The Rolling Stones - Keep It Cool (1982)

The second album extracted from the 'Fully Finished Studio Outtakes' set is dedicated to 1982, as all the tracks come from early sessions in November and December 1982, for what was to be the 1983 'Undercover' album. Once again, notes are from Zen Archer's Aural Surfing Odyssey blog, with corrected years of recording, and when he mentioned that the vocals on 'Keep It Cool' were a little low, I quickly fixed them to sound more audible.  
01 Dreams To Remember (1983)
A classic Stones take on country tonk, Jagger's vocals are variously spoken and screamed while the band bar-room it up in the background. The guitar licks flicker and squeak while the whole track has a cataclysmic tone of collapse. A certain 1970's sound in the vein of John Lennon's 'Walls And Bridges' album. Should be 1982.
02 Still In Love With You (1982)
While we discuss tracks that share DNA with a certain era, this track fits straight in to it's date line. Ponderous, warm, reflective piano and sleepy pedal-steel are enveloped in this delicately produced ballad. Correct year. 
03 I Tried To Talk Her Into It (1982)
A sweet country influenced piece with a great slice of steel guitar. It skips along merrily and wouldn’t sound out of place of any nu-country album released this side of the year 2000. This is longer than the 'Dirty Work Sessions' version too. Correct year. 
04 Part Of The Night (1976)
Also known as 'Golden Caddy' from the Pathé Marconi sessions (as heard on 'Foxes In The Boxes'), this track might as well be 'Never Make You Cry' part two but one where the piano takes the place of the guitar instead. Much later than 1976, at 1982.
05 Keep It Cool (1982)
A clean little number, light piano lines with barely there guitars which drifts at an almost glacial pace. Jagger whispers his vocals at a volume that just barely breaks over the backing. Originally released on 'Foxes In The Boxes', this is the shortest version at just over 5 minutes. Correct year. 
06 Eliza Upchink (1983)
Regards a certain lady of no scruples, this dash of blues runs slightly longer than previously bootlegged at 4:38. Just one year out, as 1982.
07 (You Better) Stop That (1983) 
Short but sweet, very much of it's time and sounding like 'Neighbours', the type of angsty, punky ripple with stabs of electric piano in the background. As above, one year out at 1982. 
08 Can't Find Love (1983)
I think this sounds like George Harrison's/Bob Dylan's 'If Not For You' in the smallest way. At nearly 7 minutes, it's one of the longest tracks on this collection. The mixture also features a Buddy Holly-esque chiming guitar line over a strolling beat. Should be 1982.
09 Cooking Up (1983)
One of the speedier efforts to this set, short speedy guitar riffs as Ronnie and Keith dance around each other and Nicky Hopkins peddles away along side. A curious title to the track, however, it's almost impossible to make out what Mick is singing about. As with all the other tracks, should be 1982.

Track listing 

01 Dreams To Remember 
02 Still In Love With You 
03 I Tried To Talk Her Into It 
04 Part Of The Night 
05 Keep It Cool 
06 Eliza Upchink 
07 (You Better) Stop That 
08 Can't Find Love
09 Cooking Up

The Rolling Stones - Trouble's A-Coming (1979)

There is currently a quite superb Rolling Stones bootleg doing the rounds, with the self-explanatory title of 'Fully Finished Studio Outtakes', and it does exactly what it says on the tin. Over the course of three CDs it collects some of the best quality Stones left-overs that I've ever heard, spanning most of their career from 1967 through to 1998, with a couple of 2002 jams added on at the end of CD3. If there's just one criticism, it's that some of the recording dates seem to be the result of guesswork rather than research, and so I've used the expertise of the Zen Archer's Aural Surfing Odyssey blog to work out the correct chronology, so that I can re-order them into a set of four themed posts. As the three earliest takes are one-offs from 1967, 1968 (which is included on my earlier 'Hillside Blues' post), and 1969, I've skipped them and gone straight for the first track from 1970 to begin one whole album of outstanding outtakes from the 70's, starting with 'Walk With Me Wendy' from 1970 and ending with 1979's 'Trouble's A-Coming'. As this timeframe includes the 'Some Girls' period, a couple of the tracks have already appeared on my 'Some More Girls' post, and so I've omitted 'You Win Again', and 'Fiji Jim' to avoid duplication, but that still leaves a great 55-minute album to start the series. With each post I'm going to add Zen Archer's notes as to why they changed the recording date (following the title), and also because they are quite informative. For instance, they mention that a couple of tracks have the vocals low in the mix, and although 'Fast Talking Slow Walking' from this set wasn't one of them, I thought that they were and so I've boosted them to sound clearer, along with those on 'Trouble's A-Coming'. 
01 Walk With Me Wendy (1974)
A 'Dog Shit' style track but replacing the horns with electric piano. Jagger bellows over the head of it all. Most likely 1970.
02 Tell Her Now It Is (1971)
OK, you'll hit the first few notes of this very well known bootleg placement (otherwise known as 'Potted Shrimp'), it's upgraded – not by a million miles, accepted, but it’ll be an upgrade, that’s good enough, surely? No! 0.17 in – vocals! Much like the 'Exile' tracks that got us stoked on the deluxe treatment of a few years earlier, this track is now replete with an extra pinch of Jagger salt and he sounds crazed! The vocals are of the fact that they sound vintage enough to be of the time – the beauty of looking after your voice for the past 60 years, I guess – we could ponder the fact that they could also have been recorded for the reissue but this stuff is better than we could have imagined. Sounds more 1970 than 1971.
03 Living In The Heart Of Love (1974)
Very easily a mid-70’s production, it’s a close brother to 'Silver Train' and 'Brown Sugar', a repeated refrain starts the track before blossoming in to a broader chorus. Correct year.
04 Fast Talking Slow Walking (1972)
A woozy, swooning bar-room lament with a joyous piano undercurrent underneath the spacey guitar lines and pattering, jazzy drum beats. An exceptional piece of work. Generally agreed to be a 'Goat's Head Soup' outtake from 1974.
05 Scarlet (1975)
So we remember the debacle of this piece on the GHS reissue – none of the Stones or Jimmy Page (apparently) remember sneaking in to the studio in the prime of their careers and putting this to tape – over two nights, granted, but maybe that's how you measure time when you're a rock star. The suns up or it's not. Some of the overdubs present on the CV seem to be missing here from half way, so this may be one of the tracks that was laid down the first night, maybe? It's far too good to be forgotten, far too good to be erased. Maybe if it had lingered for much longer the full session tape might have made it out .. it'd be nice to think. Probably 1974, as GHS is mentioned. 
06 Built That Way (1984)
Something rather different here – A 'Heatwave' style swing with a Queenish guitar line occasionally popping up through the background. I wouldn't have been at all surprised if this was a Style Council cover in all honesty. It's really very different but cruisingly good. However, 1975 rather than 1984.
07 Every Time I Break Her Heart (1977)
A space-effect country lilt, the kind that the Stones seem to have perfected through the years.  Remains unreleased and hasn't appeared on any other bootleg before. Correct year. 
08 Not The Way To Go (1977)
A punky, ramshackle, 50's surf romp with a lean line in lyrics (Jagger seems to give up part way through and riffs on the title instead). This version fades out quicker than previous versions in 'The Harder They Come' (Idol Mind) or Yellow Cat's 'From Paris To LA'. Probably one year later at 1978.
09 Never Make You Cry (1977)
Another of those late, rain soaked Saturday ballads, spiked with a little rock . Blissfully dreamy, warm and regretful, it's perfect. It's also cleaner sounding that previously booted versions. Correct year. 
10 Covered In Bruises (vocal Ronnie Wood / Mick Jagger 1981)
A split combination of force between the Glimmer Twins recorded at the Pathé Marconi sessions – Barrel big and chunky with a fat bass line that drives. It’s an odd amalgam of a track but it really, really works. The Pathé Marconi sessions were in 1977.
11 It's A Lie (1978)
Another left over from the Paris Match sessions and also recently released on the 'Foxes In The Boxes' collection. Part Stones template, slide guitar and muted piano line. Should be 1979.
12 Trouble's A-Coming (1972)
Not 1972, surely but from much later in the decade - 1979? An incredible, insistent groove with a solid march – the chorus is fantastic in and of it's own! Jagger's vocals are mixed much lower in the mix than they should be so assume this to be an earlier rehearsal/working take that never came to fruition. 

