BLACK AND BLUE



Recorded:

December 6-15, 1974: Musicland Studios, Munich, West Germany
January 22-February 9, 1975: Rolling Stones Mobile Unit, Rotterdam, Netherlands
March 25-April 4, 1975: Musicland Studios, Munich, West Germany

Overdubbed and mixed:

October 19-30, 1975: Mountain Recording Studios, Montreux, Switzerland
December 3-16, 1975: Musicland Studios, Munich, West Germany
January 18-February 1976: Atlantic Studios, New York City, USA

Producers: The Glimmer Twins
Chief engineers: Keith Harwood & Glyn Johns
Released: April 1976
Original label: Rolling Stones Records (on WEA)

Contributing musicians:

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Nicky Hopkins, Ron Wood, Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins, Ian Stewart, Billy Preston, Ollie Brown, Arif Mardin (arranger).

Hot Stuff
Hand of Fate
Cherry Oh Baby
Memory Motel
Hey Negrita
Melody
Fool to Cry
Crazy Mama

What are your thoughts on this album?

Best Ronnie Wood era album. I like it as much as EOMS

With Worried About You and Slave it would certainly have been up there with their best album, imo.

A nice collection of songs. Varied, but still with a recognisable sound. Perhaps the best-sounding Stones album of all times. Stellar production, imo.

Not a great record but a good one. A big improvement from IORR. Standouts for me are Hand of Fate,Memoty Hotel and Hey Negrita.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-08-21 12:07 by Ket.

Hot Stuff: a bit repetitive, but a razor sharp riff and a 'new' sound in the Stones cataloque.

Hand of Fate: EOMS-type rocker. Great groove, but nothing special.

Cherry Oh Baby: awful, just awful.

Memory Motel: beautifull balad, best song on the album.

Hey Negrita: Ronnie injects some fresh funky energy in the Glimmers here. Love the groove!

Melody: starts out nice, but Micks falsetto nonsense ruins the song. Those childish screams, why?

Fool to Cry: love the lyrics. Never been a favourite, but the way the song gathers speed and momentum in the second half is nice.

Crazy Mama: lazy rocker, that's all.


Weird album. Way too short really. Too many different ideas, styles and in general a lack of focus. B&B sounds like a collection of songs from different periods slapped togerther on vinyl so The Stones had something to tour behind.

What a comeback Some Girls was, though.

I thought it was a great different album when it came...special favorite that Hotel of Memory of course... 5/5 thumbs out of five...

2 1 2 0



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-08-21 12:12 by Come On.

Quote
mr edward
Hot Stuff: a bit repetitive, but a razor sharp riff and a 'new' sound in the Stones cataloque.

Hand of Fate: EOMS-type rocker. Great groove, but nothing special.

Cherry Oh Baby: awful, just awful.

Memory Motel: beautifull balad, best song on the album.

Hey Negrita: Ronnie injects some fresh funky energy in the Glimmers here. Love the groove!

Melody: starts out nice, but Micks falsetto nonsense ruins the song. Those childish screams, why?

Fool to Cry: love the lyrics. Never been a favourite, but the way the song gathers speed and momentum in the second half is nice.

Crazy Mama: lazy rocker, that's all.


Weird album. Way too short really. Too many different ideas, styles and in general a lack of focus. B&B sounds like a collection of songs from different periods slapped togerther on vinyl so The Stones had something to tour behind.

What a comeback Some Girls was, though.

Is it really? It clocks in on approximately 40 minutes, even though there are only 8 songs on it...

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
mr edward
Hot Stuff: a bit repetitive, but a razor sharp riff and a 'new' sound in the Stones cataloque.

Hand of Fate: EOMS-type rocker. Great groove, but nothing special.

Cherry Oh Baby: awful, just awful.

Memory Motel: beautifull balad, best song on the album.

Hey Negrita: Ronnie injects some fresh funky energy in the Glimmers here. Love the groove!

Melody: starts out nice, but Micks falsetto nonsense ruins the song. Those childish screams, why?

Fool to Cry: love the lyrics. Never been a favourite, but the way the song gathers speed and momentum in the second half is nice.

Crazy Mama: lazy rocker, that's all.


