Only Way Is Up

78. Dancin' Round & Round

79. With A Little Help From My Friends

80. Killing Me Softly

81. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

82. Drop

83. Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay

Never Ending Mixtape part 63

 

Welcome to a list of the latest additions to my Never Ending Mixtape, my Spotify playlist where I add songs as I listen to them and write a catch up blog every month.

This month we have new wave pop, an outrageous cover of Otis Redding's classic, the quite incredible Scott Walker (an artist whose catalogue I have yet to fully explore), we have plenty of soul, electronica, The Beatles in a psychedelic groove, an Amy Winehouse demo and The Stones cutting loose with the brilliant Jigsaw Puzzle. Plus loads more to explore.

As always I hope you rediscover an old favourite or something new to fall for. There are 2,155 songs at the time of writing to explore. Dig in. Thanks very much if you follow the playlist.

Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or CLICK HERE

Mannequin - Wire

Birds - Electrelane

You Make Me Weak At The Knees - Electrelane

To The East - Electrelane

You Made Me Like It - The 1990's

You're Supposed To Be My Friend - The 1990's

See You At The Lights - The 1990's

The Old Man's Back Again - Scott Walker

Dock Of The Bay - Peggy Lee

Burning - The Whitest Boy Alive

Gentle On My Mind - John Hartford

Message Personnel (Arab Strap remix) - Dot Allison

Time Doesn't Matter - Margie Day

Sunday Morning - Margo Guryan

It's Not Easy - Ofege

James Brown - Nancy Dupree

7 AM - Jacqueline Taieb

Inspiration Information - Shuggie Otis

The Seed - Cody Chestnut

Heart of Gold - Charles Bradley

This Time (I'm Gonna Try It My Way) - DJ Shadow

Drop - Cornelius

One Too Many Mornings - Chemical Brothers

See Those Eyes - Altered Images

Atomic - Blondie

Happy Place - Saint PHNX

Tears Dry On Their Own - Amy Winehouse

Love Is A Losing Game (demo) - Amy Winehouse

Get On Top - Tim Buckley

Bra- Cymande

No Dark Things - Echo and the Bunnymen

It's All Too Much - The Beatles

Jigsaw Puzzle - The Rolling Stones

rom com 2004 - Soccer Mommy

Never Ending Mixtape Part 15

My Never Ending Mixtape - my Spotify playlist that I add to regularly and blog about once or twice a month - has now broken 300 songs. As the number of tunes increases I actually find that I am enjoying and playing the playlist a lot more - playing it on shuffle while walking around Glasgow, or in the car or on a train.

The latest edition sees songs from 2 recently released albums by Glaswegian artists Gerry Cinnamon and Sister John sit with possibly my 2 favourite Neil Young songs, a psychedelic gem from Marmalade, a belter from Dinosaur Jr, the first (I think) songs from The Stones on the mixtape, we have a beautiful gem from The Pastels, 80's Bowie, a pop belter from Blondie, a new single from St Vincent, 2 chiming guitar pop perfection tunes from the Stone Roses, 2 of my favourite songs from James with over 20-years between them, one from the Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs opus, The Cure, The Beatles, Jenny Lewis, Ben Kweller and it finishes with a Bee Gees classic.....well check the full list of latest additions below.

You can find the full playlist by searching for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or click HERE Play from the start, scroll down to the current additions or simply press shuffle.

Keysies - Gerry Cinnamon
Thinner Air - Sister John
Don't Cry, No Tears - Neil Young
Like A Hurricane - Neil Young
Going Down - Dinosaur Jr
I See The Rain - Marmalade
Rain - The Beatles
Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks
Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
Sympathy For The Devil - The Rolling Stones
Out Of Time - The Rolling Stones

Melancholy Man - The Wake
Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
Inbetween Days - The Cure
Mersey Paradise - Stone Roses
Sally Cinnamon - Stone Roses
Sometimes - James
When My Boy Walks Down The Street - Magnetic Fields
Getting Away With It - James
Vivid Youth - The Pastels
Hang On In There Girl (instrumental) - Jesse

Davis Band
Atomic - Blondie

You're All In Need To Get By - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

Modern Love - David Bowie
Bruises - Chairlift
Just One Of The Guys - Jenny Lewis
Sundress - Ben Kweller
More Than A Woman - Bee Gees

Introducing Sister John

In October 2016 Last Night From Glasgow received a lovely Facebook message from a girl called Amanda McKeown with a private soundcloud link to an album's worth of demos. Amanda asked if we were seeking any new acts, said they formed in late 2015 and had played a grand total of 3 shows.

