Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Downtown Suzie
(Bill Wyman)

Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK, April 17 - July 2, 1969

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, backing vocals
Keith Richards - backing vocals
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass, backing vocals
Ry Cooder - acoustic guitar, electric slide guitar
Jimmy Miller - percussion, backing vocals

Got the Monday mornin' feel
Monday wasn't really real
Oh, lying on a naked bed
With an Alka Seltzer head

Oh, Lucy looked sweet just a-strollin' down Newport Street
Talkin' 'bout Lu, what ya gonna do
And I feel so bad, have you ever been had
I'll dry out sweet Lucy

Took an early morning shower
Well, wasted 'bout half an hour
I heard the ringing of a bell
It's Lucy with the clientele
Oh, I'm feelin' like the Sunday Times
Soaked in Californian wine
Oh, Lucy kicked me in the hole
A tenner’s worth of achin' balls
Oh, Lucy, yep

Oh, Lucy looked sweet just a-strollin' down Newport Street
Talkin bout Lu, what ya gonna do
I feel so bad, have you ever been had
Got a dose from my sweet Lucy

Oh, Lucy looked sweet just a-strollin' down Newport Street
Talkin bout Lu, who, what ya gonna do
Oh, and I feel so bad, have you ever been had
Oh, by my sweet Lucy

Produced by Jimmy Miller

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Metamorphosis” LP
(Decca SKL 5212) UK, June 6, 1975



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2013-11-28 11:50 by René.

it's "A Tenner’s worth of achin' balls "

"Cleaning towel" or "clientele" I don't know
But since Lucy is a prostitute...

good song

Clientele.

One question: Why is the song named ..."Suzie"?

The original title was Lyle Street Lucie (says Bill).
Most probably recorded at the same time as "Jamming With Edward" (April 23 1969).

Why is it that Bill Wyman's songs sound like he is only half awake?
Even if he's not singing them himself?

The verses are so draggy, then it really revs up at the chorus.

I think this is an oddball gem, equivalent to The Beatles' You Know My name, Look Up The Number...I love it.

Shite

it's a better tune imo than many of the other outtakes of the period, like "Family" and "Blood Red Wine."

I agree with Tele71 I always find myself putting this song on one of my mix cd's or i-pod playlist - I love this song!

I really love this song. It's one of my favorite Stones rarities along with Blood Red Wine.

Meanwhile in Keno's parallel universe, he has Brian down as being the slide guitarist and backing vocalist.

[www.keno.org]

Pass the spliff man!

The woogie -boogie guitar pattern of the chorus is very keithsm

Certainly not Brian. Probably Cooder on guitar.

www.timeisonourside.com:

Probable line-up:

Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman
Acoustic guitar: Ry Cooder
Slide electric guitar: Ry Cooder
Lead vocal: Mick Jagger
Background vocals: Mick Jagger, Jimmy Miller & others
Percussion: Jimmy Miller
Handclaps: ---



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-01-21 22:01 by DandelionPowderman.

Quote
DandelionPowderman
Certainly not Brian. Probably Cooder on guitar.

www.timeisonourside.com:

Probable line-up:

Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman
Acoustic guitar: Ry Cooder
Slide electric guitar: Ry Cooder
Lead vocal: Mick Jagger

Background vocals: Mick Jagger, Jimmy Miller & others
Percussion: Jimmy Miller
Handclaps: ---

I am with KeithNacho. Sounds like Keith is on it to me, unless it was one of those days when he was avoiding Ry Cooder.

great tune for me , very stonesy , great acoustic and electric guitars (listen to open G chords !)

Quote
71Tele

Quote
DandelionPowderman
Certainly not Brian. Probably Cooder on guitar.

www.timeisonourside.com:

Probable line-up:

Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman
Acoustic guitar: Ry Cooder
Slide electric guitar: Ry Cooder
Lead vocal: Mick Jagger

Background vocals: Mick Jagger, Jimmy Miller & others
Percussion: Jimmy Miller
Handclaps: ---

I am with KeithNacho. Sounds like Keith is on it to me, unless it was one of those days when he was avoiding Ry Cooder.

