Rolling Stones - "Beggars Banquet" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1968 (London)

I would think most people will think of "Beggars Banquet" as the classic Rolling Stones album, but to me, it's not as good as their previous albums.   "Sympathy for the Devil" is incredible, as well as "Street Fighting Man" (as a record, but as commentary?) and "Jig-Saw Puzzle" as well as "Salt of the Earth" are pretty fantastic as well.   This is the first album produced by Jimmy Miller after Andrew Loog Oldham left the Stones world.   A good solid record producer, but doesn't add the usual drama of a Stones recording, except for the opening epic "Sympathy for the Devil."  After that, I feel the Stones are mirroring their rhythm and blues angle, but not with the same conviction and passion of their early recordings.  Not a bad album by any means or imagination, but I wish there were a tad more of the Brian Jones magic within the grooves. Also lyrically, besides the songs I mentioned already, the rest of the tunes are slight with no great insight or observation sensibility.  On the other hand, Nicky Hopkins does fantastic piano throughout the album.  

Andrew Oldham Orchestra and Friends - "Play the Rolling Stones Songbook Volume 2"

The Andrew Oldham Orchestra and Friends - Play the Rolling Stones Songbook Volume 2

Download from I-Tunes, 2013

Gold Lake Records

A very surprise release is the volume 2 of the Rolling Stones songbook by Andrew Loog Oldham and pals.  At times I feel like I’m the only fan of the ALO Orchestra, and often I think his music making is more interesting than his discovery the Rolling Stones.  40 something years later we get volume 2, and not odd at all the music is mostly from the Oldham years with the Stones.  Oh, and I love this album. 

There is nothing really new here, but the taste factor is high.  It is like going to five star restaurant and expecting and then having that great meal.  So no surprise factor, except the (perhaps) cheeky version of “Bitter Sweet Symphony.”   But I think it’s better than the original version, which of course that record was based on “The Last Time” which in turn there was a lawsuit…. Nevertheless money was spread around, and I think everyone is happy for it.   

And again to taste, my favorite Stones songs are covered on this album.  “She Smiled Sweetly,” and “I Am Waiting” are here, and lovely versions as well.   “She Smiled”..  has that classic ALO production sound, which quietly builds up into a wow that started off as a whisper.  The High Dials, a band I don’t know of, does an incredible version of that song.  And the bass-fuzz sound of “Under My Thumb” gives me goose bumps.  I haven’t heard such an ugly garage rock sound in a long time. 

I don’t have the full picture of this album, due to the fact that I downloaded it from I-Tunes, and it sucks one doesn’t get info like who plays what or when or why or any of the mighty w’s one comes up in one’s mind while listening to an album.  Nevertheless if you’re a Stones fan, especially circa. 1966 or so, this is the album for you.  Oldham I am convinced is a genius. 

The Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra - "East Meets West" CD remastered album

The Andrew Oldham Orchestra - East Meets West

CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Japan, 2013 (originally released in 1965)

Decca

This is a super interesting album due that Andrew Loog Oldham has a fascination with American pop, and here he puts his focus on his love for both The Four Seasons and The Beach Boys.  For me, this is what made the Rolling Stones so noteworthy during the Oldham/Brian Jones years -the mix of R n’ B with the love of contemporary pop.   Keith Richards spoke of the love of the blues, but with the Stones, in this time period, it was the crazy mixture of their original passion and the hit parade of that time.

Oldham was probably one of the first pop people to worship the brain of Brian Wilson, and the whole orchestra idea of his comes from a mixture of Wilson and the classic Phil Spector era, which were happening at the time of these recordings.   Now we get homages to artists or a sound many years after the original recording, but Oldham and company paid their respects almost instantly when these hits were on the pop charts.

The Four Seasons was masterminded by member Bob Gaudio and the Season’s record producer Bob Crewe.  Both of these men crafted, wrote and produced the New Jersey aesthetic as it happened.   Oldham’s appreciation sort of goes behind the Wizard’s curtain to look at how they work.  The Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra is a great deal a tribute to the men behind the sound booth with the engineer.

The music here touches on the greatness of the Beach Boys and The Four Seasons, but the purpose could be meant for various reasons.  Since both artists were popular at the time, it could be seen as a cash-in to what was happening in the charts at the time, but I think a lot of it has to do with Oldham’s love for the medium of pop stardom, pop record making, and the vision of the guy in the studio who conducts and makes the music.   It is also about image, so there is a visual aspect to this narrative as well.

This Japanese issued CD has both mono and stereo mixes, and there are differences between them with respect to sound and even mood.  Again, the best $28 I have spent on a recording.

The Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra & Chorus - 16 Hip Hits (cd reissue, Japan)

The Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra & Chorus - 16 Hip Hits

CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Japan, 2013

Decca

To step into a fantastic record store like Pet Sounds in Tokyo and seeing the entire Andrew Loog Oldham catalog reissued as CD, was something that almost forced me to cry, but I held my tears back and purchased all of them.  They were $28 a piece and for sure worth every yen and cent.  The first one I played was “16 Hip Hits.”  To be honest I have a lot of these songs in a collection that was put together in the 90s, but for me, to hear it in its natural order - plus the additional 16 bonus cuts, well it was like being put in a time machine in 1966.  Except I was in Tokyo not London.

Paul John Jones did a lot of the arrangements for this album, and the selection is mostly from the obsessive taste of Oldham.  It was songs that were hits at the time, and Oldham at that time, didn’t look back or reflect on his past.  This was music made to be carried out at that point and time.  So one got a snapshot view of his world at the time, and the beauty of him is that he’s an artist, but I suspect that he was thinking about himself as more as a hustler than anything else.  Music was another part of the hustle, and this is what makes this album such a sweet listening experience. 

The arrangements appear to be slower, then the original recording hits, and there is a looseness of the arrangements that almost feel like it would fall apart any moment.  So that adds a certain amount of tension in the work.  For me, it gives a sense of charm, and with the additional good taste from Oldham makes these recordings essential for anyone who is interested in 60’s British pop.  Most of the songs, if not all, are American orientated.   They hanker back to almost an imaginary state of mind of the original recordings - but re-imagined by Oldham and perhaps Jones.  But I suspect that Jones was just following Oldham’s lead, and Andrew it is all about image, and that image, is really beautiful.

The Master Musicians of Joujouka - "Brian Jones Presents The Pipes Of Pan At Joujouka" Vinyl LP

The Master Musicians of Joujouka - Brian Jones Presents The Pipes Of Pan At Joujouka

Vinyl LP, U.S., 1971

Rolling Stones Records

For me, Brian Jones is the musician that made The Rolling Stones be the Stones.  One can argue forever with respect how important he was to the band’s make-up, but to me when he left the band (as well as Andrew Loog Oldham) it became a very much of a different music group.  I might add not as one as interesting, because with Brian Jones you get a sense of exploration as well as adventure.  This album pretty much represents the adventure aspect of Brian and his world. 

Sadly I don’t have this record anymore, but Paul Bowles for Folkways or The Library of Congress, was the first one to record The Master Musicians of Joujouka, which in turn inspired a lot of musicians from the West.  Including Brian Jones who at the time must have been looking for something beyond the world of Mick and Keith.  The music here is hypnotic and rhythm orientated.   Brian went to Joujuka with a two-track portable recording machine to capture the magic, and he did.   When he got back to London, he added some stereo effects and did a re-mix of the album.  Its interesting because it is clearly how a western artist looks at another culture, specifically their music. 

It would be a mistake to see this as only music from this particular tribe, because Brian added his sensibility to the mix as well.  Paul Bowles probably captured the essence that is the Musicians, but Brian Jones with this recording added a footnote of sort.  A footnote that is an entrance to another world.   It is tragic that he died, because i suspect he would explore this sort of music more, as well as matching it with the intensity of the blues.  I believe we lost a visionary with the death of Brian Jones.

The Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra and Chorus - "Rarities" CD Compilation

The Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra and Chorus – Rarities

CD Compilation, 1984

See For Miles

On some days I prefer the Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra than say the original Rolling Stones recordings. As a youngster I would poop over these recordings, but now, as an adult, I admire their arrangements as well as the vision. And Oldham is a man of great vision. He not only saw the Stones for what they were (not are!) but the big picture that they can eventually do movies and why not do an orchestrated record of their hits as well?

The film thing never worked out – especially their “A Clockwork Orange” film project, but Oldham did in a sense had Jagger and Richard as the court songwriters in the world of Andrew and his Immediate record label among other things. A vision I think that the boys themselves didn't have, but Andrew understood the importance of an organization and everything being in one house or home. That of course,didn't last forever. But those years for both the Stones and Oldham were golden. I love Andrew's orchestration of the Stones an other songs from that era. Of course he was influenced by Brian Wilson's work with the Beach Boys as well as with Jack Neitzsche and Phil Spector's recordings, but I feel Oldham added his own touch to the art of the orchestration. Maybe a tad more British sounding or sensibility. The Rolling Stones Songbook is the classic album, but Rarities which is a combination of the hits from the orchestra as well as the b-sides and some of the odder work - especially the Lionel Bart album, is a classic in itself. A throw-away classic but nevertheless a great one.

Strange enough when he does “Da Doo Ron Ron” it falls flat compared to the Spector recording, but his take on the Stones songbook is quite amazing. He really tears apart the songs and adds a bittersweet quality to the overall work. With Spector I can see the night, and the Beach Boys the afternoon, but Oldham converys the British stormy cold bitter weather. And for me that is what makes the Oldham Orchestra so special to me. The sadness that creeps into the music adds another element to the world of the Stones. And again, I don't think Mick or Keith would see it that way, but the man with the vision truly understands the depressing aspect  that lurks inside  pop music.