(45th in a series of) Stepping Stones: "100 Musical Highlights in Stones History"

Song: 19^th Nervous Breakdown

Album:  Released as a single

Released:  February, 1966

I’d like to make a declaration:  With a few more weeks to wrap things up, I can already say that it is very likely I’ve listened to more Rolling Stones music in 2012 than anyone else alive.  Actually, let me qualify that statement:  I’ve listened to more of a range of Rolling Stones music than anyone else.  I’m not sure how to prove it, and frankly I have no idea what this all means.  But I do know it puts me in somewhat of a unique position to quantify some findings.   So, below I have compiled a list of 100 of the greatest individual moments in Stones songs.  There are a few ensemble bullets, but most of these are centered on someone in or around the band who really stepped to the plate for a given song.  This list is in no particular order.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Brian Jones, and Ronnie Wood are primarily referred to on a first-name basis.  The other Mick (Taylor) needed his surname added to distinguish him from Jagger (who I could have called “Sir Mick”, but that would have just pissed off Keith).  Anyone else is referenced with their full names. 

1)      Bill’s “dive-bombing” bass line at the end of 19^th Nervous Breakdown (this week’s Stepping Stone).  Mr. Wyman was trying to replicate what a nervous breakdown must sound like (never mind a 19^th one).  Pretty convincing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU1kTuVSUOw

2)      Charlie’s drum beat during the bridge to She’s So Cold.  Charlie Watts could cover a range of genres.  Here he adds Disco to the list:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrRSEVRgqVY

3)      Brian’s sitar playing throughout Paint it Black.  Who would have thought a Far-Eastern instrument could be incorporated into a Rock song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InRDF_0lfHk

4)      Ronnie’s guitar playing during the bridge to Rough Justice at the 1:32 mark of the attached video.  This is Rock n’ Roll at its purest:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVQmSEoO27

5)      Brian’s trumpet playing in She’s a Rainbow.  There’s a connection with beauty here that is oh-so-rare to capture in song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zphAHMPtu4g

6)      Keith’s guitar in Love is Strong.  Mick’s harmonica is great, but the song does not kick into high gear until Richards knocks off a masterful riff at the 1:16 mark of the attached url:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te6VBiRjhqA

7)      Mick’s vocals for the bridge to Waiting on a Friend at the 2:39 mark of the attached video.  Few songs about friendship have come across as authentically: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKLVmBOOqVU

8)      Bill’s bass playing for the homestretch of Rocks Off.  The perfect conga line for this moment consists of the following: The rest of the band in front, horns in the middle, Mr. Wyman in the back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lNP-x94-SE

9)      Mick’s vocals for the bridge in Loving Cup.  The entire song is magical.  If this is what happens when you are in exile, I can make that sacrifice:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtJ34oFnpog

10)   Wayne Perkins guitar work on Hand of Fate.  The sequence starting at the 1:34 mark captures the violent mood of this song remarkably well:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKH9enYiFIU

11)   Mick Taylor’s guitar solo on the instrumental portion of Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.  An entire Stepping Stone (# 19) is dedicated to this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fa4HUiFJ6c

12)   Ronnie’s bass playing on Emotional Rescue.  Yes, this is Ronnie Wood, not Bill Wyman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTxQ601mlAY

13)   Keith Richards’ and Mick Taylor’s throwaway riffs at the end of It’s Only Rock n’ Roll (But I Like It).  The first fresh riff comes in at the 4:04 mark of the attached url.  The second at the 4:26 mark:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOMTnLHDWRA

14)   Mick’s vocals on Shattered, particularly the verse  “Friends are so alarming, My lovers never charming, Life’s just a cocktail party on the street, Big Apple, People dressed in plastic bags, Directing traffic, Some kind of fashion”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BjQYQ5p2Ko

15)   Merry Clayton’s support vocals in Gimme Shelter.  How do you combine strength and vulnerability?  Ask Ms. Clayton.  She did it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3rnxQBizoU

16)   Mick’s singing of the repeating line “Have you seen the lady fairer” in She’s a Rainbow.  Nothing makes me feel like I’m at the Monterey Pop Festival more than this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zphAHMPtu4g

