Studio tracks recorded & mixed:
November 2, 1964: RCA Studios, Los Angeles, USA
January 11-12, 1965: De Lane Lea Studios, London, England
January 17-18 1965: RCA Studios, Los Angeles, USA
February 17, 1965: RCA Studios, Los Angeles, USA
May 10, 1965: Chess Studios, Chicago, USA
May 11-12, 1965: RCA Studios, Los Angeles, USA

Producer: Andrew Oldham
Engineers: Dave Hassinger, Ron Malo, Glyn Johns
Released: July 1965
Original label: London Records (Polygram)



Contributing musicians: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Jack Nitzsche, Phil Spector.

Mercy Mercy
Hitch Hike
The Last Time
That's How Strong My Love Is
Good Times
I'm All Right (live)
Satisfaction
Cry to Me
The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man
Play with Fire
The Spider and the Fly
One More Try

What are your thoughts on this album?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-05-22 13:51 by DandelionPowderman.

Some excellent tracks but i don't like having the live track in the middle just as I'm Moving On (despite it's undoubted brilliance) does not sit well on Decembers Children. I'm much more in favour of the UK tracklistings and wish ABKCO would sort out the Stones 60s back catalogue once and for all with deluxe mono/stereo plus bonus track sets of the UK albums. Releasing the many and shorter US albums at a high price was a cash grab rather than an "artistic" decision as far as i'm concerned.

A great album for sure. One of the most played albums here from the early era. I have always been especially weak for this version of "the last time" although the tempo seems a bit slow compared to later live versions.

Curse you DP. Now I have to listen to both of them and I will be arguing with myself all day about what my new favorite is. Oh the torchers of being a Stones fan. So much different material on so many formats and only 24hrs in the day.

This is easily my favorite album of Stones. Rife with precious songs, and the band has never been better, whether before or after it.

2 1 2 0

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onlystones
Curse you DP. Now I have to listen to both of them and I will be arguing with myself all day about what my new favorite is. Oh the torchers of being a Stones fan. So much different material on so many formats and only 24hrs in the day.

Nice to see that others have the same issue as my self Actually, this morning I listened to 12x5 and was thinking how nice it is to listen to the albums from the `60s. It`s been a while, but now it will be only those albums for a few days....

As I stated in the discussion of the UK version: the soul songs don't move me that much,
but on this US version these are compensated better with Jagger/Richards compositions.
Here they show their skills to write rock songs with catchy riffs and the attitude that
made them famous. The Last Time and Satisfaction are the highlights that I miss so much
on the UK album.

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

The Spider and the Fly is always worth it. At this point that one song makes me prefer US over UK. However in discussing a Stones album, I feel its is necessary to listen from start to finish then talk about it from a fresh perspective.

This is an excellent album, but even if it weren`t, it has Satisfaction, Play With Fire and The Last Time.

It gives me Satisfaction.

It's a great collection of songs to me. I regard it as a compilation, as listened to the UK version for years before I heard this one.

In fact, it was one of the last albums I bought on vinyl.

It doesn't take away anything of the immense quality of these tracks

Not as good as the extraordinary brilliant UK version. It lacks a little bit the coherence of its British counterpart. Worth buying for not-US inhabitants, though, due to the last three tracks which are hard to find elsewhere and are three Jagger/Richards compositions in a row.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-05-22 17:18 by RobertJohnson.

One More Try is a tune that tends to get overlooked. I like it very much. A nice mix of r&b and pop. Very nice bridge.

Released 3 months BEFORE the UK verion. It's just as much a compilation of stray tracks as the UK version is. The US version is clearly my favourite and for obvious reasons.

More sessions, longer time span between tracks and more studios used on the tracks on this version. + a live track.

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DandelionPowderman
More sessions, longer time span between tracks and more studios used on the tracks on this version. + a live track.

That's not entirely true. 'Heart Of Stone' and 'Oh Baby (We've Got A Good Thing Going)' was 10 months old when released on the UK version. Both songs were recorded 2 november, which means that the span on the US version were 8 months (released in July) and 10 on the UK (released in September).

I always thought it funny that the album title references the lyric on "get off my cloud" but get off my cloud isn't on the album.

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Turner68
I always thought it funny that the album title references the lyric on "get off my cloud" but get off my cloud isn't on the album.

"Get Off Of My Cloud" hadn't even been recorded when this album was released.


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

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Deltics

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Turner68
I always thought it funny that the album title references the lyric on "get off my cloud" but get off my cloud isn't on the album.

"Get Off Of My Cloud" hadn't even been recorded when this album was released.

Great explanation but still it was a surprise for someone who didn't buy the album when it came out and knew "get off my cloud" by heart.

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Blueranger

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DandelionPowderman
More sessions, longer time span between tracks and more studios used on the tracks on this version. + a live track.

That's not entirely true. 'Heart Of Stone' and 'Oh Baby (We've Got A Good Thing Going)' was 10 months old when released on the UK version. Both songs were recorded 2 november, which means that the span on the US version were 8 months (released in July) and 10 on the UK (released in September).

OK. I thought TLT dated longer back.

I always thought it funny that the album title references the lyric on "get off my cloud" but get off my cloud isn't on the album

"Get Off Of My Cloud" hadn't even been recorded when this album was released.

THAT"S why it's funny .....



ROCKMAN

But it had been written...and the real fans understood what the Stones were trying to say...that's how they knew who deserved to get club tickets back then...

or something like that...

