Episode 2 – Side One
Rock Hard, Bleed Hard
I remember when I first applied for a job at the Hard Rock Casino Biloxi, I was in pretty dire straits because it was 2007 and it was Biloxi. So, living in hurricane Katrina ground zero zone – 2 years after the fact, was not much better as far as finding work was concerned.
Hard Rock was literally just about to open their doors for business when the little misses slammed into the Gulf Coast back in ’05. And slammed she did while sucking most of the classic rock memorabilia right out into the Gulf of Mexico (cries).
“The tide is high but I’m holding on
I’m gonna be your number one
Number one, number one”
– Blondie
In ’07, I was running a sound console for a local blues and BBQ joint but wasn’t making ends meet by any means. The Hard Rock was looking at a July 7th opening date and I was “Hot, Hot, Hotter Than Hell” in the Biloxi summer heat (I totally get that Africa reference from Matthew Broderick in Biloxi Blues).
Lucky number 7/7/7 was the target day and they were on schedule to open doors so, I applied for whatever they had available and that turned out to be a limo driver. Not the stretch kind, but the “Purple Cadillac Escalade” kind. Said they needed somebody to pick up rock stars at the airport and drive VIPs around and stuff.
Uh, okay.
So, if you have ever applied to a Hard Rock before, you know the application process is a little different than a “regular” job app – which was part of the whole appeal for me. They ask a lot of questions that seem to be designed just to find out if you are cool or not, so you know I had that job aced!
“Seven or eleven, snake eyes watching you
Double up or quit, double stake or split
The ace of spades”
– Motorhead
There was this one particular question on that app that brings us to where we are today – this particular moment in time – when I am sitting here laying out my perspective on things and hoping I don’t lose you, the reader, in a boggy swamp of perplexing thoughts you can’t relate to.
Screw it, I’m going to keep writing anyway.
So, on the job app, they ask everyone who wishes to grace their humble halls of rock-n-roll, this one impossible question. The epic, unsolvable riddle that has plagued man throughout the ages.
No, not that question!
This question – What is your favorite album?
Are you insane? How do you expect me to answer that? I mean, should I just fill in the blank with something? Put down anything just to move the application process along?
Why don’t you just ask me what the square root of Pi is? Or the ingredients of pie? Pie is so delicious, I could really go for some key lime pie right now.
But I digress. Seriously, what kind of question is that to ask somebody on a job application? And then it hit me. I had the answer right there in the deep dark recesses of this cavern I call a brain, it popped right out of nowhere into my conscious thought.
How could it be though? That question has been disputed since the dawn of time. It is the controversy of all controversies. Yet there I was, sitting in a chair, in human resources, at the Hard Rock Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi with the answer in my grasp.
I slowly looked around the room at everyone else just to see if I was the only one experiencing this epiphany. Apparently, it was just me. I thought “Wow, I am totally nailing this job application!”
It’s simple really. Ask yourself this one question. Which record has influenced all the other music, that has influenced me the most throughout my life?
When you put it that way, it can narrow things down tremendously and then you begin to realize, that many of the tracks on that album are going to be your go to for favorite songs of all time!
Nine perfect tracks, all recorded throughout the span of one year. All songs written by a band that was nearing the pinnacle of their careers in 1969 – except for one track – written by a man who by then, was already a music legend.
The band was The Rolling Stones and the album is “Let It Bleed“.
Released in December 1969, this album spans all the musical styles that have affected and influenced me the most in my life – blues, country and rock-n-roll.
Part of the infamous series of four studio albums considered to be “the greatest run of albums in history”, Let It Bleed perfectly captures the spirit of American roots music, which is quite ironic considering it was mostly recorded by six Englishmen at Olympic Studios in London, England.
Track one needs no introduction. “Gimme Shelter” or Gimmie Shelter as it was originally spelled on the jacket, sleeve and label, is one of the Rolling Stones finest moments of the sixties. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, this Vietnam era classic is the result of pure, raw tension between the dynamic duo.
While Keith was working out the song’s signature opening riff, Mick was off shooting his first film “Performance” all around the streets of London with Keith’s girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg. Keith admits in his autobiography that a lot of the song’s dark and dangerous overtone came from his feelings of jealousy seeing Mick and Anita working together.
Although the song was released during the turbulence of the Vietnam war, the inspiration for the song may not be what you think, in an interview Richards is quoted as saying:
“I had been sitting by the window of my friend Robert Fraser’s apartment on Mount Street in London with an acoustic guitar when suddenly the sky went completely black and an incredible monsoon came down. It was just people running about looking for shelter – that was the germ of the idea. We went further into it until it became, you know, rape and murder are just a shot away”.