17)   Charlie’s evolving drum sound on Sway.  As much as anyone, Mr. Watt’s upped the ante as the Stones “Imperial Era” began: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ8Bc6jz-W8

18)   Keith’s opening riff to Rough Justice.  The Stones are coming in from the cold here after 8 years of inactivity.  Mr. Richards reins things in…..in a hurry:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVQmSEoO27M

19)   Keith’s guitar playing during the “get down” moments of Street Fighting Man.  The Stones proved often that when it came to “getting down”, no one could do it better:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wKEzHXVPE4

20)   Nicky Hopkins piano playing in She’s a Rainbow.  One of the rare moments when a non-core-member of the Rolling Stones just about stole the show:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zphAHMPtu4g

21)   Mick Taylor’s guitar playing on Moonlight Mile.  Being able to do “that Japanese thing” proved his versatility to the band and all of us:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugYzDqQtdHU

22)   The anonymous high backing vocal repeating the refrain throughout Star Star, but most noticeably at the 3:48 mark of the attached url.  I keep picturing the Stones getting support from the Muppets.  Hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD_CSgIkd_k

23)   The London Symphony Orchestra at the end of You Can’t Always Get What You Want.  It would take an entire chorus section for Mick Jagger to finally get upstaged: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkGrkNu6mDg

24)   Nicky Hopkins (piano) and Keith Richards (guitar) eerie 1-2 punch at the beginning of Monkey Man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcB-JTAZQow

25)   Keith Richards fast paced bass guitar playing on Sympathy for the Devil, starting at the 39 second mark of  the attached url.  Yes, this is Keith playing bass, not Bill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBecM3CQVD8

26)   Mick’s vocals in She Was Hot.  The last minute starting at the 3:42 mark require lots of volume: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiksFF3862k

27)   Lisa Fischer’s backing vocals on Plundered My Soul.  The first time I heard this I was blown away.  I still am.  And of course, there’s that magnificent video to top it off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6ZnmXrRUIQ

28)   Bill’s ‘vrooming bass’ at the end of Paint It Black.  Later he was content to keep in the groove, but Wyman was very creative in the early years: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InRDF_0lfHk

29)   Mick’s vocals on I Am Waiting.  A uniquely fay delivery that would never be repeated by the Stones again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02rHc9O94BM

30)   Keith’s riff on Jumpin’ Jack Flash.  This solidified for the Stones a sound all their own: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9XKVTNs1g4

31)   Charlie’s drumming on So Devine (Aladdin Story).  Mr. Modest actually shows off a little here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS20kP9xzbQ

32)   Brian’s recorder playing on Ruby Tuesday.  This is a musician in the moment:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DVCgKsqn30

33)   Ry Cooder’s bottleneck guitar playing on Sister Morphine.  Everyone stepped it up a notch on ‘Sticky Fingers’.  The hired guns were no exception: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DVCgKsqn30

34)   Ronnie’s fade in/out guitar on Undercover of the Night.  A cutting edge sound in a not-so cutting edge era: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVJkfXeTs9Q

35)   Keith’s vocals on Little T&A.  This is Richards’ most confident lead vocal delivery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqD--BNBmtI

36)   Ronnie’s heavy guitar bridges on Laugh, I Nearly Died.  A mood is cast with this special effect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld46tm4k-wI

37)   Mick’s backing vocals on Before They Make Me Run.  Done with empathy to lift the spirits of a good friend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dGoKgSknuk

38)   Brian’s marimba playing on Under My Thumb.  How many instruments could this guy play anyway?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OezHRns06-8

39)   Jimmy Miller’s production work on Sweet Black Angel.  Simple and divine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8M8f9x435I

40)   Ian Stewart’s piano playing on Silver Train.  The Stones could still boogie with the best of them in 1973, much to the credit of this man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5ViK-7z8Ws

41)   Bill’s bass playing on She’s So Cold.  Along with Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman had mastered the Disco beat.  Listen to the transition at the 2:16 mark of the attached url…. It’s bass driven: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrRSEVRgqVY

42)   Charlie’s drums on Let’s Spend the Night Together.  Such a tremendously up-tempo sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l61MFiIeuVM