The bands name - Sister John - was interesting, their Facebook profile pic (below) looked amazing - a simple click and we were transported into their world - all warm acoustic guitars, spine tingling violin and stunning vocals. We were in.

Amanda, Heather, Sophie and Jonathan

Sister John were introduced to the world at Christmas with their song He Came Down and showcased their taste, style and talent at The Christmas Effect charity show with stunning take on Winter by The Rolling Stones and Christmas Must Be Tonight by The Band.

They are 4 immensely talented musicians and singer/guitarist Amanda McKeown is writing some beautiful songs. Return From Sea, the bands stunning debut album that we were introduced to in demo form last year, will be out on limited edition gatefold vinyl in September. Some of the songs have already been picked up by BBC Radio Scotland.

Expect a review nearer the time, but read on for an interview with Amanda. If you like what you hear and read below then visit the LNFG shop to pre-order.

1. How did the band form?
I've been singing for a while and marinating in music all my life but only started writing a couple of years ago. Warren McIntyre who runs the Seven Song Club at the Tron knew I'd been writing and asked if I would do a set so I asked Jonathan, Sophie and Heather to play with me and we just clicked. They are all incredibly talented players and we have a very sympathetic musical feel between us.

2. How quickly did your find your sound?
I had quite a clear idea of how I wanted the songs to sound - really it was about the minimum needed to convey and enhance the emotion.

3. Am I right in thinking you write all the songs? Do you have a set process or do songs just arrive? The Sweetest Moment sounds so natural, did it just come out like that?
Yes. I write in notebooks a lot. Sometimes I have imagery in my head and I'll connect it to another story - perhaps a film or some experience of my own and whatever it's about will emerge, then I'll play it for the band. Sweetest Moment was written in a morning - I searched for the right first line for a couple of weeks though.

4. Did any music, events or people influence the album?
Writing for me has partly been a process of revealing to myself what is going on with my thoughts, my emotions. The album in retrospect feels like a journey - it couldn't have worked sequenced in any other way. Not to be too grandiose about it but there seems to me to be strong themes in there - navigating in a challenging world, the tangibility of the past in the present, the tension between yourself and society. And from rain to sea to tides and rivers - I didn't realise how much I used water as a metaphor.

5. How important was it to get the album out on vinyl?
I am thrilled about that. It's the perfect format for the sound.

Sister John album 

6. You've only played a handful of shows and your 2 launch party shows have sold out. Will you be adding some more soon?
We're really excited about the launch shows and hope to play Edinburgh and one or two other places around Scotland before Christmas - then perhaps back in Glasgow for Celtic Connections, fingers crossed.

Sister John at the Old Hairdressers

7. Are you writing at present?
I've started writing number two and curious to see where it takes me and our sound.

8. Who/what are you listening to at present? Any other local bands/artists?
I love Stephen Solo - a fellow LNFGer. He writes beautiful songs.

Wild Horses

Cover version of the month #24

Wild Horses - The Sundays cover The Rolling Stones

The Sundays were a band I fell for in my early teenage years. Their debut album Reading, Writing and Arithmetic was heralded by the weekly music magazines NME and Melody Maker and the reviews sent me scurrying to buy a copy from Missing Records in Oswald Street in Glasgow. Songs like Here's Where The Story Ends were just gorgeous pop, stunning songwriting. Oh and for a 14/15 year old indie kid, lead singer Harriet Wheeler was the kind of girl you fantasised about when the streets were cold and lonely, dreamy and with a beautiful voice.

I bought The Sundays Goodbye 12-inch single. The b-side was a cover of The Stones Wild Horses, a song I was familiar with through an old battered Stones compilation album owned by my Dad.

The Stones version is a masterpiece in songwriting and delivery. The slow acoustic, Jagger's impeccable vocal (and some of his best lyrics), the beat kicking in, the rise.... it is majestic.

