Classic Albums Augmented VII: Beggars' Banquet

Rolling Stones: Beggars' Banquet - Jumpin' Jack Flash

Hitting the shops in December 1968, Beggars' Banquet was the album that signaled a return by the Rolling Stones to their bluesy roots after the psychedelic experimentation of Their Satanic Majesties Request, released 12 months earlier.

This is the original cover of the album, but it only became available upon its 1986 CD release because sufficient time had passed for a toilet wall covered in graffiti to become non-controversial. However in 1968, the stand-off with a nervous Decca record company, delayed the album's release until the Stones backed down over this affront to contemporary sensibilities.

Meanwhile, the cover eventually chosen by the Stones to replace the original was also controversial, but for different reasons.

You see, the all-white cover meant that they had once more chosen something very similar to what The Beatles had already done. And so just as the cover of Their Satanic Majesties Request drew unfavourable comparisons with that of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the revised artwork on Beggars' Banquet looked very, very similar to the Nov 1968 double-LP The Beatles, aka The White Album. It seemed as though the Stones' just couldn't help themselves.

This is the cover they should have opted for:

The image actually looks like a beggars' banquet for starters, so it makes more sense than the toilet wall. And this particular shot is a much better take from the photo shoot than the re-touched image that spreads across the inside of the album's gate-fold cover.

But I digress. This album was the latest entry in the emergence of rock music, taken for granted these days but in 1968, a term that appeared to encapsulate the music that defined this watershed year. It wasn't rock and roll, nor was it rhythm and blues. It wasn't beat music, nor was it psychedelic. And even though this apparently new classification drew on all of those influences, and at times added folk, jazz and country influences to the mix for good measure as well, it was a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

This new release was to be something of a test for the Stones. After their previous album was largely dismissed as self-indulgent psychedelic meanderings, the Rolling Stones needed to recapture a fan-base that would quickly move onto newer, cooler sounds if their attention wasn't gained and held. And the track listing delivers.

Beggars' Banquet opens with the samba-like rhythms of Rocky Dijon's congas on Sympathy for the Devil. Jagger based the lyrics of this powerful first-person narrative on the novel The Master and the Margarita. A fascinating insight into the recording sessions is provided by Jean Luc Godard's film One Plus One, which shows the evolution of the song through many different stages. I have to confess to liking Brian Jones' acoustic guitar part as depicted in the documentary and lament its being left out of the finished track, but Richard's soloing is stinging and heavy and as good as he's ever done. And the whoo-whoo vocal punctuations are a distinctive feature.

The mournful country feel of No Expectations contains slide guitar by Brian Jones that would end up being his last major guitar contribution, while Nicky Hopkins' evocative piano playing explains why he was the Stones' first choice piano player for the next six studio albums. These burgeoning country influences are taken further on the riotously satirical Dear Doctor, but without sounding phoney, while Parachute Woman delivers a smouldering, bluesy ambience that fits with the blues-rock flavour of the times. Concluding Side One, Jigsaw Puzzle is a mature, Dylanesque reflection on rock stardom and its pressures. It's a shame Keith's slide guitar playing on this track is well, crap, but who would have had the nerve to tell him?

Opening Side Two is Street Fighting Man, one of my very favourite Stones songs. It explores similar themes to the Beatles' Revolution, but with understated sitar, droning feedback, crashing open-tuned acoustic guitars and thundering drums. To me, it's always sounded like something of a companion-piece to Jumpin' Jack Flash and I just love its overall atmosphere.

Prodigal Son, written by Rev Robert F Wilkins, is an unashamed and unadorned homage to traditional Memphis-style blues, with Richard's open tunings and Jagger's baritone delivering the goods. You could consider the overtly sexual Stray Cat Blues as the precursor to a style Led Zeppelin would later make their own, and much more menacing in tone than the slower live version that appears on Get Yer Ya-Yas Out. Factory Girl was once described by Keith Richard as an Appalachian Molly Malone and I'm inclined to think he had a point about it's potpourri of folk influences.

Closing out Beggars' Banquet is Salt of the Earth, a love song to the huddled masses that would be laughably incongruous for the usually snide, arrogant Stones were it not so anthemic. And genuine. They're not taking the piss. But then again, it's working class Keith on lead vocals for the first two lines of the song, after all.

So the album as a whole hangs together very nicely. It would begin a five-album sequence of classics that would take the Stones through increasingly impressive follow-ups in Let It Bleed; Get Yer Ya-Yas Out; Sticky Fingers; and Exile on Main Street.

