The Rolling Stones – “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”

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"Can't You Hear Me Knocking" (Mick Jagger & Keith Richards) Copyright 1971 ABKCO Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

1971 was a banner year for great rock albums, and one of the best of the best that year was “Sticky Fingers” by The Rolling Stones. On this episode, we take a dive into a key track from that album, “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”, where the Stones begin with a killer Keef riff and end up 7 minutes later in a completely different place. How did they get there? Let’s take the journey with them… and along the way, we’ll pay our respects to the late, great Charlie Watts.

“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” (Mick Jagger & Keith Richards) Copyright 1971 ABKCO Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome, friends, to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, part of the Pantheon family of podcasts. I’m your host, Brad Page.

I was already in the middle of putting this episode together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this landmark album from the Rolling Stones. And then just today, as I record this, we all heard the news that their legendary drummer, Charlie Watts, had passed away.

I don’t think you can overestimate how important Charlie Watts was to the world of drummers and to rock and roll in general. This episode wasn’t meant to be a memorial or tribute to Charlie, but I couldn’t let the episode pass by without mentioning how significant his contributions were to the whole history of music. So keep the illustrious Mr. Watts in your thoughts and let’s let this episode play out.

As we’ve discussed on this show before, 1971– 50 years ago– was an especially brilliant year for music. And there’s a ton of classic albums celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. So, before 2021 comes to a close, I wanted to take one last look back 50 years ago to another landmark album from 1971: the Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers”. On this episode, we’ll celebrate that album by digging into one of the Stone’s greatest moments– the song called “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”

[Music]

By 1971, the Beatles had split, leaving the Rolling Stones with the title of “the biggest band in the world”. “Sticky Fingers” is either their 9th or their 11th album, depending on whether you’re counting UK or US releases, but either way, it was well into their career. But there was still some fresh blood and new life in the band, especially with the addition of new guitarist Mick Taylor. “Sticky Fingers” would be their first full album of new material to feature Mick Taylor, who had joined the band two years before.

By 1970, the Stones had reached the end of their contract with Deca Records, and they had also decided to end their relationship with manager Alan Klein, which was a particularly messy and painful process. So “Sticky Fingers” was a first in many ways: it was their first album for their own record label, Rolling Stones Records; it was the first under their new distribution deal with Atlantic Records, who signed a $5.7 million deal with the Stones; it was their first album to feature that iconic lips-and-tongue logo. And as I mentioned, it was their first studio album to fully feature Mick Taylor on guitar.

Though “Sticky Fingers” was released in 1971, the recording of the album began in December 1969 with three tracks recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. There were additional tracks recorded at Olympic Studios in London. But by March 1970, the Stones had purchased a 34-foot long truck and installed a complete 16 track recording studio inside of it. This became known as “The Rolling Stones Mobile” and it became legendary in its own right. Not only did the Stones use it to record some of their most successful tracks, it was also used by dozens of other artists, including Led Zeppelin on “Physical Graffiti” and The Who on “Who’s Next”. The mobile studio was even immortalized in the lyrics to that Deep Purple classic, “Smoke on the Water”.

The Stones pulled that truck right up in front of Mick Jagger’s home– a mansion, really, called Stargroves. And recording sessions continued there for the rest of the album. They particularly liked to record in the huge entrance hall of Stargroves, because of its great acoustics. “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” begins with a guitar riff played by Keith Richards. It’s in Open G tuning, and probably played on either his Gibson Black Beauty Les Paul, or possibly on his Dan Armstrong guitar made of plexiglass.

You can hear someone, probably Mick, let out a little grunt during that pause in the opening riff. Charlie Watts joins in pretty quickly on drums, followed by Bill Wyman on bass.

Here, there’s some particularly nice snare drum work by Charlie Watts right here. Keith changes to the verse riff, and Mick Taylor joins in. Keith is in the right channel; Mick Taylor, playing a Gibson ES345 Semi-hollow body guitar, is in the left channel.