Track listing

01 Walk With Me Wendy 
02 Tell Her Now It Is 
03 Living In The Heart Of Love
04 Fast Talking Slow Walking
05 Scarlet
06 Built That Way
07 Every Time I Break Her Heart
08 Not The Way To Go
09 Never Make You Cry
10 Covered In Bruises 
11 It's A Lie
12 Trouble's A Coming 

The Rolling Stones - Gathered Up Moss Vol. II (2020)

The second volume of Auran's comprehensive collection of The Rolling Stones' non-album singles and b-sides picks with a legendary out-take from 1970 and goes right through to a non-album single from 2020. Mixed in are a number of previously unreleased songs which were added to various compilation albums in 1981, 2002 and 2012, plus a couple of tracks from their 1991 live album which never made it into the studio. As mentioned in the first post, she's omitted tracks from super deluxe editions of albums that have been coming out lately, but that's mostly due to personal preferences, and the fact that this was meant to be a collection of songs which were released at the time, but just not on a studio album. So we now have every non-album song from the band's whole career to enjoy, and once again many thanks to Auran for putting it together.   

Track listing

Gathered Up Moss Vol. II: Disc I 1970-1991
01 Cocksucker Blues (unreleased, from the 1984 German boxset 'The Rest Of The Best')
02 Through the Lonely Nights (b-side of 'It's Only Rock 'n' Roll' 1974)
03 Everything Is Turning To Gold (b-side of 'Shattered' 1978)
04 If I Was A Dancer (Dance Pt. 2) (from 'Sucking In The Seventies' compilation 1981)
05 I Think I'm Going Mad (b-side of 'She Was Hot' 1984)
06 Fancyman Blues (b-side of 'Mixed Emotions' 1989)
07 Cook Cook Blues (b-side of 'Rock And A Hard Place' 1989)
08 Wish I'd Never Met You (b-side of 'Terrifying' 1990)
09 Highwire (from 'Flashpoint' live album 1991)
10 Sex Drive (from 'Flashpoint' live album 1991)

Gathered Up Moss Vol. II: Disc II 1994-2020
01 The Storm (b-side of 'Love Is Strong' 1994)
02 So Young (b-side of 'Love Is Strong' 1994)
03 Jump On Top Of Me (b-side of 'You Got Me Rocking' 1994)
04 I'm Gonna Drive (b-side of 'Out Of Tears' 1994)
05 Anyway You Look At It (b-side of 'Saint Of Me' 1998)
06 Don't Stop (from 'Forty Licks' compilation 2002)
07 Keys To Your Love (from 'Forty Licks' compilation 2002)
08 Stealing My Heart (from 'Forty Licks' compilation 2002)
09 Losing My Touch (from 'Forty Licks' compilation 2002)
10 Hurricane (single 2002)
11 Watching The River Flow (with Ben Waters, from 'Boogie 4 Stu: A Tribute To Ian Stewart' 2011)

12 Doom And Gloom (from 'GRRR!' compilation 2012)
13 One More Shot (from 'GRRR!' compilation 2012)
14 Living In A Ghost Town (single 2020)

And as a bonus for those who want it, 'Vol. 1: Disc III' in now on Soulseek, and has been added to the first post on Mega. 

