After ending the previous decade then beginning the 1970s with a four-run album sequence that has never been matched, before or since, the Rolling Stones could have been forgiven a pause for breath before resuming the triumph and tribulation that came with existing as the most celebrated rock band on the planet.
From ‘Beggars Banquet‘ (1968) through ‘Let it Bleed‘ (1969), ‘Sticky Fingers‘ (1971) and ‘Exile on Main St.‘ (1972) – be my guest to throw in the brilliant 1970 live set ‘Get-Yer-Ya-Yas Out‘ for a nap hand – the Stones had been extraordinarily consistent and remarkable in their creativity.
Almost as incredible as the astounding array of music contained across a quartet of studio releases which delved into dark places often awash with drugs and devilry, was that it had all been achieved against (or even because of) the most turbulent backdrop imaginable.
On leaving the band in early summer 1969, founder member Brian Jones then sadly departed the world on dying at the age of just 27 only six weeks later. There followed immersion of replacement guitarist Mick Taylor into the fold, horror of the Altamont concert later the same year when a fan was stabbed to death close to the stage while the Stones were playing, this chapter also infused with various drug busts and sex scandals.
Indeed, by 1971 they were living a nomadic tax exile existence out of the UK that fueled, (amongst other fuels), their outlaw status – all this having no apparent effect on those masters of rhetoric and riff, namely the songwriting duo of front man Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards.
Which is not to say the chic jet-set nonchalance and revelrous notoriety had come about without consequences. Following a sometimes uproarious, at times languorous U.S. Tour through the summer of 1972 (and that was just Richards), the Stones reconvened in Jamacia as the year drew to a close, other more obvious places to record off limits due to local authorities requesting help with enquiries emanating from the last time the band had stopped off on their endless highway of hedonism.
To the world at large they could continue defying the establishment for as long as the mood took them, but in the tracks they were about to record the strain of it all began to show – the subsequent ‘GOATS HEAD SOUP‘ (August 1973), a somewhat subdued, downbeat affair that underwhelmed the critics who quickly dismissed it as the first non-essential Stones release of the 1970s.
Indeed, for the first time there is a sense the Rolling Stones are being defined more by their licentious lifestyles than the music. ‘Goats Head Soup‘ (the title taken from a Caribbean food dish they had been introduced to), is by no means a poor record and at various times funky, fascinating and delightfully facetious. Expressing melancholy in his lyrics was not a new concept for Jagger, yet sounding deeply reflective or dare it be said regretful, certainly was.
The most resonant lines across the record originate from circumstances where the situation is beyond repair, hope an emotion that has been lost. The narrator of ‘Angie‘, a pensive acoustic ballad that gave the group a worldwide hit single, ponders ‘when will those clouds all disappear?‘ while the protagonist in the sublime composition that is ‘Winter‘ notes wistfully upon ‘When the lights on all the Christmas trees went out.’
On the back of their stunning output of the past five years ‘Goats Head Soup‘ was viewed as anti-climatic, the morning after the party that had outlasted all others. Long time producer Jimmy Miller, making his last appearance at the controls where the Stones are concerned, records the material in safe, uncomplicated fashion, keyboards are prominent, Richards (for reasons quickly becoming apparent) not so, the proportion of out and out rockers lower than usual – although at the same time it is their first album since ‘Between the Buttons‘ in 1967 to be made up entirely of Jagger/Richards originals.
Opening track ‘Dancing with Mr. D.’ serves not only to begin the record, but as introduction to a revamped Stones sound that combines blues and funk in creating a form of musical sleaze.
Sensuous yet sinister at the same time, the guitars of Richards and Taylor slither rather than strut, Jagger appearing almost from the shadows to deliver a disarming opening verse:
‘Down in the graveyard where we have our tryst/The air smells sweet, the air smells sick/He never smiles, his mouth merely twists/The breath in my lungs feels clinging and thick/But I know his name, he’s called Mr. D/And one of these days, he’s gonna set you free/Human skulls is hanging right around his neck/The palms of my hands is clammy and wet.’
Insinuations of heroin use if not in the lines are between them, the insidious ambience depicted in the lines, ‘Will it be poison put in my glass or will it be slow or will it be fast/The bite of a snake, the sting of a spider‘ and perhaps more pertinently on the rear sleeve – where Richards is photographed from the shoulders up in a shroud of foreboding black smoke.
