The Rolling Stones – ‘Tattoo You’
The Rolling Stones were consumed by the trappings of fame when making 1981’s Tattoo You. Despite excessive drug use, changing listener tastes, and the growing personal tension between frontman Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards, it’s a miracle that the album emerged as a triumph and undoubtedly one of their best-ever releases.
In my mind, Tattoo You is the sound of a band on heat. However, there’s something truly remarkable about this album. It comprises studio outtakes recorded during the previous decade. Due to the abovementioned factors, an organic successor to 1980’s Emotional Rescue was nigh-on impossible to engender. Understanding the situation well, the band decided to fall back on previously shelved material.
To alleviate the problem, the production team and album’s associate producer, Chris Kimsey, sifted through years of unused recordings to create this body of work, with some dating back nearly a decade. After three months of going through outtakes from the previous five albums, Kimsey told the band: “Hey, look guys, you’ve got all this great stuff sitting in the can, and it’s great material, do something with it”. As many recordings were instrumentals or song fragments, studio time was booked, and members finished their tracks when available. Whether this be Jagger writing lyrics or the others adding musical components, the quintet gradually pieced the record together – and did a miraculous job for an experience so atomised.
The album features a stellar cast, facilitating The Rolling Stones in achieving this triumph against the odds. Despite their personal fracture, Jagger and Richards are at the forefront of proceedings, with guitarist Ronnie Wood, bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts forming the rest of the band. Augmenting proceedings, some of the group’s former members also appear. Guitarist Mick Taylor emerges on ‘Tops’, with keyboardist and founding member Ian Stewart coming to the fore on ‘Hang Fire’. Elsewhere, Billy Preston contributes his skill to ‘Slave’ and ‘Worried About You’. Even The Who guitarist Pete Townshend provides backing vocals on ‘Slave’ – a strange but welcome addition. Consequently, Tattoo You is a masterclass in assembling a collaborative project.
The album kicks off with the appropriately named ‘Start Me Up’. It’s a swaggering piece featuring one of Richards’ best riffs and an immersive vocal hook from Jagger. There’s a vitality present that provides a ballast for the rest of the album. The song is a triumphant singalong, with the anthemic “you make a grown man cry” section, an example of the brilliance on display.
The second cut, ‘Hang Fire’, is a genuine highlight. Whether it’s the overarching power-pop spirit, Jagger’s lively performance, Richards’ solo, or the infectious backing “doos”, the song takes the baton from the opener with glee and keeps us locked in. Following ‘Hang Fire’ is the effortlessly cool ‘Slave’, a song from the Black and Blue sessions, boasting an appropriately stoned groove. It’s another talking point, with the repeated line “don’t wanna be your slave” creating a defiant, reggae-indebted trance where personal liberty is placed at the forefront. It’s vintage Rolling Stones, and Sonny Rollins’ saxophone solo is as suave as can be.
Elsewhere, ‘Little T&A’ and ‘Neighbours’ provide a rocking good time. Later, ‘Tops’ offers one of the most refined moments on the album. Arriving as the eighth track on the project, it’s a mature piece of mellow blues rock. The bridge is incredibly euphoric, a word not necessarily associated with the Stones. This reading comes courtesy of the keys and Jagger’s passionate delivery. Wyman’s bassline is excellent again, commanding the song through its different sections whilst leaving space for the keys and guitar melodies to pierce the imagination. “Hey sugar, I’ll take you to the top” lodges itself in the brain for days afterwards. A track cut from 1973’s Goats Head Soup, there’s no surprise that this effort holds such sonic magic.
A moment of thought has to go to ‘Heaven’, a track that sounds unlike anything else on the album. It’s a strange, strung-out tune courtesy of Jagger’s FX-drenched vocals and the modulated guitars. It might be a tad cheesy, but it’s still great as the band flirts with psychedelia once more, harking back to their late 1960s.
The mellower moments on Tattoo You are brilliantly executed, serving as a welcome counterbalance to the more unapologetic rock and roll efforts. ‘Worried About You’ is fantastic and a slow-dance classic if I’ve ever heard one, with ‘No Use In Crying’ much of the same. The latter is perfect for shedding a breakup tear.
The showstopper of this aspect of the album comes in the form of the final song, ‘Waiting On A Friend’. Another Goats Head Soup reject, the sunny clime of Kingston, Jamaica – where it was recorded – shines through clearly. This comes courtesy of Watts’ spacious beat, Wyman’s reggae-infused bassline, and the LSD-evoking saxophone. There’s also the key change after 2:30, a masterful choice that brings us back from the heady wonderland we’re briefly teased with. The various elements then weave together to bring the curtain down unhurriedly. After the final note rings out, we instinctively press play on ‘Start Me Up’ once again.
