Aftermath is the first “real” Stones album, the one that showcases the band as we would come to accept them. All the songs are credited to Jagger-Richards (whether or not they were the actual writers). Brian Jones, having lost his power to keep them strictly a blues band, stretches out on several exotic instruments. And Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts keep everything tied down in the back.Of course, the misogyny is out in full force; Mick did have an image to keep, after all. The opening notes of “Paint It, Black” hint at the current Indian influence before giving way to the blatant nastiness of “Stupid Girl”. Brian shines again on “Lady Jane”, contributing the dulcimer and probably the harpsichord. It’s a very gentle song, until you pay attention to the lyrics. Brian’s marimbas drive “Under My Thumb”, another cruel song still played by the band today. “Doncha Bother Me” is a successful marriage of Chicago blues and swinging London. “Think” features several guitar parts, from the strummed acoustic to the “Satisfaction” fuzz tone; an underrated track.
“Flight 505” starts the second side with a boogie piano solo from sixth Stone Ian Stewart before turning into an otherwise ordinary song with a trick ending worthy of Pete Townshend. “High And Dry” is a country blues that sounds like it was written five minutes before it was recorded. They would do this style better in the future. “It’s Not Easy” isn’t much, but “I Am Waiting” is the hidden gem here, a fine example of mid-‘60s British chamber pop and a killer bridge. The mood turns completely with “Goin’ Home”, a track notorious for being rock ‘n roll’s first lengthy album track. Unfortunately, Mick can’t sustain us over the eleven-plus minutes here; he’d learn the secret of dynamics soon enough.
Aftermath is the Stones learning how to compete on the album charts in an era when fans wanted more substance for their dollar. The British version, which came out a couple of months earlier with a different cover and different tracks (naturally), offered even more value, clocking 53 minutes against the 42 on the American. Somebody at ABKCO understood this album’s importance, as both the US and UK versions are available today on CD, should you wish to compare them.
The Rolling Stones Aftermath (1966)—3
My original opinion is that the removal of three songs (“What to Do” is a toss off that they could have done on any of their earlier records, so no loss there) on the U.K. album really reduced the quality of the U.S. album, despite including the powerhouse single “Paint It Black”. (I often wonder what inspired those lyrics. Did someone close to Mick die in an accident?). I decided to relisten to see if my opinion would change that much.
ReplyDeleteIt really has not. “I Am Waiting” (covered by Lindsey Buckingham) reminds me a bit of “Fancy”, from The Kinks, but not as good. “Flight 505” is unusual in that Mick is narrating a story, as opposed to being narcissistic, alienated or complaining some more about women. “High and Dry” could have found a home on “Beggars Banquet” if it weren’t for that obnoxious hi-hat mixed way too loudly (much as tambourines were in many of their earlier songs). Even so, these songs are average.
However, then there is the notorious “Going Home”. The basic song is OK. If they had faded it at about the 3:30 mark and added a couple more of the outtakes, like “Sittin’ On a Fence”, “Ride On Baby” “Sad Day”, or even “Long, Long While”, we’d add some points to the score. As it is, we get 8 more minutes of tedium, just going long for the sake of length. I wonder if Jim Morrison and The Doors listened and made this the inspiration for their worst, most obnoxious live performances (or even studio – “Rock is Dead”, anyone?).
As it is, besides “Paint, It Black”, only the next three tracks rate as classics. “Stupid Girl” is a gloriously snotty garage rocker. I’m utterly amazed that it got past the record company censors of 1965 with a line like “She bitches about things that she’s never seen” – and it was picked as the American B-side of “Paint It Black”, so thousands more American teens were corrupted by the naughty word.
“Lady Jane” sounds so genteel and oh-so-British, but, under all that, it’s just as misogynistic as the other songs. “Under My Thumb,” of course, is not the least bit subtle about that. Since it was on “Hot Rocks,” I thought for years that it had been a single. I was quite surprised to learn that it never was! Decca/London sure missed that boat.
On the other hand, by dumping “Mother’s Little Helper”, “Out of Time”, “Take it Or Leave It” and including the two best outtakes, they managed to, quite accidentally, make “Flowers” a superior album.