Defend the indefensible: Mick Jagger Solo

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my lord, "Let's Work" came on VH1 Classicks - very hard to believe he'll ever do anything worse than that (ie. the only way is up!)

James Blount (James Blount), Friday, 20 June 2003 23:26 (twenty years ago) link

"Let's Work" is indeed the pits. Talk is Cheap has some good stuff but this thread isn't about him etc.

Sean (Sean), Friday, 20 June 2003 23:43 (twenty years ago) link

i like the song he does on the late 80's SNL rerun I somehow manage to see every once in a while ("I don't evah wanna see yaw picture no mo'", whatever it's called).

Al (sitcom), Saturday, 21 June 2003 00:03 (twenty years ago) link

dint he do that one with bill laswell?

chaki (chaki), Saturday, 21 June 2003 02:41 (twenty years ago) link

I know it's not about him, sorry, but I really love "Talk is Cheap"! 'Take it So hard', 'Locked Away', 'You Don't Move Me', blah blah... luckt it was recorded when he could still sing to some extent. Actually count this completely unrelated post as a bit of defence of Jagger, his solo stuff leading to this record was a good thing. If I see one of his solos for $1 I might get it and try again...

Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Saturday, 21 June 2003 02:48 (twenty years ago) link

"God Gave Me Everything" was kinda ridiculous, not least for the inclusion of Lenny Kravitz (with whom he also descrated Bill Withers' "Use Me" sometime earlier).

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 21 June 2003 03:04 (twenty years ago) link

Since this is turning into a 'Talk is Cheap' thread I'll say I just like it better all the time too! "How I Wish", "Struggle" and "Make No Mistake" especially

dave q, Saturday, 21 June 2003 08:51 (twenty years ago) link

one of life's great mysteries ... the guy who co-wrote some of the greatest rock songs evah also wrote "let's work."

"mick likes a lot of shit" -- keith richards.

Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 21 June 2003 11:32 (twenty years ago) link

Yeah, "Struggle" is great. "Whip It Up" too!!

Mr. Diamond (diamond), Saturday, 21 June 2003 17:37 (twenty years ago) link

he shoulda just made disco albums. he has nobody to blame but himself though. when you have access to just about any and every songwriter and musician on earth-most of whom would be happy to play or write with you-and this-this,being most of his solo stuff-is what you come up with...? it's just weird.

scott seward, Saturday, 21 June 2003 17:44 (twenty years ago) link

the ABSOLUTE BEST bit in 'American Psycho' is when someone says they saw Jagger at a party and Bateman sez "Oh yeah I know who he is...'Just another night, just another night...'"

dave q, Saturday, 21 June 2003 17:49 (twenty years ago) link

sly and robbie+slash on guitar+emotional rescue falsetto+ a song even half as good as one hit to the body= a hit every time! maybe. i mean it ain't brain surgery.

scott seward, Saturday, 21 June 2003 17:57 (twenty years ago) link

I dug "God Gave Me Everything I Want" as much as any of Keith's solo stuff (which does seem a bit more consistent overall, I'll admit).

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 21 June 2003 18:21 (twenty years ago) link

Ha! I just won tickets in the residents' ballot to see The Rolling Stones when they play the Twickenham Stadium in August.

Dr. C (Dr. C), Saturday, 21 June 2003 18:39 (twenty years ago) link

(two questions: 1. how long will it be before Graham is forced to create a "Defend the Indefensible" category... and 2. Wouldn't Defend the Indefensible be a great name for an Emo band?)

Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Saturday, 21 June 2003 21:00 (twenty years ago) link

2. Wouldn't Defend the Indefensible be a great name for an Emo band?

"defend the indefensible: emo" is a great idea for a thread!

Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 21 June 2003 21:10 (twenty years ago) link

< insdistinct voice from within the cornfield>
If you post it...they will come...
< /insdistinct voice from within the cornfield>

Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Saturday, 21 June 2003 21:16 (twenty years ago) link

His backing vocals on Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" make it her best-ever song.

But if you REALLY wanna howl, check out his work with "Papa" John Phillips..."She's Only 14" especially.

Chris Clark (Chris Clark), Sunday, 22 June 2003 13:43 (twenty years ago) link

In the 2001 Pazz & Jop, three critics voted for Goddess in the Doorway: Carol Cooper, J. Eric Smith, and David Wild. I don't remember reading any Smith and Wild, but Carol Cooper is no dummy, and the fact she likes it makes me want to hear it (though I haven't yet). She also voted for Brooks & Dunn, Fela Kuti, and 3LW. Wild voted for Tony Bennett. Smith voted for Bjork and for Afroman. The latter vote makes me want to read some Smith.

Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Monday, 23 June 2003 09:54 (twenty years ago) link

five months pass...
royally defensible

gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 20:37 (twenty years ago) link

Mick Jagger to Get Knighthood From Queen
She's the Boss.

dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 20:46 (twenty years ago) link

now mick is just another knight

Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 21:14 (twenty years ago) link

hahaha!

Broheems (diamond), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 21:17 (twenty years ago) link

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Keith Richards is not amused.

The legendary Rolling Stones' guitarist has flown into a rock and roll rage against Mick Jagger over the singer's decision to accept a knighthood, the ultimate nod from the British establishment.

"I don't want to step out onstage with someone wearing a coronet and sporting the old ermine," Richards told British music magazine "Uncut" in an expletive-rich interview.

"I told Mick it's a paltry honor ... It's not what the Stones is about, is it?"

The Stones, still rocking after 40 years, made their names with crunching rock classics including "Satisfaction," "Street Fighting Man" and "Brown Sugar."

A 1967 Stones' album was entitled "Their Satanic Majesties Request."

Despite his near spotless rebel credentials(????), Jagger, 60, is scheduled to become "Sir Mick" at a Buckingham Palace ceremony on December 12.

He will join British musicians Paul McCartney and Elton John who have already been knighted by Queen Elizabeth with a touch of the sword.

Richards' own chances of arising Sir Keith, already thought slim after 59 years of hard living, will have receded even further.

Gear! (Gear!), Thursday, 4 December 2003 19:56 (twenty years ago) link

two years pass...
I just watched the film "Bent" and I have to say that Mick Jagger makes for a pretty hot drag queen.

danzig (danzig), Tuesday, 28 March 2006 02:36 (eighteen years ago) link

He's great in Bent; he delivers all that pseudo-ironic/rancid dialgoue with considerable panache.

Oh, and Wandering Spirit is great.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 28 March 2006 02:49 (eighteen years ago) link

He's also great in "The Man From Elysian Fields." Actually vulnerable.

Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 28 March 2006 05:41 (eighteen years ago) link

Yes, I agree.

ratty, Tuesday, 28 March 2006 09:25 (eighteen years ago) link

I agree with Alfred, I like most of Wandering Spirit and most especially "Sweet Thing," totally great "Miss You" ripoff

Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Tuesday, 28 March 2006 12:09 (eighteen years ago) link

one year passes...

What We All Need: the Mick Jagger solo comp.

Track listing:

1. God Gave Me Everything
2. Put Me In the Trash
3. Just Another Night
4. Don't Tear Me Up
5. Charmed Life
6. Sweet Thing
7. Old Habits Die Hard
8. Dancing In the Street
9. Too Many Cooks (Spoil the Soup)
10. Memo From Turner
11. Lucky In Love
12. Let's Work
13. Joy
14. Don't Call Me Up Listen
15. Checkin' Up On My Baby
16. (You Got To Walk And) Don't Look Back
17. Evening Gown

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 14:52 (sixteen years ago) link

How does a tax exile get a knighthood?

Bill Magill, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 15:14 (sixteen years ago) link

listening right now to goddess in jann wenner's doorway for the first time ever, in rhapsody, and it's really not bad. lead track "visions of paradise" and lenny kravitz collab "god gave me everything" have hit me so far. not sure if rhapsody has that hidden track discussed upthread though. sigh. "hideaway" has a vague tattoo you soul thing about it.

i'm still not sure what benefit anyone, including mick himself, gets from a mick jagger solo album. was keef not available to make a stones album at the time or something?

fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 15:29 (sixteen years ago) link

well, it allows Mick to actually be seen with Bono, Rob Thomas, and Wyclef without Keef going after him like in the "One Hit (To The Body)" video.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 15:38 (sixteen years ago) link

a s-s-s-seventeen track solo Jagger comp?
why on earth be so defensive?

t**t, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 17:59 (sixteen years ago) link

The crazy thing here is that for a "Best Of" it doesn't include the few songs that seem worthy. No "Visions of Paradise," "Throwaway" (with Jeff Beck) or "Wired All Night." I"m not claiming acute greatness here, but more worthy of inclusion than some of the tracks that were picked. Of course, this is a perverse distinction for the most part.

smurfherder, Wednesday, 3 October 2007 20:25 (sixteen years ago) link

I got a press release about that solo best-of, but it didn't indicate what a fucking hash the sequencing would be.

