l can only think of "Prodigal Son in Beggars,before that, did they ever record a real country song?

"No dope smoking no beer sold after 12 o'clock"

prodigal son is a gospel song....Rev Robert Wilkins

country tonk is the first one they did countrified I think but they may have played blued up versions of some country stuff back with Brian.

someone would argue that high and dry is country...

I always figured 'High & Dry' to be country. They covered Hank Snow's 'I'm moving On' in the early 1960s - that was pure country too.

Quote
Richard from Canada
I always figured 'High & Dry' to be country.

richard from canada...aka someone

moving on and High n dry...right right..I consider those country for sure

Hank Snow's "I'm Moving On"? Or am I just imagining this?

Quote
Elmo Lewis
Hank Snow's "I'm Moving On"? Or am I just imagining this?

there's nothing "country" about the stones rendering of it, though....

"You better move on" is more than a little country

Arthur Alexander (May 10, 1940 – June 9, 1993) was an American country soul singer.
Jason Ankeny, music critic for Allmusic, said Alexander was a "country-soul
pioneer" and though largely unknown, "his music is the stuff of genius, a poignant
and deeply intimate body of work on par with the best of his contemporaries."

Alexander is the only songwriter whose songs have been covered by the Beatles, the
Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-02 00:52 by superrevvy.

Quote
dadrob
prodigal son is a gospel song....Rev Robert Wilkins

country tonk is the first one they did countrified I think but they may have played blued up versions of some country stuff back with Brian.

Yes Prodigal Song is a gospel tune,but imo the Stones gave it a country treatment to it,also "High and dry" indeed was probably their first "country" song,"Moving on" their version is more R&R than country,thanks to all for your input.

"No dope smoking no beer sold after 12 o'clock"

I know that it was an r'n'b cover, but I always thought "It's All Over Now" leaned a little to the country side.

Some clarity is needed on this.

The cover of I'm Movin' On was learnt, not from Hank Snow, but rather from Ray Charles, who recorded it as one of his final Atlantic sides. I think it is the B side to I Believe To My Soul, if memory serves. Certainly Keith has stated that the Stones all loved Ray Charles: Mick, Keith, Brian, and Bill were fans of his Atlantic soul/blues stuff, yet Charlie was deeply appreciative of his Quincy Jones/Ralph Bass produced effort Genius + Soul = Jazz which first was released on Impulse.

Secondly, Arthur Alexander was familiar as an R n B artist: A Shot of Rhythm & Blues was a regular cover amongst Beat Boom artists. So too, Sally Sue Brown. I think You Better Move On and Every Day I Have to Cry were covered by British artists: Dusty Springfield did Every Day. The Beatles did Anna, and much later, Bob Dylan, in 1987, did Sally Sue Brown. Ry Cooder did Go On Home, Girl, and Nick Lowe did Lonely Just Like Me. So Arthur Alexander was very familiar to artists of a certain vintage. However, he wasn't really country, as he comes from that rich vein of southern soul, i.e. Muscle Shoals.

The first Stones country number: if we take rockabilly as a country sub genre, encompassing Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee, Charlie Rich, Billy Lee Riley, Johnny Carroll, Glen Glenn, and from Lubbock Texas, Buddy Holly - then Not Fade Away was the first country/rockabilly number they did, albeit in the style of Bo Diddley.

Flight 505 and High & Dry are country pastiches, as is Dear Doctor, so too Country Honk. Dead Flowers seems to be the first attempt to write something in a Bakersfield style, a la Buck Owens. It was later covered by country artists Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Sweet Virginia was also covered, albeit sanitised, by Jerry Lee Lewis, duetting with Keith Richards. Faraway Eyes can be construed as a country pastiche, but We Had It All is pure country soul, written by Donnie Fritts, a contemporary of Arthur Alexander's at Muscle Shoals, and writer of the awesome Breakfast In Bed, as covered by Dusty Springfield and Baby Washington. We Had It All was also down with serious grits by Ray Charles.

This leads me to where does country meet soul ? Obviously under the aegis of Rich Hall at Muscle Shoals, but many a black musician has strayed into country with amazing results: Bobby Womack a case in point. Ditto He Called Me Baby by Ella Washington. Likewise Clarence Gatemouth Brown's country recordings in the early 70s, such as Mama Mambo and Dark End of The Hallway: Etta James doing Almost Persuaded: James & Bobby Purify doing 16 tonnes: Ray Charles' country albums: Solomon Burke doing Just Out of Reach: Candi Staton doing In The Ghetto. The list is endless, and excellent.

Ergo, the Stones would hear country music by black artists and thus decide to do it their way. Also, as fans of Sun rockabilly, such as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash, they would also hear some pure country. Keith has said on interview that nothing improves on I'm Left You're Right She's Gone's guitar solo by Scotty Moore: a pure country number by Elvis. Likewise the b side to Great Balls of Fire was You Win Again, and High School Confidential's b side was Fools Like Me: thus Jerry Lee had a country element to him prior to Another Place, Another Time in 1968.