43)   Bobby Keys saxophone during the instrumental bridge in Brown Sugar.  Keith Richards best buddy steps to the plate here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59K2kF6o9Tk

44)   Mick’s harmonica (harp) playing on Midnight Rambler.  A song Keith Richard’s has referred to as a “Blues Opera”:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0HJTQSghmk

45)   Keith’s backing vocals on Memory Motel.  “She got a mind of her own, and she uses it mighty fine”.  Oh, and it’s Nancy’s favorite Stones song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE96fz6BWqk

46)   Ronnie’s opening acoustic guitar on One Hit (to the Body).  Temporary group leader would be a new role for Mr. Wood here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqbmgsuHcYY

47)   Whoever makes that strange noise in Dance Part 1.  The first occurrence is at 2:31 of the attached video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdO6DajbVW0

48)   Nicky Hopkins harpsichord on Dandelion.  For a non-member, this guy sure had his share of highlights:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urzxg3IAWNE

49)   The heavy instrumental transitions on Laugh, I Nearly Died (the first at 1:16 of the attached url).  The protagonists realization he’s being laughed at by someone he trusted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld46tm4k-wI

50)   The buildup to the “I Go Wild” refrains on the song of the same name.  For example, “On life support, tubes in my nose, tubes in my arms, shot full of holes” (1:39 of the attached url): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd07g2bpJvw

51)   The beautiful gospel singing (Clydie King, Vanetta Field, Shirley Goodman, others) at the end of Let it Loose.  Proving that at one time at least the Rolling Stones connected with fervent religious emotions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyQ7YVXrCk4

52)   The imagery projected through the lyrics of Shine A Light.  The song is said to be written by Mick Jagger regarding his feeling of helplessness at how to deal with the deteriorating state of Brian Jones in the late 60s.  An inability to brush off the flies.  Unable to “get a line on you”. Angels sighing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPbozLRU3so

53)   Wayne Perkins’ guitar solo on Worried About You.  Giving Jagger the follow up ability to pick up the intensity in his vocals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tFmpn_y-s0

54)   Mick Taylor’s lead guitar during the bridge on Shine A Light (starting at 2:41 of the attached url).  Unmistakably “Taylor Made”:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPbozLRU3so

55)   Oh, the psychedelia… from every direction!  2000 Light Years From Home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y00Lw2ffvQU

56)   Mick Taylor’s guitar solo on the last 2 plus minutes of Time Waits For No One.  A bit overboard perhaps, but this was after all Mr. Taylor’s swan song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI318VBjAmw&feature=related

57)   The backing vocals in Fool to Cry.  Repetitive, but somehow more and more effective as the song progresses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Teo0LYxjxvI

58)   Ronnie’s “Inspiration” for It’s Only Rock n’ Roll (But I Like It).  A classic song, which includes some improvisation.  Whatever ways he inspired, though…. it worked:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOMTnLHDWRA

59)   The Chops Horns on Too Much Blood. A nice touch to a truly freaky song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW9czZfH_EM

60)   The Jagger/Richards tag-team-lead vocals on Something Happened To Me Yesterday.  Jagger sings the verses, Richards sings the chorus.  A fun interplay:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1OAkWGUMKY

61)   Bill’s driving bass on Mother’s Little Helper.  When allowed to add to the creative process, this man showed what he was made of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL8dmdFC5Co&feature=fvst

62)   Charlie’s drumming on Dead Flowers.  By this time, Watts had mastered most all the musical genres: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YRdxHHFKvQ

63)   Mick’s vocals for the bridge to Just My Imagination.  “Every night I hope and pray…..”.  Everything else tones down here for Jagger to weave his magic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnqH7W4me9o

64)   Keith’s multitasking work on Happy.  Bass, guitar and vocals.  Jimmy Miller added the drums, Bobby Keys the maracas, and whataya know; a Stones song with just one Stone:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53ZWIIn67ek

65)   Keith’s guitar playing on Love in Vain.  Man, this guy loves the blues and may have on his own turned me on to Robert Johnson:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao9Rbr7uybQ

66)   The backing vocals on Almost Hear You Sigh.  By this time, the Stones were using hired guns to support Mick Jagger.  Often, as is the case here, it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiTa8OcxcCI

