The Rolling Stones - "Street Fighting Man" b/w "No Expectations" (7" Single, DECCA - 1966; Italy MONO mix)

Greetings to y'all people. Quite busy nowadays so you're lucky, I'm not gonna fiddle your precious time with my stupid blah-blahs. So, here's another great offering by my buddy outta Paris, France in a glorious MONO mix (and quite different from the well known in STEREO), à bientôt!!!

A Celebration... Rockin' and Rollin' with Ian and Bobby!!! The Rolling Stones - "Welcome to New York" (LP, Trademark of Quality {Bootleg} - 197?) and Small Faces - "Small Faces" (LP, Immediate {Original MONO press} - 1967)

R.I.P. Robert Henry "Bobby" Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014)

"Bobby went down in a tub of Dom Perignon. Bobby Keys, so the story goes, is the only man who knows how many bottles of it it takes to fill a bath, because that’s what he was floating in. This was just before the second-to-last gig on the ’73 European tour, in Belgium. No sign of Bobby at the band assembly that day, and finally I was asked if I knew where my buddy was — there had been no reply from his hotel room. So I went to his room and said, Bob, we gotta go, we gotta go right now. He’s got a cigar, bathtub full of champagne and this French chick in with him. And he said, fuck off. So be it. Great image and everything like that, but you might regret it, Bob. The accountant informed Bobby afterward that he had earned no money at all on that tour as a result of that bathtub; in fact he owed. And it took me ten goddamn years or more to get him back in the band, because Mick was implacable, and rightly so. And Mick can be merciless in that way. I couldn’t answer for Bobby. All I could do was help him get clean, and I did."

— Keith Richards

 

The Rolling Stones - "Metamorphosis - Bootleg Version" (CD, Maximum - 2002)

Stones anyone?
I never thought I had this! A very pleasant discovery of the past days dive on my old hard drives!! Original Metamorphosis LP was just another subject of hostility between ex-manager Allen Klein and the band back then. A rare/odds collection with a messy story, pressing and sound.
Bill Wyman supposedly in communication with the other Stones members accumulated this compilation (mind you, still the only 'official' with outtakes/rarities of their catalog). Right away Klein (owner of all of their early work...) took in charge and released it... The legend says the whole controversy began on the material that's imprisoned in vinyl's grooves. Allegedly Bill Wyman's point of view was perhaps closest to a fan's and Klein's to a banker's... Personally don't give a shit in what both sides said or the hardcore fans/purists... Metamorphosis badmouthed and that's a completely unfair situation.
What you rock & roll fan get is first rate demo material on songs the Stones gave away to other artists (some of them later thank god, redone by the band) in a time Andrew Oldham was trying to be the European Phil Spector or something! You know, in mid 60s Jagger and Oldham created and All Star session team that had in its set (among others) Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins and Mike Leander in order to cut demos of Jagger/Richards 'leftovers'... And many of them as the legend says found their way to this shady release. Like the Johnny Thunders favorite (mine too) "I'd Much Rather Be With The Boys"... Is that pop heaven or what, people?! You get for instance the Jagger's vocal on the same backtrack that used for Chris Farlowe number one hit or a great Chess studio outtake on Chuckster's "Don't Lie to Me" or Beggars Banquet/Let It Bleed oddities like Stevie Wonder's "I Don't Know Why"... Not bad, right?! I'm telling you, NOT BAD AT ALL!!!
What this boot comes to fix is the most important, though, and that's the sound. I read in many internet sources that real US release had suffered by muddy sonics and bad pressings. Don't know... What I know for sure is that this Russian boot has deep and rich output. And it has also great packaging (a thing many bootleggers don't care for). They could have been easily WAX staff members if they have passed it for free to the public and not selling it...
They have used UK's pattern and added 10 more tracks in the best ever released audio quality! Personal favorite (along with "I'd Much Rather Be With The Boys")? "If You Let Me" an oddity from Between The Buttons (another infamous Stones album and another personal heartthrob of yours truly). Dig!

The Rolling Stones - "Main Street Revisited, Mickboy Remasters" (Torn & Frayed - 1999) plus...

Much talking lately 'bout the legendary "Exile On Main St." reissue/remastered edition. As a true sucker i am, i tweak on this and if there's one word to describe the whole project, that is 'disappointment'! Don't know the exact technical clauses, but this shit's for sure "cleaned-up", "louder" and somehow "weak"... I'm no purist (really) and i don't consider myself a huge Stones fanatic (in a way that you must got all albums, even the crappy ones, you know, everything they produced  after "Goat's Head Soup"- yes, I DON'T LIKE "Some Girls"...) but the most important element on why "Exile" still is the MOST MYTHICAL ROCK & ROLL RECORD EVER MADE, was this muddy,druggy,sloppy, loose and filthy sound - atmosphere. And that's gone for sure...
What lurks behind the original mix and production, courtesy of Jimmy Miller of course, is that human and at the same time, out of this world sounding. I'm a person who loves much new creations and technologies and i make my living as a computer engineer, but sometimes 'high definition' cannot create the feelings captured on a 'first take', even if this take is muddy as hell or full of merits! On the review Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote for allmusic.com, says : "it’s possible to hear what most individual instruments are doing on each track, which may lead for a greater appreciation of the Stones' monumental musicianship, but it’s somewhat at the expense of the album’s mystique". Yeah, truth's sometimes so CRUDE!

