Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Back Of My Hand
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

La Fourchette, Pocé sur Cisse, France & St. Vincent, West Indies,
June - September 2004, La Fourchette, Pocé sur Cisse, France,
November - December 2004, March 7 - 9 & March 14 - June 2005 and
Henson Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, June 6 - 28, 2005

Mick Jagger - vocals, electric slide guitar, harmonica, percussion, bass
Keith Richards - electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums

I hear a preacher on the corner, ranting like a crazy man
He says there's trouble, trouble’s a comin’
I can read it like the back of my hand

I see love, I see misery, jammin’ side by side on the stand
In the wind some mournful melody, I can read it like the back of my hand
The back of my hand, oh yeah

Oh yeah
I see dreams and I see visions, images I don't understand
I see Goyas’ paranoias, I can read it like the back of my hand
Read it like the back of my hand, well, read it like the back of my hand
Oh yeah, oh yeah
Oh yeah, read it like the back of my hand

Produced by Don Was & The Glimmer Twins

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “A Bigger Bang” CD
(Virgin Records / EMI TOCP 66440) Japan, August 31, 2005



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-11-24 19:36 by René.

My favorite "hands down" from ABB,

Live versions of Back Of My Hand.. Jagger adds an extra/third verse...
It differed from show to show but roughly it was....

There's a woman /with her hand out/on the corner
Some children drawing lines in the sand
Someone offered to tell my fortune
But I can read it like the back of my hand



ROCKMAN

Filler.

Would have made an OK b-side, though

Played well in 2005.

Filler? Hmm, I have to disagree. If this is filler, then so is "You Gotta Move", IMO. This is the most convincing blues track the Stones have done since the 70's. It may not be a classic song per se, but all the right musical elements (gritty slide, some fine harp) are in place and "Back of My Hand" sounds great in the context of the ABB album.

It is not any big song in any means, and it won't take much energy, time or creativity from the Stones to do a track like this, but it is goddamn refreshing to hear the band to do a song like this sometimes. And they don't release many of them: one in a decade (the last one was "Storm", right?). Without it ABB would have been much more boring.

- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2008-11-24 16:14 by Doxa.

Nice track showcasing what arguably, the Stones do best.

Along with Rough Justice & Let Me Down Slow I used to listen to it all nights... That's the blues!

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Rockman
Live versions of Back Of My Hand.. Jagger adds an extra/third verse...
It differed from show to show but roughly it was....

There's a woman /with her hand out/on the corner
Some children drawing lines in the sand
Someone offered to tell my fortune
But I can read it like the back of my hand

I saw it live on ABB and it was one my favorites songs of the evening. Mick was really into it. I don't remember this verse, I wonder if he sang it.

I think it's one of the better tracks from ABB. It's not as good as The Storm, but a decent one if you're in the mood of killing time. I love the fact that Jagger plays slide guitar on this tune.

I think it's an OK track as far as it goes but part of me thinks it's almost like a parody of a blues song. And just as I like 'You Gotta Move' I think much the same about that with the exaggerated vocals and slide work.

Don't think I could take a whole album of The Stones doing 'traditional' blues (imo).

They did a great version at Madison Sq Garden in Sept 2005. It's one of those songs that takes you straight to the heart and soul of the Stones. Love it.

phony-sounding blues-by-the-numbers on a phony stones album. at first listen it sounded authentic...but maybe it was because it was the second song I heard from ABB after the truly horrific SOL and anything would have sounded better.

It is very good and would be great if it had the tone quality of Stick Fingers...

"Filler?!"

What the hell are the Stones supposed to be doing, Prog Rock? Not enough string sections and brass and synths on the track?

"Back Of My Hand" is completely minimal, has no flash or gimmick whatsoever and the Stones f**king own it. If you need help in appreciating the achievement, go listen to Clapton's "From The Cradle" or another white blues record that has a bare fraction of the authority and balls that "Back Of My Hand" does.

It's a perfect blues lesson: musically anyone can do it. Except...not. Anyone can't do it.

Also: using Goya in a blues lyric? Quintessential Jagger. Sums the Stones up.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-11-24 17:38 by Rev. Robert W..

For me the BIG thing about this track is Mick.

So much for old story that Keith is the blues purist in the band and Mick the one to blame for all the "awful new commercial rubbish" that from time to time the stones release (see the production of Juiced for example).

