When The Beatles were in their prime, Brian Epstein was having them put out product constantly. An album every six to eight months, singles in between. John and Paul were required to churn ‘em out, and they did, one magnificent song after another. How could they do that, besides them being John and Paul?
Focus.
The Rolling Stones imposed upon themselves a similar task, which was to finish a record in a couple of months, giving themselves Valentine’s Day as the final. They did it the recording part in two months, within a couple of weeks of their deadline, which is unheard of as far as speed, for a band of the stature of the Stones.
“Angry” was the first single, which was great, lively, very Stonesy. Rock and roll. Big Keith riff carved in granite. Great stuff.
But it didn’t prepare us for the second release, “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.”
Official YouTube video, "Sweet Sounds of Heaven"
A gospel piano intro courtesy of Stevie Wonder leads us into the song, which begs reminiscence to “Fool to Cry,” with some feel of Sticky Fingers’ “I’ve Got the Blues.” It’s slow tempo, from the Atlantic Records Otis Redding ballad template, Jagger singing the living hell out of it, lyrics of uplift, hope, prayer.
Bless the father, bless the son
bless the sound of the drums
as it echoes through the valley and it bursts
let no woman or a child go hungry tonight
please protect us from the pain and the hurt
The way Jagger sings it, it tears your heart out. Then Laga Gaga comes in to hit the impossible high notes and take you past the gates.
No, I'm not, not goin' to Hell In some dusty motel And I'm not, not goin' down In the dirt I'm gonna laugh I'm gonna cry Eat the bread, drink the wine 'Cause I'm finally, finally quenchin' my thirst, yeah Let the music play loud let it burst through the clouds and we all feel the heat of the sun let us sing, let us shout let us all stand up proud let the old still believe that they're young I hear the sweet, sweet sounds of Heaven Fallin' down, fallin' down to this earth
Goddamn it if it doesn’t sound like it could’ve come off of Exile or Sticky Fingers.
It’s glorious. Jagger’s singing is glorious, Gaga is glorious, the production is glorious, the bass by Keith, the drums, Stevie’s keys. Everything.
The Stones proving the line, “Let the old still believe that they're young.” Who could have imagined they’d be able to come up with this, this great, this late?
And there’s the whole rest of the album left yet to hear.
An open message to the band…
May you defy all common sense and logic, economic and elsewhys, and soon enough, and not too late, set yourselves another deadline.
Please.