Watching the Stones at the Superbowl at what must be their twelfth final tour makes me roll my eyes in disgust. Mick Jagger working the crowd like a teenager in his 60 year old body just isn’t a pleasant sight. Keith Richards can still pack a power punch, but I still want to scream “Retire!” over and over.
This shows from 1973 shows the boys at what they could once do. This is a band at the top of their game, knocking the rocks off our collective socks. It is balls out thick and dirty sex rock. You can hear the lust oozing out of every pore of Richards proud lips.
They produce a rumble straight out of Thor’s gut.
The sound is from a soundboard, but you can tell it’s passed through a few generations. It’s a bit muddled in the mix and some external tape hiss is present, but what it lacks in sonic quality is made up for in the ferocity of the playing.
My copy is actually a liberated bootleg. Which is basically an illegal bootleg that has been released from its illegal bonds and passed through trading circles. Some punks got a hold of this music, threw a cheap cover on it and sold it for way too many dollars. Smart traders, and self-appointed police of the legal bootleg world, took the recording out of the thieves’ hands and passed it along freely through trading circles.
Because of this it is only a partial show, official set lists include four songs not included in my bootleg. What is included are scorching renditions of some hits, and those that should have been.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Mark Saleski
the interesting thing about this is that the Stones right now probably play in a way more energetic fashion than they did back in their drug-induced haze.
i saw them recently and it was pretty amazing.
2 - DJRadiohead
That the Stones have yet to release a truly definitive live album is one of the great shames in music. The 4 Flicks DVDs are good and you have Ya-Ya's which wins by default but in each case they only hint at what a Stones show could be.
3 - Mark Saleski
yep, very much like their studio albums, the live records tend to be all over the place too. i'm very partial to Love You Live
4 - Vern Halen
I think that's why I always loved Exile On Main Street - it looks and sounds like a boot.
5 - Rodney Welch
I'm with Mark on Love You Live, and I've never really understood why it has received bad reviews. The El Mocambo selections in particular are pure prime Stones.
6 - Mark Saleski
i think it's because you can't get your GenuineJadedRockWriter(tm) badge if you don't dump all over live records.
stupid, in my opinion.
7 - Rodney Welch
Well, I bought Love You Live in college and played it regularly, right alongside another live classic, Bob Marley's Babylon by Bus -- which is also always tagged as being somehow lame or timid or uninspired or some such phrase. I don't fathom how any fan could dislike either.
8 - Mark Saleski
we've had posts about live records before. some people just can't stand it when the tune doesn't sound exactly like the studio version.
i'm with you...Babylon By Bus is a great record.
9 - El Bicho
A great look at The Stones on and off stage is the film Gimmie Shelter, which is framed around the Altamont concert.
My favorite thing about live albums and other bootlegs is when I was actually at the show. The first time this happened was when Jane's Addiction released some live B-sides and a video where at the end of "Ain't No Right" Perry gets hit with a Birkenstock and comments on the guy's poor fashion sense. Since then, and with the explosion of bootleg/trading, I have found many shows that I was able to bring home.
Even their detractors should give The Grateful Dead major credit for the state of live music trading today.
10 - Mark Saleski
very true bicho. i wasn't a part of it, but do remember people being able to get the special tickets in the taper section...which they used to refer to as "the forest" (because of the 'trees' of microphones)
11 - DJRadiohead
I love live albums but think the Stones have yet to release a really great one. I think their live albums all have some genuinely good moments but nothing that really hits hard from beginning to end (and don't get me started on these "live hits" packages that aren't really live albums at all...).
12 - Rodney Welch
I won't quarrel with you on that regard, DJ; I'm just saying the live albums are terribly underrated, generally, and I think the same goes for their studio records of late. Even when they're just so-so, the threshold of musicianship is still pretty damn high.
13 - Mat Brewster
I tend to love live music be it bootleg or official release. I also get annoyed when the live version sounds too much like the studio song. I mean what's the point, I already have the studio version.
The Dead truly were pioneers in live recordings. Not only did they create a tapers section, but they've released countless live shows officially.
Thanks for the comments fellas
14 - Sean
I have a couple of shows from that 1973 Australian tour and they are all amazing. That period was probably the best for the stones as a live act
15 - Christian Le Duff
Mat
Try to get "Brussels affair definitive edition" bootleg. Recorded in Brussels October 17 1973, but has also tracks from other various European 73 tour shows. Was supposed to become an official live album, never made it for some obscure legal reasons.
There are incredible versions of famous Stones tunes. The energy over Street Fighting Man is really awesome and the CD contains an amazing version of Angie (far from being my favorite Stones song, but listen to this one).