I know I've dreamed you a sin and a lie

I have my freedom but I don't have much time

Faith has been broken tears must be cried

Lets do some living, after we've died

Wild horses couldn't drag me away

Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day

The solo is exquisite, no-one else could play like that, it is beautiful and soulful.

Who in their right mind would attempt to cover it?

Well a young indie band from Reading decided to tackle it. And of course, nothing could compare to the Stones, but The Sundays version was one that greatly appealed to the 16-year old me and after rediscovering it over 20-years down the line it still does.

Wheeler's voice aches in a different kind of way to Jagger's, hearing a female lead makes the elder me look at the song in a completely different way, appreciate it even more. Wheeler's voice is dreamy, yet soaked in reality, detached, yet present. It is potentially the boldest cover to date in this series.

Previous covers of the month

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt
14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine
16. California Soul
18. Wonder wall 
19. Dancing In The Dark
20. Always On My Mind
21. Ceremony
22. Heroes
23. Different Drum

Electric Fields - Everything Flows DJ set

When is the last time you danced? I mean really danced? Like when you go for it, do the whole big handclaps, hands in the air, singing all the lyrics type dance?

For some people it will have been last Saturday night in the Tim Peaks Diner at Electric Fields when my friend Phil Redfearn played an incredible 70-minute set under the guise of the Everything Flows DJ'S.

The set started with a nice little bit of Bowie before taking in a wildly eclectic mix of disco, funk, punk, rock n roll and soul. It was pretty much 70-minutes of euphoric vocal led upbeat music.

The highlight for me was Atomic by Blondie. The place went absolutely crazy. Then there was the brave choice of Relight My Fire....no not Take That, but a sensational 8-minute Dimitri From Paris reworking of the Dan Hartman and Loretta Holloway version - it sounded incredible. With people starting to head out to see the headliners, the set ended with Primal Scream.

See below for the songs played and a link to the entire mix.

Everything Flows DJ's are available for hire - pubs, clubs, gigs, parties, weddings....

Get us via everythingflows (AT) ymail (DOT) com or via @murrayeaston or @philthedriller

Memory Of A Free Festival (outro) -David Bowie
Backstabber - The O'Jays
Everybody Dance - Chic
I Wanna Be Your Love (live) - Prince
Boogie Oogie Oogie - A Taste Of Honey
Getting Away With It (re-edit) - Electronic
Love Will Tear Us Apart (Drop Out Orchestra mix) - Joy Division
Rock The Casbah (re-edit) - The Clash
September - Earth, Wind and Fire
Dance To The Music - Sly and The Family Stone
Get Off Of My Cloud - The Rolling Stones
Atomic (12-inch) - Blondie
Relight My Fire (Dimitri from Paris remix) - Dan Hartman featuring Loretta Holloway
Ain't No Mountain High Enough (re-edit) - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Movin' On Up (extended intro re-edit) - Primal Scream

Five for Friday 28/10/11

Here are 5 tunes to kick start your weekend.

We start with the slick, soulful and funky disco of 'Le Freak' by Chic

We the glide into Patti Jo's gorgeous 'Make Me Believe In You', the lyrics are just pure 'heart on sleeve' stuff.

We then storm into Martha Reeves & The Vandella's with the classic 'Nowhere To Run'. Martha will be playing Celtic Connections in Glasgow in January 2012.

Keeping up the pace we fly into Spanky Wilson with 'You', written by a certain Stevie Wonder.

This week ends in serious style courtesy of The Stones and this outrageous take on 'Sympathy For The Devil' from the memorial concert for Brian Jones in 1969.

Five for Friday - Part III

Arcade Fire are on of the most creative, passionate and talented bands out there.

David Bowie is still under-rated, partly because i think like Ziggy Stardust, he is from a different planet. The guy is a phenomenon. Bowie and Ronson on fire.

The re-issue of 'Exile On Main Street' has been on and off my stereo since it came out. This is an example of why. Sheer rock'n'roll.

LCD Soundsystem have been one of my favourite bands of recent times. James Murphy is coolness personified - elements of funk, soul, electro, techno, pop, garage...and anything else that takes his fancy are thrown together to create some spectacular results.

I've recently discovered the album 'Butterfly House' by The Coral. It is a beautiful album, lovingly crafted with tons of harmonies, hooks and some brilliant guitar work. The production is also stunning with elements of late 60's bands like Love a clear influence.