I posted the song Happy a while back and I was commenting on Keith Richards lead vocals. He always would sing songs that reflected him and his voice. I heard this song in the 80s and fell in love with it.
This is one of the times that Keith Richards sang the entire lead vocal. They did record a version with Jagger singing lead but decided to release the one with Richards singing.
Supersession man Nicky Hopkins played piano and organ on this. He played with The Stones on albums from Between The Buttons through Black And Blue. Along with Ian Stewart and Billy Preston, Hopkins was one of the three major contributors on keyboards for The Stones. Hopkins also played with The Beatles, Who, Kinks, and Jeff Beck.
The song was included in the Michaelangelo Antonioni 1970 film Zabriskie Point…but it wasn’t on the soundtrack. This song was the B side to the Let It Bleed single…also it was featured on the album Let It Bleed.
Supposedly Keith Richards wrote this about his then-girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg. She was with his bandmate Brian Jones before leaving Brian for Richards. This didn’t help Brian’s mental state at the time.
Brian Jones played the autoharp on this track. Jones played many unusual instruments for The Stones, and this was one of the last songs he contributed to. To be fair he rarely showed up to the Let It Bleed sessions and was not always functional when he did.
Personally, I’m a Brian Jones fan. When they got rid of him they lost their ultimate utility knife. He flavored the music with different instruments and they never sounded the same again. As much as Mick Taylor made so much of their sound from here on…that variety that Brian provided was missed.
I do understand why Mick and Keith did what they did but…it’s no secret that they dominated the songwriting and did not want songs from anyone else in the band. Taylor had to sue to get credits for songs he helped write years later after he left the band.
George Harrison and Brian Jones were close because they were in a similar situation with their respective bands. George at least got some songs on albums, unlike Brian. I would recommend any Stones fan to read Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones by Paul Trynka. Brian could be nasty and also a good guy…in other words, he was human. Sometimes it gets overlooked that Brian started The Rolling Stones.
The Stones didn’t play this live until 1999, but then it became a regular part of their otherwise hit-packed setlists. Richards was surprised how well it went over with fans.
You Got The Silver
Hey babe, what’s in your eyes?
I saw them flashing like airplane lights
You fill my cup, babe, that’s for sure
I must come back for a little more
You got my heart you got my soul
You got the silver you got the gold
You got the diamonds from the mine
Well that’s all right, it’ll buy some time
Tell me, honey, what will I do
When I’m hungry and thirsty too
Feeling foolish (and that’s for sure)
Just waiting here at your kitchen door?
Hey baby, what’s in your eyes?
Is that the diamonds from the mine?
What’s that laughing in your smile?
I don’t care, no, I don’t care
Oh babe, you got my soul
You got the silver you got the gold
If that’s your love, just leave me blind
I don’t care, no, that’s no big surprise
…
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This song had to grow on me. I had to hear and read from others who consider it special. And now I get it. I’ve been lucky to hear it live a few times. I agree about Brian and his contributions. In this song, the instruments really compliment Keith’s vocals and vice versa.
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I have to say they know perfectly what songs are made for Keith…and this one is. Yea I always liked Brian…he helped make their pop period great.
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I love how u said Jones was the utility knife in the band! Funny enough they kinda stabbed this guy in the back more than a few times….
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In a lot of ways yes they did. He could be a pain don’t get me wrong…but he was the founder of them.
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Always happy to see Brian Jones getting credit. Re: Nicky Hopkins – he was also part of one of my favorite bands (though I think their best work came before his time) – Quicksilver Messenger Service. They later had the other great Bay Area keyboard player, Mark Naftalin.
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It seems like everyone wanted Hopkins on their recordings. That says a lot about him.
I’ve always been a fan of Jones… I liked how he colored the music in with whatever instrument.
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I have never watched Zabriskie Point, but I have always wanted to see it.
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in an alternate universe, Richards might have been the regular lead singer and the band might still have done alright, though it’s hard to imagine him quite matching Keith’s energy and stage charisma
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No he is not the dancing around type lol…he does those poses a lot but not Mick dancing…yea I have always liked his voice.
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I think I heard this song maybe one or twice listening to the album just after it’s release. Nice to revisit and I also like Keith on lead and his writing, his guitar, his …
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Yea Keith is the definition of cool…no doubt.
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Good tune and one I hadn’t paid attention to. While I know many songs by Stones, I’ve only listened to very few of their albums in their entirety – unlike The Beatles! As such, I’m pretty sure there are many other decent songs I’ve yet to hear!
I agree Keith’s vocals work very well on this tune. You also made a great point to remind us that it was Brian Jones who started the Stones, not Jagger-Richards who are always named first when it comes to group.
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This matches Keith so well…he picked the songs he was singing well.
Really the only thing I have against the Stones is the way they almost erased Brian in history and the songwriting lockdown they had on the band.
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Once again, as in ‘Happy’ Keiths voice was still serviceable, but time, firewater and ciggies sure didn’t help it later. I’ve always liked this song a lot, because it has that point of difference vocally.
Also, gotta agree with you about Brian adding colour to the earlier songs, and they became more focused as a band once he was out of the picture, but also less faceted. That said, he could be a nasty selfish petty piece of work as a human being.
I have wondered if his memory would be far more lauded had he died still a member of the Stones? Would he be a Legend remembered and revered like Morrison, Redding, Joplin, Winehouse etc rather than off on the side-bar, ‘Sacked ex-Rolling Stone who drowned?’
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Yea I agree he could be nasty. That book I read said he was working on solo songs when he died…it sounded a lot like CCR. Everything disappeared once he drowned.
You are right…he probably would have been remembered more if he was still an active Rolling Stone at the time. Who knows Obbverse…if he would have lived and straightened up a little…he could have replaced Mick Taylor in 74…but he was probably like Keith Moon…not meant to make old bones.
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True and true. ‘Scuse a bit of prose, but it leapt out at me; Who’s crazy Keith Moon, Bad boy Brian Jones, Both gone too soon, Never made old bones.
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I managed the late producer Jimmy Miller for many years and have posted this and other reviews on his Facebook page Fever in the Funk House. Thank you so much. Jimmy would have loved your work (RIP Oct 22, 1994)
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Thank you that is a major compliment! I totally believe that Miller made that sound they had on their stretch of 5 albums that were great. When he left they never got that sound again.
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First time hearing this one. You can feel the sincerity in the lyrics and in the way he sings it. He was with Anita for quite a long time. I don’t remember Keith having any harsh words for Brian in his book. I agree with you about them sounding different without Brian. It’s a miracle that drugs only took him and nobody else from the band over these years. I’d like to read the book you mention. Who was Paul Trynka to the Stones?
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He is just an author but he did talk to the people all around Brian…of course his death is still a mystery in a lot of ways.
It’s an interesting book and I would have loved to hear what he was doing at that time. He was actually cutting down on the drug intake and doing better.
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Max, you just inspired an idea for a new TV series. Cold Case Files of the Stars. Now wouldn’t that be a trip? Oh! Also want to tell you part of S1 of a certain series is waiting for me at the library right now.
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That would be a good one! Jones death has been completely in mystery for years…all of his stuff vanished right after it happened.
Oh cool I can’t wait to know what it is.
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Always thought Ronnie Lane crawled into Richards on this one. Good tune.
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