Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Memo From Turner
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK, November 17, 1968

Mick Jagger - vocals
Keith Richards - acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Al Kooper - electric guitar

Didn't I see you down in San Antone on a hot and dusty night
Weren't you eating eggs in Sammy's there when the black man drew the knife
Didn't you drown the Jew in Rampton when he washed his sleeveless shirt
With a Spanish speaking gentleman, the one that we call Kirk

Come now, gentlemen, there must be some mistake
How forgetful I'm becoming, now you fixed your business straight

Weren't you acting down in Broadway, back in 1956
You're a faggot, little leather boy with a smaller piece of stick
You're a lashing, smashing hunk of man, your sweat shines sweet and strong
Your organ's working perfectly, but there's a part that's screwed on wrong

Weren't you at the Coke Convention, back in 1965
You're the mis-bred, gray executive, that I've seen heavily advertised
You're the great, gray man whose daughter licks policemen's buttons clean
You're the man who squats behind the man, who works the soft machine

Come now, gentlemen, your love is all I crave
You'll still be in the circus, when I'm laughing, laughing in my grave

Yeah, when the old men do the fighting and the young men all look on
And the young girls eat their mommy's meat from tubes of plasticon
So be wary, please, my gentle friends, of all the skins you breed
They have a nasty habit, that is they bite the hand that feeds
So remember who you say you are and keep your trousers clean
Boys will be boys and play with toys, so be strong with your beast
So Rosie dear, don't you think it's queer, so stop me if you please
The baby's dead, my lady said: You schmucks all work for me

Produced by Jimmy Miller

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

Amazing song that should have been on a Stones album. Was it written for Performance or was it an outtake? Whatever, this is prime late 60s Stones - moving out of psychedelia and their poppier sound and into a heavy area altogether. I can hear traces of Hendrix in there as well as Cream and The Jeff Beck Group.

It's got a great disjointed funky rhythm that would have made it a favourite on the dancefloor of your favourite freaky disco.

Lyrically too, Jagger taps in on Dylan and goes to the same place that inspired Family.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-11-19 11:46 by Silver Dagger.

This one is a real classic, one of my favorites from 69, great great slide guitar, over all! Unfortunately the released Stones-version is, as far as I know, just a rehearsal and can´t compare at all to the MJ-version from the soundtrack-CD! But who cares?

BTW: Rich Robinson (Black Crowes) made a good cover:

I like the dirtiness of the Stones-version. Great stuff! Is Al Kooper really playing guitar on this?

It is a GREAT track.

Superb musically and lyrically.

It's great in the weird Performance film sequence as well.

There 6 versions:

1. Slow version, with Steve Winwood on all instruments except drums, which is Jim Capaldi.
2. Then there's three 'Stones' versions with Al Kooper on guitar. To my ears, this isn't Stones at all, but Jagger and session musicians. The 4th version is on Metamorphosis.
3. The Ry Cooder versions 5 and 6, which are the long take and the shorted film take. Noone knows who the musicians are, as Jimmy Miller took the tapes of the original 1969 Jagger vocals to LA and recorded the track with Cooder and several session musicians. Jack Nitzsche co-produced it and probably plays on it. Steve Winwood has denied he plays on it.

Aren't the musicians noted on that Jagger compilation CD?

Mathijs

---never mind---- Mathijs gave the info.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-11-19 12:12 by tonterapi.

Quote
DandelionPowderman
I like the dirtiness of the Stones-version. Great stuff! Is Al Kooper really playing guitar on this?

Al talks about his involvement in the book The Making of Let It Bleed by Sean Egan. It's been awhile since I read that, but I think he says he didn't play on it!? I might be remembering that wrong.

Quote
Mathijs


Aren't the musicians noted on that Jagger compilation CD?

Mathijs

Mick Jagger: Vocals
Ry Cooder: Bottleneck Guitar
Steve Winwood: Bass
Jim Capaldi: Drums

Produced & arranged by Jack Nitzsche

Quote
Mathijs
There 6 versions:

1. Slow version, with Steve Winwood on all instruments except drums, which is Jim Capaldi.
2. Then there's three 'Stones' versions with Al Kooper on guitar. To my ears, this isn't Stones at all, but Jagger and session musicians. The 4th version is on Metamorphosis.
3. The Ry Cooder versions 5 and 6, which are the long take and the shorted film take. Noone knows who the musicians are, as Jimmy Miller took the tapes of the original 1969 Jagger vocals to LA and recorded the track with Cooder and several session musicians. Jack Nitzsche co-produced it and probably plays on it. Steve Winwood has denied he plays on it.

Aren't the musicians noted on that Jagger compilation CD?

Mathijs

[www.iorr.org]

I heard it much earlier than 1975...must be on some of my boots from early seventies...magic track!



2 1 2 0

This from Russ Titelman...

"In 1969, you found yourself playing guitar on 'Memo From Turner', for Jack Nitzsche's soundtrack to the Mick Jagger film, Performance.

Actually, the core of the studio band on that record was Randy Newman, Ry Cooder and myself, and it was recorded in Los Angeles at Western Studios. But Jagger wasn't there during our sessions. The band Traffic had done a recording of 'Memo From Turner', but Jagger and Nitzsche didn't like it. So we replaced their track, playing along to Jagger's existing vocal and a click track. I played the Keith Richards-sounding "jing-a-jing" on rhythm guitar, and Ry Cooder did the slide guitar parts.

