Hitch Hike

Out of Our Heads (USA version)
Side 1, Track 2
"Hitch Hike" (Marvin Gaye/William Stevenson/Clarence Paul) – 2:25




This is the second time the Stones have gone after a Marvin Gaye hit, but unlike their driving "Can I Get a Witness", "Hitch Hike" is something of a pedestrian affair, lacking the energy that made "Mercy, Mercy" so much fun. That probably has something to do with the material: "Hitch Hike", the song, is a perfectly passable slice of early 60s Motown pop, aspiring to nothing more than Top 40 hitdom, whereas "Mercy, Mercy" is a crushing soul song with an agenda.

Still, there's nothing the Stones have to be ashamed of here. After all the tepid blues workouts that littered their previous albums, it would be a relief to have to listen to nothing by bland R&B. However, I have a feeling that this album is really going to start to pick up....

Mercy, Mercy

Out of Our Heads (USA version)
Side 1, Track 1
"Mercy, Mercy" (Don Covay/Ronnie Miller) – 2:45



The Stones once again try their luck on a soul classic. This time they went after Don Covay's "Mercy, Mercy", and the band didn't just do a pretty good job reproducing Covay's garage-soul groove, but Mick also artfully knicked Covay's phrasing. Here's the original:



If you hadn't already heard of Don Covay, here's all you really need to know: he wrote "Chain of Fools".

Yeah.

There are dozens of guys like that, writers and performers with abilities and accomplishments that, in a fair world, would make them household names. Alas, we don't live in such a world – but you can do you part: you should learn more about Don Covay.

The Stones themselves sound great on this track. They don't make any changes to Covay's arrangment – they just rock up the beat a little, slap some distortion on that great guitar riff, and let her rip. This is what happens when the band gets ahold of an actual song instead of trying to prove their street cred with those repetitive blues tracks.