Saturday, May 25, 2013

Dance Little Sister

After a break, during which Mick Jagger recorded with both John Lennon in Los Angeles and Ron Wood in London (more on the latter session later on), the Rolling Stones returned to Musicland Studios to continue recordings for a new studio album. During their first visit to Munich, in November 1973, the Stones worked on three songs that would make it to the final album.

This time around (January 14-28, 1974) the band, with Mick Taylor, who missed the first sessions because of illness, back in their ranks worked on five more future album tracks. Once again, Nicky Hopkins and Billy Preston were around to help out on keyboards, but they sat out on 'Dance Little Sister', a no-nonsense rhythm and blues track that appealed to Ian Stewart's perception of what the Stones ought to be.

Dance Little Sister is a typical Keith Richards R&B rocker. After the first few seconds, where the guitar and drums almost struggle to find the exact groove, the song rocks at road-running pace with twin guitar riffs under the bonnet. Stu confirms the song's rock 'n' roll origin capturing a trade-mark bar room piano feel.


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

1 comment:

  1. January 14-28, 1974: Musicland Studios, Munich, West-Germany.
    The Rolling Stones: Dance Little Sister (Jagger-Richards) (5:05)
    The Rolling Stones: Living In The Heart Of Love (Jagger-Richards) (4:10)
    The Rolling Stones: Drift Away (Williams) (4:08)
    The Rolling Stones: Time Waits For No One (Jagger-Richards) (6:37)
    Mick Taylor: "Time Waits For No One"
    The best one on that album - for a guitar solo, anyway - is Time Waits For No One, which is the first song we recorded for It's Only Rock'n Roll. We hadn't seen each other for about 3 months, and it was done in one or two takes. We had done a bit of a layoff because we'd finished a European tour, and everybody went to different parts of the globe and had a rest. I went to Brazil, which is possibly why there is a little Latin influence there.

    740114A 14th - 28th January: Munich, West-Germany, Musicland Studios. Producers: The Glimmer Twins. Sound engineers: Keith Harwood and Andy Johns. Incl.
    - Dance Little Sister (Jagger-Richards) - Ian Stewart on piano
    - Living In The Heart Of Love (Jagger-Richards) - Nicky Hopkins on piano
    - Drift Away (Williams) - Nicky Hopkins on piano, Billy Preston on organ
    - If You Really Want To Be My Friend (Jagger-Richards) - Nicky Hopkins on piano; unverified early version
    - Luxury (Jagger-Richards) - Nicky Hopkins on piano; unverified early version
    - Till The Next Goodbye (Jagger-Richards) - Nicky Hopkins on piano; unverified early version
    - Time Waits For No One (Jagger-Richards) -Nicky Hopkins on piano, Ray Cooper on percussion.

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

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