Mick Jagger, when it’s called for, can be a really good lyricist. He definitely has a way with words. But on this song, it’s not the words that are important, it’s the syllables, the rhythm that matters. The lyrics to this song aren’t that memorable, but vocally, this is one of Jagger’s great performances.

Keith joins in on vocals.

Those two hits on the snare drum, they’re are a nice touch by Charlie. It’s the knock on the door during this section. Charlie switches up the groove by hitting the snare drum on every beat, not just on the two and the four. There’s also an organ that comes in here, played by Billy Preston.

And now Charlie’s back to playing the snare on the two and the four.

I’m hearing something a little dissonant in the guitars there. I think Mick Taylor may have fumbled a chord.

Here comes Billy Preston on the organ again. And I think there’s a piano buried in the mix.

Let’s see if we can isolate the vocals here.

Though the Stones have a reputation for being loose, and some might say sloppy, they were never a jam band. They were always much more song-oriented. This is one of the rare occasions where they cut loose and just went where the music took them. Everything fell into place perfectly, and luckily, the recording engineers kept that tape rolling.

After the main section of the song stops, there’s a new groove that’s introduced by congas, played by Rocky Dejawn. The producer, Jimmy Miller is in there, too. He’s playing a guiro. And then there’s Keith Richards, the riff master, coming in with a whole new riff that sets them off on a whole new direction.

Bobby Keys was in the studio that day, but he hadn’t been playing on the track. As soon as he heard them settle into this new groove, he grabbed a saxophone and joined them on the studio floor. He takes an extended solo here. Totally improvised, unrehearsed, done all in one take. And it’s one of Bobby Key’s finest moments on record. Let’s try to bring Bobby’s saxophone up in the mix.

Listen to what Mick Taylor is playing on guitar in the left channel.

Bobby Keys epic sax solo winds down. And what a sax solo that was. Remember, that was all one take and the first take.

But not to be outdone, Mick Taylor is about to unfurl a brilliant solo of his own. Again, totally improvised. Let’s listen to how he instinctively builds this solo to a climax.

Mick Taylor sets up a groove that, very quickly, the whole band picks up on. They are totally in sync. This is what great jamming is all about.

Bobby Keys is back on sax. The song builds to a final, masterful conclusion.

“Sticky Fingers” was the first Stones album to top both the US and the UK album charts. It sold over 3 million copies in the US alone. And by any measure, it’s one of the Stone’s best albums.

This period, from 1969 to 1974, the five-year stretch when Mick Taylor was in the band, that’s my favorite era of the Rolling Stones. When I started working on this episode, I was ready to say that happily, all five members of the Stones who played on this album were still alive and still with us. But then on August 24, 2021, drummer Charlie Watts died. He was 80 years old and playing right up till the very end.

Charlie has been eulogized and paid tribute to by many people much more qualified than me. So, I’ll just say this: there is barely a band on the planet today that doesn’t owe some debt to the Rolling Stones. Even if they don’t realize it. The influence of the Stones runs that deep, and Charlie Watts was a big part of that.

If you enjoyed this episode on the Stones, I suggest you go back and listen to episode 42, where we did a deep dive into the Stones classic, “Gimme Shelter”, which is probably my favorite episode that I’ve ever done. Check it out.

All of our previous episodes are available on our website, too– lovethatsongpodcast.com. If you’d like to leave feedback on this, or any episode, please leave a note on our Facebook page, or find us on Podchaser and leave a review there.

We are but one of the many shows on the Pantheon Podcast network. It’s really the place to be if you’re musically obsessed like me, so be sure to check out their other shows.

That’ll do it for this episode. Take a moment to pay respects to Charlie Watts and to thank him for all those years of great music. And thank you for listening to this episode on “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” by the Rolling Stones.

The Who – “The Real Me”

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The Who - "The Real Me" (Peter Townshend) Copyright 1973 Fabulous Music Ltd, Towser Tunes Inc and ABKCO Musioc Inc

The Who released a string of classic albums, but many consider Quadrophenia to be their best. It’s certainly one of their most ambitious. Pete Townshend wrote the songs, but the stunning performances by Roger Daltrey (vocals), Keith Moon (drums) & John Entwistle (bass) bring the songs to life. Nowhere is that more evident on “The Real Me”, which features all four members in top form, showing why they were one of the all-time great bands.