 Anyway, if you wanna buy it, do it. But if you really want to hear this masterpiece in its full decadent glory i got some goodies for ya. The "Main Street Revisited" is one of the many Mickboy remasters on the Stones works. Who is Mickboy? Don't know, but i thank him for what he did on these swats! I think this guy re-mixed everything he did from original (probably vinyl) pressings or even some Japanese audiophiles, and guess what, the results are simply SUPERB! His most notably work it's on the "Goat's Head Soup" but "Exile" and "Sticky" are again brilliant! These house works, give bootlegs a good name! Excellent sound, fabulous mixes, keen artworks and marvelous liners! If you wanna get them, try on Rolling Stones collectors sites, but on eBay too and from time to time make an appearance. If you're regular there, I'm sure you'll crash them. Be prepared though to fly off from your wallet many bucks. At the end, if there's one 'remastered' edition must own, that's "Main Street Revisited". 

PS: I got on CD also a mid 90s decent "Exile" edition but believe me there's nothing like the original vinyl pressing. Just recently, i discover a fantastic rip of this plastic made by PBTHAL. And here are the good things of technology... Sure this guy got magnificent equipment and knows how to use it! Sometimes i wonder why the Stones not tried to found fans for doing justice on their monuments and instead of this, they used !$%^&* like Don Was or for worse Babyface...? Keef should have killed Jagger a long time ago. Now he's dragged to greedy dollars hell too.

"Hey let him follow you down, /Way underground wind and he's bound. /Bound to follow you down,/Just a dead beat right off the street. /Bound to follow you down./ Well the ballrooms and smelly bordellos /And dressing rooms filled with parasites. /On stage the band has got problems, /They're a bag of nerves on first nights. /He ain't tied down to no home town, /Yeah, and he thought he was wreckless. /You think he's bad, he thinks you're mad, Yeah, and the guitar player gets restless...And his coat is torn and frayed"

320Kbps

 

The Rolling Stones - Rock N' Rolling Stones (Orig. on DECCA 1972 - Russian Bootlegs 2002)

If you‘re a boot fanatic you are surely aware of the fact that most of ‘em are a piece of shit. Poor sound quality, no liner notes or information and high prices in many cases. The Rolling Stones literally have thousands, and a good 95% belongs to what I wrote earlier… There is a 5% although that’s “money’s worth” and if you call yourself a Stones fanatic, should hunt them in any purpose.

Two months ago I did a piece here for an excellent MONO edition of “Their Satanic Majesties Request…” with bonus tracks, of course a bootleg but in general a release that can easily be a part of your Stones collection.

Of the hodgepodge that passed off my hands through the years, I picked two “series”:

The Mickboy Remasters & the Russian Bootlegs as are largely known through the Stones collectors. The Mickboy series are a different (and VERY interesting) chapter that I probe into some other time. The Russian Bootlegs in most occasions are semi-official (vinyl) releases of the past, now on CD (and not a CD-R) with re-produced artwork of the originals plus bonus tracks, mostly live material.

I don’t have them all of course. There are plenty and change hands mostly through e-Bay in “briny” prices… As a compass I always use the Stones Fan Club site, "It's Only Rock N' Roll" and from the guys there I copy the complete (?) list of the Russian Boots for those who want to know more (click on the images to enlarge and see how the Russian Boots looks like):