The Rolling Stones - Gathered Up Moss Vol. 1 (1969)

As a special Christmas treat we have a guest post from fellow blogger Auran, who decided that she wanted to put together a series of albums which collected up every non-UK album track that The Rolling Stones released between 1963 and 2020, and this near-comprehensive compilation of every studio recording the band released outside of their core UK album catalogue is sourced from singles, US albums, bonus tracks on live albums and compilations, and some bootlegs. The band have had many, many compilations released over the years, but because of things like label issues, or the fact that they wanted to concentrate on just the hits, a comprehensive overview of their non-album songs has never been done, and The Rolling Stones are in a not dissimilar situation to The Beatles in regards to the sheer amount of non-album singles and alternate cuts they released throughout their career. However, unlike The Beatles, there isn't any compilation that compiles them all together, so Auran took it upon herself to aggregate something and come up with a title and cover for it, and what she came up with was a two volume series that she called 'Gathered Up Moss'. The first volume covers the 60's, and the second volume the 70s' onwards (which is much less voluminous than the 60's on the front of non-album cuts, but there's still enough to fill up two discs). For that one she did omit tracks from super deluxe editions of albums that have been coming out lately, but that's mostly due to personal preferences, and it still left plenty to be going on with. 
One thing to note is that tracks from the 1964 self-titled EP and the 'Five By Five' EP have not been included, as they stand just fine on their own, and are worth being a part of any hardcore Stones fan's collection as more than just part of a compilation like this. The files that Auran sent included a third volume of 60's tracks, which repeated those of the second volume but in stereo or with alternate takes. Unless you're listening intently on headphones I don't think the casual listener will notice much difference, and so to avoid duplication I'm just including the mono versions, as to be honest, the Stones in the 60's will always be mono to me. If anyone is interested in hearing the third volume then I can always post it later, after Vol. 2.
On a personal note, there are tracks on here that even I had never heard before, especially early b-sides, and so I think even the most avid Stones fan will appreciate the work that Auran has put into these collections. 

Track listing

Gathered Up Moss Vol. I: Disc I 1963 - 1965

01 Come On (single 1963)
02 I Want To Be Loved (b-side of 'Come On')
03 I Wanna Be Your Man (single 1963)
04 Stoned (b-side of 'I Wanna Be Your Man')
05 Fortune Teller (from Decca Records "Saturday Club" compilation)
06 Poison Ivy (from Decca Records "Saturday Club" compilation)
07 Not Fade Away (single 1964)
08 It's All Over Now (single 1964)
09 Good Times, Bad Times (b-side of 'It's All Over Now')
10 Time Is On My Side (US single 1964)
11 Congratulations (b-side of 'Time Is on My Side')
12 Little Red Rooster (single 1964)
13 Everybody Needs Somebody to Love (from US album 'The Rolling Stones, Now!' 1965)
14 Surprise, Surprise (from US album 'The Rolling Stones, Now!' 1965)
15 The Last Time (single 1965)
16 Play With Fire (b-side of 'The Last Time')
17 I've Been Loving You Too Long (from 'Got Live If You Want It!' with crowd overdubs 1966)

18 The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man (extended version from early copies 

                                                                               of the UK 'Out Of Our Heads' album 1965)
19 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (single 1965)
20. The Spider And The Fly (b-side of '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction')
21 One More Try (from US album 'Out of Our Heads' 1965)
22 Get Off Of My Cloud (single 1965)
23 The Singer Not the Song (b-side of 'Get Off Of My Cloud')
24 Look What You've Done (from US album 'December's Children (and Everybody's)' 1965)
25 As Tears Go By (from US album 'December's Children (and Everybody's)' 1965)
26 Blue Turns To Grey (from US album "December's Children (and Everybody's)' 1965)

Gathered Up Moss Vol. I: Disc II 1966 - 1969
01 19th Nervous Breakdown (single 1966)
02 Sad Day (b-side of '19th Nervous Breakdown')
03 Con le Mie Lacrime (Italian version of 'As Tears Go By' 1966)
04 Paint It Black (single 1966)
05 Long, Long While (b-side of 'Paint It Black')
06 Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? (single 1966)
07 Who's Driving Your Plane? (b-side of 'Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby....')

08 Let's Spend The Night Together (single 1967)
09 Ruby Tuesday (b-side of 'Let's Spend The Night Together')
10 Out Of Time (from US compilation 'Flowers' 1967)
11 My Girl (from US compilation 'Flowers' 1967)
12 Ride On, Baby (from US compilation 'Flowers' 1967)
13 Sittin' On A Fence (from US compilation 'Flowers' 1967)
14 We Love You (single 1967)
15 Dandelion (b-side of 'We Love You')
16 Jumpin' Jack Flash (single 1968)
17 Child Of The Moon (b-side of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash')
18 Street Fighting Man (single 1968)
19 Honky Tonk Women (single 1969)
20 You Can't Always Get What You Want (b-side of 'Honky Tonk Women')

If you're a fan of the Canterbury scene of the 70's then check out Auran's blog The Soft Machine Rigmarole

The Rolling Stones - Very Ancient, Thank You Kindly (The Decca Live Album) (1972)