Also, when Keith met Johnny Cash, albeit at a urinal during the rock n roll hall of fame, he burst into Loading Coal - a Merle Travis tune, covered by Johnny Cash on an early album called Ride This Train from 1960. So, the Stones were familiar with country, but so were the Beatles with Act Naturally, and Dusty Springfield with Silver Threads & Golden Needles as a member of the Springfields. Britain in the early 60s must have been a right set of hillbilly cats, but it's all great music.

Quote
tomcasagranda
Some clarity is needed on this.

The cover of I'm Movin' On was learnt, not from Hank Snow, but rather from Ray Charles, who recorded it as one of his final Atlantic sides. I think it is the B side to I Believe To My Soul, if memory serves. Certainly Keith has stated that the Stones all loved Ray Charles: Mick, Keith, Brian, and Bill were fans of his Atlantic soul/blues stuff, yet Charlie was deeply appreciative of his Quincy Jones/Ralph Bass produced effort Genius + Soul = Jazz which first was released on Impulse.

Secondly, Arthur Alexander was familiar as an R n B artist: A Shot of Rhythm & Blues was a regular cover amongst Beat Boom artists. So too, Sally Sue Brown. I think You Better Move On and Every Day I Have to Cry were covered by British artists: Dusty Springfield did Every Day. The Beatles did Anna, and much later, Bob Dylan, in 1987, did Sally Sue Brown. Ry Cooder did Go On Home, Girl, and Nick Lowe did Lonely Just Like Me. So Arthur Alexander was very familiar to artists of a certain vintage. However, he wasn't really country, as he comes from that rich vein of southern soul, i.e. Muscle Shoals.

The first Stones country number: if we take rockabilly as a country sub genre, encompassing Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee, Charlie Rich, Billy Lee Riley, Johnny Carroll, Glen Glenn, and from Lubbock Texas, Buddy Holly - then Not Fade Away was the first country/rockabilly number they did, albeit in the style of Bo Diddley.

Flight 505 and High & Dry are country pastiches, as is Dear Doctor, so too Country Honk. Dead Flowers seems to be the first attempt to write something in a Bakersfield style, a la Buck Owens. It was later covered by country artists Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Sweet Virginia was also covered, albeit sanitised, by Jerry Lee Lewis, duetting with Keith Richards. Faraway Eyes can be construed as a country pastiche, but We Had It All is pure country soul, written by Donnie Fritts, a contemporary of Arthur Alexander's at Muscle Shoals, and writer of the awesome Breakfast In Bed, as covered by Dusty Springfield and Baby Washington. We Had It All was also down with serious grits by Ray Charles.

This leads me to where does country meet soul ? Obviously under the aegis of Rich Hall at Muscle Shoals, but many a black musician has strayed into country with amazing results: Bobby Womack a case in point. Ditto He Called Me Baby by Ella Washington. Likewise Clarence Gatemouth Brown's country recordings in the early 70s, such as Mama Mambo and Dark End of The Hallway: Etta James doing Almost Persuaded: James & Bobby Purify doing 16 tonnes: Ray Charles' country albums: Solomon Burke doing Just Out of Reach: Candi Staton doing In The Ghetto. The list is endless, and excellent.

Ergo, the Stones would hear country music by black artists and thus decide to do it their way. Also, as fans of Sun rockabilly, such as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash, they would also hear some pure country. Keith has said on interview that nothing improves on I'm Left You're Right She's Gone's guitar solo by Scotty Moore: a pure country number by Elvis. Likewise the b side to Great Balls of Fire was You Win Again, and High School Confidential's b side was Fools Like Me: thus Jerry Lee had a country element to him prior to Another Place, Another Time in 1968.

Also, when Keith met Johnny Cash, albeit at a urinal during the rock n roll hall of fame, he burst into Loading Coal - a Merle Travis tune, covered by Johnny Cash on an early album called Ride This Train from 1960. So, the Stones were familiar with country, but so were the Beatles with Act Naturally, and Dusty Springfield with Silver Threads & Golden Needles as a member of the Springfields. Britain in the early 60s must have been a right set of hillbilly cats, but it's all great music.

WOW,Thanks Tom,you know your stuff, l never heard the story about Keith and Johnny Cash,l wish they had done something together..

"No dope smoking no beer sold after 12 o'clock"

I was always surprised to hear the steel guitar break during the Metamorphis' version of 'Heart of Stone" and then the regular lead guitar (was that Page?) Is that also a steel you can hear on "Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind" ? (Bloody awful song by the way...)

A couple of those godawful early Jagger-Richards tunes on METAMORPHOSIS approach country.

And this is with Jimmy Page on lead. Sounds better than the released version? Maybe they could have dropped a verse.