The Who – “The Real Me” (Peter Townshend) Copyright 1973 Fabulous Music Ltd, Towser Tunes Inc and ABKCO Music Inc

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome, all you music junkies, to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, part of the Pantheon Podcast family. My name is Brad Page, and I’ll be your host and musical tour guide as we explore a different song each episode, discovering all the little elements that make a song great. No musical knowledge or experience is required here, because we don’t get into music theory. We’re just putting our ears to work and seeing what they uncover.

On this episode, we’re digging deep into a track from a legendary album by one of my all time favorite bands– maybe the greatest rock band ever– The Who. This is “The Real Me”.

As far back as 1970, the who were toying with the idea of doing a double album where each of the four members would get one side to stretch out and showcase themselves. That never happened.

Instead, they came up with a much more ambitious project: a concept album. A story that would explore four different sides of one person, each aspect represented by a different member of The Who. The result was an album that was met with mixed reviews and would confuse some of the audience, but is now considered one of the greatest albums of all time. In some way, the germ of what would become the “Quadrophenia” album began in June 1972, when the band recorded “Long Live Rock”. This song tells the story of The Who’s early years.

[Music]

This song was never included in “Quadrophenia”, but it eventually was released in 1974 on the “Odds and Sods” album, a collection of outtakes and leftover tracks. But in the liner notes to “Odds and Sods”, Pete Townsend wrote, “I had an idea once for a new album about the history of The Who called ‘Rock Is Dead, Long Live Rock’. That idea later blossomed into Quadrophenia.”

The mod culture of the 1960s was a uniquely British movement. Most Americans, then and now, are pretty unfamiliar with that whole scene. In fact, this album, “Quadrophenia”, is probably where most people in the US learned about mods.

”Jimmy” is the central character in “Quadrophenia”. He’s a kid who desperately wants to be a mod. But even among the mods, he struggles to fit in. Over the course of the story, he discovers that the mods he looks up to aren’t what they’re cracked up to be. And by the end of the tale, he ends up sitting on a rock in the ocean, waiting for the waves, contemplating suicide and finding some kind of inner strength…maybe.  The end of the story is left ambiguous.

Jimmy is a who fan. This is the early ‘60’s version of The Who, when they were the favorite band of the mods. And he eventually discovers that The Who may not be all they’re cracked up to be either. What makes “Quadrophenia” such a magical album is not the four-part split personality concept, it’s the story of a teenager who represents both the band and their audience. And through this character, they reflect back on the history of the band from their beginnings in the mod scene to where they were at the time of this recording.

In writing these songs, Pete Townsend is not only trying to understand his audience as represented by Jimmy, he’s also trying to understand The Who itself, how they got here, their successes and their failures. Townsend’s demo for “The Real Me” was recorded in the spring of ‘73. It’s slower with a different beat, there’s some guitar fills that he eventually dropped, and a fourth verse that was deleted from the final version.

With the demos, Townsend would keep the bass and drum parts pretty minimal. He wanted John Entwistle and Keith Moon to come up with their own parts and not to try to follow what he laid down on the demos. That’s all part of what makes The Who The Who.

“Quadrophenia” opens with the sound of the ocean, waves crashing on the shore.  This is actually the only who album that opens this way– not with a song, but with a natural sound effect that puts you in a physical place: on a beach near the sea. This opening introduces the four musical themes of the album, the themes that represent the four sides of Jimmy’s personality his “Quadrophenia”, as well as the four members of The Who:

  • Helpless dancer
  • Is it me?
  • Bellboy
  • and Love Reign O’er Me

And then the first actual song to kick off the album.

[Music]

“The Real Me” is a song that lashes out against psychiatry, religion, family and being rejected in love. But what the song is really about is the struggle to find our own identity, and the sheer frustration when other people can’t see us for who we really are. All of that can be felt in the performances that each band member delivers.