Well ... they didn't invent the phrase "to be out of one's head" - they simply liked it.

Every time someone says only the UK versions of the LPS are "real", I always point out this one.
The US OOH is plainly the "real" one, released first, for the band to tour behind.
And I wouldn't be able to live without either version. I'd put Mercy Mercy on there one more time, though. :E

I love the Rolling Stones

This album should have had been another BB album...in fact...they all should have been...

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with sssoul
Well ... they didn't invent the phrase "to be out of one's head" - they simply liked it.

Every time someone says only the UK versions of the LPS are "real", I always point out this one.
The US OOH is plainly the "real" one, released first, for the band to tour behind.
And I wouldn't be able to live without either version. I'd put Mercy Mercy on there one more time, though. :E

I love the Rolling Stones

The "UK albums are the real ones"-thing, is a myth. There are so many people believing it, because they are presuming The Stones had the same politics of The Beatles, regarding album-making. Those early UK/US albums, were made to promote tours and to release 'product' due to popular demand.
It can't be said too often: Until "Aftermath", The Rolling Stones were not making 'albums'. It was a hodge-podge of sessions, singles and b-sides, regardless if it was in the UK or the US.
Single tracks aimed at the American audience, were tranferred to UK album tracks, while UK EP's were converted to American albums with more material. There were clearly no 'masterplan' and The Stones released what was available of recorded material. '12X5', 'No. 2', 'Now!', the UK/US editions of 'Out Of Our Heads' and 'December's Children', are shuffled material of different sessions done cross-atlantic'.
As I have mentioned many times on this board, I contacted Oldham regarding this subject years ago, and he informed me that they just went along with the market idea at the time, that UK albums shouldn't feature singles and US albums should.

Albums were quite expensive then $3.69. The Stones always refused to put more than 12 songs on an album, for greed purposes. Can't Be Satisfied, one of their greatest songs, never appeared on their American albums, which was really a shame.
It wasn't like there wasn't plenty of space on the vinyl to fit it in.

There was an union-agreement in american record industry during the early to mid-sixties, which prevented artists from putting more than 12 songs on an album.
As far as I know, it was a 'problem' for Brian Wilson to release the 13 track 'Pet Sounds' in 1966. Things changed during 1966-1967, and when The Beatles re-signed to EMI/Capitiol in 1967, one of their demands were that their albums remained unchanged when released in the US.

It was the practice of record labels to only put 12 tracks on an LP, but I know of no law or contract that says it had to be 12. Aftermath which was their next album only had 11 tracks. An LP could only have 48 minutes of music, but Out of Our Heads had only 33 minutes of music. Aftermath had at least 43 minutes, so they had a reason on that one.

Out Of Our Heads US - My rating 5 out of 10

The Rolling Stones continue to grow on this album, with three solid warhorses that have stood the test of time, ("Satisfaction", "The Last Time," and "Play With Fire"). The rest is a mixed bag of enjoyable tunes and a few that didn't work for me.

1. Mercy Mercy - The Stones sound strong and bring a lot to this blues song with a poppy feel to it. Not a top tier Stones classic, but a respectable effort that shows their progress as a recording band.

2. Hitch Hike - Never liked this one. To me, this song is much more annoying than enjoyable. Performance is a little sloppy too, and the recording isn't as sharp-sounding as "Mercy Mercy"

3. The Last Time - A smartly written and catchy pop song, it captures the Stones swinging in their own unique way. A Stones classic for sure

4. That's How Strong My Love Is - I vastly prefer the more recent live versions of this song. It's a great tune, but much like "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love" this studio version lacks a spark that would make it essential.

5. Good Times - First time hearing this one! It's not very Stonesy and probably isn't at all essential, but I still thought it was a nice groove that fit the Rolling Stones better than a song like "Under The Boardwalk" but with a similar laidback vibe.

6. I'm All Right (live) - A landmark live recording makes for interesting listening for Stones fans like myself. But when all is said and done, I would probably leave this one off a Stones playlist.

7. Satisfaction - Hearing "Satisfaction" for over half a century now, it's easy to take for granted how astounding this song is. What an original sound and just top-notch songwriting. That intense driving beat married to the simple but iconic riff. The biting lyrics slicing into the brain. This song is like a house of bricks. It still stands as one of the very best rock and roll songs ever written.

8. Cry to Me - Another first time listen for me. I think the production is a little plain, and the song doesn't have a whole lot to it, but the band and vocal performances lift it all up and gives it a passing grade.

9. The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man - Practically the definition of filler, in my book. I remember enjoying this somewhat back when I was a teenager, but listening to it now, it sounds beyond lazy and cheaply cynical in a very uncool way.

10. Play With Fire - A stone cold Stones classic. Amazing how such a rocking band could pull off this delicate bit of artful fury.

11. The Spider and the Fly - While I enjoy this song okay enough, it's a bit of a novelty tune. For me it ranks fairly low compared to many other songs by the Rolling Stones. I would probably add the live version to a live Stones playlist, but honestly I'm skipping this one when making a playlist of studio favorites.

12. One More Try - Sounds like a silly novelty song. I liked the stupidity of songs like "Off The Hook", but "One More Try" doesn't appeal to me on any level.

Keepers: Mercy Mercy, The Last Time, Good Times, Satisfaction, Cry To Me, Play With Fire