My ears tell me a different story, that is of a man (Mick) who is still into the old blues, to the point that he actually spent time to learn how to play his chops on slide guitar.

C

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Rev. Robert W.

Also: using Goya in a blues lyric? Quintessential Jagger.

A good point. Everytime I listen the track - or it starts playing in my mind - I came to think of visiting Goya's The Black Room in Prado. Perhaps Jagger's been visiting there, too. The song has simple but clever and expressive lyrics. And really - the idea of putting Goya in the middle of a blues song - brilliant, or what you think, Bobby D.?!

- Doxa

Nothing like a Goya

[goyaguitars.tripod.com]

what guitar is Jagger using on this track?

I like that track best on ABB

Interesting discussion about Goya

Besides Goya having been a painter, I think this is one of the above-average tunes from the ABB album. It's probably the first "classical" blues tune they released since "The Storm" came out on a b-side, and they are very competent at it. As such, it doesn't fit to the sound that most of the songs from ABB have, but I think that's to its benefit.
People on this board have been praising this song since it came out.
Still, I think, "Let Me Down Slow", "Rough Justice", "She Saw Me Coming" and "Driving Too Fast" are the 4 tunes from ABB that are better. Maybe LIND is the 5th.

It's a solid album track. Let's have more solid album tracks.

The song that for me typifies most of ABB. Not a bad song, but the arrangement is flat to the point of being thoughtless and idealess. This sounds like a band that wants to spend a minimal amount of time together in the studio. Or to put it another way, the time they do spend in the studio is no longer creatively productive. Get the job done and get out. The the "job" is to produce a product that can be marketed on a tour and which will provide some stadium fodder to deflect criticism that it is no longer a functioning creative unit. Where is Jimmy Miller or someone who can add those studio touches that add drama and interest to a song so it sucks you in? Listen by way of contrast to...say...BB. Talk about simple songs with dramatic and engaging arrangements!

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pmk251
The song that for me typifies most of ABB. Not a bad song, but the arrangement is flat to the point of being thoughtless and idealess. This sounds like a band that wants to spend a minimal amount of time together in the studio. Or to put it another way, the time they do spend in the studio is no longer creatively productive. Get the job done and get out. The the "job" is to produce a product that can be marketed on a tour and which will provide some stadium fodder to deflect criticism that it is no longer a functioning creative unit. Where is Jimmy Miller or someone who can add those studio touches that add drama and interest to a song so it sucks you in? Listen by way of contrast to...say...BB. Talk about simple songs with dramatic and engaging arrangements!

good post.

like I said - it's a by-the-numbers 8-bar blooze...the stones can do these songs in their sleep, which seems to have been the case here.....

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T&A

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pmk251
The song that for me typifies most of ABB. Not a bad song, but the arrangement is flat to the point of being thoughtless and idealess. This sounds like a band that wants to spend a minimal amount of time together in the studio. Or to put it another way, the time they do spend in the studio is no longer creatively productive. Get the job done and get out. The the "job" is to produce a product that can be marketed on a tour and which will provide some stadium fodder to deflect criticism that it is no longer a functioning creative unit. Where is Jimmy Miller or someone who can add those studio touches that add drama and interest to a song so it sucks you in? Listen by way of contrast to...say...BB. Talk about simple songs with dramatic and engaging arrangements!

good post.

like I said - it's a by-the-numbers 8-bar blooze...the stones can do these songs in their sleep, which seems to have been the case here.....

What a shame you guys don't appreciate good blues when it stares you in the face.

The tune is allright, but nothing more. The appeal comes from the 'old' and authentic feel it has. If they want to, they could probably write and record tons of this kind of songs. Even Keith.

A wonderful bluessong for the 21st century with extaordinary lyrics, the musical arrangement could be worked out a little, anyway they should have played it live more often!

...a great blues for me....

Great song. Seeing this live was wonderful as it was completely different from the studio track with Darryl adding a thumping bass line and Ronnie getting the chance to play some nice slide. Seems like the more they played it the more of a groove it had. Was disappointed that it was dropped from the set so quickly. At MSG they did this back to back with the bluesy version of Nervous Breakdown, thought they were regaining so more of that blues..

Um...this is the best new original blues tune I've heard by any artist in a long time. If this is filler, then any blues is filler. Could it be played or sung or recorded better? Maybe, but it's a much better track than the studio version of You Gotta Move, in my opinion.