I've never really understood the acclaim of Brown Sugar. It's a great track, however, when you dust off the original 45 rpm version of Honky Tonk Women, I think it's heads and shoulders above Brown Sugar and is easily one of the band's top 5 singles.

- incredible intro
- keith's rhythm playing at its finest
- horns!
- mick taylor's first track, already showing how much he can add to a song
- charlie, bill and keith holding down the rhythm section as well as they ever have or would
- mick jagger's lyrics and singing perfectly suited to the band and his style.

for me, HTW ranks only below GS, JJF and Satisfaction.

So I would rank HTW above BS. Who agrees? Disagrees?

HTW has a very Stax like sound...a lot of the elements later found in I Got The Blues...but I go with Brown Sugar. Whatever strummed guitar chords Mick brought to Keith...Keith turned into an absolute masterpiece riff...great vocals too

Brown Sugar is miles above Honky Tonk Women.

Honky Tonk Women is miles above Brown Sugar.

Nope.

When HTW comes on the radio I change the station. When Brown Sugar comes on the radio I turn it up.

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HMS
Honky Tonk Women is miles above Brown Sugar.

Yep.

2 1 2 0

Honky Tonk Women from LOVE YOU LIVE is miles above Brown Sugar...

I don't even know what 'Honky Tonk' women are. Are they horny?

It's a great song, especially the intro and open G fills from Keith. But the lyrics - while cool - are kinda bum-fluffy. He bangs drunk chicks while he's got a cold.

Brown Sugar on the other hand is pure poetry and twice as cool.

I prefer HTW but also BS is a gem. So is very difficult to decide.

I think that HTW has got something of Ry Cooder's style.
Mick Taylor's work here is fantastic, also the percussions of Jimmy Miller.

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Swayed1967
I don't even know what 'Honky Tonk' women are. Are they horny?

It's a great song, especially the intro and open G fills from Keith. But the lyrics - while cool - are kinda bum-fluffy. He bangs drunk chicks while he's got a cold.

Brown Sugar on the other hand is pure poetry and twice as cool.

They are women who go to honky tonks
The real question is whether you know what the honky tonk blues are...


I think "I met a gin-soaked Barroom queen in Memphis" is as good a line as any in brown sugar



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-07-30 18:57 by Turner68.

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pepganzo
I prefer HTW but also BS is a gem. So is very difficult to decide.

I think that HTW has got something of Ry Cooder's style.
Mick Taylor's work here is fantastic, also the percussions of Jimmy Miller.

Yes; I should have mentioned jimmy in my original post. Glad you did.

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Turner68

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Swayed1967
I don't even know what 'Honky Tonk' women are. Are they horny?

It's a great song, especially the intro and open G fills from Keith. But the lyrics - while cool - are kinda bum-fluffy. He bangs drunk chicks while he's got a cold.

Brown Sugar on the other hand is pure poetry and twice as cool.

They are women who go to honky tonks
The real question is whether you know what the honky tonk blues are...


I think "I met a gin-soaked Barroom queen in Memphis" is as good a line as any in brown sugar

Yeah fair enough but the rest of the lyrics don't live up to the promise of that'gin-soaked bar-room queen' opening line. And Keith recites all verses of Brown Sugar in CS Blues cuz he knows how powerful the words are from start to finish. Case closed.

And I confess I don't really know what the honky tonk blues are...or at least what distinguishes them from the ordinary blues.

Lyrically and musically Brown Sugar is supreme over HTW. Besides, (this is a joke) Brown Sugar is on MADE IN THE SHADE and REWIND...

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GasLightStreet
Lyrically and musically Brown Sugar is supreme over HTW. Besides, (this is a joke) Brown Sugar is on MADE IN THE SHADE and REWIND...

i think HTW is a bit more creative, rhythmically at least. brown sugar is essentially straight forward chuck berry. (not that there is anything wrong with straight forward chuck berry - the stones do it best!)

Both are great. I call it a draw. Warhorses equal.
An idea is to swith these two per show so they can play another song extra.
Oh sorry, this belongs in the sticky about setlists...

They're both great rock and roll songs. I love both of them.

