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Doxa

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Redhotcarpet

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ryanpow

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LeonidP

Eggactly - After YaYa's Midnight Rambler (and especially Brussels) it is hard to listen to the studio version.

Also, I happen to love the lyrics to Monkey Man - great song all around!

To Me the Ya-Ya's version is hard to listen to after hearing the 72 versions and Brussels, and 75 for that matter too. However the album version still holds up. That is once cool track IMO.


Back To Monkey Man, def. one of their top songs.

Spot on about Yayas after hearing 72 or 75. Spot on.

The only version of Monkey Man that I accept is the Let it Bleed version. There are no other versions of the song. It has never ever been good live.

I share these thougths in regards to YA-YA'S "Rambler". After getting used to 1972/73/75 versions, the YA-YA'S version just sounds a bit flat and not dramatical enough. Like they hadn't really used the potentiality that song has for a hot live band. It sounds just a sketch for what to come some day.

But I absolutely love the original studio version. It has the blues feeling no any live version has. Jagger probably have never sound so threatening as he does there.

- Doxa

Exactly and but I get - not share - the criticism about the song dragging for a minute in the middle where it in the live version of 1972 becomes the most evil minute in Stones history AND one of the best moments of guitars in rock (also in 1973 and in a different but great way 1975).

In 1972 you get Taylors disturbed sad notes circulating around Keiths ticking spider stabs (sic) at the thick web where Jagger the butterfly is nailed to the ground trying to fight his way out. Sorry about the cliches but it's really one of the best performances ever.

Here is a great homage to Monkey Man, past meets the future on this.

smile: thanks for reposting that, whitem8! it was getting tiresome having to go back to page 1 to see it

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WeLoveToPlayTheBlues
I have heard it live, the Voodoo tour in New Orleans. I managed to get the bootleg from someone too, which I think the only live boot of any show I've ever been to. It's not nearly as good as that New Jersey version, Mick sounds like he has to burp through the whole song. It seems that on the Licks tour they really PLAYED the song, where is on the Voodoo tour they just sort of did it. There's more life to the Licks tour version overall. Charlie is a bit soft on the Voodoo versions compared to the Licks versions.

I missed the VL tour but I heard them do Monkey Man in 2002 at Giants Stadium in NJ and it was awesome. Keith nailed every lick and Ronnie's slide was perfectly done. Charlie was pounding it along! It was a highlight of the show. I think the version captured on Four Flicks is also excellent. Heard it again at the same venue in 2006 and it was also very good. Keith's guitar was a little too low in the mix though. I wanted that nasty riff to blast through. Live Licks version is also very good, IMO. I know some people prefer the perfection of the studio version, but to me there's nothing more exciting than seeing the Stones do a great song like that live, with the crowd roaring in delight.

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with sssoul
smile: thanks for reposting that, whitem8! it was getting tiresome having to go back to page 1 to see it

I wanted to get back to discussing Monkey Man


One of their best songs. Off of one of their best albums. And Keith playing all the guitars on it. Wonderful!

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whitem8
I wanted to get back to discussing Monkey Man

good idea!

the lyrics are of course secondary but: does anyone besides me hear "every she-bat in this town"?
most lyric sites seem to think it's "she-rat" but to me it's always been "she-bat" (and i find it better imagery too)

I think it is she-rat. A allusion to the "straight" crowd deriding their dirty hippy appearance.

Aah, the thread was about "Monkey Man"...

Yeah, a dynamite song. It got that same 'once in a life time' dangerous & mysterious feel as the best LET IT BLEED tracks have. The atmosphere is just so unique. There is so much space there; they are really painting on empty canvas there - and leaving a lot of that breathing elment in tha air. Nicky's piano is as delicated as always, and charms the listener but it is Keith's INCREDIBLE guitar riffs with Cha's drums that really put the track to fly. Perhaps only "Gimme Shelter" has some similar vibe. Jagger just ices the cake with the traditional blues metaphors and in his delivery - and like with "Gimme Shelter" - keeps the melody in 'less is more' level. Not perahps so spot on as "Gimme Shelter" but still a great job.

I think once again it is a missed opportunity that they never tried this song live. I mean, during the time when they re-arranged all the songs to suit to the live surroundings (a'la "Gimme Shelter", "Midnight Ramler", etc.) It would have a thrill to hear how Keith and Taylor would have worked the riffs out and give it even stronger guitar clothing. Hmmmm... really a missed oppurtunity, damn!!!

These modern era versions are just like they basically are: they try to imitate the original studio version, and like always, they tend to sound unfortunately as cheap copies. Yeah, I admit that sometimes the versions are okay, and better than their treatments of some other old songs, but still they don't sound to my ears like the real thing, authentic enough.

- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-03-03 13:53 by Doxa.

Here is the vid from the original creator.

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AintNoStranger
Here is the vid from the original creator.

Thank you for bringing this thread back "home" to Monkey Man...Just can't listen to this song enough.

I remember watching an episode of 21 Jump Street in the late 80's (the only time I will admit to watching an episode) and during a basketball scene with Johnny Depp, where he had just taken heroin, they played Monkey Man.

It was unexpected, fit perfectly and was absolutely sublime.

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Doxa
Aah, the thread was about "Monkey Man"...

Yeah, a dynamite song. It got that same 'once in a life time' dangerous & mysterious feel as the best LET IT BLEED tracks have. The atmosphere is just so unique. There is so much space there; they are really painting on empty canvas there - and leaving a lot of that breathing elment in tha air. Nicky's piano is as delicated as always, and charms the listener but it is Keith's INCREDIBLE guitar riffs with Cha's drums that really put the track to fly. Perhaps only "Gimme Shelter" has some similar vibe. Jagger just ices the cake with the traditional blues metaphors and in his delivery - and like with "Gimme Shelter" - keeps the melody in 'less is more' level. Not perahps so spot on as "Gimme Shelter" but still a great job.

I think once again it is a missed opportunity that they never tried this song live. I mean, during the time when they re-arranged all the songs to suit to the live surroundings (a'la "Gimme Shelter", "Midnight Ramler", etc.) It would have a thrill to hear how Keith and Taylor would have worked the riffs out and give it even stronger guitar clothing. Hmmmm... really a missed oppurtunity, damn!!!

These modern era versions are just like they basically are: they try to imitate the original studio version, and like always, they tend to sound unfortunately as cheap copies. Yeah, I admit that sometimes the versions are okay, and better than their treatments of some other old songs, but still they don't sound to my ears like the real thing, authentic enough.

- Doxa

Wow - Doxa - you really nail the feeling of this song ...beautiful writing...write on!

I don't understand how people can like the Live Licks version - doesn't the subpar piano playing bother you?

one of the greatest things the Stones have ever came up with.......Keith shines so much on Let it Bleed

Yeah, Let it Bleed is Keef's album. He is totally engaged and laying down some of his most inventive riffing. Cataclysmic raunch punctuated by gentle nuanced beauty. Mick also puts in some of his best recorded singing. This album is just so damn good it feels like a greatest hits album.