Even though The Rolling Stones had only just released the live 'Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!' two years earlier, their label Decca were keen for them to issue another one, and so arrangements were made to record some shows from their 1972 American tour, with the intention of releasing the album shortly afterwards. A number of concerts were recorded, and the best performances were selected, with most of the first half coming from the 21 July Philadelphia show and the second half favouring Fort Worth from 24 June. Other concerts were also taped, such as Boston Gardens on 19 July and Tarrant County Convention Centre on 21 June and so this has resulted in a lot of confusion, with numerous bootlegs appearing which all claim to the 'The Unreleased Decca Live Album', but featuring recordings from these other venues. The band had left Decca in 1970 to form their own Rolling Stones Records label, which would be free from corporate interference and meddling, and what happened next was a perfect example of what they were trying to get away from, as although Alan Klein and Decca Records have always denied it, they've been accused of being the cause of the late-stage abandonment of the planned double live album of the Stones' 1972 American tour. As they then held the exclusive UK rights to the Stones' re-recordings of songs originally released while signed to the label, the album would have had to be issued by Decca, even though they were no longer part of Decca's roster, and some sources have stated that they or Klein objected to the inclusion of tracks by the tour's support act, Stevie Wonder, whereas others blame Motown for insisting that the album was a joint release by Stevie Wonder with The Rolling Stones. In the end the Stones just abandoned the whole thing and it became the stuff of legend. Fans have tried to replicate it with alternate recordings, but these are often poorer quality, and so when I found this recording I wanted to make sure it was the real thing. The track 'Sweet Virginia' had been removed as it has been 'officially released', and so I tracked down that recording from the 24 June Fort Worth concert and when I slotted it back in it fitted perfectly, even down to the banter being the same, so I'm happy that what we have here is the real deal. I found a great cover online, even if the title is a bit strange, but actually I like it (because that's what they are!), and so that's what it's now called. 

Track listing 

01 All Down The Line (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
02 Brown Sugar (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
03 Bitch (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
04 Rocks Off (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
05 Gimme Shelter (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
06 Happy (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
07 Tumbling Dice (Philadelphia 21 Jul 1972)
08 Love In Vain (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
09 Sweet Virginia (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
10 You Can't Always Get What You Want (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
11 Midnight Rambler (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
12 Rip This Joint (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
13 Jumping Jack Flash (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)
14 Street Fighting Man (Fort Worth 24 Jun 1972)

Harvey Mandel - ...and on guitar (2014)

Harvey Mandel was born on 11 March 1945 in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Morton Grove, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He began playing guitar while in his early teens and found his inspiration in the sound of the Ventures, but once he had the chance to hear musicians like Buddy Guy in the small blues clubs of Chicago's West and South sides a whole new world of music opened up to him. He learned from and performed with such greats as Guy, Albert King, Muddy Waters, and Otis Rush, and he got his nickname "The Snake" from master blues harp player Charlie Musselwhite, who admired the way Mandel's left hand would effortlessly snake up and down the guitar neck. His solo career began in the late '60s, after he was signed to Philips Records, a label distributed by Mercury Records, and his first album was 1968's 'Cristo Redentor', which was well-received on the then-growing underground radio scene in California. He followed this with 'Righteous' in 1969 and 'Games Guitars Play' in 1970, before moving to the Janus Records label. On the night that Henry Vestine quit Canned Heat in July 1969, Mandel was in the band's dressing room at the Fillmore West, and both he and Mike Bloomfield joined them to help out on their two sets. Following this, both Bloomfield and Mandel were offered Vestine's spot in the band, and Mandel accepted, with his third performance with the band being the Woodstock Festival in 1969. He stayed with Canned Heat for a year, touring and recording material which appeared on three albums, and during this period, with Canned Heat bandmates Larry Taylor and Fito de la Parra, he also contributed to the 'Music From Free Creek' super session project. With Canned Heat bassist Larry Taylor, Mandel joined John Mayall's band for a couple of years, and after a brief tour with Mayall in Europe in 1972, he recorded 'The Snake', and then 'Shangrenade' in 1973 and 'Feel The Sound Of Harvey Mandel' in 1974, all of which were released on Janus Records. When Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor left the band in December 1974, Mandel was given an audition as his replacement, and although he didn't get the gig, he did record two tracks with the Stones for their 1976 album 'Black And Blue', providing the lead guitar solo on 'Hot Stuff'. Mandel's session work is a short who's-who of blues and roots-rock greats, including playing with The Rolling Stones, John Mayall, Charlie Musselwhite, Barry Goldberg, Jimmy Witherspoon, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Dewey Terry, Freddy Roulette, Bobby Keys, and eventually, even his heroes the Ventures. In the early '90s, Mandel moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he recorded a series of excellent albums for the Chicago-based Western Front Entertainment label, as well as permanently rejoining Canned Heat in 2010. He continues to write and record to this day, sometimes in collaboration with his son Eric Mandel as lead vocalist, and if you need proof that he's lost none of his skill in recent years then just listen to his work on 'Wasabi' from 1996.

Track listing

Disc One
01 Cha Cha The Blues (from 'Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's  

                                                                                                         South Side Band' 1967) 
02 Spirit Of Trane (from '2 Jews Blues' by Barry Goldberg 1969)
03 Sisters And Brothers (from 'Mighty Grahame Bond' by Grahame Bond 1969)
04 Going Down Slow (from 'The Blues Singer' by Jimmy Witherspoon 1969)
05 I Feel A Lot (from 'Raymond Louis Kennedy' by Raymond Louis Kennedy 1970) 
06 Television Eye (from 'Back To The Roots' by John Mayall 1971)
07 Do It Yourself (from 'Choice Cuts' by Pure Food & Drug Act 1972)
08 The Buzzard's Cousin (from 'Fiddler On The Rock' by Don "Sugarcane" Harris 1972)

Disc Two
01 Suit For The Cat (from 'Chief' by Dewey Terry 1973)
02 Earl's Shuffle (from 'Music From Free Creek' by Various Artists 1973)
03 Which Witch Is Which (from 'Reel To Real' by Love 1974)
04 Memory Motel (from 'Black And Blue' by The Rolling Stones 1976)
05 You Make It Hard (from 'Let's All Get Naked' by Acme Thunder 1978)
06 Zeke And The Rat (from 'Pryvet Blewz' by Denis Farley 1988)
07 Snake Bite (from 'Guitar Speak II' by Various Artists 1990)
08 Wasabi (from 'Standing In Stereo' by Geno White 1996)
09 Shake The Devil Down (from 'Primitive Son' by Eli Cook 2014)

The Rolling Stones - Hillside Blues (1971)

For the final post of Rolling Stones rarities, I removed the duplicate songs that had already appeared on the 'Necrophilia' and 'Travelin' Man' albums from the 'Hillside Blues' bootleg, and that left over an hour of prime Rolling Stones out-takes to complete the trilogy.

