Detail from poster titled "8. Kriegsanleihe" by Kurt Libesny, 1918
I told myself that I was really going to let the "shuffle" mode on Winamp determine what songs I wrote about for this feature, and sometimes, when you reach into the fridge without looking, you pull out broccoli. What I'm trying to say is that I have Exile on Main St. on my hard drive because I feel like I need to listen to it and understand it, not because I'm a big fan. It's not that I don't like the Rolling Stones - once they overcame their interest in being a blues band doing covers of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, they had a run of albums from '66 to '69 that I like a whole lot. What I don't understand is why, by '72, they were back to wanting to sound like a blues cover band again. On Exile on Main St., the interesting arrangements and pop hooks have been replaced with churning blues jams and a cherry-picking of the least appealing aspects of country, soul, and gospel. Of course, I'm generalizing - there's a lot to like on Exile during its one hour seven minute run-time, but sometimes the great moments are spread thin in favor of pointless generic blues like "Rip This Joint", "Shake Your Hips", "Turd on the Run", and "Let It Loose".
Having said that, though, I have a lot of love for the album's closer, "Soul Survivor". It's a culmination of a four-song run where the murky, swampy journey through Mick and Keith's dark places (ewww - that sounds bad) pays off with real hooks and an engaging energy that's been slowly building over the album's first fifty minutes. "Soul Survivor" starts with a woozy slide guitar that is central to an arrangement that focuses on maintaining a twin sense of sloppiness and urgency. The guitar part switches to a focused hook on the chorus and the always-excellent Nicky Hopkins gets a chance to shine when the piano breaks through on the bridge. Every time I listen to Exile a little more of it makes sense to me, but for now at least, "Soul Survivor" is reason enough to sit through some of the blues stuff that I don't have a natural appreciation for.
"Soul Survivor" by the Rolling Stones
1 comments:
The Reason the Stones went for the BLues thing again was because of the influence of their newest andt fantastic guitarist Mick Taylor,as well as an appreciation for Open G Tuning Keith picked up from Ry Cooder. Their roots ARE Blues, they are not, ahem, a cover band!Hey, The Beatles covered a lot in their early years. Cover Band? The Stones are the Greatest Rock N Roll Band in the World!
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