The Rolling Stones track Mick Jagger called “fucking marvellous”
Mick Jagger has rarely been noted for his profound sense of modesty. In fairness to the frontman, The Rolling Stones have been at the very top of the rock and roll pyramid for six decades. When you are responsible for writing such iconic tracks as ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ or ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, modesty is fairly irrelevant. As such, Jagger has always been keen to espouse the brilliance of his own material throughout the years, even during their less celebrated periods.
After beginning their music career as disciples of blues rock, it did not take long for The Rolling Stones to establish themselves as the voice of a rebellious post-war generation in the United Kingdom. Representing the edgier side of the adolescent rock scene, as opposed to the pop sensibilities of groups like The Beatles, the Stones created some of the most recognisable and enduring tracks of the era. By the time the 1960s came to a close, however, The Rolling Stones were firmly a part of the rock establishment they initially sought to destroy.
Depending on who you ask, the material of The Rolling Stones either took a steep decline during the 1970s, or reached its definitive peak. Either way, the band certainly lost the atmosphere of adolescent rebellion that their early work was imbued with. As the decade progressed, the rock scene was overtaken by the defiant sounds of punk rock, which dominated the scene in 1976. During that same year, however, the Stones released one of their most diverse efforts to date: Black and Blue.
Taking on a vast range of influences, including disco, reggae, soul, and their usual blues rock, the album was pretty divisive among Stones fans, but Jagger seemed pretty pleased with the final result. Breaking down the tracklisting to Rolling Stone back in 1976, the singer reflected on the band’s diverse range of influences featured on Black and Blue, selecting ‘Melody’ as a particular favourite.
“This one strikes me as the most radical departure on the album,” Jagger explained, “with falsetto singing and a Basie-like horn arrangement”. Much of that radical departure comes from the undeniable influence of funk keyboardist and regular Beatles collaborator Billy Preston. “It sort of came out of something that Billy [Preston] and I were messing around with,” Jagger recalled, “just piano and voice”.
Preston had been a regular collaborator with the Stones for years prior to Black and Blue, but it was with ‘Melody’ that his influence was most profound. “It’s got an incredible amount of overdub now,” Jagger said, “but down in the nitty-gritty it’s really just a rhythm section and voice, very simple, sort of four-to-the-bar kind of bassline and drums, sort of old-fashioned rhythm. And it’s a duet, me and Billy”.
Although, as we have established, Jagger is not the most modest of lead singers, it seems as though the vast majority of his appreciation for ‘Melody’ comes as a result of Preston’s influence. “All that falsetto singing is live,” the singer shared, “Billy doing the piano part and singing. Fucking marvellous”.