“Rape, murder! It’s just a shot away”. Those lyrics would inevitably cast a shadow over the song for many years to come.
Considered by many to be the greatest backing vocal of all time, the incredibly soulful and painful sound came from the angelic voice of Merry Clayton who was known for providing many backing tracks for artists during the sixties, maybe none quite as prolific as this one.
In a 2013 NPR interview, Jagger said:
“We randomly phoned up this poor lady in the middle of the night, and she arrived in her curlers and proceeded to do that in one or two takes, which is pretty amazing!”
After the song was recorded in London, the vocals were to be laid down in Los Angeles at Sunset Sound Recorders. In the studio, the song was packed with potential but seemed to be missing a crucial element; a female backing vocal. Merry was pregnant and reluctant at the time, but agreed to sing her heart out. Deep into the recording, Clayton’s voice literally cracks under the strain after which Jagger can be faintly heard exclaiming “Woo!” in response to Merry’s soulful and intense delivery.
The result was history made, but unfortunately at a price. Upon returning home that night, Merry Clayton suffered a miscarriage, which will forever be connected to the emotional strain and physical exertion given by Merry for the Gimme Shelter session.
Track two of the album, “Love In Vain” is a brilliant cover of a classic American blues song written by Robert Johnson. Originally titled “Love In Vain Blues”, Johnson recorded the song in 1937 during his last recording session and in 1939 it was released as the last of his original 78 rpm records.
“And I followed her to the station
With a suitcase in my hand
Well it’s hard to tell, it’s hard to tell
When all your love’s in vain”
– Robert Johnson
Johnson’s vocals are bleak and desolate, which adds to the song’s overall success, but the Stones version is very different.
“We changed the arrangement quite a lot from Robert Johnson’s. We put in extra chords that aren’t there on the Robert Johnson version, made it more country, and that’s another strange song because it’s very poignant.”
– Mick Jagger – 1995
The original Let It Bleed liner notes list the song as being written by Woody Payne, one of Johnson’s pseudonyms.
Track three, “Country Honk” also kicks ass and is basically the country version of the classic rock-n-roll track “Honky Tonk Women”. Although the rock-n-roll version was released only as a 7″ single five months earlier, the country version, “Country Honk” was the original concept arrangement.
“I’m sittin’ in a bar nibblin’ a jar in Jackson
And on the street the summer sun it shines.”
– Mick Jagger
While “Honky Tonk Women” takes place in Memphis, Tennessee – “Country Honk” opens up with the appropriate southern location of Jackson, Mississippi.
Brian Jones was present during these sessions and may have played on the early takes. It was his last recording session with the band.
Track four of Let It Bleed is a personal favorite and opens up with one of the coolest bass lines the Stones have to offer. “Live With Me” is also the first song recorded with Mick Taylor, the bands new guitarist.
Bobby Keys also bounces all over the track with his soulful saxophone for the first time with the band which led to a long and prosperous relationship with the Rolling Stones.
The lyrics of the song could be a kin to something poetic or maybe just a reflection of the rich and over indulgent lifestyle of a rock star.
Don’cha think there’s a place for you
In between the sheets?
Come on now, honey
We can build a home for three
Come on now, honey
Don’t you wanna live with me?
– Mick Jagger
This could have been one reason why the London Bach Choir did not want to be credited for their work on the record’s final track “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, but we’ll talk about that later.
Wrapping up side one of the album is the title track “Let It Bleed” which gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “Lean on me”.
“Yeah, we all need someone we can cream on
And if you want to, well you can cream on me
– Mick Jagger
Drenched in metaphors of sex and drugs, Mick sings of deep emotional dependency, which is just fine with him “when you need a little coke and sympathy”.
Playing some incredible piano on the track is the ever-forgotten sixth Rolling Stone, Mr. Ian Stewart. Stewart, an original founding member of the Rolling Stones, had been demoted by the band’s manager, Andrew Oldham, because he felt Stewart was too old, too square and one too many to be on stage. It was then agreed that Stewart would stay on as road manager and play piano on some of the recordings.
Stewart contributed to Stones albums released between 1964 and 1986. You can also find him on Led Zeppelin’s track “Rock and Roll” and Howlin’ Wolf’s “The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions“.
“I’d probably have said, ‘Well fuck you’, but he said ‘Ok, I’ll just drive you around.’ That takes a big heart, but Stu (Stewart) had one of the largest hearts around.”
– Keith Richards
As for me well, the trials and tribulations of my youth will always be reflected in “Let It Bleed”. When it came to my circle of friends, somebody always needed someone to dream, cream or bleed on. Metaphorically speaking of course.
Ok, not always metaphorically.