This is undoubtedly an album that is fine just as it is, but would be super-charged by the addition of the song that is inextricably intertwined with its era like no other - Jumpin' Jack Flash. This is a spine-tingler of a song and was the first time Keith Richard had based a whole song around open guitar tunings (E and G, thanks for asking) Tunings he'd learned from the Everly Brothers on an early British tour back in 1964. That was a huge factor in giving the song its ethereal droning quality.

There is some doubt as to whether it's Richard or regular bass player Bill Wyman who plays the portentous incoming bass line but whoever, it's good. And anyway, the swirling Hammond organ outro is definitely Wyman so he was a major contributor come what may. 

Jagger struck just the right balance between a drawl and a snarl on the vocal line and the It's alright now chorus has been an iconic rock touchstone for many, both vocally and lyrically.

The title comes from Richard's nickname for the groundsman at his Redlands estate but it was Jagger who ran with the school-of-hard-knocks first person narrative. Much as I appreciate Beggars' Banquet's final track listing, I can't help but feel how much more highly the album would have been regarded with the addition of Jumpin' Jack Flash.

Check out this clip of the Stones playing it live in the studio not long after recording - they get close to matching the single release version in a way that they never would again.

So Which Tracks Would Miss Out? None - the addition of Jumpin' Jack Flash still sees the album come in at under 45 minutes.

Classic Albums Augmented VI: The Beatles

The Beatles: The Beatles
This is an album I'd heard so much about before I'd actually listened to it for the first time back in 1975, that even my callow 16-year old self was worried the build-up might destroy any hope of this two-record set meeting expectations. That was a bit silly.

I was already thinking it was the best album I'd ever heard even before side one was finished. Sure, there was a little dross to come, but the album as a whole was just irresistible. Even now, I try to imagine what it would have been like hearing it upon its initial release in November 1968.Although it is usually referred to as The White Album, this double-LP is actually eponymous, its plain cover the only sleeve of a Beatles studio album to not feature a depiction of the group on the front. But iconic individual portraits of the Fab Four by John Kelly are included as part of the packaging in a way that's particularly apposite.

You see, the album's recording sessions were characterized by the Beatles bringing their various compositions to the studio almost fully formed. So the remaining three Beatles would effectively be the backing band for whoever composed each song.

I know it doesn't sound like a winning formula but there's a reason why hardcore fans think everything the Beatles did was good. To near ridiculous levels. And it's because in actual fact, pretty much everything the Beatles did WAS good. I kid you not.

These sessions provided the backdrop for growing friction, culminating in Ringo abruptly leaving the group for two weeks before reappearing in the studio. That's why it's Paul McCartney playing drums on Back in the USSR and Dear Prudence

Much of the song composition occurred during the Beatles' Indian sojourn in Rishikesh to learn Transcendental Meditation at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

This highly publicized retreat would prove a very fertile inspiration for the Beatles. Opening side one is Back in the USSR, Paul McCartney's lyrical Chuck Berry homage, replete with Beach Boys-style vocals and references to girls in Soviet locations, thanks to a suggestion from fellow ashramite Mike Love. A great rock song and very witty, McCartney at his best.

Dear Prudence was Lennon dreamily pleading with Prudence Farrow, Mia's sister, to take a break from meditating. You've got to credit its ringing emphasis on the major third, a rarity in rock (and cheerio to anyone who remembers the great cover version by Doug Parkinson In Focus that charted in Australia in 1969). Lennon's self-referential Glass Onion contains great guitar playing from Lennon himself. And come on, McCartney's reggae inspired O Bla Di O Bla Da is still a good song, despite everyone you know hating it. By the way, the Desmond referred to is Desmond Dekker, whose 1968 hit The Israelites was the first reggae song to reach the charts. And just as an aside, don't be afraid to check out the alternate version on the Beatles' Anthology 1, which is played at a faster tempo and with a heavier acoustic guitar presence. 

George Harrison's best-ever song, While My Guitar Gently Weeps is his warm and heartfelt tribute to their late manager, Brian Epstein. Harrison's best mate Eric Clapton plays the guitar part everyone loves so much and it was his presence in the studio that helped alleviate the tension, as the Beatles were on their best behaviour for their illustrious guest. Closing out side one is Happiness Is A Warm Gun, inspired by the cover of a US gun magazine, might be whimsical, but Lennon could do whimsy and nail it.

Side two contains McCartney's Bach-inspired acoustic ballad Blackbird, like many other McCartney songs in that it is inexplicably simple to play despite sounding quite complex. And beautiful. Another inspiration from the ashram is Ringo's first composition, the organ-driven Don't Pass Me By, but the side closes with a song of Lennon's poignant yearning for his late mother, Julia - and using a guitar-picking style he learned from Donovan.

