The Rolling Stones Album: “Out of Our Heads [Remaster]”

What younger listeners don't seem to get is that The Rolling Stones re-discovered Chicago Blues at a time when Muddy Waters was painting ceilings for a living. The first five Rolling Stones recording, ending with December's Children, are among the best white blues records of all time. For five kid from England, these guys really understood the sound and feel of electric blues from the era before Rock & Roll. Their taste was uncompromising. The addition of slide guitar (Brian Jones was the first slide player in England), cross-harp harmonica style, and raspy vocals were completely new to teenagers when they showed up in 1964. Frankly, if the Stones today could re-create the energy and intelligence of these early performances I suspect they'd have a real hit again. With no slight to the genius of Mick Taylor, the loss of Brian Jones in 1969 deminished greatly the stated Blues-based purpose of the band. I'm amazed as an adult revisiting these old recording at how well performed these tracks are. On Out of Our Heads the Stones explore soul recordings, vocally more complicated than their work on their first album,12X5 and Now. These tracks include songs by Smokey Robinson, Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding and Jagger does a credible job on them. It was hearing Jagger's arrangements of these songs that encouraged me to listen to the originals and ultimately changed my consciousness about what great singing really is.

Out of Our Heads to this day remains to be one of my own personal favorite Stones albums. From the very first song, a cover version of Don Covay's "Mercy Mercy" to the last song "One More Try", Out Of Our Heads is truly one of the original Rolling Stones great albums. The album also contains some true classic Jagger/Richard compositions such as "The Last Time" and their bona fide masterpiece "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". From beginning till end Out Of Our Heads contains great cover versions as well as original compositions. One of the strongest albums the Rolling Stones have ever made.

Vastly different from the UK edition (which features the same number of songs, but only half of them are the same), the US edition of the Rolling Stones' fourth record mixes originals and cover songs about equally.

Several of the covers are 60s soul tunes, including superb renditions of "Mercy, Mercy", "Good Times", and "That's How Strong My Love Is", which swing and groove like you won't believe, and they all rank among the best interpretations of other composers' songs the Stones have ever done.

And the originals are mostly excellent as well. The US edition omits "I'm Free", "Heart Of Stone", and "Gotta Get Away", but includes "Play With Fire", "The Last Time", and the all-time classic "Satisfaction", which was a single release in the UK. (Da-daaa-da-da-daaa...)

"The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man" is a fun, driving blues (the guitar plays the main harmonica riff from Buster Brown's "Fannie Mae"), and the US edition also features "The Spider And The Fly".

(A number of the tracks which are exclusive to either the US or the UK edition of "Out Of Our Heads" are otherwise only available on compilation albums, so the serious fan needs both of them, of course!)

This magnificent collection of tough rock n' roll, R&B and soul is one of the best albums of the 60s, and it should not be missing from any serious collection of classic rock music.

This work would earn a 5-star rating for just one song, one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever--"(I can't get no) satisfaction." But there is a lot more. There are solid covers of songs by artists such as Otis Redding (e.g., "Mercy, Mercy"), Sam Cooke ("Good Times"), and Marvin Gaye ("Hitch Hike"). There are also early classics by Jagger-Richards, such as "Satisfaction," ""The Last Time," and "Play with Fire." And cool little songs such as "The Spider and the Fly" and "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man". And remember that any song attributed to "Nanker Phelge" (such as the aforementioned "The Under Assistant. . .") is a Jagger-Richards composition.

Some representative works (that is, songs that I want to write about). . . .

"Mercy Mercy": This opens the album/CD, an Otis Redding song. Mick Jagger gives a nice, credible blues version of this piece. There is raw and primal guitar work to back his singing.

"The Last Time": This is one of the Stones' best early songs. There is a nice guitar riff to open this work. The rhythm section (Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman) lay down a good base for this song. Some lyrics:

"I've told you once

And I've told you twice.

But you never listen to my advice."

And then, here it is--"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction": I first heard this as an underclass student at Bradley University. Even though my preference was classical music, I understood that this was something special. The fuzz tone riff by Keith Richards at the outset suggests that this is serious business. One typical line that resonated, I'm sure, with many who listened to this:

"I can't get no satisfaction. . . .

Baby, baby maybe come back next week

Cuz' you see I'm on a losing streak."

Drums, bass, and guitars work well together. This is almost as perfect a rock and roll song as you can get.

Then, there's "Play with Fire." This is a hard-edged song, with a degree of menace to it. Starts out with some nice acoustic guitar work.

"And the chauffeur drives your car,

You let everybody know.

But don't play with me

'Cuz you're playing with fire."

A classic rock and roll song, with some very interesting lyrics that are not necessarily typical of the time.

So, is this a seamlessly crafted album? No. Is this a terrific rock and roll work? Yes!

The Rolling Stones first #1 album in the US, probably because of the inclusion of '(I Can't get No) Satisfaction', their most recent #1 hit single. Along with 'Satisfaction', there is 'The Last Time' and 'Play With Fire', which are all included on Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass). This album also includes the UK and US b-sides to 'Satisfaction'. In the UK, its b-side was 'The Spider and the fly' while in the US had 'The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man' as the b-side of 'Satisfaction'. Also on this album, there's a live song, 'I'm All Right' which hit the UK the same year on the "Got LIVE" EP. A different live version is found on the US "Got LIVE" LP. The covers included on this album are 'Mercy, Mercy', followed by 'Hitch-Hike'. Then comes 'That's How Strong My Love Is' with Sam Cooke's 'Good Times' after (coincidently, Sam Cooke and the Rolling Stones appear on ABKCO records). The last cover here is 'Cry To Me'. The closing song of the album is 'One More Try', a Mick Jagger/Keith Richards composition.

The original album was released in 1965 by London Records. The first CD release was released in 1986. The SACD was released in 2002. Presented here is the 1986 version with the release number 74292 (CD 429).