Friday 26 July 2013

My Top Ten Songs About (The) Rolling Stones


As Mick Jagger turns 70 (and I already did My Top Ten Rolling Stones Songs), here's ten songs about Rolling Stones... and Stones that Roll.

Happy birthday, Mick!


10. Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera - Move Like Jagger

Don't expect either Maroon 5 or Christina Aguilera to be making regular appearances on this blog, but as it's Mick's birthday and he apparently finds this track "very flattering", I pretty much had to give it  spin.

I actually used this in my class to demonstrate the use of simile in pop song.

9. Tim Hardin - Rolling Stone

The only song on this list that officially doesn't gather any moss.

8. The Verve - The Rolling People

A slight cheat, but The Verve were famously sued by Andrew Loog Oldham for sampling his cover of The Last Time (by The Stones) on Bittersweet Symphony with the credits on that track being forcibly changed to Jagger / Richards / Ashcroft and 100% of the royalties ending up with Mick 'n' Keef.

The Rolling People comes from the same album, and presumably was written and recorded before all that kicked off. It still sounds pretty cool...

7. Cloud Control - The Rolling Stones

This song by Australia's Cloud Control has very little to do with Mick 'n' Keef, but it is quite lovely.

6. Dr. Hook - Cover of the Rolling Stone

About the magazine, not the band, obviously.
I got a freaky old lady name o' Cocaine Kitty who embroiders on my jeans
I got my poor ol' grey haired daddy, drivin' my limousine
Now it's all designed to blow our minds but our minds won't really be blown
Like the blow that'll getcha when you get your picture on the cover of The Rolling Stone
Worth checking out Poison's cover version too... if you're a glutton for hair metal punishment (as I am).
5. Mott The Hoople - Roll Away The Stone

Ian Hunter gets born again. Top guitar and sha-la-las.

4. Carly Simon - You're So Vain

There is great debate over who this song is actually about... and Mick Jagger is only one of many suspects (Warren Beatty, David Geffen and Nick Nolte are also likely candidates). Whether Mick is the vain one (he probably thinks this song is about him), he did sing backing vocals on Carly's biggest hit... and it's too good a song not to include here. Amazing lyrics...

3. The House Of Love -  The Beatles & The Stones

 If I ever get round to doing a Top Ten Songs About The Beatles... expect this to make a return appearance.
The Beatles and the Stones
Sucked the marrow out of bone
Put the V in Vietnam
The Beatles and the Stones
Made it good to be alone
To be alone
2. Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone

Ooh... controversial. Hands up if you thought this would be Number One?

How does it feel...?

1. The Temptations - Papa Was A Rolling Stone

Better than Dylan? I'll leave that to the musos to argue over. For me, this is the Temps finest hour, one of the greatest basslines in the history of pop, and the intro alone gets it to the top spot.




Which one would you dedicate to the birthday boy?

6 comments:

  1. Well I would have had Bob at number one but only because it was Charlie Wolfe's closer on Laser 558.

    Actually the first song that came to my mind was 'Blessed is the King who comes' by Ishmail with the lyrics 'when mouths stay closed, the stones will cry out' - I think he ripped it off some book or other :)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPGBTXckvwE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow - going for the obscurity prize today, Kelloggs, or what?

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  2. Gerry Rafferty - "Baker Street":

    "But you know he'll always keep movin'/ You know he's never gonna stop movin' / Cus he's rollin' / He's the rollin' stone"

    I actually double checked the list this time to make sure you hadn't beaten me to it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Rol,
    How about Mumford and Sons - Roll Away your Stone?

    the other one I was thinking of was "Who Rolled the Stone Away" by Vika and Linda, two Aussie sisters with amazing voices. I can't find this one on youtube, but plenty of other of their stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good call on the Mumfords, not sure why I forgot that one. I'll look into Vika and Linda.

      Delete

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