67)   Keith’s master riff on Satisfaction.  Again, as stated for its own Stepping Stone, there’s no leaving this one off the plate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a7cHPy04s8

68)   Charlie’s drum roll on Sister Morphine at the 2:42 mark of the attached url.  The song shifts here from Heavy to HEAVY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtz8qZz6s8s

69)   Mick’s vocals on Torn and Frayed.  Jagger somehow morphs his singing style into a Richards-like persona here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJtfANIjmQM

70)   Brian’s harmonica playing on Not Fade Away.  You can hear the enthusiasm ooze its way through Mr. Jones harp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DVXt2AM-sg

71)   Those gospel singers again (Clydie King, Vanetta Fields, Dr. John, Shirley Goodman, Tammi Lynn), this time on Sweet Virginia.  How can a song sound so soulful while using the refrain “Got to scrape that shit right off your shoes”?

72)   Keith’s guitar on Prodigal Son.  A classic Biblical story put to music.  And Mr. Richards “Hey!” near the end of the song adds a perfect exclamation point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8odAtYPwKtc

73)   Mick’s singing on Heaven.  Perhaps the most extreme-sounding Jagger vocals ever:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR1svqwTYK0

74)   The banter between guys and gals near the end of Where the Boys Go (3:20 of attached url).  If the Stones ever do a musical, this song should be included:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q95DApyvm0Y

75)   Daryl Jones strong and steady bass beat on Saint of Me.  The Stones knew what they were doing when the hired this guy to replace Bill Wyman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcMQWfMTfJ8

76)   Keith’s guitar solo on Honky Tonk Woman.  Richards rarely saw a place for a guitar solo in a Stones song,  but on rare occasions such as this, boy did he make it work :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6M77oHD110

77)   The entire band’s build up through the bridge on She Smiled Sweetly (1:30 of the attached url).  A great example of a band evolving:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKNSm8_CTOY

78)   The lyrics to Sympathy For the Devil.  A history lesson in the perils of evildoing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBecM3CQVD8

79)   Bill’s bass playing on Hot Stuff.   Funky beat!:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr_TXfQ4YEA

80)   Charlie’s drumming on Tumbling Dice.  This song is representative of Watts’ steady day-in, day-out contributions on the entire ‘Exile on Main St.’ album (and for that matter, the entire Stones career): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U8JlcB_BzA

81)   Keith’s guitar intro to Gimme Shelter.  Is there any doubt the Stones ‘Imperial Era’ could be defined as the personification of Keef himself:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3rnxQBizoU

82)   Bill’s bass playing on Respectable.  This is about as fast paced as you are going to hear Wyman’s playing.  Oh, and a nice uncovered video I've never seen before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptDz5BwAgXQ

83)   Charlie’s drumming on Complicated.  Everyone was improving as musicians during this period.  Watts clearly was adapting to the more sophisticated sounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4cUIVNghqM

84)   The band’s ability to suck the air out of the sound during Monkey Man at the 2:35 mark of the attached url.  It was done even more impressively live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcB-JTAZQow

85)   Keith and Ronnie’s guitar interplay on Doom and Gloom.  Just the fact these cats can still write good music after 50 years is explanation enough here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPFGWVKXxm0

86)   Keith’s high pitched backing vocals on Mercy, Mercy.  By the late 60s this ability was lost.  But it’s all there on record from 1965: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_LNCtdgu1k

87)   Jack Nitzsche’s harpsichord performance on Play with Fire.  A late night recording session with just Mick and Keith awake had session man Nitzsche join in for this final cut: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QlBTOAqHhk

88)   Ian Stewart’s Piano Instrumental (Secret Track) at the end ‘Dirty Work’.  Hey, there needed to be something authentic on this album, which was dedicated the then recently deceased Stu.  No link found, but hey, it is after all a “secret track”.

