Some Girls

by The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, Ron Wood

Overview

Outlaws in their youth, by 1978, The Rolling Stones were men in their mid thirties, who had been outflanked by the punk movement. The Clash's slogan had been "No Beatles, Elvis, Stones in 1977." The Stones responded with one of their final great records, Some Girls. While parts of Goats Head Soup and Black and Blue were focused on New York City, this album was a late '70s statement of NYC funk. Guitarist Ronnie Wood was firmly within the ranks and he and Richards drove the Stones toward their earlier lofty heights. "Shattered" rocked intensely, while "Miss you" added grit to a disco beat. They even sparked a little bit of controversy among the politically correct crowd when one of the lyrics on the title track suggested that black women wanted to have sex all night (only black women? Isn't that sentiment universal?). The recording resulted in international hits for the group and stopped their first precipitous decline.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/09/2009
Label:	Umvd Labels
UPC:	0602527015668
catalogNumber:	001283702
Rank:	3472

Tracks

1. Miss You
2. When the Whip Comes Down
3. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
4. Some Girls
5. Lies
6. Far Away Eyes
7. Respectable
8. Before They Make Me Run
9. Beast of Burden
10. Shattered

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rolling Stones   Primary Artist
Mick Jagger   Electric Guitar,Vocals,Background Vocals
Ronnie Wood   Acoustic Guitar,Bass Drums,Bass Guitar,Electric Guitar,Background Vocals
Charlie Watts   Drums
Ian McLagan   Electric Piano,Hammond B3
Bill Wyman   Synthesizer,Electric Bass,Bass Guitar
Sugar Blue   Harmonica
Mel Collins   Saxophone
Keith Richards   Acoustic Guitar,Electric Guitar,Background Vocals

Editorial Reviews

During the mid-'70s, the Rolling Stones remained massively popular, but their records suffered from Jagger's fascination with celebrity and Keith's worsening drug habit. By 1978, both punk and disco had swept the group off the front pages, and Some Girls was their fiery response to the younger generation. Opening with the disco-blues thump of "Miss You," Some Girls is a tough, focused, and exciting record, full of more hooks and energy than any Stones record since Exile on Main St. Even though the Stones make disco their own, they never quite take punk on their own ground. Instead, their rockers sound harder and nastier than they have in years. Using "Star Star" as a template, the Stones run through the seedy homosexual imagery of "When the Whip Comes Down," the bizarre, borderline-misogynistic vitriol of the title track, Keith's ultimate outlaw anthem, "Before They Make Me Run," and the decadent closer, "Shattered." In between, they deconstruct the Temptations' "(Just My) Imagination," unleash the devastatingly snide country parody "Far Away Eyes," and contribute "Beast of Burden," one of their very best ballads. Some Girls may not have the back-street aggression of their '60s records, or the majestic, drugged-out murk of their early-'70s work, but its brand of glitzy, decadent hard rock still makes it a definitive Stones album.

All Music Guide - Stephen Thomas Erlewine