Tattoo You

Tattoo You
Studio album by The Rolling Stones
Released 24 August 1981
Recorded November–December 1972, January–March 1975, January–March 1978, January–October 1979, October 1980 – June 1981
Genre Rock, hard rock, rock and roll
Length 44:23
Language English
Label Rolling Stones
Producer The Glimmer Twins
The Rolling Stones chronology
Emotional Rescue
(1980)Emotional Rescue1980		 Tattoo You
(1981)		 Undercover
(1983)Undercover1983
Singles from Tattoo You
  1. "Start Me Up"
    Released: 14 August 1981
  2. "Waiting on a Friend"
    Released: 30 November 1981
  3. "Hang Fire"
    Released: April 1982

Tattoo You is the 16th British and 18th American studio album by the Rolling Stones, released in 1981. The follow-up to Emotional Rescue (1980), the album is mostly composed of studio outtakes recorded during the 1970s, and contains one of the band's most well-known songs, "Start Me Up", which hit #2 on the United States's Billboard singles charts.

The album proved to be both a critical and commercial success upon release, reaching the top of the Billboard charts, selling more than four million copies in the United States alone and over 8.5 million copies worldwide.[1] It was also the final Rolling Stones album to reach the top position of the US charts, thus concluding the band's string of number-one albums there, dating back to 1971's Sticky Fingers.

History

Tattoo You is an album primarily composed of outtakes from previous recording sessions, some dating back a decade, with new vocals and overdubs. Along with two new songs, the Rolling Stones put together this collection to have a new album to promote for their worldwide American Tour 1981/European Tour 1982 beginning that September. Guitarist Keith Richards commented in 1993:

"The thing with Tattoo You wasn't that we'd stopped writing new stuff, it was a question of time. We'd agreed we were going to go out on the road and we wanted to tour behind a record. There was no time to make a whole new album and make the start of the tour."[2]

Recording

The album's associate producer, Chris Kimsey, who'd been associated with The Stones dating back to Sticky Fingers (1971) said "Tattoo You really came about because Mick [Jagger] and Keith were going through a period of not getting on. There was a need to have an album out, and I told everyone I could make an album from what I knew was still there."[3] He began sifting through the band's vaults: "I spent three months going through (the recording tapes from) like the last four, five albums finding stuff that had been either forgotten about or at the time rejected. And then I presented it to the band and I said, 'Hey, look guys, you've got all this great stuff sitting in the can and it's great material, do something with it."[3]

Many of the songs consisted at this point of instrumental backing tracks for which vocals had not been recorded. Jagger said in a 1995 interview, "It wasn't all outtakes; some of it was old songs... I had to write lyrics and melodies. A lot of them didn't have anything, which is why they weren't used at the time – because they weren't complete. They were just bits, or they were from early takes".[4] Despite the eclectic nature of the album, the Rolling Stones were able to divide Tattoo You into two distinct halves: a rock and roll side backed with one focusing on ballads.

The earliest songs used for Tattoo You are "Tops" and "Waiting on a Friend". The backing tracks for both songs were cut in late 1972 during the Goats Head Soup (1973) sessions and feature Mick Taylor, not Ronnie Wood, on guitar. Taylor, who was not credited, later demanded and received a share of the album's royalties.

The album opens with "Start Me Up", originally rehearsed under the working title "Never Stop" and as a reggae-influenced number in 1978 during the Some Girls sessions, and the balance of it was recorded during these particular sessions in Paris (at Pathé Marconi studios) sessions where the more rock-infused track was recorded. Dating from the Black and Blue sessions are the backing tracks for "Slave" and "Worried About You". They feature Billy Preston on keyboards and Ollie E. Brown on percussion. Wayne Perkins plays the lead guitar on "Worried About You".

"Start Me Up", "Hang Fire" and "Black Limousine" were worked on during the 1978 Pathé Marconi recording sessions for Some Girls.

