The Rolling Stones – “Brown Sugar” (demo)
The Rolling Stones – “You Got the Silver” (alt. vocals)
The Rolling Stones – “Loving Cup” (demo)
The Rolling Stones – “(Can’t Seem To) Get a Line On You” (demo)
(all selections from Sotheby’s Reel, 1969-1970, commercially unavailable)
Nothing ruins a good Stones song more than a sax solo. Or so says one of my dear friends whose anti-sax solo vehemence may have some reasonable claims to make his point: too cock rocky, too faux-bluesy, too distracting from Keef-y. All valid complaints, and there’s no doubt that “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” would be ten times better if five minutes of Santana-like jazz band soloing was left on the cutting room floor, but would all Stones songs be better served without the brass intrusion?
“Brown Sugar,” the improbable hit single from 1971’s Sticky Fingers that delves into heroin use and pedophilic slave rape (apparently popular topics among mainstream 1970s rock and roll fans), features a prominent saxophone throughout that snakes around on the verses before bursting out to center stage during Bobby Keyes’ climactic solo. Commercially, the instrument served its purpose, in that listeners hear the song and think, “You should have heard ‘em just around midnight — they were having a saxophone party!” instead of, “You should have heard ‘em just around midnight — he was whipping a poor, young black girl with sadistic glee,” but musically speaking, the look-at-me gusto with which the sax is played does get a little old.
Thankfully, there are sax-free versions of “Brown Sugar” available out there in bootlegger land. Recording engineer Glyn Johns put some of the Rolling Stones’ early Muscle Shoals demos onto acetate and the difference is striking. When you get to the part where the solo typically goes, it feels like there’s a giant hole missing from the song. But listen again, and you’ll notice Mick Taylor playing a skillful and, dare I say, cerebral guitar solo. It’s fascinating to listen to, but ultimately “cerebral” wasn’t the mood they were looking for, so Keyes was unleashed on the sax to give the song the libidinal thrust it deserved.
The Sotheby’s Reel (as the tapes came to be known, after being sold at the venerable auction house) features several other glimpses at an alternate-universe Stones catalogue. Some of my personal favorites include:
Sometimes I forget how great of a band the Rolling Stones are, and then I hear how solid they are on rehearsals like this and it all comes rushing back to me.
3 Comments
The saxophone – like the guitar in many, many cases – simply has been co-opted by the forces of cliche and lameness. If utilized properly it adds a delightful texture to the low end.
Exile on Main Street, for example, would lose a huge chunk of its AWESOME vibe without sax.
I agree the sax outro on Can’t You . . . is contrived and limp, but that is as much a fault of lazy songwriting as it is self-indulgent sax-wanking.
As far as Brown Sugar goes, I think sax was the perfect choice. It’s a very tasteful piece of work and serves the song very, very well.
In short I hope to some day reclaim the sax from the forces of evil. It’s reputation is undeserved.
“Waiting on a Friend” is the exception to the rule. The Big Man, CC, holds it down.
I gotta say I enjoyed that a bit more without the sax. Think of how great The Boss and little richard and Otis redding coulda been with out so much sax work!! Your friend was right, I bet he is rather handsome as well. As you know, you got the silver is one of my favorites too todder, thanks for including this version. Keep up with the rarities post rockist!