12 x 5 Roundup

12 x 5 Roundup

Side 1
1. "Around and Around" (Chuck Berry) – 3:03
2. "Confessin' the Blues" (Jay McShann/Walter Brown) – 2:47
3. "Empty Heart" (Nanker Phelge) – 2:37
4. "Time Is on My Side" (Norman Meade) – 2:53
5. "Good Times, Bad Times" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards) – 2:30
6. "It's All Over Now" (Bobby Womack/Shirley Jean Womack) – 3:26

Side 2
1. "2120 South Michigan Avenue" (Nanker Phelge) – 3:38
2. "Under the Boardwalk" (Arthur Resnick/Kenny Young) – 2:46
3. "Congratulations" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards) – 2:29
4. "Grown Up Wrong" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards) – 2:05
5. "If You Need Me" (Robert Bateman/Wilson Pickett) – 2:04
6. "Susie Q" (Eleanor Broadwater/Stan Lewis/Dale Hawkins) – 1:50

I'll start including some album info from TimeIsOnOurSide and Wikipedia on these roundup pages.

Recorded & mixed:
February 24-25 and May 12, 1964: Regent Sound Studios, London, England
June 10-11, 1964: Chess Studios, Chicago, USA
August 31-September 4, 1964: Regent Sound Studios, London, England

Producer: Andrew Oldham
Engineers: Bill Farley, Ron Malo
Released: October 1964
Original label: London Records (Polygram)

12 X 5 is the second US album by The Rolling Stones released in 1964 following the massive success of their debut The Rolling Stones in the UK and the promising sales of its American substitute England's Newest Hit Makers .

Not surprisingly, 12 X 5 followed its predecessor's tendency to largely feature R&B covers, however it does contain three compositions from the still-developing Mick Jagger/Keith Richards songwriting team, as well as two group compositions under the pseudonym of "Nanker Phelge".

After a series of sessions in Chicago in June 1964, The Rolling Stones' UK label Decca Records released the five song EP Five by Five. Because EPs were never a lucrative format in the US, London Records - their American distributor at the time - spread the EP songs across an entire album, adding seven new recordings to create a release of 12 songs by 5 musicians, hence the album's title. Decca would use the same cover (minus the lettering) for The Rolling Stones' second UK album The Rolling Stones No. 2 in early 1965.

12 X 5 proved to be a faster seller than England's Newest Hit Makers, reaching #3 and going gold quickly.

In August 2002, 12 X 5 was reissued in a new remastered CD and SACD digipak by ABKCO Records.

Susie Q

12 x 5
Side 2, Track 6
"Susie Q" (Eleanor Broadwater/Stan Lewis/Dale Hawkins) – 1:50





This is the old swamp rockabilly number – finally, something the Stones can really sink their teeth into. Mick's slurring vocal, Charlie Watts' neo-"What'd I Say" beat, Keith's biting solo – this might even be the definitive version: more rocking than the Dale Hawkins' original, less sprawling that CCR's psychedelic extravaganza.

If You Need Me

12 x 5
Side 2, Track 5
"If You Need Me" (Robert Bateman/Wilson Pickett) – 2:04





Wilson Pickett wrote this one, and had a moderate hit singing it in 1962. Thing is, Pickett was one of the most distinctive soul singers ever, and he just owned this slow ballad.



It would be hard for anyone to top that performance. After Pickett flopped with "If You Need Me" Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records passed it along to Solomon Burke, who recorded it for Atlantic and had a huge hit with it:




All that happened months before the Stones ever went into the studio to record this album. You know what must have happened then, right? The Stones said to themselves, yeah, Wilson sure knocked that sucker out of the park, and Solomon really went to town on it, too – but I still think we can top those guys.

Needless to say, it wasn't even close. There is simply no way Mick could outsing Wilson Picket or Solomon Burke on a slow soul ballad – not then, not ever. But what I'm really curious about is this: who the hell thought this was a good idea?

Grown Up Wrong

12 x 5
Side 2, Track 4
"Grown Up Wrong" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards) – 2:05





Another blues shuffle, but this one with a moderately interesting chorus. This site claims that the song has never been performed live, so it's safe to assume that "Grown Up Wrong" grew out of a studio jam, recorded merely to pad the album out to LP length.