>Sounds better than the released version?

Good God, No!

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StonesTod
someone would argue that high and dry is country...

I wouldn't argue with "someone".

Not the first, but the best.

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mitchflorida1
Not the first, but the best.

It's great, but someone might argue that Dead Flowers is even better.

Hopefully everyone!

...........Well put piece there tomcasagranda


Keith has said on interview that nothing improves on I'm Left You're Right She's Gone's guitar solo by Scotty Moore: a pure country number by Elvis.

There is a recording of Little Boy Blue & The Blue Boys performing I'm Left, Your Right, She's Gone in
1961...and though it's never surfaced it's reported that The Stones recorded a version in '95 for the Stripped album...


thus Jerry Lee had a country element to him prior to Another Place, Another Time in 1968.

Heck yeah Jerry Lee is soaked in country ..... His very first recording from 1952 at age 16 is the beautiful cover of Lefty Frizzell's - Don't Stay Away ('Til Love Grows Strong) ... Then in '54 he cut Hank Snow's wonderful
It Don't Hurt Anymore and his first Sun single in '56 was Crazy Arms .....



ROCKMAN

Tom Casagranda, you made some important points which should be worthwhile for newer Stones fans to educate themselves.

Quote
tomcasagranda
Some clarity is needed on this.

The cover of I'm Movin' On was learnt, not from Hank Snow, but rather from Ray Charles, who recorded it as one of his final Atlantic sides. I think it is the B side to I Believe To My Soul, if memory serves. Certainly Keith has stated that the Stones all loved Ray Charles: Mick, Keith, Brian, and Bill were fans of his Atlantic soul/blues stuff, yet Charlie was deeply appreciative of his Quincy Jones/Ralph Bass produced effort Genius + Soul = Jazz which first was released on Impulse.

Secondly, Arthur Alexander was familiar as an R n B artist: A Shot of Rhythm & Blues was a regular cover amongst Beat Boom artists. So too, Sally Sue Brown. I think You Better Move On and Every Day I Have to Cry were covered by British artists: Dusty Springfield did Every Day. The Beatles did Anna, and much later, Bob Dylan, in 1987, did Sally Sue Brown. Ry Cooder did Go On Home, Girl, and Nick Lowe did Lonely Just Like Me. So Arthur Alexander was very familiar to artists of a certain vintage. However, he wasn't really country, as he comes from that rich vein of southern soul, i.e. Muscle Shoals...

Whoa, whoa, whoa...hold on!

What's the deal with an incredibly informed, well-written and, really, a very inspiring piece appearing on this board? It's almost as if this were a place for people to actually help one another come to an even greater enjoyment of the Stones.

Thanks so much tomcasagranda, you masked stranger, for an excellent post. It actually made my day. You have vaulted yourself into the very heady realm of "Professor" Rockman and "Dr." Gazza...

"Professor" ...... easy easy Rev ... I'm just a kid...



ROCKMAN

Thank you for the wonderful comments on my earlier post.

If we consider Keith's formative years, he would have been very familiar with country. His mother, Doris, and his grandfather, Gus, had swing and jazz in their record collections. Now, Tony Bennett in 1952 had a huge hit with Hank Williams' Cold Cold Heart: Louis Armstrong covered Your Cheatin' Heart in 1953, so swing and jazz artists were always moving towards country sides. If we go as far back as circa 1929, you find that Louis Armstrong and Lili Hardin Armstrong backed Jimmie Rodgers on Blue Yodel No 9, which highlights how much and how far country was influenced by jazz.

Now, in 2006, The Stones sang Bob Wills Is Still The King live in Texas. This was a cover of a Waylon Jennings tune from 1975, yet Bob Wills was the founder of Western Swing, a country sub genre which certainly influenced Willie Nelson on his jazz album Stardust, and on Willie Meets The Wheel, his collaboration with Asleep At The Wheel, and definitely Night & Day, which is Western Swing instrumentals meeting Django Reinhardt.

You should also consider how many musicians the Stones worked with have a country background. Al Perkins on Torn & Frayed, Gram Parsons, Byron Berline on Country Honk, Jim Dickinson, and even Leon Russell.

Heart Of Stone is soul. I'm Moving On is rock'n'roll.

High And Dry is country for sure.

Good Times, Bad Times is blues with a little country flavour.

Tell Me is a bit country-ish?

you find that Louis Armstrong and Lili Hardin Armstrong backed Jimmie Rodgers on Blue Yodel No 9,

.........Yep and Blind Blake recorded with Johnny Dodds ....



ROCKMAN

i would suggest that "down home girl" (one of my faves) and "down the road apiece" on the "now" album were the first country songs recorded by the stones.

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chrisvw
i would suggest that "down home girl" (one of my faves) and "down the road apiece" on the "now" album were the first country songs recorded by the stones.

but you won't?