Weird album. Way too short really. Too many different ideas, styles and in general a lack of focus. B&B sounds like a collection of songs from different periods slapped togerther on vinyl so The Stones had something to tour behind.

What a comeback Some Girls was, though.

Is it really? It clocks in on approximately 40 minutes, even though there are only 8 songs on it...

It is. Only 8 new songs, no matter how long they meander on?

i love it !
great groove, sounds completely different, maybe because of mixing...
i will play it right now and enjoy it !!!

Contains some of the best tracks ever released by the Stones:Memory Motel and Hand Of Fate. Great album sleeve as well!

High class album.
Lovit!

overall, I think it has aged very well. Although it was initially trashed by critics when it came out, I think the attitude has changed about this one.

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terraplane
Best Ronnie Wood era album.

Agreed, minus Cherry oh Baby, a filler imo.

Loved it when it was published - and still do. Especially Memory Motel, Fool to Cry and Melody. Cherry oh Baby is the only mistake on the album.

Half great, half terrible.

I positively despise songs Hey Negrita, Cherry Oh Baby, Hot Stuff and Melody. That is not my Rolling Stones.

My Rolling Stones are Memory Motel, Hand Of Fate, Crazy Mama and Fool To Cry, which are all really great songs. So its such a half baked album to me, but I'll never slag it off cause the songs I like I really like.

Hot Stuff
The title is very appropriate, it´s hot, sleazy and very funky. I love this tune, great groove.
Hand of Fate
Classic Stones-rocker the way I like it. Great guitars, great vocals and everything.
Cherry Oh Baby
Was this their first attempt to Reggae? Not bad at all, but could have been better.
Memory Motel
Maybe their all-time-greatest ballad. It´s perfect, great melody, great vocals and Mick at the top of his game.
Hey Negrita
I love the funky groove on it. I guess it´s underrated, but one of their best 70s-tunes.
Melody
Not very Stones-like, almost a jazz tune, but I like it.
Fool to Cry
This is really aweful, hard to bear. The second half is quite okay, but how to survive the first half of it?
Crazy Mama
Another typical rocker with fabulous guitars. Mick is great on that one.

The album has a very wide range of styles and moods, maybe a bit too wide. Listening to it gives not really an "album-feeling". Feels more like a compilation, but it´s still a fantastic Stones-record with everything on it you could wish for. Mick Taylor is gone and left no gap. The guitars on that album are highly enjoyable. No need to shed a tear for Taylor. It´s one of my favorite Stones-albums, although there´s not much Rock n Roll on it.

It's better than Dirty Work.

Man I loved this album from the start warts and all. Ridiculous great mix, I remember several reviews commenting on how clear the drums sounded.

One of my favorite albums. This, Tattoo You and Emotional Rescue were the records that got me into The Rolling Stones. The riffs to Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama still make me want to turn it up to 11!

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JohnnyBGoode
One of my favorite albums. This, Tattoo You and Emotional Rescue were the records that got me into The Rolling Stones. The riffs to Hand of Fate and Crazy Mama still make me want to turn it up to 11!

Three of the Stones albums with the best sound.

An album as guitar player audition. Three candidates (Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins, Ronnie Wood). Two of them contributed excellent work on Hand of Fate and Hey Negrita respectively (WP, RW). Both tracks belong to the best of the Stones catalogue. Hot Stuff in contrary is boring in this studio version. But Ronnie's solo on LYL revealed the high potential of this track. Nice ballad (Memory Motel), the other tracks are average. A downfall after six excellent or at least very good albums.

It's better than Dirty Work.

I like it.
Sounds great..but a few too many average songs for my liking

Best sound of any Stones Album. Worth it for HOF alone. The other stuff is nice to hear once in awhile but you wouldn't want to play it too often. The only Stones album with a Jazz number.

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terraplane
Best Ronnie Wood era album.

Kind of a strange thing to say eh? He plays on 3 songs and sings backing vox on 5. Not exactly... compared to all the albums that come after B&B anyway.

Hot Stuff - Funky nonsense somewhat redeemed by Mandel's guitar. After a thousand listens 'The music is mighty mighty fiiine...' is the only line one remembers. That says it all.

Hand of Fate - Jagger gets his gun and growls B-western nonsense over one of the last great open G riffs.