Track listing

01 Jiving Sister Fanny (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1969)
02 I'm Going Down (Los Angeles, Elektra Studios 1969)
03 I Don't Know Why (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1969)
04 Downtown Suzie (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1969)  
05 Blood Red Wine (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1968)
06 Family (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1968)
07 Still A Fool (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1968)
08 Dancing In The Light (London, Olympic Sound Studios 1970)    
09 Who Am I? (London, Olympic Studios 1970)
10 Trident Jam (London, Olympic Studios 1970)    
11 Hillside Blues (Los Angeles, Sunset Sound Studios 1969)   
12 Highway Child (Redlands 1968)    
13 I Ain't Lying (Villefranche sur-mer, Villa Nellcote 1971)

Ry Cooder - ...and on guitar (1971)

Ryland Peter Cooder was born on 15 March 1947 in Los Angeles, California, growing up in Santa Monica, California, and graduating from Santa Monica High School in 1964. He began playing the guitar when he was three years old, and a year later he accidentally stuck a knife in his left eye and has had to wear a glass eye ever since. As a youngster he performed as part of a pickup trio with Bill Monroe and Doc Watson, in which he played banjo, but although the band was not a success, it did inspire him to apply banjo tunings and the three-finger roll to guitar instead. He first attracted attention playing with Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, notably on the 1967 album 'Safe As Milk', after previously having worked with Taj Mahal and Ed Cassidy in the Rising Sons. At a warm-up gig shortly before the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Don Van Vliet froze, straightened his tie, then walked off the 10 ft stage and landed on manager Bob Krasnow, later claiming he had seen a girl in the audience turn into a fish, with bubbles coming from her mouth. Cooder decided that this unprofessionalism was the final straw in an already strained relationship, and that he could no longer work with Van Vliet, effectively starting his career as a session musician. In 1968 he played with Randy Newman on his '12 Songs' album, as well recording sessions with The Rolling Stones in 1968 and 1969, with his contribution on mandolin appearing on 'Let It Bleed' and his slide guitar on 'Sticky Fingers', and later teaming up with Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, and longtime Rolling Stones sideman Nicky Hopkins to record the 'Jamming with Edward!' album. Cooder also played bottleneck guitar on the original version of Little Feat's 'Willin'', and contributed slide and bottleneck guitar to a vast array of US singer/songwriters in the early 70's, including Marc Benno, Arlo Guthrie, Scott McKenzie, Ron Elliott, Mark LeVine and Gordon Lightfoot, and in particular on the truly stunning version of the Dionne Warwick/Cilla Black classic 'Anyone Who Had A Heart' by Eve. Throughout the 70's, Cooder released a series of albums that showcased his guitar work, starting with his eponymous debut in 1970, and releasing an album every year until the late 80's. These records explored bygone musical genres and found old-time recordings which he then personalized and updated, and on his breakthrough album 'Into The Purple Valley' he chose unusual instrumentations and arrangements of blues, gospel, calypso, and country songs. During the 80's he moved into film soundtracks, and his contribution to Wim Wnders' 'Paris, Texas' is regarded as some of his best work, but for this collection we're just looking at his session-work on albums from other artists in the early 70's. As Cooder is recognised as one of the foremost exponents of the slide and bottleneck guitar, I've chosen just tracks which feature those instruments, and have still managed to fill two volumes from just four years of recordings..

Track listing

Disc One
01 Sure 'Nuff 'N' Yes I Do (from 'Safe As Milk' by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band 1967)
02 Richard Lee (from 'Pilgrim's Progress' by Mark LeVine 1968)
03 Heavy On My Mind (from 'LA, Memphis & Tyler, Texas' by Dale Hawkins 1968)
04 Don't Talk Now (from 'Longbranch/Pennywhistle' by Longbranch/Pennywhistle 1968)
05 Smokey Joe's Cafe (from 'The Anders & Poncia Album' by Anders & Poncia 1968)
06 Struttin' Down Main Street (from 'Border Town' by Fusion 1969) 
07 Something Better (single by Marianne Faithfull 1969)
08 Soft Soundin' Music (from 'Harpers Bizarre 4' by Harpers Bizarre 1969)
09 Teach It To The Children (from 'Marc Benno' by Marc Benno 1970)
10 Natural Magic (from the soundtrack of the film 'Performance' 1970)
11 Look In The Mirror (from 'Stained Glass Morning' by Scott McKenzie 1970)
12 Deep River Runs Blue (from 'The Candlestickmaker' by Ron Elliott 1970)
13 Go Back Upstairs (from 'Salty' by Alex Richman 1970)

Disc Two
01 Let's Burn Down The Cornfield (from '12 Songs' by Randy Newman 1970)
02 Me And Bobby McGee (from 'If You Could Read My Mind' by Gordon Lightfoot 1970)
03 Anyone Who Had A Heart (from 'Take It And Smile' by Eve 1970)
04 Willin' (from 'Little Feat' by Little Feat 1970)
05 Fence Post Blues (from 'Washington County' by Arlo Guthrie 1970
06 Don't Drink The Water (from 'Don Everly' by Don Everly 1970)
07 Song For Judith (from 'Living' by Judy Collins 1971)
08 The Blues (All Night Long) (from 'Stories' by David Blue 1971)
09 Mr. Money (from 'Possum' by Possum 1971)
10 Born Under A Bad Sign (from 'Rita Coolidge' by Rita Coolidge 1971)

11 Sister Morphine (from 'Sticky Fingers' by The Rolling Stones 1971)
12 Dirty, Dirty (from 'Crazy Horse' by Crazy Horse 1971)

Thanks to whoever it as who suggested Ry Cooder (sorry I can't find your name) but it's a great addition to the series. 

search cooder aiwe

For MAC users

Press command+shift+period (to show hidden files) and a grayed out folder '...and on guitar" will appear and the mp3s will be inside. Either drag those to another folder OR rename the folder without any periods at the beginning. Press command+shift+period to once again hide the hidden files.