Standout tracks on side three begin with Lennon's Yer Blues, a challenge to himself to see if he could write an authentic blues song. The performance of this number with the Dirty Mac ensemble (Lennon; Clapton; Keith Richard on bass and Mitch Mitchell) is the highlight of the Rolling Stones' Rock 'n' Roll Circus TV special. McCartney's Mother Nature's Son is a lovely, wistful ballad that serves as a companion piece to his earlier Blackbird, while the sardonic Sexy Sadie expresses Lennon's disaffection with the Maharishi, and explains Lennon's abrupt departure from the Ashram.

Harrison's Savoy Truffle is a tribute to Eric Clapton's sweet tooth and the sad, dreamy Cry Baby Cry, originally driven by Lennon's distaste for all-pervasive advertising, (Buy Baby Buy) rounds off a superb album.

Revolution; Hey Jude

Both Hey Jude and Revolution were recorded during the white album's sessions but as was common during the 1960s, they were released as a double-A sided single two months before the album hit the shops.

Hey Jude started life as Hey Jules, a tune Paul McCartney sang to himself in the car on the way to comfort John Lennon's son Julian, after Lennon had left the family home to be with Yoko Ono. Jude fitted better, hence the change. The Beatles' biggest-selling single was a risky venture, running in excess of seven minutes and with a very lengthy fade-out. But with its intertwining, almost hymn-like melody, subtle harmonies and anthemic denouement, it was certainly a moving piece that still tugs at the heart-strings no matter how often cynics dismiss it as wallpaper.

Beatles apparatchik Peter Brown in his memoir The Love You Make (1983), describes how Lennon and some companions daubed the title on the front windows of the Apple Boutique in Marylebone, not realizing the sensitivities of local Jewish shop-keepers, who concluded there was an anti-semitic point being made.

This clip features the song's public debut on a 1968 episode of The David Frost Show.

Revolution was a re-recorded, more chart-friendly version of the loping Revolution 1 from side four of the album. It's faster, very heavy on the fuzztone and vindicates the decision to re-record it for the single release. The lyrics point to Lennon's caution and ambivalence towards various protest and revolutionary movements gaining momentum in 1968.

The guitar sound might be dated, even for 1968, but the sentiments and feel of the song are not. And Revolution proved the Beatles could produce a fine example of the emerging contemporary hard rock sound.

So Which Tracks Would Miss Out? 

Okay, there's a little editing to be done here. Hey Jude clocks in at 7:11 and Revolution at 3:21. The album's running time is 93min 35s, which is already 3:35 over my arbitrary 45 min per LP limit, and making it one of the rare double albums that actually contains MORE than two records' worth (talkin' 'bout you, Basement Tapes [76:41] and Electric Ladyland [75:41]) 

Excising the expressionistic soundscape Revolution 9, at 8:22 and the string-soaked Ringo-led lullaby Goodnight at 3:13 (apparently no other Beatles play on it! Really, you could have knocked me over with a feather). This makes plenty of room to fit them both in. It's a shame, but not a tragedy. I feel the album suffers only a smidgin from their loss and makes Cry Baby Cry, a personal favourite, a winning album closer.

Rock Biopic Film Review I: Stoned (2005)

I’m the kind of trainspotting Rolling Stones aficionado who really wanted to believe all of those 1994 rumours about Mick Taylor rejoining the Stones and Ronnie Wood switching to bass when Bill Wyman departed. I would have considered that the happiest of happy endings. Yep, I'm a fan, no two ways about it. That said, I’m not entirely uncritical when it comes to their output and I’m eternally grateful that the only time I saw them live, at their second Melbourne Cricket Ground concert in 1995, it was on a “good” night.

So I’m inclined to the view that the whole Brian Jones issue is likely to be one of those six-of-one and half-a-dozen-of-the-other situations when I think about who might have wronged whom among the Stones themselves: that Jones was equal parts perpetrator and victim in his demise within the Rolling Stones. But it really is a fascinating (and amongst fans, controversial) part of their rich history, and one that I was absolutely thrilled to learn was to be the subject of a biopic back in 2002. A biopic that would attempt to shed some light on how Jones might have come to drown in the swimming pool of his Cotchford Farm home on a hot July night in 1969.

The original title for Stephen Woolley’s Stoned (2005), was The Wyld and Wicked World of Brian Jones, and some packaging displays that as a sub-title, but the name recognition for the Golden Stone isn’t quite what it was in the 1960s, so the producers opted for a more obviously evocative play on words: Stoned. Woolley, who had produced the 1994 Hamburg-focused Beatles biopic Backbeat; as well as The Crying Game (1992) and Michael Collins (1996),  became the director of a film he only intended to produce when he couldn’t find anyone to step in. And from my point of view, all’s well that ends well when someone who really wanted to tell the absorbing story of such an intriguing individual finds himself in the director’s chair.