Like most of the other Stones songs at this stage of their career, "Grown Up Wrong" features those sloppy background vocals that never come in on time. I can't help but compare these guys to the Beatles, who, by the time of their second album, not only produced more sophisticated compositions, but also recorded filler that was much more interesting than the likes of "Grown Up Wrong", and additionally took pride in their precise background vocal parts. Compare the Stones' song above to, say, "All I've Got To Do", which served a similar purpose on the Beatles' second album. Note how even on an obvious filler track, the Beatles took care to come up with a relatively intricate arrangement.

Congratulations

12 x 5
Side 2, Track 3
"Congratulations" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards) – 2:29





Keith obviously fell in love with that 12-string on this album. This is the third track so far featuring that acoustic ("Good Times, Bad Times" and "Under the Boardwalk" are the others).

Mick and Keith were really struggling early in their career to come up with interesting compositions -- "Congratulations" is a slow ballad in swing time with a forgettable melody an generic lyrics.

Under the Boardwalk

12 x 5
Side 2, Track 2
"Under the Boardwalk" (Arthur Resnick/Kenny Young) – 2:46





This is the old Drifters hit, a wonderfully evocative piece of pop songwriting. God only knows why the Stones thought they should give it a shot -- a pairing this bizarre almost has to be a studio executive's idea. Mick Jagger was not then or ever a good pop singer (clearly heard on his attempt at the falsetto in the chorus) and the band clearly has no clue where to take this song, which received its definitive treatment on the first try by the Drifters -- although many other artists tried their hand at it later (even then, mostly as a piece of nostalgia -- see Bruce Willis, Bette Midler, the Beach Boys, etc.).

The only things really notable about the Stones' version are a weird acoustic 12-string solo which comes out of nowhere and the sloppy background vocals (a feature of this album) which come in consistently out of time.

2120 South Michigan Avenue

12 x 5
Side 2, Track 1
"2120 South Michigan Avenue" (Nanker Phelge) – 3:38
Wikipedia Note: "This is the full length version, previously only available on German compilation Around and Around (1964)."




Imagine a stereotypical early-sixties movie scene set in a disco. There's go-go dancers with false eyelashes doing the Mashed Potato, guys with big glasses and funny hats, people dressed in bright blue and orange -- all the colours of Twister. It would probably look something like this:



That is exactly what I think of when I listen to "2120 South Michigan Avenue" -- a generic, unobtrusive instrumental, some studio executive's idea of this dang "rock and roll" music those kids can't seem to get enough of.

Can you believe these same guys that came up with "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and "Rip This Joint"?

It's All Over Now

12 x 5
Side 1, Track 6
"It's All Over Now" (Bobby Womack/Shirley Jean Womack) – 3:26




Bobby Womack. In addition to having many hits under his own name and with others, Womack was the author of dozens of classic soul songs (including the epic "Woman's Got to Have It"), was a session guitarist and helped arrange many more (including the apocalyptic There's a Riot Goin' On). He was, in a word, a professional.

In 1964, at 20 years of age, Womack had composed "It's All Over Now" and had somehow impressed someone over at Sam Cooke's SAR label enough to get Womack's group, The Valentinos, a deal to release the song as a single. The single barely broke Billboard's Hot 100, peaking at #94, during the summer of 1964. At this time, the Stones were touring the USA for the first time, and when passing through New York City met up with well-known DJ Murray the K, who, it is said, played them The Valentinos' single and suggested that they should cover the song[*] -- which they did a few days later, recording it at Chess Studios in Chicago.

Wikipedia takes up the story:

Years later Bobby Womack said in an interview that he told his manager that he did not want the Rolling Stones to record their version of the song, that he told Mick Jagger to get his own song. His manager convinced him to let the Rolling Stones record a version of the song. Six months later when he received the royalty check for the song he told his manager that Mick Jagger can have any song he wants.

Bobby Womack, after all, was a pro.

I go into some detail because I don't really feel like talking about the Stones' version of the song. For a hit, it's a dull little number. It's not particularly memorable, nor is it offensive. It just is. Nothing to see here, move along please.