I really like Brown Sugar but have nonetheless thought it a tad overrated but absolutely love Honky Tonk Women. I put them together naturally, though, because after I tune my guitar to open-G I inevitably play those a lot because they're both in Open-G. And then I play Start Me Up. So I always play those three together.

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Turner68

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GasLightStreet
Lyrically and musically Brown Sugar is supreme over HTW. Besides, (this is a joke) Brown Sugar is on MADE IN THE SHADE and REWIND...

i think HTW is a bit more creative, rhythmically at least. brown sugar is essentially straight forward chuck berry. (not that there is anything wrong with straight forward chuck berry - the stones do it best!)

Chuck Berry. You hear Chuck Berry in Brown Sugar? I dunno how you hear that.

The only Chuck Berry sounding song they did in the 1970s was Star Star and Respectable!

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nightskyman
They're both great rock and roll songs. I love both of them.

now if you throw JJF into the mix

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reg thorpe

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nightskyman
They're both great rock and roll songs. I love both of them.

now if you throw JJF into the mix

That's when you know the show is nearly over...no more surprises

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GasLightStreet

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Turner68

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GasLightStreet
Lyrically and musically Brown Sugar is supreme over HTW. Besides, (this is a joke) Brown Sugar is on MADE IN THE SHADE and REWIND...

i think HTW is a bit more creative, rhythmically at least. brown sugar is essentially straight forward chuck berry. (not that there is anything wrong with straight forward chuck berry - the stones do it best!)

Chuck Berry. You hear Chuck Berry in Brown Sugar? I dunno how you hear that.

The only Chuck Berry sounding song they did in the 1970s was Star Star and Respectable!

imagine chuck's voice singing the lyrics to brown sugar. then it'll all make sense to you.

When BS comes on the radio I change the station. When HTW comes on the radio I turn it up.

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OutOfTime
Both are great. I call it a draw. Warhorses equal.
An idea is to swith these two per show so they can play another song extra.
Oh sorry, this belongs in the sticky about setlists...

Next year in South America use these two by turns as the openingssong, but don't play the other one the same show.
Surprise! Surprise! (No jokes about this song please...)

Not by miles but by mood I prefer Brown Sugar.

brown sugar is great, one of the best stones songs. honky tonk woman is a good song,but its very overrated in my opinion.

Interesting thread. They're very different songs with very different tempos.

Brown Sugar is near perfect mid tempo rock and roll song. Killer guitar parts, on-the-edge lyrics and the instrumental part right before each verse is awesome. Add the sax break in the middle, end with "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Woo and you've got all the elements of a classic.

Honky Tonk Women has slower sensual groove right from Keith's first chords. I agree with the comment about a great opening lyric. The chorus is a great hook and sets up the verse that follows ("I laid a divorcee in New York City..." ) And Keith's simple solo fits this one perfectly.

What to they have in common? They are both great singalongs at concerts. They both tell a smarmy story in their lyrics and I love hearing them both every time I see the band.

I can do the compare and contrast analysis all day long, but they're both indispensible in my opinion.

Both songs are signature Stones at their best. There isn't a whiff of Chuck Berry in BS.

Both songs are so great that run-of-the-mill rock bands look up at those songs in awe and are speechless.

HTW to me is the ultimate "Stones summer single." I am sure it made jukebox owners very happy because all though the 1970s when I looked at any jukebox HTW was always there. It was probably on jukeboxes well into the 1980s also. You don't remove a revenue-generating winner.

Its a close one.
I go with Brown Sugar just for the fact that it seems to satisfy most audiences most of the time..

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MileHigh
Both songs are signature Stones at their best. There isn't a whiff of Chuck Berry in BS.

Both songs are so great that run-of-the-mill rock bands look up at those songs in awe and are speechless.

HTW to me is the ultimate "Stones summer single." I am sure it made jukebox owners very happy because all though the 1970s when I looked at any jukebox HTW was always there. It was probably on jukeboxes well into the 1980s also. You don't remove a revenue-generating winner.

i agree with your assessment of HTW
I'm amazed there are people who don't see that BS is a child of chuck berry's.

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snorton
When BS comes on the radio I change the station. When HTW comes on the radio I turn it up.

Second copy cat in this thread. How thrilling.