89)   Darryl Jones ominous single bass notes just before each of the “Anybody seen my baby” refrains on Anybody Seen My Baby.  Proving it does not take much to set a mood:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BinwuzZVjnE

90)   The Master Musicians of Jajouka and their Moroccan instruments on Continental Drift.  Here are the Stones at their most exotic:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2pkO-CBiyA

91)   Mick acting out paranoia on the phone with a woman friend toward the end of Fingerprint File.  This guy is as comfortable behind a microphone as you can possibly be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFNiSjN4BBY

92)   All the great ivory playing on Memory Motel by Mick (concert piano), Keith (electric piano) and Billy Preston (string synthesizer).  Mystical, magical, and masterful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE96fz6BWqk

93)   The repeating chorus on Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker).  Based on the title of the song, you can probably guess what that chorus repeated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfo1rq7ZOMI

94)   The spiritual intensity of I Just Want To See His Face.  The Stones were doing a lot of soul searching on ‘Exile’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBXnLjynmso

95)   Mick’s singing on Ventilator Blues.  You can feel the stifling heat of Keith’s basement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wEvKIrGcNI

96)   Brian’s slide guitar on No Expectations.  Jones was losing interest (and his mind) by this time, but still managed to pick up and play any instrument that fancied him at any given moment:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mehrjwB-hVE

97)   Keith’s singing on You Got the Silver.  Particularly as the pace picks up near the end: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKIZM1JbVUQ

98)   Pete Townshend’s backing vocals on Slave.  Just because:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHCY-1NkXao

99)   The Mick and Keith exchange at the beginning of Dance Part 1.  I just find it funny how Richards brushes off Jagger’s inquiries.  Classic Keith: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdO6DajbVW0

100)    Bobby Keys solo saxophone during the instrumental portion of Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.  Setting the stage for the young buck, Mick Taylor, to do the same on lead guitar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fa4HUiFJ6c

-          Pete

(44th in a series of) Stepping Stones: "A Humanzing Effect"

Song: Coming Down Again

Album: Goats Head Soup

Released: August, 1973

We are all shaped by a wide variety of forces: Family, faith, culture, nationality, heritage, and friends, to name a few.  Wrapped up in all of this is the period of time we “came of age”.  For me and many of my strongest connections, that period was the 1970s.  A main focus of these writings this past year (and hopefully beyond) is to try to pinpoint how growing up in the 70s helped to shape who we are.  As with any generation, much of it had to do with the types of music we listened to.  Thus far, I think I’ve distinguished why “coming of age” during this decade was unique compared to most others.  The one exception has been distinguishing us from those who hit their formative years in the 60s.  This is because the two decades have much in common.  Yet, although there are many similarities between children of the 60s and 70s, there are some major differences.

I have already alluded to the fact that the music of the 60s was so omnipresent as to make it unavoidable to the period that followed it.  I’m certain this is not the only example of one decade’s effect on another, but in terms of recent history, it is an uncommon phenomenon.  In modern society, we are constantly moving on.  Most kids these days could care less about what was cutting edge during the era the preceded them.  It’s an ever-evolving world we live in.  What’s hip at this moment in time is what really matters, at least in Western culture.  In many ways this is a good thing:  What’s “in” now was shaped by what was “in” before.  We rarely divorce ourselves from this evolving process.  In fact, I think that parents could learn a lot from what their kids are into if they simply stepped themselves through the chain; which of course includes the music. 

The 70s had plenty of new sounds:  Glam, Punk, Disco, and New Wave to name a few.  But the 70s were also enveloped by the survivors of the 60’s:  The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Jeff Beck, The Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton, Leonard Cohen, The Band, Joni Mitchell, Pink Floyd, Richard Thompson, Joan Baez, and the Allman Brothers are the crème of that crop.  These musicians had already had such a strong effect in the 60s that their music from that era would likely have held up on its own merit even if they had not released a single song in the 70s.  Royalties alone would likely have been fine enough for most of them to make a modest living and get out of the public eye.  But these musicians persevered and were able to carry their craft into the 70s.  How did they do this? 

It was not simply a matter of these musicians morphing their sounds to fit the times.  This did happen, but there was much more to it.  What these songwriters did, and what I believe had a profound effect on us 70s kids, was that they humanized themselves.  They bared their souls.  In your 20s, you feel invincible, and you strut your stuff accordingly.   But now these musicians were in their 30s, and they were opening up their personal trials and tribulations to the masses through Rock and Roll music.  We were exposed to all this.  In hindsight, I believe we thought this was normal.  In reality it was not. 

