Saturday, November 5, 2011

Get Off Of My Cloud

Immediately after their short Irish tour the Rolling Stones once again returned to RCA Studios, Hollywood, in order to finish work on their upcoming third studio album. Apart from a handful of album tracks, the band also taped their next single, "Get Off Of My Cloud". There was a riff in "Cloud", but it was buried deep beneath the guitar/bass/drum rhythm, like was Ian Stewart's piano.

The track adopts a rock and roll aproach and was a contrast to the rock/soul sound of "Satisfaction". "Cloud" created a safe pedestal for a degree of experimentation on future single releases. There was also something in the imagery - the world stopping, the guy "dressed up like a Union Jack" wielding a pack of detergent, being 'high' on a cloud - which suggested the presence of strange new influences. The 'stoned' age, be it by drugs or alcohol, was beginning to run away from the establishment.

Mick Jagger later said his lyrics were crap, Keith Richards that the song was one of Andrew Oldham's worst productions. But "Get Off Of My Cloud", with its declamatory, double-time vocals, and its relentless pursuit to purge every moment of silence from the recording tape has grown with age.


Adapted from the following sources:
James Hector, The Complete Guide To The Music Of The Rolling Stones, Omnibus Press, 1995.
Martin Elliott, The Rolling Stones. Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2002. Cherry Red Books, 2002.

3 comments:

  1. September 5-7, 1965: RCA Studios, Los Angeles, USA.
    The Rolling Stones: Get Off Of My Cloud (Jagger-Richards)(2:59)
    Mick Jagger: "Get Off Of My Cloud"
    Get Off Of My Cloud was Keith's melody and my lyrics. It's a stop-bugging-me, post-teenage-alienation song. The grown-up world was a very ordered society in the '60s, and I was coming out of it. America was even more ordered than anywhere else. I found it was a very restrictive society in thought and behavior and dress.

    The Rolling Stones: Blue Turns To Grey (Jagger-Richards) (2:35)
    The Rolling Stones: Gotta Get Away (Jagger-Richards) (2:12)
    The Rolling Stones: I'm Free (Jagger-Richards) (2:28)
    The Rolling Stones: The Singer Not The Song (Jagger-Richards) (2:28)
    The Rolling Stones: Talkin' About You (Berry) (2:36)
    The Rolling Stones: She Said Yeah (Christy-Jackson) (1:38)
    The Rolling Stones: Looking Tired (Jagger-Richards) (2:12)

    650905A 5th - 7th September: Los Angeles, RCA Studios, Hollywood. Producer: Andrew Oldham. Sound engineer: Dave Hassinger.
    - Get Off Of My Cloud (Jagger-Richards) - Ian Stewart on piano
    - Blue Turns To Grey (Jagger-Richards)
    - Gotta Get Away (Jagger-Richards)
    - I'm Free (Jagger-Richards) - James W. Alexander on percussion
    - The Singer Not The Song (Jagger-Richards)
    - Talkin’ Bout You (Berry) - Ian Stewart on piano
    - She Said Yeah (Christy-Jackson)
    - Looking Tired (Jagger-Richards) - Ian Stewart on piano.

    Note: Most tracks were already begun in early July.

    Line-up: Mick Jagger (voc)/Keith Richards (gtr, bvoc)/Brian Jones (gtr)/Bill Wyman (bass)/Charlie Watts (dr).

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  2. It was always absolutely brilliant.

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