The basic tracks for "No Use in Crying", "Little T&A", "Neighbours", "Heaven" and "Hang Fire" came from the Emotional Rescue (1980) sessions.[5]

The vocal parts for the songs on Tattoo You were overdubbed during sessions in October–November 1980 and April–June 1981. Mick Jagger was the only member of the band present at some of these sessions. Other overdubs, such as Sonny Rollins' saxophone parts on "Slave" and "Waiting on a Friend", were also added at these sessions. The album was mixed at Atlantic Studios, Electric Ladyland, Hit Factory and Power Station in New York City.[3]

Release and aftermath

"Start Me Up" was released in August 1981, just a week before Tattoo You, to a very strong response, reaching the top 10 in both the United States and UK, and number 1 in Australia. Widely considered one of the Stones' most infectious songs, it was enough to carry Tattoo You to No. 1 for nine weeks in the United States, while reaching No. 2 in the UK with solid sales. It's been certified 4x platinum in the United States alone. The critical reaction was positive, many feeling that Tattoo You was an improvement over Emotional Rescue and a high-quality release. "Waiting on a Friend" and "Hang Fire" became Top 20 US hits as well.

"Start Me Up" would prove to be The Rolling Stones' last single to reach as high as No. 2 in the US, while Tattoo You is their last American No. 1 album to date.

The album title was originally planned to be simply Tattoo. Jagger claims to this day that even he has no clue how the "You" became attached to the title. The title caused friction between Jagger and Richards, with Richards suspecting that Jagger had changed the title without seeking his input. The album cover for Tattoo You had concept origination, art direction and design by Peter Corriston and illustration by Christian Piper. The album cover won the Grammy award in 1982 in the Best Album Package category. It was the first Grammy award for the Rolling Stones.

There were several videos directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for this album including:

  • "Start Me Up", "Hang Fire" and "Worried About You": Consisting of a standard band performance setting, miming to a backing tape.
  • "Neighbours": An homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window, it features the band playing in one apartment of an apartment building with various happenings seen in the windows of the other apartments: A working-class couple relaxing and making love, a t'ai chi practitioner exercising, and most notoriously, a man putting bloody body parts in a suitcase. This video was heavily censored when presented on television.
  • "Waiting on a Friend": Filmed on location in New York City's East Village, it consists of Richards walking down the street, meeting Jagger, who's sitting on the front steps of 96-98 St. Mark's Place (the same building used by the designer Peter Corriston for cover art of Led Zeppelin's 1975 album Physical Graffiti) with several other men, one of whom is the late reggae musician Peter Tosh, who also shakes Keith's hand. They then proceed down the street and enter a bar where the rest of the band is waiting. The video also features Wood, rather than Mick Taylor on guitar (similar to the videos for "Hot Stuff" and "Worried About You" in which Harvey Mandel and Wayne Perkins respectively actually played).

Legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The A.V. Clubfavourable[7]
Blender[8]
Robert ChristgauA–[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]

Critical reception

Reviews for Tattoo You were largely positive, proclaiming the album a return to form and ranking among the Rolling Stones' finest works. Debra Rae Cohen commented in Rolling Stone: "Just when we might finally have lost patience, the new record dances (not prances), rocks (not jives) onto the scene, and the Rolling Stones are back again, with a matter-of-fact acceptance of their continued existence – and eventual mortality …"[2]

Though Robert Christgau gave the album a good review, however, when criticising "Start Me Up" in his Pazz and Jop essay in 1981, said, "its central conceit – Mick as sex machine, complete with pushbutton – explains why the album it starts up never transcends hand-tooled excellence except when Sonny Rollins, uncredited, invades the Stones' space. Though it's as good in its way as 'Street Fighting Man', how much you care about it depends entirely on how much you care about the Stones' technical difficulties."[12]

Patty Rose, in Musician, said, "The feel of the album … is more one of rediscovered youth, of axes to play, not grind, of the latest cope, not dope. After Emotional Rescue, it seems the Stones couldn't make it anymore with the theme of life getting harder and harder. The old themes are not invalidated by the new, but rather taken for granted, like knowing how to tie one's bootlace. The Stones have shed yet another layer of self-consciousness and their shiny vinyl new skin tingles with an open, early-decade kind of excitement."[2]

Accolades

In 1989, it was ranked No. 34 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 213 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[13]

Peter Corriston, who was responsible for the album cover's concept origination, art direction and design, won a Grammy Award for Tattoo You in the category of best album package.