And then Jack and I wrote 'Gone Dead Train', and Randy Newman sang it, and we cut it live. They needed a song for the credits and Jack said he wanted to lyrically use all this voodoo and blues terminology for this story of this faded rock star, a burnt-out character who can't get it up anymore. I saw the track part as Chuck Berry-like in feel but more raucous."

And then Jack and I wrote 'Gone Dead Train'

.....Gone Dead Train originally recorded by King Solomon Hill in 1932



ROCKMAN

Quote
Come On
I heard it much earlier than 1975...must be on some of my boots from early seventies...magic track!

The Stones-version was released in 1975. The Jagger soundtrack-version was released in 69/70.

Quote
Rockman
And then Jack and I wrote 'Gone Dead Train'

.....Gone Dead Train originally recorded by King Solomon Hill in 1932

Quite a difference between them though.

To me this was the best scene from Performance. One of the few moments when Mick actually
sings. (OK, I liked to watch Anita too, but being a Stones fan, one watches a movie
with a Stone mainly for the music of course).





Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

Absolutely brilliant lyrics on this one ... it's amazing what Jagger could write back in those days. And a great funky rhythm too.

As Mathjis pointed out, there are a lot of versions floating around, and IMO, the Metamorphosis version is the weakest. Here are some of them, including the well-known one in the context of the full scene from Performance.

















Drew

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His Majesty

Quote
Mathijs
There 6 versions:

1. Slow version, with Steve Winwood on all instruments except drums, which is Jim Capaldi.
2. Then there's three 'Stones' versions with Al Kooper on guitar. To my ears, this isn't Stones at all, but Jagger and session musicians. The 4th version is on Metamorphosis.
3. The Ry Cooder versions 5 and 6, which are the long take and the shorted film take. Noone knows who the musicians are, as Jimmy Miller took the tapes of the original 1969 Jagger vocals to LA and recorded the track with Cooder and several session musicians. Jack Nitzsche co-produced it and probably plays on it. Steve Winwood has denied he plays on it.

Aren't the musicians noted on that Jagger compilation CD?

Mathijs

[www.iorr.org]

Funny is that I have no recollection whatsoever about my statement from the 2006 post:

>>>
The soundtrack version is by Jagger, Ry Cooder, Russ Titelman, Jerry Scheff, Gene Parsons and Jimmy Miller.
>>>

No idea where I got that information from.

But the statement by Majesty says it all:

>>>

This from Russ Titelman... [209.85.135.104]


"In 1969, you found yourself playing guitar on 'Memo From Turner', for Jack Nitzsche's soundtrack to the Mick Jagger film, Performance.

Actually, the core of the studio band on that record was Randy Newman, Ry Cooder and myself, and it was recorded in Los Angeles at Western Studios. But Jagger wasn't there during our sessions. The band Traffic had done a recording of 'Memo From Turner', but Jagger and Nitzsche didn't like it. So we replaced their track, playing along to Jagger's existing vocal and a click track. I played the Keith Richards-sounding "jing-a-jing" on rhythm guitar, and Ry Cooder did the slide guitar parts.

And then Jack and I wrote 'Gone Dead Train', and Randy Newman sang it, and we cut it live. They needed a song for the credits and Jack said he wanted to lyrically use all this voodoo and blues terminology for this story of this faded rock star, a burnt-out character who can't get it up anymore. I saw the track part as Chuck Berry-like in feel but more raucous."
>>>


So, we now have:

1. Slow version, with Steve Winwood on all instruments except drums, which is Jim Capaldi.
2. Then there's three 'Stones' versions, supposedly with Al Kooper on guitar. To my ears, this isn't Stones at all, but Jagger and session musicians. The 4th version is on Metamorphosis.
3. The Ry Cooder versions 5 and 6, which are the long take and the shorted film take. Confirmed musicians: Ry Cooder (slide), Russ Titelman (guitar), Randy Newman (piano), Possible musicians: Jerry Scheff (bass), Gene Parsons (drums).

Concerning Jerry Scheff (bass), Gene Parsons (drums): I completely forgot where I got that info from, but it seems plausible as both musicians worked a lot on Newman's albums from that age.

Mathijs



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-11-20 10:27 by Mathijs.

No, Russ is meaning what you call the slow version. That is the version with the same vocal as the officially released soundtrack.

The fast versions are the one's that are supposedly the stones.

Excellent song, amazing chemistry between Ry Cooder and Jagger. The same goes for Sister Morphine btw.

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VT22
Excellent song, amazing chemistry between Ry Cooder and Jagger. The same goes for Sister Morphine btw.

Good ol' long distance-chemistry

Great track!

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DandelionPowderman

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VT22
Excellent song, amazing chemistry between Ry Cooder and Jagger. The same goes for Sister Morphine btw.

Good ol' long distance-chemistry

Great track!

It seems to be possible

I do have the single "Memo From Turner" from the film "Performance"
The B side is Natural Magic. Decca 1970
Memo From Turner is the slow version
B side instrumental track with sound effects but no vocals
Sounds like the same Musicians as on the A side.



A and B side are great