So much going on in this song, we’ll try to take it all in.

Besides Roger Daltry’s powerhouse vocals– in my opinion, this album represents Roger’s peak as a vocalist– the most important instrument in this song is the bass guitar. It’s what propels the song more than any other instrument. According to bass player John Entwistle, this bass part was the first take. He was messing around, playing whatever he wanted to play. They recorded a few more takes but always came back to this one.

Entwistle was looking to inject some new life into his playing, so he switched to a new bass guitar for this album, a Gibson Thunderbird.

Let’s listen to that bass part from the intro through the first verse.

[Music]

So good! Here’s the second chorus, and again, listen to what the bass guitar is doing

[Music]

Let’s listen to one of those patented Roger Daltry screams. John Entwistle is not only playing the bass parts, he also played all the horn parts on this album. Here’s what the horns are playing during the chorus. And let’s check out Townsend’s guitar part during this section.

Now let’s go back and listen to the bass and drums during that same section.

[Music]

Listen to the power and the energy of the band here, just the three of them. You can see why they were one of the greatest live bands of all time. Let’s listen to Roger’s vocals.

[Music]

Let’s hear Keith Moon’s absolutely maniacal drums during this chorus.

[Music]

“The Real Me” by The Who.

In an interview with Q magazine in 1994, Townshend described “The Real Me” as having “the big, big bass of John Entwistle, the big, big drums of Keith Moon, the power chords, the huge voice of Roger Daltrey… and what they’re actually saying is ‘I’m a pathetic little wimp ‘.”

Townshend wrestled with the challenge of writing delicate, poignant pieces and then having them delivered with the thundering intensity of The Who. There was just no holding them back. But that’s part of what I love about this band– that dichotomy, that somehow they were able to make it work. Townsend and Daltrey have performed all of “Quadrophenia” live in recent years, but without Entwistle and Moon, it’s not the same. It’s still good, don’t get me wrong, it’s good. But it’s not “The Who”.

In putting this episode together, I used a few resources, including a great book called “Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who from Lifehouse to Quadrophenia” by Richie Unterberger. Highly recommended if you’re a Who fan. It’s a great book. There’s also a very good documentary on the making of “Quadrophenia”, I believe that’s on Amazon Video. If you search for it, you can find it.

Thanks for joining me once again on the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, here on the Pantheon Podcast network. You can find all the past episodes of this show on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com.

I’d love it if you’d leave a review of this show on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher or wherever it is that you listen to the show.  You can connect with us on Facebook, just search for the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, or on Twitter at PopStaffTweets.

This show is a tree falling in the forest without you listening. So, seriously, thank you for listening. Remember to support the artists and the songs you love buying their music. Thanks for joining us for this episode on “The Real Me” by The Who.

Foghat – “Honey Hush”

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"Honey Hush" (Lou Willie Turner) Copyright 1963 Unichappell Music Inc

Let’s give some overdue respect to a band of 4 great players who knew how to rock. Here’s a guitar-driven update on an old blues classic, from one of the best live albums of the ’70’s. As a bonus, we take a side trip to explore the origins of a familiar guitar riff.

“Honey Hush” (Lou Willie Turner) Copyright 1963 Unichappell Music Inc

— This show is one of the many great podcasts on the Pantheon Podcasts network. Collect ’em all!

The Language of Rock

What’s the difference between a “riff” and a “lick”? Between “reverb” and “slapback echo”? We try not to get too technical on this podcast, but occasionally some listeners will get stumped by some of the terminology. So for our 75th episode, I thought I’d explain some of the terms we use on this show– and why it’s necessary to have this “language” to begin with. (Because there’s no sheet music notation for “fuzz tone”.)


— This show is one of many great music-related podcasts on the Pantheon network. You should check them out! And remember to follow this show, so you never miss an episode.

