Primal Scream – Rocks

I posted Rocks Off by the Stones a couple of weeks ago, and Clive (Thanks Clive!) said that song influenced this song by Primal Scream. I took a listen, and I absolutely love it. It sounds like the Faces to me…pardon the pun, but that primal seventies rock. I told Clive it has a throwback sound to it. This was a departure from what they usually did..

This sure isn’t Britpop, which was popular at the time. You can tell when they recorded this that it’s supposed to sound like it could’ve been on a jukebox in 1973, and that is a wonderful thing. When it came out, the song and album baffled some critics, but it connected with a wider audience. It was their biggest UK hit to date. It was on the album Give Out But Don’t Give Up.

They decided to record in Memphis at Ardent Studios, the same place Big Star cut their records, in a location with a southern atmosphere. The idea was to tap into the same groove and gospel feel that the Stones did briefly in Muscle Shoals. The sessions were not smooth. They brought in Tom Dowd to produce, a legend whose resume included Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Eric Clapton. Dowd was used to working with bands who could cut a track live, warts and all. Primal Scream didn’t work that way. It was a constant party in the studio, and Dowd had to work through that.

The album was not easy to finish. Some tracks were reworked in London, others remixed to strip out what the label saw as “too much American bar-band” in favor of something more radio-friendly. Critics were split; some thought it was a brave move, others called it a lazy “Stones cosplay.” But for all the mixed reviews, Rocks came out swinging as the lead single in early 1994, and it worked.

One critic compared the album to U2’s Rattle and Hum, not in sound, but because of their desire to discover American influences with this album. I like it when bands do something different than expected. That is how you grow, and they took a shot, and to me, they ended up with a winner. Jimmy Miller, former producer of the Stones’ golden age, mixed a version of this as well. 

The album peaked at #2 in the UK, #22 on the US Heatseekers Albums, and #12 in New Zealand in 1994.

The single peaked at #7 in the UK, #47 in Canada, and #8  in New Zealand in 1994. 

Rocks

Dealers keep dealing, thieves keep thievingWhores keep whoring, junkies keep scoringTrade is on the meat rack, strip joints full of hunchbacksBitches keep a bitching, clap just keeps itching

Ain’t no use in praying, that’s the way it’s staying, babyJohnny ain’t so crazy, he’s always got a line for the ladies(Yeah, yeah, yeah)

Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtownGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtown

Creeps a-keep crawling, drunks a-keep fallingTeasers keep a-teasing, holy Joe’s a preacherCops keep busting, hustlers keep a hustlingDeath just keeps knocking, souls are up for auction

Ain’t no use in praying, that’s the way it’s staying, babyJohnny ain’t so crazy, he’s always got a line for a lady(Yeah, yeah, yeah)

Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtownGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtown (yeah, yeah)

Ain’t no use in praying, that’s the way it’s staying, babyJohnny ain’t so crazy, he’s always got a line for the lady(Oh, yeah, yeah)

Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtownGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtown

Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtownGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtown

Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honey

Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honey

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

37 thoughts on “Primal Scream – Rocks”

    1. I love it. I never pay attention to the critics anyway. This is what I love. At the time you had grunge going on….I’ll take this over it anyday of the week.

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      1. We share our view of critics, but there were undeniable throwbacks to 1970ish Stones in this. It’s a great record in its own right.

        And thanks for linking to mine – a very different Primal Scream track in that, from their early indie days.

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      2. I agree and it was meant it to be. Nothing at all wrong with that. At least when they did it…they did it right.
        No problem!

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  3. Pingback: Primal Scream – Rocks – MobsterTiger

  4. Definitely owes a big debt to the Stones song, but you could have worse influences. In the chorus I hear echoes of “Money for Nothin'” by Dire Straits. And definitely an overall bar band sound. Derivative? Maybe, but everyone has influences. Very little is truly original. It’s how you put those influences to work. And work it they do.

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    1. I agree…and for people like me who like that sound more than modern (even at that time) it works perfectly.
      Yes everyone owes something to someone before.

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  7. can certainly hear the Stones influence in there. I heard that song occaisonally back in the day, but didn’t know who it was. To me, it foreshadowed bands like Jet and the Killers and the Strokes who’d appear a few years later with that sort of polished but retro rock sound

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      2. Yea that is me as well…I’ve posted a song by them before called Gentle Tuesday….it sounds like the Byrds

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  8. What a cool song! I don’t recall hearing it before. To me it sounds like a mix of Stones, Faces and Stax. The name Primal Scream sounded vaguely familiar. And surely enough, I previously included “Movin’ On Up” in a February 2024 post about Jimmy Miller who produced that song – another great track, btw!

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    1. I’m glad you like this one…I thought you would! It’s a rocking song! I don’t know how I missed it because I missed it also.
      I’ve posted on them as well…a song called Gentle Tuesday…you would like it…it was jangly.

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      1. Heh heh, yeah. ‘When’s the Free Clinic open?’

        There’s a few lines in that first verse that wouldn’t pass muster PG and Tipper Gore-wise I would have thought!

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  16. great track, and Primal Scream were quite happy to change genre, which I always see as a good thing, their best tracks like Loaded, sample-heavy indie dance, Movin’ On Up joyous gospel, or even a cover of Some Velvet Morning, Nancy & Lee’s masterpiece.

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