And the film constructs a compelling narrative: of Jones’ place in the Rolling Stones from his early leadership to eventual disenfranchisement; and the events surrounding his death. According to what is on the record about him, Brian Jones was very charismatic, but this was offset by a hefty dose of narcissism. So he was often an uber smart-arse who took delight in going out of his way to piss people off. The film captures this very nicely without overplaying it. While Jones is invariably described as sensitive, running through most of the anecdotes from people close to him is the perception that his sensitivity was limited to his own feelings and stopped well short of sensitivity to the feelings of others.

However, the major coup for the movie was to be Woolley's meticulous research: he tracked down and interviewed Janet Lawson, one of only four people known to be present when Jones drowned. The film's depiction of Jones' last night at Cotchford Farm is based largely on what she told Woolley. But it also matches up with the description Jones' girlfriend Anna Wohlin provided of the events of that night in her book.

Stoned isn't a masterpiece by any stretch, but there's a charm about it reminiscent of Blow Up (1966), in the way that cinematographer John Mathieson captures the ambience of the era. And you'll probably pick up that it's been influenced by such seminal movies as Sunset Boulevard (1950) in its treatment of an isolated, declining star whose world is closing in. And there's also a nod to The Servant (1964), which causes Stoned to treat Jones' eventual nemesis, the builder Frank Thorogood, as the working class brute who eventually assumes the ascendancy in the twisted household.

With that in mind, the film portrays the decadent rock star as a 60s version of the 19^th Century English rake and as such, is more than a straight rock biopic.

Lead actor Leo Gregory comes close to looking the part and he manages to highlight the qualities Jones possessed that would bring about his downfall, while the actors playing the other Stones fit the mold in both appearance and mannerisms, without coming across as impressionists. It's also a really clever touch to have them subtly duplicate poses from contemporary films and photographs.

Monet Mazur plays Anita Pallenberg as the only "nice" character in the film, which goes against the more common anecdotage surrounding her character and demeanour. But this may well be Woolley sacrificing accuracy for dramatic effect, serving to heighten the audience's appreciation of Jones' sense of loss when she leaves him for Keith Richard. We're left in no doubt that Pallenberg is the deserving love of Jones' life.

Paddy Considine as Frank Thorogood almost comes across as too much of an ordinary bloke to be the villain but that at least makes the film's take on the events surrounding Jones' death more understandable. Considine's is a multi-layered performance that shows how people seduced and belittled by the rich and famous sometimes bite back. The link between the two contrasting worlds of Jones and Thorogood is provided by David Morrissey, who gives Stones' Mr Fixit Tom Keylock just the right kind of understated menace, while David Walliams from Little Britain has a small part as a snooty Stones office apparatchik.

Woolley had little hope of getting permission to use actual Rolling Stones music on two counts: his budget was never going to allow the purchase of very expensive rights; and the Stones probably wouldn’t have come to the party anyway. The film doesn’t lose much by it, although it does prevent Stoned from exploring Jones’ significant musical contribution to the Stones' catalogue. All the same, there’s a scene of the early Stones c.1964 depicted at a gig performing Willie Dixon's Little Red Rooster, when things are starting to go very well for them, which sounds like an authentic rendering of their live sound from that era.

You'll probably appreciate the delightful attention to detail in the costuming - Roger Burton must have pored over a lot of images to accurately reproduce outfits Jones and his fellow Stones were photographed in at the time.



And there’s also an illuminating interview on the DVD extras with the movie’s hair stylist, Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, (alas, not included on my copy) where she explains that it would have been much more accurate to use wigs, but again budget considerations were prohibitive so she just had to do the best she could with actors whose hair type was a lot different from the people they were portraying.

There are some telling lines in the film too, such as when Jones and Pallenberg first meet after escaping a chaotic 1966 concert together.

“Hi, I’m Brian.”

“But everyone knows who you are.”

At that time, everyone really did know who Brian Jones was, but these days of course, hardly anyone does.

And when Jagger and Richard terminate Jones' tenure in the band, Keith's phrasing is identical to what he said of the occasion in an interview on the documentary 25 X 5:
"You're out, cock. You're fired."

But it's the film's final lines, when Jones' ghost appears to Tom Keylock, that serve to sum up Jones' diffident, fatalistic persona:

Keylock: "You just had to go and screw it up, didn't you? Your problem is, you were never happy."

Jones: “You're wrong you know Tom. I was happy. Somewhere in the middle there. The thing with happiness was... it was boring.

Voices From the Blogroll III

What's that you say? You've a sense of deja vu about this post? You know, I've a strange feeling I've heard that phrase somewhere before, but I just can't put my finger on it...

