Grown Up Wrong (again)

The Rolling Stones No.2
Side 1, Track 6
"Grown Up Wrong" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards) – 1:50





A wonderfully evocative blues shuffle, capturing the full depth of emotion inherent in the form. But the spiritual profundity should not overshadow the technical precision displayed by the musicians, which reveals a whole new layer of meaning.... All right, that's enough. It's April Fools Days, which apparently means that everyone has to write a terrible joke post of some kind. I think I fulfilled my duty.

I think this recording of "Grown Up Wrong" is the same version as the one released on 12 x 5. I don't have much more to add to my previous post except to note once again how sloppy the Stones' blues recordings are, especially the background vocals which never come in on time and the slide guitar which only occasionally hits the note it wants to.

There are some people out there who would claim that sloppiness is a virtue when it comes to the blues, and to those people I only have two words to say, one of which rhymes with "fuck" and the other with "you". There's a big difference between the claim that technical proficiency is irrelevant in the blues, and the claim that sloppiness is something to be desired. I think a lot of people are mistaking sloppiness for authenticity – but that is a rant for another post.

UPDATE: It was bugging me that this song reminded me of another song, and I finally placed it:

Okay, I guess they aren't all that similar.


Image courtesy of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Rolling Stones with DJ Stan Rofe, Palais Theatre, St Kilda, February 1965.
Caption reads

Following in the wake of The Beatles, the Rolling Stones first performed in Australia in 1965. Publicist Andrew Loog Oldham moulded the band's image, selling them as the rebellious alternative to the clean-cut Beatles.