When Richard Ashcroft wrote the Verve's Bitter Sweet Symphony in 1997 he knew he was skating on thin ice; using an uncleared string loop sampled from Andrew Loog Oldham's orchestral version of the Rolling Stones' The Last Time, Ashcroft ended up ceding all royalties from the song to Mick Jagger & Keith Richards thanks to a writ served on him by the Stones' former manager Allen Klein (Klein's company AABKVO Music owned the publishing rights). Ashcroft effectively waived goodbye to an estimated $5M. Ouch.
But unlike the George Harrison My Sweet Lord/He's So Fine saga, this chapter of Rock & Roll Plagiarism has a happy ending. In 2019 Ashcroft's management reached out to Jody Klein at ABKCO (his father had died in 2009) and appealed to his better nature to right this injustice. Klein in turn contacted Mick 'n' Keef who magnanimously relinquished their song writing credits with immediate effect. Relations had warmed somewhat the previous year when the Stones had asked Ashcroft to open for them on their latest world jaunt. Ashcroft then finally started to see the royalties for what is considered by many to be one of the defining songs of the late 20th. century.
The Andrew Oldham Orchestra - The Last Time (From The Rolling Stones Songbook) (1966)
Interestingly, almost 50 years later, Andrew Oldham revisited the scene of the crime releasing The Rolling Stones Songbook and Friends Volume 2 and only bloody covered Ashcroft's tour de force. Bittersweet, indeed.
The Andrew Oldham Orchestra - Bitter Sweet Symphony (2014)
I love a sleazy guitar riff. The kind Keith Richards used to play on early Stones records*. The kind of riffs that emanate from smoke filled speakeasies; on the wrong side of the tracks; late at night; very late at night. Even in these crazy days; especially in these crazy days - I'm sure there are lockdown clubs where you go down a dimly lit flight of steps, give a 'secret knock' and, with a conspiratorial glance up to street level, you are quickly ushered in by what appears to be nothing more than a shadow. From lockdown to lock-in. And this would be the sound that greeted you; this would be the tune being played at full tilt. With the bass turned up so loud you can feel it through your chest.
Natural Child - She Got a Mind (2012)
And if you're an advocate of Ozark you'll know it as the soundtrack to when Ruth (played by Julia Garner) auditions for the stripper job at Lickety Splitz**. I did say it was sleazy, didn't I?
* The kind he nicked off Bo Diddley. ** Spoiler alert. If you know Ruth Langmore, you'll know this scene doesn't end well for the club owner.
Made in the Shade was one of the Rolling Stones' first attempts at putting out a Best Of; though in all honesty it was more of a So Far - the Stones in a holding pattern; condensing Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St., Goats Head Soup and It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, it drew a line under the Mick Taylor era, giving the band time to woo his replacement, Ronnie Wood. Taylor, as I've said here numerous times, was way too good for Mick and Keith. And, anyway, leaving the band probably saved his life: he wasn't as tough as Keef, yet still tried to take as many illegal substances as his indestructible employer.
The origin of the album's artwork has always ben shrouded in mystery. However, the cover of the Laid in the Shade bootleg kinda gives the game away.
When you listen to Keith Richards' 1988 demo of Almost Hear You Sigh, you can see why he was holding back from putting it on his solo album, Talk is Cheap. It was good, but it wasn't great. It had a groove, but it wasn't groovin'.
It needed Mick, for sure: Jagger would add his vocals and blag a co-write. But, more importantly, it needed Charlie's drums; Mick and Keith don't make the Stones. Mick + Keith + Charlie = the Stones. Elementary.
Sans Charlie (1988)
Avec Charlie* (1990)
Live (1990) Criminally, they only ever played it live a handful of times (on the Steel Wheels tour in 1990). It was then put away in a bottom drawer where it resides to this day.
* Also contains a most exquisite Spanish acoustic guitar solo from Keith.
I'm currently reading Life - Keith Richards' memoirs. Honest (brutally so, in places), affectionate, and very entertaining. The story of how the Stones came to be is told through a post-war prism so very English; how Richards describes Dartford, and later London, is as gritty as it comes; the total antithesis of Austin Powers' cut and paste psychedelic London. But, at the same time, every bit as funny.
I really wanted to know how he and Jagger wrote - who did the heavy lifting, who came up with the choruses, where the riffs (those riffs!) came from etc. And Richards' doesn't disappoint. He lifts the lid (although his recall may not be 20/20) on the division of labour and how the credits should be divvied up.
Here's Richards talking about Jumpin' Jack Flash: "The lyrics came from a grey dawn at Redlands [Richards' stately pile in Sussex]. Mick and I had been up all night, it was raining outside, and there was the sound of these boots outside the window, clump clump clump, belonging to my gardener, Jack Dyer. It woke Mick up. He said 'What's that?', I said 'Oh, that's Jack. That's jumping Jack.' I started to work around the phrase on the guitar, which was in open tuning, singing the phrase 'Jumping Jack'. Mick said 'Flash' and suddenly we had this phrase with a great rhythm and ring to it."
Since reading that I've stripped the song right back, slowed it down and turned into something a lot folkier. Keef, and Mick for that matter, would probably have something to say about it. However, the chances of them ever hearing my version are pretty remote, wouldn't you say? Though I will put it up when I've recorded it.
In the meantime, Richards has plenty to say (as you can imagine) on a whole host of topics. Here are five of my favourite Keef Quotes:
*"I don't have a problem with drugs. I have a problem with the Police."
* "The only thing Mick and I disagree about is the band, the music and what we do."
* "I'm Sagittarius - half-man, half-horse. With a licence to shit in the street."
* "You can't accuse me of anything I haven't already confessed to."
* "I'm all for a quiet life, I just didn't get one."
And here is Jumpin' Jack Flash. As honest as he is, most of the time, Richards never credited Bill Wyman for the amazing bass line which tracks the song throughout. And the video, rather than the usual promo film, I've chosen this montage which has some terrific candid photos of Richards and his band mates.
Anyone who walked into a branch of William Hill in the 1970s and put a tenner on Keith Richards making his 70th birthday will find themselves very rich today. He wasn't meant to live this long. Hell, it wasn't in the script that he'd see 40; I'm sure Keith would be the first to tell you that he used his body like a laboratory during his drug and drink fuelled heyday. So much for The Verve's mantra.
Thru and Thru is Keith taking the spotlight, sidelining Mick, and producing one of the Stones' finest moments. Fans of The Sopranos will recognise it immediately. It's a crying shame that James Gandolfini isn't around to send the new septuagenarian a telegram.
This goes out to Mondo who, I understand, has just broke the shrink-wrap on his Sopranos box-set.
Heathrow Departure Lounge (before the smoking ban)
* Two in two days; you could argue that this sort of regularity makes it anything but occasional. And you'd be right. Take it up with Drakeygirl. She made me do it.