Anyway, now that you've stopped rolling your eyes, I want to tell you that just like I've posted before, both here and here, there is a shitload of fabulously entertaining, confronting, thoughtful and considered writing out there in the blogosphere. These are some of the blogs I've been reading (benignly lurking in web-speak) and engaging with (commenting at) in recent times.

For those blogs where I haven't been able to discern the gender of the author, or indeed number of authors, gormless pillock that I am, I've used the neutral "singular they" pronoun. Just so you know.

I would also point out that, as ever, none of these very talented people need an endorsement from the likes of me. But, bugger that, they're getting one anyway.

A Baffling Ordeal:
"The Shadow Attorney General said some things in the Senate that, in light of the verdict, make his legal mind seem about as sharp as a knife made of diarrhoea."  Now, if I'd been drinking Coke when I read that, it would have come shooting out of my nose as if from the Bicheno Blowhole. And there are plenty of lines like that.

This blog isn't updated with anything like regularity but each new post ought to be eagerly anticipated, so good are they. This is not a blog I comment at frequently because I have nothing to add and don't want to fill up the comment threads with stuff like "Brilliant!" and "I wish I'd said that!".

This post, Amanda Vanstone Has Had Just About Enough of Your Bullshit is emblematic of A Baffling Ordeal's output.

AIMN:
There's a lot to like about this alternative news analysis site, the Australian Independent Media Network: thoughtful articles on a range of issues by a battery of good writers and thinkers; and it's updated regularly. This post was one of many that took my fancy: Goodbye MSM! I'm Just Not That Into You

Anti-Bogan:
Anti-Bogan is a very confronting blog, and makes for some unpleasant reading and viewing. You know, that I-really-want-to-look-away-but-I-can't feeling. Nevertheless, my view is that it provides an entirely necessary community service. And anthropological study.

Anti-Bogan re-posts the most shamefully racist, bigoted and misogynistic Facebook wall posts and twitter updates of our fellow Australians. It's not pretty on a number of levels, if you're anything like me: you might be saddened that people like the ones shown here exist outside of gatherings of your extended family; you may also wonder how they can be so proudly and wilfully ignorant; and you'll probably be appalled by their misuse of the opportunities that public platforms like social media provide.

This post delivers the output of one serving member of Australia's Defence Force Reserve and erstwhile Bob Katter's Australia Party candidate 

You might want to have a shower afterwards.

Billablog:
Bill's blog defies simple categorization in that he writes on a range of topics such as politics, rock music, economics and travel. His posts are invariably well-researched and well thought out.

Like this one on Pink Floyd's 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon that takes a different angle from the predictable classic album post.

Bloginboots:
Sydney-based Mitzi G Burger is a high school English teacher who masterminds BlogInBoots and also the Joycean Here Comes Everybloggy. There are lovely poems and personal musings. Bloginboots is only updated occasionally but enjoyable reading nonetheless.

This post is a particularly poignant one.

Cafe Whispers:
This political blog benefits from regular posting and devotes most of its energy to giving the coalition, its conduct and policies the kind of scrutiny the MSM just can't (or won't!) do on its own.

I thought this post was a really nice piece on the finite nature of humanity - and with a fabulous closing line. We really are just specks, all of us.

Cheeseburger Gothic:
Australian author John Birmingham is the brains behind this blog, and it's not a bad idea for published authors to do this sort of thing: as long as you don't make it too obvious, you can publicize both yourself and your recent publications for sale in a chummy online bookclub atmosphere - but I don't want to sell Birmingham short - he offers genuine engagement with his readership and the public far beyond mere salesmanship.

With opinion pieces also regularly published by Fairfax, Birmingham gets to have a bob each way: by ranting in the MSM opinionsphere; and then posting rational considered pieces on his blog. He therefore debunks the tired old stereotype of MSM columnist = authoritative wisdom, blogger = intemperate raving all by himself on occasions.

And as much as that's a nice straddling act, Cheeseburger Gothic also provides interesting posts of a literary nature and insightful musings on pop culture.

The Failed Estate:
Jim Parker is a former journalist who finds much to deplore among the MSM. One of these smart-alecks who thinks he's clever because he employs REAL analysis (and REAL analysis of crap analysis), he exposes the extent to which so much MSM journalism and opinion pieces are closer to spin doctoring than we'd realized.

If you don't already anticipate his next post as eagerly as I do, try this and this to get a sense of what The Failed Estate succeeds at.

Hoyden About Town:
A feminist collective that always gives the reader something to think about. This post, and the 2007 post it links to, really resonated with me - and should be compulsory reading for all blokes, however uncomfortable it might make them feel!

