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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Everybody Needs Somebody to Love

The Rolling Stones No.2
Side 1, Track 1
"Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" (Solomon Burke/Jerry Wexler/Bert Russell) – 5:03





Solomon Burke is back. We first met his acquaintance on 12 x 5's "If You Need Me", a slow ballad that showed Mick the dangers of tangling with a real soul singer. This time, Mick takes a swipe at a more uptempo number, complete with a long soul testifying interlude, and of course the famous spoken intro, which could only have been released in the sixties:

You know, sometimes you get what you want
And then you go and lose what you have
And I believe every woman and every man here tonight listen to my song
And it save the whole world.

Sez on Wikipedia that the version of this song that appears on The Rolling Stones, Now! is two minutes shorter. We'll see about that: Now! is the next album in my queue. The version on this album is more than five minutes long, and for some reason they left the long, meandering outro in place, even though Mick is clearly expecting to be faded out.



Image courtesy of Exeter Memories. Caption reads:

The Rolling Stones played on 26th August 1964 (2 shows at the ABC) and on the 2nd October 1964 (2 shows at the Odeon). The Odeon had just spent £6,000 on new dressing rooms and enlarging the stage. The rare photo of the Stones was taken backstage at the ABC 26th August show.

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?