The Rolling Stones - Travelin' Man (1970)

Once 'Necrophilia' had been put to one side I was able to remove the duplicate songs that were on there from the 'Catfish' bootleg that I'd found, and I ended up with 49 minutes of music, which I've re-sequenced and given a new cover, for the second of these collections of late 60's and early 70's rarities from The Stones. Following a comment about 'Loving Sacred Loving', I've determined that both that song and 'Shades Of Orange' were actually by Bill Wyman's proteges The End rather than the Stones. I first though that he might have taken the songs to rehearsals for the Stones to try out, but comparing both versions shows that isn't the case, so I've performed a major overhaul, removing those those two tracks, re-titled it and given it a new cover. Luckily it was a lengthy album, so is still 43 minutes long even after the edit, and I've also given the title track a proper intro compared to other bootlegs of the song.  

Track listing

 

01 I Can See It (RCA Studios, Hollywood 1966)

02 Mr. Spector And Mr. Pitney Came Too (Regent Sound Studios, London 1964)

03 Cocksucker Blues (RS Mobile Recording Studio, Newbury 1970)

04 Leather Jacket (Olympic Sound Studios, London 1970)

05 Stuck Out All Alone (Olympic Sound Studios, London 1968)

06 Catfish (unknown studio or year)

07 Alladin Story (Trident Studios, London 1969)

08 And I Was A Country Boy (Olympic Sound Studios, London 1969)

09 Potted Shrimp (Olympic Sound Studios, London 1970)

10 Travelin' Man (Olympic Sound Studios, London 1970)

The Rolling Stones - Necrophilia (1972)

I've collected a few Rolling Stones bootlegs over the past few years, with some tracks appearing on more than one of them, and I needed to go through them and knock them into some sort of shape, but have only just got around to doing it. The easiest thing was to start with one that was already complied, which is the legendary 'Necrophilia' album from 1972, which was personally compiled by Bill Wyman, before being scrapped and replaced by 'More Hot Rocks'. Apparently it was vetoed by Allen Klein as he didn't think there were enough Jagger/Richard compositions on there, so putting profit over artistic integrity once again.   

Track listing

01 Out Of Time (Pye Studios, London 1966)
02 Don't Lie To Me (Chess Studios, Chicago 1964)
03 Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow (RCA Studios, Hollywood 1966)
04 Think (RCA Studios, Hollywood 1965)
05 Hear It (Regent Sound Studios, London 1964)
06 Something Just Stuck In Your Mind (Regent Sound Studios, London 1964)
07 Aftermath (Regent Sound Studios, London 1964)
08 I'd Much Rather Be With The Boys (Decca Studios, London 1965)
09 Andrew's Blues (Regent Sound Studios, London 1964) 
10 Pay Your Dues (Olympic Sound Studios, London 1968) 
11 Let The Good Times Roll (RCA Studios, Hollywood 1965)
12 Heart Of Stone (Regent Sound Studios, London 1964)
13 Each & Every Day Of The Year (Regent Sound Studios, London 1964)
14 (Walkin' Thru The) Sleepy City (Regent Sound Studios, London 1964)
15 Try A Little Harder (Regent Sound Studios, London 1964)
16 Blue Turns To Grey (Regent Sound Studios, London 1964)
17 We're Wasting Time (Regent Sound Studios, London 1964)

Mick Jagger & The Red Devils - Red Devil Blues (1993)

The Red Devils were a Los Angeles-based blues rock band who were active from 1988 to 1994. With their no-frills approach and singer Lester Butler's convincing Chicago-style blues harp, they were a popular fixture on the Los Angeles club scene and toured the U.S. and Europe. By early 1991, the Blue Shadows (as they were then known) came to the attention of producers Rick Rubin and George Drakoulias of Def American Recordings, and the band hoped that Drakoulias would work with them, but it became clear that Rubin wanted to produce their debut album. One of his first orders of business was a name change, so the Blue Shadows became the Red Devils, and then Rubin decided that their debut album was going to be a live album, a one-take, no-overdubs release, titled simply 'King King', for which he chose the songs and the cover art. The album was recorded at the King King club during three or four of their regular Monday-night performances in 1991, and featured a mix of songs by blues figures such as Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Howlin' Wolf, and Willie Dixon along with some band originals. Mick Jagger became interested in the Red Devils following a recommendation by Rick Rubin, who was producing Jagger's third solo album, and after scouting the band at King King, Jagger joined them on stage in May 1992 and performed Bo Diddley's 'Who Do You Love?' and Little Walter's version of 'Blues With A Feeling'. A month later, the Red Devils were invited to record some blues standards with Jagger, presumably for his upcoming solo album, and during one thirteen-hour recording session at Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood, Jagger and the band recorded thirteen songs, mostly completed in three or fewer takes, with no overdubs, as Jagger wanted to recreate the spontaneous, rough-and-tumble quality of his favorite early Chicago blues. When Jagger's 'Wandering Spirit' was released in 1993, it didn't include any of the songs recorded with the Red Devils, and the sessions passed into legend until bootlegs started to appears some years later. On listening to these recordings you can hear that Jagger and the band are having a ball, and while the production is rough and ready, that's what they wanted, and so it really is an authentic r'n'b/blues album by an artist trying to re-connect to his roots.