J-Scribe: 
The name Julie Posetti will probably be vaguely familiar to many of you. Julie is a journalist and journalism academic who was caught up in a cause celebre not of her own making back in 2010, thanks to those fearless champions of free speech over at The Australian.

Media Watch covered it at some length, and you can delve into that here and here and read what Julie had to say herself here and a letter from her legal representatives here.

Needless to say, The Australian's pathetic, nasty, hypocritical bullying of someone who was not criticising that pompous rag herself, but REPORTING VIA TWITTER WHAT AN EX-JOURNALIST FROM THE PAPER HAD SAID AT A CONFERENCE, was terminated when legal advice based on logic, reason and the law managed to infiltrate a few thick heads. The same thick heads that sit behind such thin skins

At any rate, Julie's blog is mainly concerned with professional issues of interest to journalists. And since journalists are one of the filters through which all mainstream media news must pass, those issues are invariably of public interest.

Loon Pond:
Prolific, daily posts of a breathtakingly high quality that are quite simply, a must-read for me. That's pretty much what you get from this Sydney-based blogger: witty, scathing deconstruction of MSM cant - as seen here; here; and here.

You might wonder why they give lightweight contrarian buffoons like Gerard Henderson and Paul Sheahan so much oxygen, but I suppose the gullible might be lulled into thinking that if the SMH publishes them, there must be a skerrick of validity to their points of view. Loon Pond is there to disabuse you of that notion.

Naturally, The Australian provides a rich source of material.

News With Nipples:
The Harbour City is again the locale for this journalist (hmm, we're getting a few of those on board, aren't we?) and postgraduate student. Her blog title and header photo have given me cause to plead "It's not what you think..." on those occasions when I launch into The News With Nipples and there's a "Hey..." from close behind me.

Kim has a finely attuned and very sensitive bullshit detector and makes thorough use of it. It must be frustrating for someone like her to see professional standards ignored so often in the MSM.

This is the kind of crap that gets up her nose - as it should all of us.

John Quiggin: 
John blogs knowledgeably about science and economics and is always worth dropping in on. He even sought and gained an honourable truce with the extreme-right Catallaxy (and no, there'll be no link to that stinking, steaming pile of shit on this blog!) after some comment flame wars. So I'm probably breaching John's policy. Oh well.

Piping Shrike:
This political blog is always thoughtful and draws thoroughly evidence-based conclusions to support the views expressed there, as in this post on compulsory voting. I particularly liked the succinct summation of the non-mandated but predictable actions of the Newman Queensland government, which:
"...cut back services as though voter dissatisfaction at Labor doing the same never happened."

And is probably coming soon to a Commonwealth near you.

Politically Homeless:
If I've linked to Andrew Elder's blog before, I apologise, but in any event it's worth giving him another mention in dispatches, especially in a Federal election year.

And I hope his subtitle, Tony Abbott will never be Prime Minister of Australia, comes to pass. In any event, if Abbott's cosying up to the Essendon Football Club in 2010 results in the same fate for him as other red-and-black-draped Liberals like Andrew Peacock; John Hewson; and Peter Costello before him, then Abbott is destined, like them, to miss out on the top job.

The career of former Canberra Press Gallery doyenne Michelle Grattan came in for particularly withering and well-deserved scrutiny by Andrew.

PR Disasters:
This blog describes pretty much what happens when dickheads shoot their mouths off, taken from a PR Epic Fail perspective.

Psychobabble: 
Here is a very recent discovery that has been an absolute godsend. It's kind of like the blog this one would like to be when it grows up, focusing as it does on rock music and being so damned entertaining and informative about it.. The blog's author, Mike Segretto, also has a second key focus on classic horror movies which will make for a delightful diversion whether it's a particular interest of yours or not.

This post in particular, which was Mike's list of the best albums of 1968, I found really compelling. And in a similar vein to The Rising Storm, he's not afraid to go out on a limb and champion albums that are often dismissed by the general run of critics and fans alike.
 
Seriously Whimsical:
Her recent post on religious belief made me sit up and take notice. With a nod to Richard Dawkins, she challenges atheists who are ambivalent about religion and faith to justify their stance. There's a dichotomy alright, and the way she compellingly argues, it isn't a false one.

That's So Pants:
Comments on her blog are disabled, so lurkers aweigh! Her post on population provided a super-sized take-away pack of food for thought. And on that basis, you might find her archive worthy of exploration.

This quote really tickled my fancy:
"that thing that is as mysterious to us as would be the complete works of Thomas Pynchon set to music by John Cage - public transport."

Victoria Rollison:
There's an entirely justified sense of despair starting to creep into Victoria Rollison's Federal politics-focused blog. She can't fathom how the electorate is rushing headlong towards electing an Abbott-led coalition government in September 2013.

