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Rip This Joint
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Rolling Stones Mobile Recording Unit, Villa Nellcote, Villefranche-sur-mer, France,
July 10 - late July & October 14 - November 23, 1971, Sunset Sound Studios,
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, December 4 - 19, 1971 & January - March
1972 and Wally Heider Studios, Los Angeles, California, US, March 24 & 25, 1972

Mick Jagger - lead vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar, harmony vocals
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Plummer - upright acoustic bass
Nicky Hopkins - piano
Bobby Keys - saxophone

Mama says yes, Papa says no
Make up you mind 'cause I gotta go
I'm gonna raise hell at the Union Hall, drive myself right over the wall
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go
Roll this joint, gonna get down low, start my starter, gonna stop the show
Yeah, oh yeah, Mister President, Mister Immigration Man
Let me in, sweetie, to your fair land
I'm Tampa bound and Memphis too
Well, Short Fat Fanny is on the loose
Dig that sound on the radio
Then slip it right across into Buffalo
Dick and Pat in ole D.C.
Well, they're gonna hold some shit for me
Ying yang, you're my thing, oh, now baby, won't you hear me sing
Flip Flop, fit to drop, come on baby, won't you let it rock

Oh yeah, oh yeah
From San Jose down to Santa Fe
Kiss me quick, baby, won'tcha make my day
Down to New Orleans with the Dixie Dean
'Cross to Dallas, Texas and the Butter Queen
Rip this joint, gonna rip yours too
Some brand new steps and some weight to lose
Gonna roll this joint, gonna get down low
Round and round and round we'll go
Wham, Bham, Birmingham, Alabam' don't give a damn
Little Rock and I’m fit to drop, let it rock

Produced by Jimmy Miller

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Exile On Main Street” 2LP
(Rolling Stones Records COC 69100) UK, May 12, 1972



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014-01-23 10:42 by René.

Greatest live version is part of a breathtaking 'medley' with Jumpin' jack flash and Street fighting man on BRUSSELS AFFAIR (the bootleg).

Absolutely brilliant stuff!Straight R'n'R - one of their best!!

Oh gosh, now we are talking... a definitive EXILE rocker. If mind-blowing "Rocks Off" sets the feel of the album, this one fulfills the argument with its 'no hostages taken' attitude. The band is simply on fire, all cylinders on, in the very top of their game. Good ole 50's rock and roll, put through the vital Nellcote filter. Wonderful 'idiotic' lyrics; at the same time paying tribute to Chuck Berry but with their rebellious nasty middle finger attitude.

The band rocks like hell indeed but wihout losing the famous "roll" element. The tempo is coked up, but shit they needed to have some good shit around... it puts on shame all the attempts ever since to flirt with the speed without losing the control (so forget any "Lies", Hold On Your Hat", "Flip The Switch", etc.), However, it is finally the outstanding vocals here that makes it one of the most outstanding performances by the band ever. As far as screaming rockers go, Jagger has never captured his voice so strong and powerfully as he does here: screams literally his lungs out in high-register but sharp clear, with no fakes, and Keith backing him up wonderfully. It is young man's game - neither of them would have that kind of physical power in their voices ever since (nor had they tried).

In the category of simple rockers, simply a masterpiece. A definitive "screaming rocker" if any song ever is.

- Doxa

This song is the tits. Absolutely brilliant speed freak 100mph boogie with a hurricane wind blowing your sweet ass down the rock'n'roll highway.

It's the fastest thing the band recorded since Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing In The Shadows and I reckon it still is. Where the hell did it come from? Did a consignment of primo grade A coke arrive at Nellcote and the musicians immediately repaired to the basement for a sesh?

It owes something of a debt to Little Richard's Ready Teddy....the same delivery as Richard's 'Ready, set, go man go...I got a girl that I love so' so I guess that prime 56 era rock'n'roll was the sound they were trying to capture.

Anyway, it's an absolute joy to hear and it sure gets the party going whenever I play it. A classic.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-30 12:00 by Silver Dagger.

My first favorite on Exile...Rock at it's best....

2 1 2 0

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Silver Dagger

Lyrically it owes a lot to Little Richard's Ready Teddy....the same delivery as Richard's 'Ready, set, go man go...I got a girl that I love so' so I guess that prime 56 era rock'n'roll was the sound they were trying to capture.

Yes, a good catch that "Ready Teddy"... They married it with the Chuck Berrian doctrine of 'let's mention as many places as possible so it will be a hit at least in those places'... They probably wrote the lyrics in a few minutes, and were just having fun, but hey, that's easy when you are in your creative heights, just let it go and trust your instincts... I think it is a beautiful tribute to all that era rock and roll, but still they manage to make it sound nothing but the Rolling Stones.

- Doxa

Wooooooooooooooosssshhhhh!

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Doxa

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Silver Dagger

Lyrically it owes a lot to Little Richard's Ready Teddy....the same delivery as Richard's 'Ready, set, go man go...I got a girl that I love so' so I guess that prime 56 era rock'n'roll was the sound they were trying to capture.

Yes, a good catch that "Ready Teddy"... They married it with the Chuck Berrian doctrine of 'let's mention as many places as possible so it will be a hit at least in those places'... They probably wrote the lyrics in a few minutes, and were just having fun, but hey, that's easy when you are in your creative heights, just let it go and trust your instincts... I think it is a beautiful tribute to all that era rock and roll, but still they manage to make it sound nothing but the Rolling Stones.

