In promoting the upcoming reissue of the classic 1971 album Sticky Fingers, The Rolling Stones have been releasing some alternate versions of some of the songs off the album. One of my favorite Rolling Stones songs has always been “Dead Flowers,” so I was excited to hear how the Stones had played with the sound before releasing the album.
The alternate version of “Dead Flowers” is below. Slate writes that this alternate take is “bluesier” than the country-tinged original, with Mick Jagger giving a “looser” delivery and Ian Stewart’s piano muted compared to the original. Check out this alternate take and see what you think..
If you wish to compare the above alternate take to what was eventually released, the original version of “Dead Flowers” from Sticky Fingers is below.
The reissue of Sticky Fingers comes out June 9. The Sticky Fingers 2-CD release will include a CD with alternate and live versions of songs from the album.
Which version of “Dead Flowers” do you like best? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On December 31, 1964, American International Pictures released The T.A.M.I. Show in theaters as a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.” This early rock concert film gave rock and roll fans a snapshot of some of the biggest bands of the time and was groundbreaking.
“T.A.M.I.” stands for “Teenage Awards Music International,” although some promotional materials also used “Teen Age Music International.” But the important part of The T.A.M.I. Show is the music, filmed from the standpoint of the audience. The technique made viewers feel like they were at the show recorded at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964.
Below is the trailer for the film.
The general consensus is that James Brown gives his greatest filmed performance here, an outstanding display of passion and performing experience that made the Rolling Stones regret they had to follow him. But there are other highlights throughout the concert, including the 18-year-old Lesley Gore and a surprisingly loose performance by The Beach Boys.
Although producer Bill Sargent lost the rights to the film and it disappeared for decades, it is now available for your viewing on DVD (with extras) and with various performances on YouTube. Below, James Brown performs “Please, Please, Please.”
Performers include Jan and Dean (over the credits), Chuck Berry, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Lesley Gore, The Beach Boys, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, The Supremes, The Barbarians, James Brown and The Famous Flames, and The Rolling Stones.
Artists are still making great music today, but it is hard to imagine people agreeing on so many great performers in one film now. So, travel back to another time, and check out the Rolling Stones closing the show, joined by others on the stage.
Some trivia tidbits: The opening credits list The Blossoms with the performers, but they are not introduced when they appear as the backing singers for Marvin Gaye (or when later they appear to encourage James Brown to return to the stage). The Blossoms were used to not getting credit, having recorded the 1962 hit “He’s a Rebel” without credit.
Also, future actress Teri Garr and future recording star Toni Basil appear as background dancers in the film, and singer Glen Campbell and musician Leon Russell played in the show’s backing band, The Wrecking Crew. Reportedly, filmmaker John Landis and future Partridge Family star David Cassidy, who were seventh grade classmates at the time, were in the audience for the show.
What are your favorite parts of The T.A.M.I. Show? Leave your two cents in the comments.
The Rolling Stones introduced special guest Bruce Springsteen on Thursday at the Rock in Rio Lisboa music festival in Lisbon, Portugal. Together, the legends performed one of my favorite Stones songs, “Tumbling Dice,” from Exile on Main Street(1972). Check out the lively performance that shows old guys still can rock.
Springsteen and the Stones had played “Tumbling Dice” together previously at the end of the British band’s 2012 tour in Newark, New Jersey. The only disappointing thing about the recent appearance is that they did not follow it up with Springsteen’s “Roll of the Dice” from Human Touch (1992) . But maybe Springsteen has been in the mood for dice songs lately, as he did perform the rarely played “Roll of the Dice” earlier this month on May 19 at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
What great rock artists would you like to see perform together? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On October 21 in 1967, one of the most significant signs of public disgruntlement with the Vietnam conflict began. Nearly 100,000 people showed up in D.C. to protest the U.S. role in the war.
The March on the Pentagon to Confront the War Makers started near the Lincoln Memorial, and approximately 50,000 of the protesters then went to the Pentagon, where many remained until October 23 and where some participated in acts of civil disobedience. Author Norman Mailer captured many of the events of the protest in his novel, Armies of the Night.
That year there were other protests around the country, as polls showed that the support for the war had dropped below 50%. All of those factors led President Lyndon Johnson’s administration to respond with a public relations campaign in support of the war.
But the protest, and complaints after the Tet offensive in early 1968, illustrated that many Americans would continue to raise their voices to end the U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Music Reflects the Protests Against the War
At the time, one might have noticed from the music that something was in the air. The year 1967 began with the Rolling Stones appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show in January. At the show’s request, the band famously changed the title lyrics of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” to the less sexy “Let’s Spend Some Time Together.” But by September, the Doors appeared on the same show after also agreeing to alter the lyrics to their song, “Light My Fire.” But Jim Morrison captured the growing youth rebellion by going ahead and singing the offending line “Girl we couldn’t get much higher.”
In other 1967 music news, Buffalo Springfrield released “For What It’s Worth” in January. In February, Aretha Franklin recorded “Respect.” In March, the Who performed for the first time in the U.S. In June, the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Also in June, the Monterey Pop Festival brought young people together to hear such artists as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Otis Redding. Redding soon would write and record “(Sitting on) the Dock of the Bay.”
John Lennon in How I Won the War
Then, on October 18, three days before the Washington protest, the first issue of Rolling Stone magazine came off the presses with a cover photo of John Lennon from the film How I Won the War. The film was a comedy where Lennon first appeared with his famous round glasses.
Phil Ochs Declares the War is Over
Of course, there was music at the protest in D.C. too. One of the performers at the protest was Phil Ochs. He performed his recent song that imagined a future without the war, “The War is Over.”
In the song at the protest, Ochs proclaimed “This country is too young to die,” so “I declare the war is over.” He concludes, “You only are what you believe.”
Below is a video of a different live performance of “The War is Over.”
The U.S. eventually withdrew its troops from Viet Nam, but it would be nearly six more years before the war was actually over for the U.S. soldiers and their loved ones at home.
In spring 1998, the Rolling Stones were doing a stadium tour in South America with a guy named Bob Dylan as their opening act. During the tour, Dylan often joined the Rolling Stones for a performance of “Like a Rolling Stone.” Although reportedly early joint performances of the song were a little rough, by the time the Rio de Janeiro performance was televised Dylan had adjusted to the Stones’s playing style on the song. Check out Dylan and the Rolling Stones on “Like a Rolling Stone.”
The joint performance is one of the rare times Dylan has played with the full lineup of the Rolling Stones, even though he and the band are long-time friends. Before the South American joint tour, both bands were playing in New York earlier in 1998 and the Rolling Stones played “Like a Rolling Stone” in honor of Dylan, but he never joined them on stage.
At Dylan’s 1988 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Mick Jagger and a large number of other stars joined Dylan for “Like a Rolling Stone.” But the South American tour remains the rare time the legend and the legendary band played the legendary song.
Who would you like to see Dylan perform with? Leave your two cents in the comments.
In promoting the upcoming reissue of the classic 1971 album Sticky Fingers, The Rolling Stones have been releasing some alternate versions of some of the songs off the album. One of my favorite Rolling Stones songs has always been “Dead Flowers,” so I was excited to hear how the Stones had played with the sound before releasing the album.
and with various performances on YouTube. Below, James Brown performs “Please, Please, Please.”
(1972). Check out the lively performance that shows old guys still can rock.
(1992) . But maybe Springsteen has been in the mood for dice songs lately, as he did perform the rarely played “Roll of the Dice” earlier this month on May 19 at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