Actually, that's not completely fair: it's more that she can't believe how a gullible public seems to be falling for concerted MSM spin doctoring on how lousy the Gillard government is and how wonderful Abbott would be in her place. There is a sense of history repeating itself in this: press coverage of the Whitlam government went in a similar direction.

And like me, she probably wouldn't mind if it wasn't so bloody obvious.

War Tard:
The author here is exceptionally knowledgeable about history, technological advancement and global politics. Wartard is also a very witty, stylish writer with a terrific handle on explorations of historical What if...? scenarios. He combines world-weary cynicism with a these-people-deserve-better humanity that is the hallmark of the seen-it-all-before war correspondent.

This post on the German WWII-era jet fighter the Messerschmidt 262 was extraordinarily comprehensive.

Whatever: 
The brains behind this blog is American author John Scalzi. He doesn't need your traffic but it's a warm, welcoming  blog that keeps you up to date on his output, gives numerous opportunities to aspiring writers and is, like his books, witty and entertaining.

This recent post explores the publication of fan-fiction, a fascinating tangent to the issue of intellectual property for writers. While here, here and here he discusses a sexual harassment incident at a sci-fi fan convention that has wider implications - and applications.

WixxyLeaks: 
And we're in Sydney again. Blogs like Peter's are not just lively reading but, I would assert, essential in a robust democracy. He has been providing insightful additional information about the Health Services Union scandals that you won't find in the MSM - and indeed run counter to the prevailing MSM zeitgeist on embattled MHR and ex-HSU National Secretary Craig Thompson.


So there you have it folks. Go ahead, knock yourself out. You could do a lot worse than make this lot part of your essential regular reading. Like sticking religiously to MSM outlets exclusively, for example.

I should make a point of commenting at these blogs more regularly, but sometimes there's nothing to add to something that hits the nail pretty much on the head.

Incidentally, while putting this piece together I wondered if  there were any blogs I DON'T think much of. Well, yes there are. And ooohhh, what a post that would be. Voices OFF The Blogroll as it were.

Coming soon. Maybe.

Classic Albums Augmented V: Their Satanic Majesties' Request

Rolling Stones Their Satanic Majesties Request: We Love You; Dandelion
This latest post might make the series a bit like the law of diminishing returns. I don't think Sgt Pepper's is anywhere near The Beatles' best album, and this Stones' LP is the first album not generally regarded as a classic to receive the Lad Litter track listing makeover. However, this is the only album that would find itself transformed by the addition of two songs from a contemporaneous single release.

It's not a stretch to describe Their Satanic Majesties as a disappointment. The Stones ended up producing the album themselves after Andrew Loog Oldham, their Svengali-like producer-manager, threw in the towel early on during the aimless, indolent sessions. In a foreshadowing of what was to occur during the making of the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Electric Ladyland in 1968, the Stones used the studio as party central, all hangers on and good times, when they showed up at all.

But even so, 1967 had been a fairly turbulent year.

There was the February Redlands drug bust that saw Mick Jagger sentenced to three months in jail for being in possession of tablets only available on prescription in Britain, but which he'd purchased legally over the counter in Italy and then left in a jacket pocket. Keith Richard copped a whole year for allowing his premises to be used for the consumption of marijuana. These convictions were subsquently quashed on appeal, but it was a scary time.

And not to be left out, Brian Jones was convicted and fined when a May 1967 police raid discovered marijuana in his London flat. To make matters even worse, Jones' girlfriend Anita Pallenberg ended up leaving him for Richard during a decadent Moroccan holiday, heightening tensions within the Stones. And like The Beatles 12 months before them, it was the year they announced the taking of an extended break from touring. As Bill Wyman observed in the documentary 25 X 5 (1988): "With all the things that were going on, it's a wonder we put any music out at all, really."

While all of the high legal drama was being played out, the Stones' US label, London Records, released the hastily assembled compilation-outtake collection Flowers, so that the public wouldn't be starved of product while Their Satanic Majesties took shape. The Who even showed admirable solidarity by releasing a cover of The Last Time to keep the Stones' music in the public eye.

As a result of the success of Beatles albums like Revolver and Sgt Pepper's, more attention was being paid to LPs by both artists and the public by this time. So much so that 1968 would see albums outsell singles for the first time ever. To reflect this, Their Satanic Majesties became the first Rolling Stones album with uniform track listing for both the UK and US markets. Finally, in December 1967, 10 months after recording had begun, the album finally saw the light of day.

