Rocks Off
50 Tracks That Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
December 3-4, 1969. Keith and Mick stood at the same microphone at Muscle Shoals, lights dimmed, splitting a fifth of bourbon, and simultaneously sang the melodies and harmonies on the three songs that they had recorded over three days: "Brown Sugar," "You Got to Move," and "Wild Horses." That's your rock ‘n' roll fantasy right there, pal. A six-piece band working in a tiny converted coffin factory across from an Alabama graveyard, on an eight-track recorder, with no computer editing or Autotune, recorded three songs, representing 30 percent of one of the greatest rock ‘n' roll records of all time.
So tells Bill Janovitz of the making of the inimitable triple-platinum album, Sticky Fingers, which hit number one in the US and the UK in 1971, skyrocketing the band to superstardom.
To Bill, all artists reveal themselves through their work and the Rolling Stones are no different: Each song exposes a little more of their soul. In Rocks Off, Janovitz reveals the forces at work behind the band's music by deconstructing their most representative tunes from their incredible fifty years of record making. Written by a Stones fanatic, this is a song-by-song chronicle that maps the landmarks of the band's career while expanding on their recording and personal history. Much like friends pouring over old records or having a barroom argument over the merits of certain songs, the book presents the musical leaps taken by the band and discusses how the lyrical content both reflected and influenced popular culture. The song choices are chronological and subjective; many of them are the classic hits; however, the book digs deeper into beloved album tracks and songs with unique stories behind them.
Rocks Off is the ultimate listening guide and thinking man's companion that will spur you to dust off those old albums and listen in with a newfound perspective on one of the most famous and acclaimed rock 'n' roll bands of all time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this glimmering set of unabashed fan's notes, guitarist and music writer Janovitz (Exile on Main Street) enthusiastically and movingly traces the evolution of the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band, song by song. Although the Stones started out as a cover band, they soon ascended to pantheon of rock music history as a result of their original compositions. Janovitz points out that "the music of the Stones has mirrored and provided a soundtrack for their own generation, while charting a road map and a catalog of timeless rock 'n' roll archetypes for those that followed." Janovitz traces the Stones' journey by digging deep into the music and lyrics of the songs, illustrating the ways that they provide keys to the growth, struggles, and development of the band. The Stones' first single, "Tell Me," for example, is lyrically "a string of clich s, but with enough urgency and snarl to give indication of the Stones' tougher stance than that of the Beatles." With the success of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," the band began to appreciate the influence they had on listeners and the ways that their songs reflected the time. Reading Janovitz is like sitting with a friend in a basement surrounded by albums, and spending the entire day listening to, arguing about, and worshipping the many licks that have become part of our musical vocabulary.