Track listing

01 Mean Old World
02 Blues With A Feeling
03 I Got My Eyes On You
04 Still A Fool
05 Checkin' Up On My Baby
06 One Way Out
07 Talk To Me Baby
08 Evil
09 Ain't Your Business
10 Shake 'M On Down
11 Somebody Loves Me
12 Dream Girl Blues
13 40 Days 40 Nights

The Rolling Stones - Some Other Girls (1978)

From the same 5CD set which supplied the songs for my 'Some More Girls' post comes a complete alternative version of the 'Some Girls' album itself, including an eleven-minute 'Miss You' and a nine-minute 'When The Whip Comes Down', as well as alternate versions of all the other songs from the record. Not much more to say, other than that these recordings are generally much better quality than the out-takes on the last post, as they were probably considered at some point for inclusion on the finished album, so now that you've had 'More Girls', you can enjoy these 'Other Girls'.  

Track listing  

01 Miss You (Take #2)
02 When The Whip Comes Down (Take #1)
03 Just My Imagination (Take #4)
04 Some Girls (Take #3)
05 Lies (Take #1)
06 Far Away Eyes (Take #1)
07 Respectable (Take #3)
08 Before They Make Me Run (Take #4)
09 Beast Of Burden (Take #1)
10 Shattered (Take #2)

The Rolling Stones - Some More Girls (1978)

A few years ago a 5CD bootleg started to circulate which consisted of over 70 out-takes from the 'Some Girls' recording sessions of 1977 and 1978. As is usual on collections like this, the quality of the songs varied considerably, with some being almost finished takes and others being little more than repeated guitar riffs and improvised vocals, and it also included many alternate takes of the songs that eventually ended up on the 'Some Girls' album. The sound quality also varied between well-produced final takes and very basically-recorded demos, and after listening to the whole thing a couple of times I managed to find ten reasonably complete, otherwise unreleased, songs that I felt were worth hearing. Where the sound was a bit thin I've boosted the bass to try to match the better-produced recordings, and I've also done a bit of post-production on the beginnings and endings of the some of the tracks, fixing fade-ins which sounded odd, and smoothing out the endings where the recording ended suddenly. Hopefully that's all resulted in an album that doesn't just sound like a load of off-cuts, but holds together as a credible companion to the 'Some Girls' release. Many fans regard that record as a real return to form for the band, and consider it to be their best album since 'Exile On Main Street', so logically you'd expect the out-takes to be of a similar quality, and they are.  

UPDATE - After I first posted this album, there were a few comments on it which mentioned the similar bonus tracks on the 2011 Deluxe re-issue of 'Some Girls', and when I put this album together from the bootleg CD the original plan was to use the raw alternate versions of the songs and try to clean them up sufficiently to make a reasonable companion to the original release, which was why I also kept the titles given to them by the bootleggers. However, despite my best efforts, I have to admit that the versions on the 'Some Girls' bonus disc are definitely the best quality takes of the songs (for instance, Jagger doesn't sound drunk on the opening line of 'You Win Again'!), so in order to make this an even better listening experience I've upgraded it so that where a song from this album was on the bonus disc I've replaced it with that version, and I've also sourced what I think is a better take of 'Everlasting Is My Love' to upgrade that as well. I haven't used all of the bonus disc tracks, as I didn't feel that a couple of them quite fitted in, and 'We Had It All' was actually recorded two years later, in 1979. Both 'So Young' and 'No Spare Parts' were released as singles following the 2011 re-issue, so I've left them off as well, although I have included the full six-minute version of 'No Spare Parts' from the bootleg CD as that is a significantly different recording. So what we now have is a much more complete collection of the 'Some Girls' out-takes, all in the best quality available. 

Track listing

01 Claudine

02 I Love You Too Much

03 You Win Again

04 Do You Think I Really Care

05 Don't Be A Stranger

06 Everlasting Is My Love

07 Hang Fire

08 The Way She Held Me Tight

09 When You're Gone

10 No Spare Parts

11 Keep Up Blues

12 Fiji Jim

The Rolling Stones - The 1969 Preservation Tapes (1969)

Fans of bands such as The Rolling Stones have become used to an annual New Years treat as their parent record company attempts to extend the copyright of unissued archive material by making it publicly available online. The difference this year was the method they used was Youtube, with 115 unissued Stones tracks appearing on 31st December 2019 under the user 69RSTRAX. By the time they'd been flagged by US websites they'd been taken down, but luckily there were Stones fans who were expecting this, and they managed to save the tracks before they were deleted. The downside, however, was that there an in-built spoiler in the recordings, resulting in a high-pitched whine throughout, but using some free software, the foremost Rolling Stones fansite www.iorr.org has removed this spoiler and made the tracks available for fans to hear these unique, and often very different versions of some the band's best songs from 1969. They've been around for a month or so now, and are already getting hard to find, so I've tracked them down before they disappear completely. Of the 115 tracks released, there were 98 live recordings from a variety of gigs throughout the year, but I've concentrated on the studio recordings, and for the collection that I found the compiler has just removed one track which was actually a 1978 rehearsal uploaded in error, so we now have a bluesier version of 'Love In Vain', and a take of 'You Got The Silver' featuring Jagger on vocals, with Richards returning the favour by singing 'Gimme Shelter'. There's also an early take of 'Sister Morphine', a radically reworked 'Wild Horses', 'Honky Tonk Women' with alternate lyrics, and instrumental versions of 'Stray Cat Blues', 'Midnight Rambler', 'Let It Bleed' and 'Country Honk'. To close the album we have 22 minutes of Jagger and the London Bach Choir laying down the choral vocals for 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' (at the end, as you might only ever want to hear it once!), and the whole collection gives us a fascinating insight into the studio workings of the band from over 50 years ago. 