If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 4 October 2007 02:42 (sixteen years ago) link

You picked the two tracks I would've included too, smurfherder ("Throwaway" and "Wired All Night"). On the other hand, at least he thinks "Evening Gown" is worth preserving.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 4 October 2007 02:51 (sixteen years ago) link

do you think Mick had a hand in this? I can imagine him dispatching some lackey to handle the details while he shops for wine in Ibiza. Now photo approval was probably all him...but the actual tunes? hmmn...

smurfherder, Thursday, 4 October 2007 05:52 (sixteen years ago) link

lets work, in all its cheesy glory.

to repeat what keith richards once said, "mick likes a lot of shit."

Eisbaer, Thursday, 4 October 2007 06:06 (sixteen years ago) link

Good lord, David Fricke gives it four and a half stars on Rolling Stone site:

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/16496251/review/16682334/the_very_best_of_mick_jagger_wbonus_tracks

JN$OT, Saturday, 6 October 2007 17:34 (sixteen years ago) link

so it fails to live up to the glory of Goddess Of The Doorway, then

da croupier, Saturday, 6 October 2007 17:40 (sixteen years ago) link

or Goddess In, wtfever

da croupier, Saturday, 6 October 2007 17:42 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeah, the five star coup is reserved for the new Springsteen alone, apparently.

JN$OT, Saturday, 6 October 2007 17:50 (sixteen years ago) link

Interesting. I thought ALL "contractually obligated" reviews were 5 stars in RS. Maybe Mick didn't return Jann's latest email and was docked a half? Obviously, Bruce knows how to IM a friend.

Could "Chrome Dreams II" be the next five star album? It is Neil, after all.

Could Radiohead? They're "Cutting Edge" enough. Or do we have to wait for the new REM?

smurfherder, Saturday, 6 October 2007 21:27 (sixteen years ago) link

has Mick ever listened to "Let's Work"?

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 6 October 2007 22:20 (sixteen years ago) link

probably -- that's why he was running like a girl in the song's video.

Eisbaer, Saturday, 6 October 2007 22:51 (sixteen years ago) link

four months pass...

i just heard "Charmed Life" on a dell commercial last night. what a GREAT song. newish. produced by Rick Rubin. dubby. i thought this was some old stones track from their disco/reggae phase at first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWhflDA2WtU
stupid video though.

jaxon, Friday, 15 February 2008 21:47 (sixteen years ago) link

^^^^

Steve Shasta, Friday, 15 February 2008 21:50 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeah, I heard the Solitare mix on the radio last month (before it was on the Superbowl commercial) and and had the exact same thought.

musically, Friday, 15 February 2008 22:34 (sixteen years ago) link

three years pass...

hmmm
Guess Who’s In Mick Jagger’s New Supergroup?

A crazy lineup of people! Namely: the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, Damian Marley, and A.R. Rahman (of Slumdog Millionaire fame in America, and just regular all-around fame in India). They're called Super Heavy; they've been together for eighteen months; and they're planning on dropping their debut in September. Wow! So: Either these people have the most scintillating conversations ever heard, or they just sit around after practice avoiding eye contact.

tylerw, Monday, 23 May 2011 16:16 (twelve years ago) link

According to the comments, naysayers are just jealous of Mick's physique.

Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 13 April 2021 19:58 (three years ago) link

I haven't bought a record Mick Jagger has been involved with since 1992, and I kinda hate Dave Grohl and most of what he stands for, but I don't get what's so uniquely terrible about this. I mean it's exactly as not good as I would have imagined it would be, but it doesn't even crack the top 1000 most terrible things I have ever heard

Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 13 April 2021 20:54 (three years ago) link

It's fine. I mean, this track woulda fit on Too Much Too Soon just fine and even a weak-ish Dolls album is still the Dolls.

I'm just glad Mick (or Dave for that matter) aren't on the COVIDiot thread.

(I realize the anti-science faction of Foo Fighters doesn't technically include Grohl but he is the fightingest of Foos and he let that shit happen.)

Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 01:31 (three years ago) link

Don’t know whether to FP you or report you to Robert Christgau for that comment.

Lol, Alfred.

It Is Dangerous to Meme Inside (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 01:44 (three years ago) link

Ripping off the Puss in Boots riff doesnt mean it sounds like the Dolls ffs.

everything, Wednesday, 14 April 2021 04:53 (three years ago) link

Ah yes, nothing like having the 77 year old man worth 400 millions tell you everything’s gonna be ok and he wants to get freaky.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 14:42 (three years ago) link

I played this like 8 times in a row this morning. I think I got addicted to a) how much it sucks as well as b) how much it doesn't suck.

zacata, Wednesday, 14 April 2021 14:44 (three years ago) link

The Rolling Stone interview is actually pretty good.

