Classic Albums: Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones
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Track Two: Love In Vain.
What can be said of the genius of Robert Johson? The man who single handily inspired a generations of musicans and without him we would not have the likes of Muddy Waters, Elmore James and let’s not forget the entire Brtish Blues explosion of the sixties that introduced ther world to the likes of The Stones, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. This is a song of untimely heartbreak and longing, a song which manages to encompass what all great art stands for, the Stones were familiar with Robert Johnson yet this particular song was not on the original collection of songs that became ‘The King Of The Delta Blues’ album and Love In Vain along with the rest of the twenty nine recordings Johnson made was found a few years later. The Stones version has more depth, which was mostly granted by session musician and slide guitar hero Ry Cooder who played acoustic and electric guitar as well as lute tremolo picking that arrives in the bridge of the song. Jagger as always tries his best to emulate the classic voice of American delta blues and all of his heroes but the real beauty in this song comes from the way Keith and Ry play off of one another, Keith’s acoustic guitar makes a romantic picture between Ry’s sloping and relaxed slide playing that gives off the sound of a train readying to move. Charlie been the brilliant drummer he always has been gives the song extra kick as Mick howls to the listener that all his love is in vain. Such beauty and clarity instilled in this song and I think that the boys did marvellous job in keeping Robert Johnson’s spirit live and well.
Track Three: Country Honk:
If the single ’Honky Tonk Women’ had appeared on this album then it would have been a different beast alltogether but this song in itself is just as good even if it is practically the same song but just played in a different format and style. But what makes this track so special is the sound of the moblie studio pulling into the drive as Mick shouts ’OK’ and the sound of Keith’s acoustic guitar kicks in. This song is essentially a filler track but one with memorable moments like the fiddle playing by Byron Beline and this of course is one of two tracks that Brian Jones’ replacement Mick Taylor appears on. All in all this is what you would call as white boy blues with a country edge and the fact that it is recorded in the open air just gives it an overall feeling to the track almost like Dancing Days by Led Zeppelin from the Houses Of The Holy album.