Fifty years ago today the Rolling Stones recorded "Not Fade Away" at Regent Sound in Denmark Street, or Tin Pan Alley as they called it in those days. According to Keith Richards it was a tiny room at the back of a shop, with a two-track Revox mounted on the wall and sound-proofed with egg boxes. According to this it wasn't much different when Black Sabbath came there in 1970 and recorded "Paranoid".
Andrew Loog Oldham was the Stones producer though he didn't have much more experience than they did. They later did their first album in the same place. I still think it's the best first album ever made by anyone. According to Keith the tiny room made it easier to make those first albums "but hard to make a better one".
And the Rolling Stones' first album has never had a proper, remastered CD release in the UK - only the US "England's Newest Hitmakers" album has been available for many years.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit like only being able to buy "Meet The Beatles" etc.
Because of the travails of Decca and the depradations of Allen Klein, the Stones' back catalogue has never been treated with the care accorded to the Beatles (and indeed the Kinks and others). I guess Jagger sees limited revenue potential and Richards just isn't too fussed, but they were much more than just a singles band before 1967.
Can I nominate 5x5 as the best EP ever released by a UK group?
If we're nominating EPs, I'd have to go for Stop It by Radio Stars. Not least because it contains (There are no) No Russians in Russia. It may not have the Stones' pedigree, but in 1977 it was one of the coolest records in my collection. Or so I thought at the time.
ReplyDelete