[* Mick Jagger mentions the Murray the K connection in a famous Rolling Stone interview from 1968:

Murray the K gave us "It's All Over Now" which was great because we used to think he as a cunt but he turned us on to something good. It was a great record by the Valentinos but it wasn't a hit.

The Rolling Stone Interview, Jonathan Cott, Oct 12, 1968.]

Good Times, Bad Times

12 x 5
Side 1, Track 5
"Good Times, Bad Times" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards) – 2:30




Another 8-bar blues, this one with minimal instrumentation -- Keith on a 12-string acoustic, Brian Jones with some harmonica support, and someone slapping a drum (or a cardboard box). It's a very low-key outing, with Mick singing the melody very softly, and although Keith's guitar work is very busy it isn't ostentatious. I'm guessing he was going for a Leadbelly feel, and now that I think of it, the whole thing sounds like a Leadbelly-style blues.

Time Is on My Side

12 x 5
Side 1, Track 4
"Time Is on My Side" (Norman Meade) – 2:53
Wikipedia Note: "This is the "organ" version of this song, as opposed to the version with the guitar intro which appeared on The Rolling Stones No. 2."




Finally, a hit – although not the version I know. You see, the Stones apparently released this song twice, once with the organ intro (the version heard on this America-only album and in the YouTube clip above) and once with a guitar intro (on the UK release). Turns out the UK version was the hit, and the version heard on classic rock radio and included on subsequent greatest hits albums.

There was a reason why the guitar version became the hit and this one became forgotten. Compared to the hit, this version is pretty tame, with none of Mick's bluesy bluster and some rather sloppy background vocals.

Still, I have to give the band credit. This was maybe the most ambitious song they'd tackled up till that point, and they responded with a relatively sophisticated arrangement, and if they weren't able to get it right here, well, as long as they got it right eventually.

Empty Heart

12 x 5
Side 1, Track 3
"Empty Heart" (Nanker Phelge) – 2:37




The first song so far that I'd never heard before. It really is nice after all the crappy blues tunes to hear a fairly straight-ahead rock and roll number, even one as generic as this. There's not much going on here – just a steady ride cymbal, some off-time tambourine (thanks, Mick!), and Keith's great guitar sound. According to this site the track was recroded at Chess Studios in Chicago.

Nanker Phelge once again makes its appearance as a writing credit, and it's easy to see why – the song is essentially a jam, with a simple 2-bar chord pattern that repeats without any changes. Mick's meandering vocal can hardly be called a "melody", a word that suggests some sort of compositional effort.

Not to bad-mouth the track – it has a nice groove, and the vocals, for all their sloppiness, hardly intrude at all. This is the type of song that would be playing in the background of a sixties cop movie, when the detectives visit a club looking for information, only to be shined on by the hipsters inside. It has that informal, unobtrusive groove.

Confessin' the Blues

12 x 5
Side 1, Track 2
"Confessin' the Blues" (Jay McShann/Walter Brown) – 2:47




This is the old Jay McShann blues song that everybody on earth has taken a stab at, and even here you can see why: the lyrics are pretty good and it has an interesting melody. Like most of the blues songs they've covered, the Stones are unable to do anything interesting with "Confessin'", although they are able to avoid embarrassing themselves (except for the harp player – why is he in the band again?).

Okay, I have to say it: white musicians should probably avoid playing blues music, and this is exhibit A as to why. There is nothing particularly offensive about the Stones' performance – this isn't just a case of one culture ripping off another. But as this track proves, white musicians are simply unable to do anything interesting with the blues, and thereby commit the worst sin for a performer: they are boring.

Around and Around

12 x 5
Side 1, Track 1
"Around and Around" (Chuck Berry) – 3:03



I guess the Stones were contractually obligated to include one Chuck Berry song per album. Like "Carol", from the Stones debut album, 12x5's "Around and Around" doesn't really add anything to Berry's original, but manages to capture the spirit of the song faithfully. Keith once again nails the solo, which sounds great.

It sould be noted that both "Carol" and "Around and Around" are both first-rate pieces of songwriting from a guy who composed dozens of classics. This is probably a good topic for its own post, but I just wanted to say that Chuck Berry is a criminally underrated songwriter, and that the Stones' choices in material shows an uncanny eye.