Why did you decide to write about conspiracy theories?

It just seems to be that even people you know that are relatively sensible about a lot of things have one thing that they just don’t kind of get. I have several friends and relations and they go off on these things that just doesn’t… They’re just irrational. Of course, there’s no point in speaking to people about it. They don’t get it. They got what they believe in and they believe in that. And it doesn’t matter what you say, they’re gonna believe in it. And rational thought doesn’t work.

Even a country like France that prided themselves in the 18th Century on rationality is the most anti-vaccine country in Western democracy. It’s not as if [vaccines] are a new thing. When I was a child, which was a really long time ago, people would die from polio. They would just not be there the next day. And that’s been eradicated through vaccines. These poor children were either dead or crippled, and I had lots of friends like that. Would you rather have a vaccine if you had a child or would you rather their legs not work? You can’t argue with these people. So that’s how I got to the conspiracy theories; through the anti-vaxxers. Even I didn’t mention it in that verse; I probably should’ve though [since] I just went off on it. [Laughs]

So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 14:50 (three years ago) link

Just listened… It was better than I thought it would be! I like the chorus.

Yawnsomely Literal Cover Band (morrisp), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 15:03 (three years ago) link

I imagine Van Morrison listened to it and went 'this, but unironically'.

pomenitul, Wednesday, 14 April 2021 15:06 (three years ago) link

Lol

✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 15:15 (three years ago) link

someone pls poll the individual lyrics of this song

mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 16:22 (three years ago) link

The one that goes like - "Am I gaining weight?, think I'll have another drink, then I'll clean the kitchen sink" - hits very close to home for me, lol

Yawnsomely Literal Cover Band (morrisp), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 16:33 (three years ago) link

It's not what I would call a good song, but having listened to it all the way through I sort of like it. Actually laughed out loud at "Everybody sing 'Please Please me.'"

Lily Dale, Wednesday, 14 April 2021 16:47 (three years ago) link

i wish there could be a vaccine to un-hear mick saying "everything's smooth and greasy"

nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 16:57 (three years ago) link

I understand Mick originally wanted the vocals buried in the mix of the Stones stuff so people would buy the records and try to decipher the lyrics. With every line ignominiously splattered across the screen in this video, I guess those days are gone!

eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 17:04 (three years ago) link

I wonder how many people don't even know he plays guitar.

but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 17:12 (three years ago) link

Disappointed Dave Stewart isn’t involved

Master of Treacle, Wednesday, 14 April 2021 17:17 (three years ago) link

If we poll the lyrics, I'm voting for "see my poncy books/ teach myself to cook."

Even though the song is in many ways aggressively stupid, there's something kind of sweet about it too, imo; it feels like the same friendly version of Mick that we saw in that "You Can't Always Get What You Want" video at the very beginning of lockdown.

Lily Dale, Wednesday, 14 April 2021 17:19 (three years ago) link

XP DAVE GROHL IS THE NEW DAVE STEWART

blue whales on ambient (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 17:35 (three years ago) link

"Disappointed Dave Stewart isn’t involved"
or Greg Kurstin for that matter

HuskerDoolittle, Wednesday, 14 April 2021 19:37 (three years ago) link

I wonder how many people don't even know he plays guitar.

― but also fuck you (unperson),

A friend told me what a shock it was in 1978 to see him strumming an electric guitar onstage.

So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 19:41 (three years ago) link

Lily Dale otm.

It Is Dangerous to Meme Inside (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 19:44 (three years ago) link

two years pass...

Curiosity got the best of me (and also because I had been listening to a lot of Jeff Beck lately). I can't say I'll play those first two albums ever again, but they both had one cut apiece that I'm sticking on a reference disc for '80s Stones music: the title track of She's The Boss and "Party Doll." The former fits in pretty well between the dance-oriented keepers from Undercover and "Harlem Shuffle" - suggests a logical path in terms of where Jagger wants to go musically. "Party Doll" sounds pretty good coming between the angrier Dirty Work cuts and Keith's own "Take It So Hard," where you hear something like a dialogue between Mick and Keith after the band falls apart.

And Wandering Spirit is actually commendable, mostly for the quieter cuts - nothing earthshaking, but removed from whatever marketing hype that must've surrounded it back then, it's surprisingly a decent album, at least to me. He does a really good version of "Handsome Molly," a great folk song I was very familiar with thanks to Dylan. (see the 1962 Gaslight tape that's a favorite among collectors - Starbucks put out most of it on a CD in 2005)

birdistheword, Friday, 16 February 2024 07:08 (two months ago) link


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