Mick Taylor is key in the quality of this album, listen also to Keith rhythm.
Even if they still have a lot of energy as a band, they're far from their peak period 1969-1974.
16 - Mat Brewster
Thanks. Any tips on where a fella should start looking for such an affair?
17 - Christian Le Duff
Try eBay, it shows up there from time to time. The "definitive edition" has it all from the Europe 73 portion of Goat's head soup Tour. However, most of the songs appear on other bootleg CDs with titles such as :
"Bedspring Symphony"
"Europe 73"
"Nasty music"
"Nasty remixes"
"Brussels affair" (this one is similar to disk 1 of Definitive edition and is probably easier to find)
I don't know which version of the 2/24/73 show you own(Rocks off or another one), but "Brussels" has a better sound quality.
Look at the following URL for more info. There will be a link "the CD's".
Good luck.
http://www.rollingstonesnet.com/Brussels.htm
18 - MattM
I collect and trade Rolling Stones bootlegs. It's true that the Brussels 10/17/73 recording is probably the most famous Stones bootleg out there. It's really good. Everything everybody says about it's quality is true. I have the Perth 2/24/73 show too and it's also really good. There are a couple of other shows from the '73 Winter Tour available in similar soundboard quality (Sydney 2/26 and 2/27/73). If you're looking to get into Stones bootlegs of the Mick Taylor era, I would go for Leeds, England 3/13/71, Ft. Worth, Texas 6/24/72 (2nd show), the aforementioned Perth, Austrailia 2/24/73 show, and Brussels 10/17/73 (1st show). There are other good ones but these are the best as far as sound quality and performance is concerned. If you liked the Perth show, you'll love some of these others.
19 - Mat Brewster
Thanks Matt. I've got one other Stones show, but it is from 02 and and not nearly as stellar as this one. I'm always up for a trade, if you're interested. My etree list is here
20 - Mike
Almost any show from 72 and 73 shows a band that really was the greatest rock n roll band in the world. And a number of those shows are from soundboard and were originally intended to be released. But only a few people here have mentioned the reasons they aren't. The contractural problems are long behind them, but with Mick Taylor this band was so good it's impossible to believe almost even as you're hearing. Given that Taylor walked right before rehearsels of a new album and tour after being tired of getting screwed over on songwriting credits, Jagger will never release these. These LPs blow away any live album they've done since because that band blows the current band away like confetti. Woods is an ok guitar player but as a replacement for Taylor it took the Stones from the top to the rest of the pack. IMHO
21 - Mat Brewster
Very interesting Mike. I hadn't heard that before. I'll have to find some more bootlegs from the era.
22 - Bryan Hatten
I like the band with Wood. Sure Mick Taylor was a good guitar player. He's no Hendrix though. I've got the Brussels Affair somewhere and it sounds like he's trying to mimic Hendrix. This would be impossible being that Hedrix was THE MAN. I like the Handsome Girls cds from 1978. Another good one is Hampton Virginia on 12/18/81. This may be the best I've ever heard from the Stones and that would be with Ron.
23 - Edith Grove
re:"I've got the Brussels Affair somewhere and it sounds like he's trying to mimic Hendrix."
- Huh?? It does NOT. Taylor plays nothing like Hendrix, nor was he 'mimicking' him or anybody else. Taylor is way bluesier and less psychedelic than Hendrix; fact is - Taylor plays like Taylor, he played like Taylor in 72/73 with the Stones, and he still plays like that, now.
24 - Pete Mentarro
I agree with Edith. Taylor never used stomp boxes and other effects units like Jimi. Taylor's live slide work is amazing.
25 - Mick Knight
Wow Brian Hatten, those are some pretty absurd observations ... but you are free to make them, of course. You have to know that you in a very small minority, if you think the Ron Wood era compares to the Jones or Taylor ones, in either creativity or live performance (sans Jones last year or so).
Taylor has blues-pedigree written all over him, not guitar hero histrionics. He came after Peter Green and Eric Clapton to join John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a seminal white blues revival outfit. Taylor is as tasteful as those guys, if you want to compare him to other guitarists - he is really nothing like Hendrix at all. When he joined the Stones, he slowly helped raise their musicianship level to what it became ca 71-73. It put their live shows on par with the best of the last 40 years: Zep, The Who, Pink Floyd and a few others.
I love Ron Wood, too, and what he did with Jeff Beck, The Faces and the Stones. But his best work/contribution was really with the 2 former bands I just mentioned. He may be "more of a Stone than Taylor" or whatever they said, but Taylor is certainly more of the reason people listen to post-Jones Stones music, live or studio.