The Thorns – “No Blue Sky”

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"No Blue Sky" (S. Mullins, P. Droge, M. Altman, G. Phillips) Copyright 2003

When Matthew Sweet, Shawn Mullins & Pete Droge (aka The Thorns) recorded “No Blue Sky” almost in 2002, they had no idea that the skies over the Western US would be thick with smoke, or that a global pandemic would isolate us in our homes. “It ain’t right, it feels like forever…” pretty much sums up the year 2020. I’m fascinated in how songs can find new relevance years later. Let’s listen to this gorgeous song and watch the sun go down together.

“No Blue Sky” (S. Mullins, P. Droge, M. Altman, G. Phillips) Copyright 2003

— This show is one of many podcasts on the Pantheon podcast network — THE place for music geeks, nerds, junkies & diehards. Or just fans!

Rush – “Subdivisions”

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"Subdivisions" (Music by Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson, Words by Neil Peart) Copyright 1982 Core Music Publishing

To say Rush has a devoted fan base would be an understatement. I know, because I was a card-carrying member of the “Rush Backstage Fan Club” back in the ’80’s. Perhaps no Rush song connected so directly with their fans as “Subdivisions”. On this episode, we celebrate Neil Peart with a deeper look at this fan favorite.

“Subdivisions” (Music by Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson, Words by Neil Peart) Copyright 1982 Core Music Publishing

Michael Carpenter – “Kailee Anne”

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"Kailee Anne" (Michael Carpenter) Copyright 2000 Michael Carpenter; Copyright 2000 Not Lame Recording Company

Michael Carpenter is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer & engineer from Australia who, in a better world, would be a lot more famous. A master of hooks & harmony, he’s one of the best modern power pop artists out there. Here’s a track that’s a personal favorite of mine. Check it out & then go buy some of his music. 

“Kailee Anne” (Michael Carpenter) Copyright 2000 Michael Carpenter; Copyright 2000 Not Lame Recording Company

The Rolling Stones – “Gimme Shelter”

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"Gimme Shelter" (Mick Jagger & Keith Richards) Copyright 1969 ABKCO Music Inc.

There’s no shortage of great songs in the Rolling Stones catalog, but “Gimme Shelter” may be the song that tops them all. Dark and foreboding as only the Stones can do, this track has all the hallmarks of the Rolling Stones at their best: iconic guitar riffs by Keef, Jagger at the top of his game, and the Watts/Wyman rhythm section doing what they do best (plus Nicky Hopkins on piano).  But what pushes this one from merely brilliant into sublime is the vocal performance by Merry Clayton– for my money, one of the greatest moments on record. All together, this one belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Rock. 

“Gimme Shelter” (Mick Jagger & Keith Richards) Copyright 1969 ABKCO Music Inc.

The Beatles – “Rain”

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"Rain" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) Copyright 1966 Northern Songs

“Rain” was the first glimpse of The Beatles exploration of psychedelia. Perhaps more than any other Beatles track, this song highlights the rhythm section with brilliant performances by Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. Add Lennon’s lyrics and great vocals, and you’ve got one of the best songs to come out of the trippy, mind-expanding ’60’s. On this episode, we take a closer look at the individual performances and studio trickery– backwards, forwards, sped up & slowed down– that went into this classic track. 

“Rain” (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) Copyright 1966 Northern Songs

Richard Lloyd – “Backtrack”

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"Backtrack" (Richard Lloyd) Copyright 1985 Richard Lloyd (ASCAP) Anapestic Music/Basement Music LTD. (PRS)

If you know Richard Lloyd at all, it’s either as a member of Television (the first band to play CBGB’s) or as the guitarist on many of Matthew Sweet’s best tracks.  But Richard released some great solo work in between those gigs, including an album called Field Of Fire.  Overlooked & forgotten, this is one of the best records of the 1980’s (in my opinion, of course).  The title song features some of his best ever guitar work.

On this episode, we’re listening to a great rockin’ track called “Backtrack” that’s as close to “classic rock” as Richard Lloyd will ever get– and I mean that in the best possible way.  Keith Richards would be proud of this guitar riff.

“Backtrack” (Richard Lloyd) Copyright 1985 Richard Lloyd (ASCAP) Anapestic Music/Basement Music LTD. (PRS)