Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (again)

The Rolling Stones, Now!
Side 1, Track 1
"Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" (Solomon Burke/Bert Russell/Jerry Wexler) – 2:58





What the hell? This isn't the same version of the song found on The Rolling Stones No. 2 – that version wasn't anything special, but at least had some charm. This one is a sloppy mess of a song, featuring the most ridiculously out of tune background vocals of the Stones career to date – quite an accomplishment. I just can't believe someone gave the green light to release this.

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By the way, I know The Rolling Stones, Now! came before Out of Our Heads, but for some reason I missed it. I am a details geek, and I have to get Now! out of the way before I can move on to Aftermath/December's Children.

Cry to Me

Out of Our Heads (USA version)
Side 2, Track 2
"Cry to Me" (Bert Russell) – 3:09



There comes a point when commitment turns into caricature. That point comes in "Cry to Me" some time between the bridge and the outro, when the band starts playing with such earnestness that the whole thing turns into a parody of a soul ballad instead of the real thing.

This is the third time we've run across Solomon Burke, who had the first hit with "Cry to Me" in 1962. His version was straight 4/4 time, while the Stones performed the song in 12/8 – I'm not sure who's idea that was (Betty Harris had a minor hit with the song between the Burke and Stones recordings, but I've never heard how she did it) but it was a good one.

Bert Berns (AKA Bert Russell) wrote "Cry to Me" in 1962. If you've never heard of Berns, check out his wikipedia page – the guy had a writing or producing credit on some of the best songs of the era: "Twist and Shout", "Here Comes the Night", "Under The Boardwalk", "Baby I'm Yours", and dozens more. Check out the official Bert Berns website for more.

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