Other earlier generations got their reality slaps from not-so mainstream artistic sources:  Books, theatre, paintings, drama, classical or even jazz.  Think Ernest Hemmingway, or James Joyce, or Vincent Van Gogh, or Mozart, or Arthur Miller, or Judy Garland, or Billie Holiday, or Shakespeare.  But these artists and the art forms they mastered were typically confined to the well-educated, or in earlier times the “Intelligentsia”.  Now, songs about human frailty were blasting on the sound systems of the average Joe.  For a young person, this was pretty heavy stuff.  But we were able to connect with one another and talk about it all.  Topics that may have been off-limits in prior times were now naturally accepted to discuss.  You talked with friends about deeper feelings.  It was not unusual to do so. 

This bare-your-soul music was not only good… it was masterful.  Pink Floyd sang about the loss of a band mate, Syd Barrett, to the effects of mental illness.  Heck, they practically dedicated the remainder of their legacy to this subject:  Shine on You Crazy Diamond, the entirety of ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, and even ‘The Wall’ are all tributes to their fallen troubadour.  Bob Dylan opened us to turmoil on ‘Blood on the Tracks’ in 1975, and really never looked back.  Pete Townshend was a raw wound in songs like Empty Glass, Slit Skirts, However Much I Booze, Slip Kids, Don’t Let Go the Coat, and The Punk and the Godfather.  John Lennon was equally naked with Mother, Isolation, God, Jealous Guy, and Instant Karma, as was Kris Kristofferson in Sunday Morning Coming Down, Richard and Linda Thompson on Withered and Died, George Harrison on Beware of Darkness, and Townes Van Zandt’s in virtually all his music, most notably the crushing song Nothin’.

Even the love songs were deeper: Clapton with Layla, Townshend with A Little is Enough, Neil Young with Down By the River, Bob Dylan with Sara, and Gram Parsons with Thousand Dollar Wedding.  You heard lyrics, such as these from Jackson Browne in Running on Empty:

“I look around for the friends I used to turn to pull me through

Looking into their eyes I see them running too”

And these in Back on the Chain Gang by the Pretenders in the same vein:

“The powers that be

That force us to live like we do

Bring me to my knees

When I see what they’ve done to you”

A new type of social outcry was settling in too:  Where in the 60s the outcry would be reflected in a rebellious sound, now that sound was more lament:  Curtis Mayfield with Freddie’s Dead, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with Ohio, Bruce Cockburn (a little later) with If A Tree Falls, and Marvin Gaye with What’s Going On.  And it was affecting the new artists as well as the old.  Bruce Springsteen connected with dead-end haplessness in The River: 

“And then I got Mary pregnant, and man that was all she wrote

And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat”

John Mellencamp would eventually do the same in Jackie Brown:

“Going nowhere and nowhere fast

We shame ourselves to watch people like this live

But who gives a damn about Jackie Brown?

Just another lazy man who couldn’t take what was his”

Now don’t get me wrong:  There was plenty of uplifting stuff mixed in there too for us.  But this was all part of our reality way back when.  Looking back, I know it was for the best.  Those of us who lived somewhat sheltered lives - thanks to tremendous upbringing by our parents - were exposed through music to human frailties in our teen years.  Life was not all wine and roses.  It helped us to be more empathetic with the world around us.  It helped us to grow up.

I used to think the only band that was immune to this empathetic mood in the 70s were the Rolling Stones.  Not anymore.  One of the reasons the Stones escaped me in this regard is that Mick Jagger simply lacks a pity angle to his vocal delivery.  The album he comes the closest to hurdling this on however, is 1973s ‘Goats Head Soup’.   You can hear it in the songs 100 Years Ago, Hide Your Love, Winter, and this week’s Stepping Stone Coming Down Again ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfPgsNN2EbA ), sung as a duet with Keith Richards.  The story goes that this is a song of regret, Richards reflecting on stealing away his ex-band-mate’s (Brian Jones) lover (Anita Pallenberg).   Jones would never recover.  Richards would never forget.

-          Pete