Cherry Oh Baby - Not as embarassing as some people seem to think if only because the other songs aren't that great. I've always been rather fond of this one actually.

Memory Motel - If you're in a 'Bridges of Madison County' kinda mood, it doesn't get much better than this. But at the same time, that this is by far and away the best track on the album is disappointing.

Hey Negrita - This is the second best tune thanks to Ronnie's dirty riff. Jagger throws in a lot of spanish (?) which partially conceals yet another lyrical stinker but it's a waste of some good guitar again. Good vocal performance though and lots of energy. Fun to hear once in a while.

Melody - 'I took her out dancing but she drank away my cash
She said, "I'm going to fix my face don't you worry I'll be back"
I'm looking for her high and low like a mustard for a ham
She was crashed out in the bathroom
In the arms of my best friend'
Truly hilarious but how did this song get on a Stones album? Still, it's one of the better cuts.

Fool To Cry - Um, I can tolerate this as a cash grab if Mick gives this song to Paul Anka or Tony Orlando but it doesn't help the Stones reputation to record it themselves.

Crazy Mama - See comments on Hand of Fate. You cannot distinguish between those songs unless you listen to them back to back. Am I wrong?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-08-21 18:12 by Swayed1967.

Any photos from the recording sessions that gave us Black & Blue?

Hot Stuff - Nice crisp funky tune. Nice guitaring. Nice vamp ending from Mick. The promo/B-side edit version on SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES tightens it up a bit.

Hand Of Fate - Nice classic Keith guitaring in this one. Mick's vocals sound like the 1975 tour style of "singing". Nice lead from Wayne Perkins. Good tune but nothing too interesting about it. This could arguably be Stones-by-numbers.

Cherry Oh Baby - When tempo can make a difference it makes a difference between good and bad. What the Stones did with this is disturbing - in a bad way (opposed to, say, Midnight Rambler, which is disturbing in a good way). It's too slow compared to the original, which makes it sound like they don't get it, and Charlie can not play reggae. However Keith's playing is spot on and Nicky Hopkins nails the keyboard. No matter. They can't do reggae, although they'd get it much better with their second and fortunately last attempt at reggae with Too Rude 10 years later.

Memory Motel - Great song. This song just keeps ageing fantastically. No Stones string section. Nice melody, very similar to Fool To Cry only better. From what I can tell they did a decent version of it on the BRIDGES tour but ruined the only official live album release of it by putting that bobble head Dave Matthews on it.

Hey Negrita - Their funkiest tune ever. A nice snarler. Fantastic bridge. Great tune. The Stones certainly can do funk and this is easily their best funk song ever. The guitar work in this tune is excellent. Mick's lyrics are at times hysterical - conchita? He's calling her a little (sounds a lot like runt)!

Melody - Interesting tune. Nice Billy Preston tune, nice piano and organ. This tune gets slammed a lot for some reason but I find it awesome.

Fool To Cry - That keyboard intro kills me everytime. And when the piano comes in, and then the synth strings come in, the Stones have moved the furthest point away from that blues charged rock'n'roll from BEGGARS through EXILE. The evolution of the Stones was critical at this point, as the entire album displays. Fool To Cry is, as some people like to say, not your daddy's Rolling Stones. As goofy as it is, it's an excellent song. The promo edit is on SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES and JUMP BACK and that monkey one, FIFTY LICKS or whatever it's called.

Crazy Mama - This tune just rocks. Sleaze rock. Sleazy rocker. Whatever. Mick's mangling of the words is perfect. The only time the Stones would come close to having a song of this attitude would be with I Go Wild from VOODOO LOUNGE. Nice B-side edit on SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES tightens this one up good, although the intro is chopped in half.







Eric Donaldson
Cherry Oh Baby
[www.youtube.com]

An excellent album.

Many critics identify Some Girls as the Stones' return to form; in my opinion that return to form occurred two years earlier with the release of this album.

.....

Olly.

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GasLightStreet
They can't do reggae, although they'd get it much better with their second and fortunately last attempt at reggae with Too Rude 10 years later.

What about You Don´t Have To Mean It?
Send It To Me is also some kind of Reggae, imo.
Best Reggae-song by a Stone might be Words Of Wonder.