According to Wyman they recorded it with Cooder while waiting for Keith.

Mathijs

I love the song but what interests me the most is whether this was intentionally done. Intentionally meaning: Mick and Keith agreeing after the positive example of In Another Land to give Bill a regular composer's spot just as it was usual with the Beatles/Harrison and the Who/Entwistle.

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JJHMick
I love the song but what interests me the most is whether this was intentionally done. Intentionally meaning: Mick and Keith agreeing after the positive example of In Another Land to give Bill a regular composer's spot just as it was usual with the Beatles/Harrison and the Who/Entwistle.

Well, no. They just filled a couple of waiting moments with a song Wyman wrote, forgot about it, and then it got released by ABKCO without Stones consent. That's it really.

Mathijs

Love, LOVE this track!! So catchy, and so much fun! It's got this irresistible, bouncy rhythm in the chorus, and the contrast between the verses and the chorus just adds to the joy. Very clever lyrics, too.

Fine work by everyone involved, and especially hats off to Bill!!

Drew

Quote
JJHMick
I love the song but what interests me the most is whether this was intentionally done. Intentionally meaning: Mick and Keith agreeing after the positive example of In Another Land to give Bill a regular composer's spot just as it was usual with the Beatles/Harrison and the Who/Entwistle.

Bill's said that before Beggars Banquet was recorded Mick told him that he could have a track on the album and that Brian would have one, and that that coming on top of In Another Land meant that the closed shop seemed to be opening. But when it came down to it, no.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-09-19 23:26 by Squiggle.

Oh, and I like the song a lot. The 'yeeeaahhs' sound like the groanings of trolls, which is good.

Quote
marcovandereijk
Why is it that Bill Wyman's songs sound like he is only half awake?
Even if he's not singing them himself?

true--the mark of a songwriting stylist. Something of his might certainly have fit in on GHS, for example... not accepting his songs might have been a real loss for the band. Not to mention that we'd have been spared his solo albums.

Wyman wrote that whenever any one else but the Glimmers came with a composition, they would just give it a single and half-hearted attempt whilest they would go on for hours and days with Glimmer compositions just as long as they got it right. Don't know how much this is true, but fact is that with Ronnie's Pretty Beat Up they had a master killer tune, and no matter how much i love Jagger here he really let the whole thing down. Just listen to Pretty Beat Up and imagine Jagger actually singing (instead of occasionally shouting out of sinc one liners), actually singing a text with a melody on that groofy tune, and hell, wouldn't it have been a monster killer hit? So why isn't Jagger doing that? Why isn't he giving it his best? I can't escape the impression that he just didn't take it serious and deliberatly just raves a bit to not make it good enough for the record. Doesn't he realise how good the Stones actually are? They are so good they can turn compositions of any one into blockbusters with their phenomonal feel. So why this obsession with only Glimmer compositions? You can only be a good writer for so long, at a sorten moment you start in one form or another just repeating yourself, that's unavoidable. Is there some weird only Jagger Richards rep at stake (only exisitng in their own heads)? No one gives a damn about who wrote the songs,really, but every one cares about a good album. If the Stones would make a brilliant album with not even one Jagger Richards composition on it, but it's a good album with good solid songs, than the whole world would be at awe again about this legendary phenomena called the Rolling Stones and without a doubt the Stones can write another album down on their list of classics that had an impact on the Universe of modern music.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-09-20 00:28 by behroez.

Well That could be Brian on slide guitar. The gem is of course Ry Cooder doing that HTW riff before Keith did it.

I believe both the acoustic and electric are open g, right? Great song though!

Reshot carpet- listened to the track and trying to pick out the Honky Tonk Women riff and I just don’t hear it.

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bigmac7895
Reshot carpet- listened to the track and trying to pick out the Honky Tonk Women riff and I just don’t hear it.

I believe they're referring to the open g rhythm guitar played by Ry.

Thanks! So stylenot necessarily the riff.

I wonder if this song is where Mick got the idea to use Suzie in Dead Flowers? If I recall, there's an outtake of Dead Flowers where he sings Take Me Down Little Lucy, too.