Having decorated the piece with expressive percussion from local Jamaican musicians Anthony Kwaku Baal and Nicholas Pascal Raicevic (who would appear on various cuts through the album), there is a noticeable change of emphasis on ‘100 Years Ago‘ – a song that begins as a reflective ode to the passing of time but closes out as a dynamic jam in which drummer Charlie Watts particularly excels.
Built upon the subtle clavinet work of keyboardist extraordinaire Billy Preston, an old-hand Stones collaborator, the melody has overtones of The Band, Jagger delivering some poignant lyrics over the sultry melodicism, contemplating where the journey of life has led before the song concludes in a higher gear:
‘Now all my friends is wearing worried smiles/Living out a dream of what day it was/Don’t you think its sometimes wise not to grow up.’
Top notch session pianist Nicky Hopkins takes on keyboard responsibilities for the mournful offering that is ‘Coming Down Again‘. Sung by Richards, the title is inference enough to what is happening, Keith making distinctly personal observations not just on his drug use but sexually promiscuous ways that are undermining the relationship with his partner, the actress Anita Pallenberg:
‘Slipped my tongue in someone else’s pie tasting better every time/She turned green and tried to make me cry/Being hungry ain’t no crime.’
After he laments ‘Coming down again/All my time’s been spent’ the solemnity is lifted by a gorgeous saxophone solo from Bobby Keys, by now a fixture at Stones sessions, Jagger and Richards revisiting the chord structure three years later for the equally memorable ‘Fool to Cry‘.
Coming across as an aggressive update of ‘Inner City Blues‘ a 1971 Marvin Gaye opus, ‘Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo‘ (Heartbreaker), is driven by the pulsating clavinet of Preston, Jagger railing against those who use hand guns with impunity (‘You a heart breaker with your .44‘), which in this case are those tasked with law enforcement:
‘The police in New York City/They chased a boy right through the park/And in a case of mistaken identity/
They put a bullet through his heart.’
With blaring horns and a jutting electric guitar solo from Richards adding to the tense atmosphere, this edgy urban drama takes another disconcerting turn in the second verse:
‘A ten year old girl on a street corner/Sticking needles in her arm/She died in the dirt of an alleyway/Her
mother said she had no chance, no chance.’
From sounding akin to a revved up soul revue, with side one closer ‘Angie‘ the tone moves toward that of the Flying Burrito Brothers in the era they were led by country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. In becoming a close friend of Richards he had nurtured within the Rolling Stones a country dimension that had informed a number of their recent songs – and also developed a heroin habit that would result in his death at the age of just 26 less than a month after ‘Goats Head Soup‘ was released.
Featuring an aching Jagger vocal on top of gently strummed acoustic guitars and understated piano fills from Hopkins, the heartfelt lines reveal a love affair in ruins, the protagonists unable to overcome what has conspired against them:
‘All the dreams were held so close/Seemed to all go up in smoke/Let me whisper in your ear/Angie, Angie/Where will it lead us from here?’
Side two opener ‘Silver Train‘ is more shop worn than new stock, a perfunctory Stones rocker that appeared in superior form as ‘All Down the Line‘ on ‘Exile on Main St.’ the previous year. ‘Sixth’ Stone Ian Stewart offers a nice line in boogie piano and there is nothing to truly dislike about the harmonica/electric guitar interchanges of Jagger and Taylor, but the bluster cannot betray its origins of having being written three years before, this retread sounding dated in light of where they now were.
There is a feeling that ‘Hide Your Love‘ also lacks something in inspiration. Lyrically an improvement on the previous track (although not by much), Jagger leads the troupe from piano in a slow burning, blues work out in which he seeks answers from a lover, (‘Been a sick man, I wanna cry/Lord, I’m a drunk man, but now I’m dry/Why do you hide, why do you hide your love?) The roll along nature of this largely inconsequential track is fattened up the local boys on percussion while the silky baritone sax of Keys also does it no harm.
Although credited to the usual suspects, the eloquent ‘Winter‘ was later revealed to have had more input from Taylor than Richards, who had not yet been seen in Jamacia when the song was conceived.