But after all of the factors affecting Their Satanic Majesties' genesis had been overcome, the Stones had really only caught the tail end of the boom. Other groups had already put out psychedelic opuses in the wake of Sgt Pepper's June 1967 release: The Grateful Dead's Anthem of the Sun had been in the shops since July; Jefferson Airplane had beaten them to the punch by a whole fortnight with After Bathing At Baxter's; Cream's Disraeli Gears came out in November; and even The Jimi Hendrix Experience with Axis: Bold As Love managed to sneak in a whole week ahead of The Rolling Stones after Track records delayed their second album's release.

Although Their Satanic Majesties initially reached 2 and 3 on the UK and US charts respectively, sales nosedived from there as bad reviews and word of mouth took its toll.

I've always loved the cover, the Stones' first gatefold. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if quite a few sales were made on the basis of the cover alone. Okay, it's obviously inspired by Sgt Pepper's and it's true there are many similarities: the extravagantly-costumed Stones facing the camera; fantastic technicolour backdrops and props; and hidden artwork like Beatles faces visible in the foregrounded foliage. The inside cover is a very busy montage of almost every possible motif that could be construed as psychedelic, including a maze that can't be navigated, while the back cover employs a tapestry-like design. Rare early versions of the front cover included a 3-D version of the photograph, but this was soon scrapped after printing proved too expensive. 

In essence though, Their Satanic Majesties is truer to the spirit of psychedelia than Sgt Pepper's, which drew on a wider range of random influences. However, its unevenness in production values, performance quality and material make it pale by comparison.

Brian Jones plays an extraordinary range of instruments across all ten tracks, (mellotron; organ; electric dulcimer; recorder; percussion; piano; theremin; sitar; and [presumably] guitar in there somewhere too!)  and this would be the zenith of his status as a multi-instrumentalist. The overall sound of the album is saturated with his contributions. However, even he hinted in a Jan 1968 interview that the album was very hastily completed in the final month before its release.

So it was probably inevitable that there is a lot of dross on the album: Sing This All Together and it's eight-minute reprise; the mockney vaudevillian On With the Show; and the shapeless Gomper must have seemed unintelligible to Stones fans back in the day, and they haven't weathered well either. Much early commentary was critical of the Stones for "selling out" to the latest fad. Jagger himself lamented in a 2003 interview that Their Satanic Majesties was an unhappy by-product of the Stones having too much freedom, too much time on their hands: "believing everything you do is great".

But as with much of the music of the psychedelic era, the good stuff is mind-blowing. For starters, the album contains two fabulously iconoclastic Stones songs that do a lot more than just fit the psychedelic groove: She's A Rainbow, with Nicky Hopkins' music box piano riff, complementary child-like harmonies sped up for effect, and backwards string arrangements courtesy of John Paul Jones; and 2000 Light Years From Home, a haunting space-rock song that authentically evokes colourful yet desolate science fiction fantasies in both form and content.

Of the other tracks, Citadel comes closest to a straight rock song with its bluesy riff and crashing chorus, while In Another Land is the only Bill Wyman composition and lead vocal to ever make it onto a Stones album - and delivers more than just curiosity value - there's a baroque feel overall with tinkling harpsichord and a surprisingly catchy chorus. 2000 Man has a strong folk-rock sensibility and probably deserves better than to be buried on an album that even Stones fans wouldn't play regularly.

However, over at Psychobabble, there is a comprehensive track-by-track analysis of the album that, dare I say it, leaves no Stone unturned.

So if there was ever an album that needed a quality infusion, it was this one. And their double-A side single release from earlier in the same year could have provided it.

We Love You; Dandelion

This August 1967 release was designed to be a thank you to fans of the group, who had been very supportive during the Stones travails at the hands of the wicked Establishment. With a manic opening piano riff that represents Nicky Hopkins' debut on a Stones record, We Love You betrays the Moroccan influences on Brian Jones' mellotron playing that were evident through much of Their Satanic Majesties. The song also features jailhouse sound effects and uncredited backing vocals by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. According to Lennon in a 1968 interview, We Love You is the Stones' equivalent of the Fab Four's earlier All You Need Is Love.

Although We Love You charted well in the UK, its flip side Dandelion was very much the A-side in the US. Dandelion was recorded late in 1966 and so predates the Satanic Majesties sessions by a few months. It always struck me as a follow up and companion piece to Ruby Tuesday and a precursor to She's A Rainbow, with its nursery rhyme lyrics, high harmonies and overall baroque feel. It must have had a significant influence on Keith Richard, who would soon after name his daughter Dandelion. She would later opt for the less trippy Angela in adulthood.

So Which Tracks Would Miss Out?
The album is 44:06 in length. We Love You and Dandelion come in at 4:35 and 3:32 respectively, putting them way over my self-imposed 45-min limit. Seeing as how Sing This All Together (See What Happens), is 8 minutes and 33 seconds of complete crap, it can take a powder with no harm done.