- Doxa

Good point. Especially with a tour of the States coming up it was a neat move to namecheck some legendary rock'n'roll places. Like their version of The Promised Land.

And for those wondering who Dixie Dean was...he was one of the greatest goalscorers ever to play in the English football league. He was famous for being the first goalscorer to score 60 goals in one season, for Everton FC, the other team in Liverpool.

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His Majesty
Wooooooooooooooosssshhhhh!

Was that a wooosh, Phil? Are you wooshing up there in Aberdeen?

Oh yeah - and The Butter Queen is famous groupie Barbara Cope, who, um, liked to use butter. A pound of it, apparently.

Here's some more about her.

[vintagegroupies.livejournal.com]

Enraged guitar by Keith and Mick's life on the road lyrics coming out the holes from the Villa Nellote, The Stones at their best.

If there is one song that shows what roll means to rock, this is it

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Silver Dagger

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His Majesty
Wooooooooooooooosssshhhhh!

Was that a wooosh, Phil? Are you wooshing up there in Aberdeen?

I woosh when I hear this.

Sleek, sexy, raw and dirty. Love dancing to it when in a good mood.

Unbelievably great. Best listened to on headphones so you can hear the slap of the acoustic bass and Nicky's piano - Nicky could boogie with Stu.

Cool to see the lyrics for this song. I never bothered to figure most of them out, just enjoyed taking in the feel, groove, power, and overall brillance of RTJ. Always gets my heart racing in the best way possible.

Wooooooooooooooosssshhhhh indeed!

I never liked it. It is too noisy, too frantic, too bipolar. It might have been better if it were slowed down considerably, along the lines of the studio version of Respectable.

I would much rather listen to All Down the Line than this waste of three minutes or so.

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flilflam
I never liked it. It is too noisy, too frantic, too bipolar. It might have been better if it were slowed down considerably, along the lines of the studio version of Respectable.

I would much rather listen to All Down the Line than this waste of three minutes or so.

There was I thinking I was the grumpiest member here.

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His Majesty

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flilflam
I never liked it. It is too noisy, too frantic, too bipolar. It might have been better if it were slowed down considerably, along the lines of the studio version of Respectable.

I would much rather listen to All Down the Line than this waste of three minutes or so.

There was I thinking I was the grumpiest member here.

Nah, but I'd say your new avatar puts you in the running for the most ironic.

Oh gawwd, Track Talk is in the R's, meaning we will be discussing two tracks from Exile that seemingly every Stones fan in the world seems to adore ... except for me. We'll get to the other one in a few weeks, but first, here goes Rip This Joint.

RTJ reminds me of a little dog that is barking frantically but really has nothing to say. It is just blowing off energy and annoying everyone (except its owner, presumably). Unlike so much of the Stones catalog, RTJ has no tension, no build-up, no release, no danger, no atmosphere at all. It is just a bunch of chemically amped-up guys bashing away furiously at their instruments and shouting into the microphone. Sorry to be so blunt but this one just ain't my cup o' tea.

Drew

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drewmaster
Oh gawwd, Track Talk is in the R's, meaning we will be discussing two tracks from Exile that seemingly every Stones fan in the world seems to adore ... except for me. We'll get to the other one in a few weeks, but first, here goes Rip This Joint.

RTJ reminds me of a little dog that is barking frantically but really has nothing to say. It is just blowing off energy and annoying everyone (except its owner, presumably). Unlike so much of the Stones catalog, RTJ has no tension, no build-up, no release, no danger, no atmosphere at all. It is just a bunch of chemically amped-up guys bashing away furiously at their instruments and shouting into the microphone. Sorry to be so blunt but this one just ain't my cup o' tea.

Drew

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones!

Here's a Bill Plummer thread : [www.iorr.org]

Too Bipolar? Haha..
It's perfect. There is one lick that Taylor's guitar ( I assume) does, when they are reeling it back in after Bobby's first solo; right before "san Jose down to Santa fe..". It's sort of a double lick, one up there, and the next one a little lower. It reminds me of a wild calf being lasso-ed in; or a motorcycle down-shifting.
IMO this was always the best way to rev up the big hurrah at show's end. When you throw back a shot, and slam the glass down on the bar, and say 'give me the real stuff'. That's what its like IMO.

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latebloomer


Nah, but I'd say your new avatar puts you in the running for the most ironic.

bv keeps removing it. There it goes again.

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His Majesty

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flilflam
I never liked it. It is too noisy, too frantic, too bipolar. It might have been better if it were slowed down considerably, along the lines of the studio version of Respectable.

I would much rather listen to All Down the Line than this waste of three minutes or so.

There was I thinking I was the grumpiest member here.

Whatever gave you that idea?

Quote
flilflam
I never liked it. It is too noisy, too frantic, too bipolar. It might have been better if it were slowed down considerably, along the lines of the studio version of Respectable.

I would much rather listen to All Down the Line than this waste of three minutes or so.

The Stripped Companion version is like that.

It's Taylor's "official" Wiki-pic, Phil. Might be the reason for removing your avatar. ..