The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger Makes a Good Point About Why ‘Some Girls’ Is 1 of His Favorite Albums By the Band
It took The Rolling Stones a few years to find their footing in England’s busy 1960s music scene. Once they did, they released a string of successful albums that became all-time classics. After a lull in the mid-1970s, The Rolling Stones returned to glory with Some Girls, a record that singer Mick Jagger rated as one of his favorite records by the band.
Mick Jagger rates The Rolling Stones album ‘Some Girls’ as 1 of his favorite, and he has a point
Each Stones record from 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1973’s Goats Head Soup was a certified classic. You won’t find many fans (or very likely any fans) who would argue that wasn’t the band’s creative peak.
The band maintained an incredible pace in their first decade together. They had to slow down at some point. The uneven It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (1974) and the moody Black and Blue (1976) had their moments, but those records didn’t come close to matching the greatness that preceded them.
Then 1978’s Some Girls landed and proved the band still had the spark that made them great. That’s why Jagger said it was one of his favorite Rolling Stones albums from their entire career (via Yahoo):
“It’s one of my favorite Stones albums, I think, because it’s so listenable as an album, and it gets to the heart of the matter straightaway, and there’s no mucking about, and it’s succinct. It doesn’t sprawl, it’s to-the-point, it’s got a lot of style, and it’s got this energy. I think it’s all around a really good album. I think it’s underrated. I don’t know where it comes in the ratings, to be honest. In my ratings, it comes very high — just don’t ask me what number.”
Jagger has a point about the energy and style The Rolling Stones brought to Some Girls.
They gave die-hard fans straight-ahead rockers such as “When the Whip Comes Down,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” “Lies,” and “Respectable.” The band showed their softer side on the country confessional “Far Away Eyes” and “Beast of Burden.”
More than anything, The Rolling Stones showed their adaptability. Some fans at the time called them sellouts for making the “disco” song “Miss You,” a petty argument made only by shortsighted listeners hoping to pigeonhole the Stones to their country blues roots. Likewise, Some Girls closer “Shattered” displayed a keen grasp of new wave attitude without sacrificing the Stones’ bravado.
Jagger and Keith Richards both felt highly of ‘Some Girls’
Jagger and Keith Richards found common ground with Some Girls. The singer said it was one of his favorite Stones records. The guitarist called out the people who blasted the band for making “Miss You,” saying those so-called fans pissed him off.
Some Girls kicked off a mini-revival for the Stones.
Emotional Rescue followed in 1980 after Richards’ five-word motto helped him take over the recording sessions. While not as strong as the previous album, it featured some solid rockers (“Summer Romance,” “Let Me Go,” and “Where the Boys Go”) and quality genre exercises (dancehall reggae of “Send it to Me” and the slow blues of “Down in a Hole”).
Tattoo You landed in 1981. Even though it was more a collection of odds and ends, it included some of the band’s best later-era tunes, such as “Start Me Up,” “Hang Fire,” and “Waiting on a Friend,” one of the Stones best ballads.
How did the album perform on the charts?
“Miss You” provided The Rolling Stones with the last of their No. 1 hits. It topped the Billboard chart in August 1978 and spent an impressive 20 weeks among the top 100 tunes.
Some Girls enjoyed one of the Stones’ best runs on the Billboard albums chart. It went to the top less than two months after its release and spent 88 weeks on the chart, far longer than any other studio album by the band.
The energy and musicality helped The Rolling Stones find success withSome Girls, and when you put it all together, it made the album one of Jagger’s favorites.
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