   
Track listing

01 Sympathy For The Devil (Rock And Roll Circus rehearsals)
02 Stray Cat Blues (instrumental)
03 Ruby Tuesday (Rock And Roll Circus rehearsals)
04 Midnight Rambler (instrumental)
05 Wild Horses (with strings and glass harmonica)
06 Country Honk (instrumental)
07 Sister Morphine (longer early version)
08 Let It Bleed (instrumental)
09 Love In Vain (bluesier version)
10 You Got The Silver (Jagger lead vocal)
11 Gimme Shelter (alternate vocals)
12 Honky Tonk Women (alternate lyrics)
13 Gimme Shelter (Jagger and Richards double-tracked vocals)
14 You Can't Always Get What You Want (choir overdub sessions)

The Rolling Stones - Fancyman Blues (1989)

I may have mentioned previously that I'm not the biggest fan of the Rolling Stones, although I do love all their stuff from the 60's, and a few albums from the early 70's, so I've never heard either 'Steel Wheels' or 'Voodoo Lounge' from the 80's. I recently discovered a bootleg of outtakes from those two albums, and the comments seemed to indicate that some of the songs left off the albums were better that those which made it, and on listening to 'Fancyman Blues' and 'For Your Precious Love' I could see their point, as they were both superb recordings which somehow were not considered good enough for the final track listing. Using that as a starting point I investigated further and found that some of the tracks on the bootleg had eventually turned up on b-sides, including the afore-mentioned 'Fancyman Blues' in a shortened version, and so I listened to those b-sides and found that a lot of them were surprisingly good songs. I've therefore taken all the b-sides from the singles extrated from those two albums, added in the best outtakes, including a great track with Keith on vocals, a sublime reading of 'For Your Precious Love', and the extended version of 'Fancyman Blues', and come up with an album that I actually enjoy listening to. It helps that on a number of the songs the band have gone back to their blues roots, and by mixing those with some fine rockers it makes for an album which sits nicely between 'Steel Wheels' and 'Voodoo Lounge', and which some people (not necessarily me) might say is even better than one or the other of those two. 

Track listing    

01 Jump On Top Of Me (b-side of 'You Got Me Rocking' 1994)
02 Wish I'd Never Met You (b-side of 'Terrifying' 1989)
03 I'm Gonna Drive (b-side of 'Out Of Tears' 1994)
04 Ready Yourself (outtake 1989)
05 Fancyman Blues (b-side of 'Mixed Emotions' 1989 - extended version)
06 So Young (b-side of 'Love Is Strong' 1994)
07 Cook Cook Blues (b-side of 'Rock And A Hard Place' 1989)
08 The Storm (b-side of 'Love Is Strong' 1994)
09 You Got It Made (outtake 1994 - Keef vocal)
10 For Your Precious Love (outtake 1989)

The Rolling Stones - It's Only Goats Head Soup...But We Like It (1974)

While recording their 70's albums The Rolling Stones often taped more songs than were needed, and once the final track listing was decided on these songs were filed away, eventually leaking out on bootleg CD's many years later. Their most prolific period seemed to have been between 1972 and 1974, more specifically during the recording of their 'It's Only Rock 'n' Roll' and 'Goats Head Soup' albums, and so here we have alternate mixes, extended takes and unreleased songs from those sessions. Some of the tracks seem to be dubbed from acetates so they can be a bit scratchy, but it's worth overlooking that to hear these songs before they were polished for their respective albums.  
As this is an actual CD that I found online and which needs a wider exposure, I've included front and back covers, and also full information about each song in the file. 

Track listing

01 It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (rough mix)
02 Ain't Too Proud To Beg (alternate mix)
03 Winter (alternate mix)
04 Silver Train (alternate mix)
05 Drift Away (unreleased song)
06 Time Waits For No One (long version)
07 Criss Cross Man (unreleased song)
08 Through The Lonely Nights (1974 b-side only)
09 Living In The Heart Of Love (unreleased song)
10 Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Broth) (unreleased Mick Jagger solo single) 
11 Angie (rough mix without reverb & 2nd keyboard overdub)
12 Dance Little Sister (alternate mix)
13 Till The Next Goodbye (alternate mix)
14 If You Can't Rock Me (alternate mix)
15 Fingerprint File (alternate longer mix)

Tracks 1,2,5,6,12,13,14,15 are 'It's Only Rock 'n' Roll' outtakes.
Tracks 3,4,7,8,11 are 'Goats Head Soup' outtakes.
Track 10 recorded at Record Plant,Los Angeles 1973.

The Rolling Stones - Stoned On Reggae (1997)

Following on from my 'Kingston Calling' post showing the way that reggae influenced The Clash, another band who have never shied away from including the odd bit of reggae into their songs are The Rolling Stones. Perhaps their most famous attempt was 'Cherry Oh Baby' from the 'Black And Blue' album, and this seemed to inspire them to experiment more with the genre, as following albums tended to feature at least one reggae or reggae-influenced song. They included the otherwise unavailable 'Cracking Up' on their 'Love You Live' album from 1977, and during the sessions for 1979's 'Emotional Rescue' in Nassua the band laid down a 10 minute reggae jam called 'Jah Is Not Dead'. They also recorded a number of reggae songs which never made it to the final track-listing of their albums, so I've gathered up the best of those, edited 'Jah Is Not Dead' to a more palatable length, and to round off the collection I've added on the excellent Bi-Polar At The Controls remix of 'Out Of Control' from the 'Bridges To Babylon' album.

Track listing

01 Cherry Oh Baby (from 'Black And Blue' 1976)
02 Send It To Me (from 'Emotional Rescue' 1980)
03 Hey Negrita (from 'Black And Blue' 1976)
04 You Don't Have To Mean It (from 'Bridges To Babylon' 1997)
05 Cracking Up (from 'Love You Live' 1977)
06 She Never Listens To Me (out-take 1985)
07 Feel On Baby (from 'Undercover' 1983)
08 Munich Reggae (out-take 1975)
09 Jah Is Not Dead (out-take 1979)
10 Too Rude (from 'Dirty Work' 1986)
11 Out Of Control ('Bridges To Babylon' remix 1997)