CD 1 The Rolling Stones + 8 bonus tracks
CD 2 England's Newest Hit Makers + 10 bonus tracks
CD 3 12 X 5 + 14 bonus tracks
CD 4 The Rolling Stones No.2 + 8 bonus tracks
CD 5 The Rolling Stones, Now! + 9 bonus tracks
CD 6 Out Of Our Heads (USA Edition) + 11 bonus tracks
CD 7 Out Of Our Heads (UK Edition) +12 bonus tracks
CD 8 December's Children + 14 bonus tracks
CD 9 Big Hits (USA version) + 14 bonus tracks
CD 10 Aftermath(UK version) + 6 bonus tracks
CD 11 Aftermath(USA version) + 11 bonus tracks
CD 12 Got Live If You Want It(LIVE) + 11 bonus tracks
CD 13 Big Hits(UK version) + 11 bonus tracks
CD 14 Between The Buttons(UK version) + 7 bonus tracks
CD 15 Between The Buttons(USA version)+9 bonus tracks
CD 16 Their Satanic Majesties Request + 10 bonus tracks
CD 17 Flowers + 10 bonus tracks
CD 18 Beggars Banquet + 7 bonus tracks
CD 19 Through The Past Darkly + 8 bonus tracks
CD 20 Let It Bleed + 7 bonus tracks
CD 21 Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! + 4 bonus tracks
CD 22 Sticky Fingers + 7 bonus tracks
CD 23 Stone Age + 9 bonus tracks
CD 24 Milestones + 11 bonus tracks
CD 25 Exile On Main St. + 3 bonus tracks
CD 26 Rock 'n Rolling Stones + 9 bonus tracks
CD 27 Gimme Shelter + 8 bonus tracks
CD 28 No Stone Unturned + 7 bonus tracks
CD 29 Metamorphosis + 10 bonus tracks
CD 30 / CD 31 Rolled Gold +16 bonus tracks (DOUBLE CD)

This CD, from what is to my knowledge, a UK only release of 1972 (or 1973 there’s a debate here but who cares anyway?), DECCA was behind it and soon after was deleted and never officially re-released. As you can see from the track list it’s a collection of mostly Chuck Berry songs (or Chuck Berry-related) the band covered, and to these ears is the BEST ever compilation for the Rolling Stones especially of the first era! I read in several sources on the net that some copies have mistaken the #5 song (the great “Bye Bye Johnny”) and although it lists the Chuckster’s classic it plays the “We Love You” single...Unfortunately that's true. I replaced the wrong track here but from another boot ("How Britain Got the Blues"). As a bonus, we get a very good live performance in sound quality (and excellent in passion - don’t forget this is from the “Exile on Main St” - era!) recorded at the Royal Randwick Racecourse,Sydney, Australia, 27 Feb.-1973. See track list details also on the back sleeve of the CD.

There’s also an argument by many for this release on the quality of the tracks. I don’t know what are the sources, probably the original vinyl, but I guess with today’s technology miracles can happen and the “Mickboy Remasters” is a good example. My opinion is that all tracks are better sounding in comparison with the official CD re-masters! Give a listen yourself and make a conclusion. One thing’s for sure, this is hot shit and indeed Rock N’ Rolling Stones!


320 Kbps

Rockin' N' Rollin'

The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request Mono Edition (Bootleg CD)

Ok let me set myself clear...I FUCKIN' HATE PSYCHEDELIA! I mean it man - as Johnny Rotten used to say! With a few exceptions to what most of the world refers to as "psychedelic" I'm all the way against it! If are psychedelic (which they are...) the 13th Floor Elevators, i adore them. If are psychedelia the Chocolate Watchband, the Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd (and ONLY with Syd Genius on the band,OK?) or some Nuggets 7inch singles, I'm in! But unfortunately, psychedelia aren't these things. I'm very bored to explain why i hate so many things under this tag but i think it's obvious. I hate Hippies, i hate San Francisco and most of the bands there (lightning exceptions are the Flamin' Groovies and the Charlatans but these lads weren't "IN" between the hippie dictatorship of the era!) and yes Grace Slick was a hell of a chick but it was too grubby for my tastes!
The one and only psychedelic masterpiece ever to this one track mind blogger is "Their Satanic Majesties Request" by the Rolling Stones! Yes, an album that the Stones themselves fuckin' hate! OK, we knew that they're (now) morons but they were also THEE BEST ROCK N ROLL BAND and for a magical reason (sold their soul to the devil...?-don't know i really can't explain it) what they created between their first album and "Goat's Head Soup" is undeniably hot blooded, raw, manic, sex-setional at every sense music!
I'm sure when they cut it, all they have in their minds was a good reason to swallow tons of drugs and that's a good excuse of course and at the same time to make laugh of the trend, cash-in for their pockets and return a few months later to their well known rock n' roll raunchy blues amalgam!
If we must be honest to ourselves, the Stones were psychedelic before this. Tracks like "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby", "Paint It Black", "Child of the Moon", "Dandelion", "We Love You" (Lennon and Maca did the backing vocals here!) and "Please Go Home" are perfect examples to what psychedelic music is-hands down!
I RESPECT the Beatles more than you can imagine but "Sgt. Pepper" was a fanfare without reason! Anyway, this boot here is the shit in glorious MONO! Adds the "We Love You"/"Dandelion" single with the original 7inch mix and some more rough mono mixes and rehearsals. I believe that this is the ultimate edition of the record and forget all the new "expanded and remastered" treatments that saw the light of day until today!
This is the BADDEST TRIP you might confront, enjoy it man!

PS: "Citadel" has the BEST garage riff ever produced by human hands!

This MASTERPIECE uploaded by http://collectors-only.blogspot.com
Thank you man!

320Kbps!                                                     Satanic Majesties!