In the hot climes of the West Indies, Jagger conjures a resonant lyric based on the cold Northern Hemisphere temperatures they have left behind, his words falling like snowflakes against a wispy breeze that is the immaculate guitar work of Taylor:
‘And it sure been a cold, cold winter/And the wind ain’t been blowin’ from the south/It’s sure been a cold, cold winter/And a lotta love is all burned out.’
Through the evocative piano lines of Hopkins the Van Morrison inflections are impossible to miss, yet this is an exceptional Rolling Stones song, Jagger not only exquisite in the vocal but in his yearning of ‘I wanna keep you warm/Sometimes I wanna wrap my coat around you,’ all this while painting vivid scenes from a colder climate.
Back in London a string arrangement was added to this masterful track that proved, even in the absence of Keith, the Stones were still the most compelling rock band around.
Introduced by percussion that is exotic in texture, ‘Can You Hear the Music’ finds Jagger asking questions of himself and of what takes place around him (‘Love is a mystery I can’t demystify, oh, no/Sometimes I wonder why we’re here/But I don’t care,) certain only the essence of it all is the sound they create (‘When you hear the music trouble disappear/When you hear the music ringin’ in your ears/Can you feel the magic floatin’ in the air?)
For the penultimate track, the funk overtones have returned, a flute contribution from Horn woven into the mix of strident piano (Hopkins) and tightly-knit guitars, this superb example of their ensemble playing carried over into closing cut ‘Star Star‘.
Renamed by the record company for the purposes of the sleeve – those familiar with the song will be aware of the profanity in the alternative title and chorus – it is driven from the off by a riff coined from Chuck Berry, Jagger penning a provocative lyric that grows in antagonism with each verse, the lines amounting to a disparaging kiss and tell.
It has long been rumoured (although never confirmed) the siren prompting his sarcasm and scorn is New York songstress Carly Simon, the two having a brief liaison the previous year. Much has been made of the line ‘you and me we made a pretty pair,’ that echoes one from her 1972 hit ‘You’re So Vain‘ which featured the Stones front man on backing vocals – Jagger reveling in taking the mick so to speak as he delivers a tale full of sexual intrigue and innuendo:
‘All those beat up friends of mine/Gotta get you in their books/Lead guitars and movie stars/Get their tongues beneath your hood.’
With just bona fide Stones credited with playing on the track, Richards, Taylor, Wyman and Watts hurry things along with gusto, while out front the vocalist saves his most solacious couplets for the final verse:
‘Yeah, Ali McGraw got mad with you/For givin’ head to Steve McQueen/Yeah, you and me we made a pretty pair/Fallin’ through the silver screen/Honey, I’m open to anythin’/I don’t know where to draw the line/Yeah, I’m makin’ bets that you gonna get/John Wayne before he dies.’
Closing the album in such upbeat if vindictive manner made it feel this had been a Rolling Stones LP after all, but their eleventh studio release (thirteenth in the U.S.) met with a decidedly mixed response from reviewers. In the New Musical Express Nick Kent bemoaned a ‘lack of originality‘ an opinion that differed from that of Bud Scoppa in Rolling Stone, who described it as ‘one of the year’s richest musical experiences.’
Those taking the view ‘Goats Head Soup‘ was more to do with posturing than musical panache may have had a point if not for the fact Jagger had always put over the message with a nudge and a wink – trying to decipher whether or not he was being insincere only adding to the fascination.
Despite a generally lukewarm response toward the record from the rock press, it effortlessly climbed to number one on both the U.K. and U.S. charts, Jagger joining Wyman and Watts, (both having long since reached the landmark), in reaching his thirties a month before ‘Goats Head Soup‘ appeared – an album that reflected where the Rolling Stones were rather than where the critics wanted them.
But when he sings, ‘When I hear the drummer, get me in the groove/When I hear the guitar, makes me want to move/Can you feel the magic, floatin’ in the air?‘ on ‘Can You Hear the Music‘ Jagger does sound full of conviction.
Sincere even.
ROLLING STONES – ‘GOATS HEAD SOUP‘ (Released August 31 1973):
Dancing with Mr. D./100 Years Ago/Coming Down Again/Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)/Angie/Silver Train/Hide Your Love/Winter/Can You Hear the Music/Star Star
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.