Band appraisal

In the 1995 Rolling Stone interview during which editor Jann Wenner called Tattoo You the Stones' "most underrated album", Jagger said, "I think it's excellent. But all the things I usually like, it doesn’t have. It doesn’t have any unity of purpose or place or time."[4]

Reissues

Tattoo You was remastered and reissued in 1994 by Virgin Records, and again in 2009 by Universal Music. It was released on SHM-SACD in 2011 by Universal Music Japan. The 1994 remaster was initially released in a Collector's Edition CD, which replicated in miniature elements of the original vinyl album packaging.

Track listing

All songs composed by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except "Black Limousine" and "No Use in Crying" co-written with Ronnie Wood.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Start Me Up"3:31
2."Hang Fire"2:20
3."Slave" (Remastered CD version is 6:34)4:59
4."Little T&A"3:23
5."Black Limousine"3:32
6."Neighbours"3:31
Side two
No.TitleLength
7."Worried About You"5:16
8."Tops"3:45
9."Heaven"4:21
10."No Use in Crying"3:24
11."Waiting on a Friend"4:34

Personnel

The Rolling Stones

  • Mick Jagger – lead vocals (all but 4), backing vocals (all but 5); electric guitar (9, 10); harmonica (track 5), percussion (track 9)
  • Keith Richards – electric guitar (all but 9), backing vocals (1-4, 6-7, 10); lead vocals and bass guitar (track 4)
  • Ronnie Wood – electric guitar (all but 7, 8, 9, 11), backing vocals (1-2, 4, 6, 10); bass guitar (track 2)
  • Bill Wyman – bass guitar (all but 2, 4); synthesizer, electric guitar, and percussion (track 9)
  • Charlie Watts – drums, percussion (track 9)

Additional personnel

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Australia 225,000[36]
France (SNEP)[37] Gold 332,190[38]
Canada (Music Canada)[39] 4× Platinum 400,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[40] Gold 50,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[41] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[42] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[43] 4× Platinum 4,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ "Rolling Stones Popularity Analysis". 2 December 2016. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Tattoo You". Time Is on Our Side. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 Tattoo You Archived 4 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. 1 2 Wenner, Jann. "Jagger Remembers". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  5. ↑ The Complete Works of the Rolling Stones - Database Archived 19 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Thomas, Stephen (30 August 1981). "Allmusic Review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  7. ↑ "We're No. 1 Review". theavclub.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  8. ↑ Blender Review
  9. ↑ "Robert Christgau Review". Robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  10. ↑ Debra Rae Cohen (15 October 1981). "Rolling Stone Review". Rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  11. ↑ "The Rolling Stones: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived version retrieved 15 November 2014.
  12. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "The Year the Rolling Stones Lost the Pennant". Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  13. ↑ "The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You". Rolling Stone. 1 November 2003. Archived from the original on 26 November 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. ↑ "The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You – austriancharts.at". Archived from the original (ASP) on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  16. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 35, No. 11". RPM. 10 October 1981. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  17. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  18. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2013. Note: user must select 'The Rolling Stones' from drop-down.
  19. 1 2 "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1981" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  20. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  21. ↑ "charts.org.nz The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You". Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Archived from the original (ASP) on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  22. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You". Archived from the original (ASP) on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  23. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  24. ↑ "swedishcharts.com The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  25. ↑ "The Rolling Stones > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  26. ↑ "Allmusic: Tattoo You : Charts & Awards : Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  27. ↑ "Album Search: The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  28. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1981". RPM. 26 December 1981. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  29. ↑ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1981" (ASP) (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  30. ↑ "Les Albums (CD) de 1981 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  31. ↑ "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  32. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc (26 December 1981). Billboard.com – Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  33. ↑ "Top 100 Albums '82". RPM. 25 December 1982. Archived from the original on 29 December 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  34. ↑ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1982" (ASP) (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  35. ↑ "Billboard.BIZ: Top Pop Albums of 1982". billboard.biz. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  36. ↑ "Major fight economics with quirky rock originals". Billboard. 12 June 1982. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  37. ↑ "French album certifications – The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You" (in French). InfoDisc. Select THE ROLLING STONES and click OK. 
  38. ↑ "Les Albums Or :" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  39. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You". Music Canada.
  40. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Tattoo You in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  41. ↑ "Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990" (in Spanish). Iberautor Promociones Culturales. ISBN 8480486392.
  42. ↑ "British album certifications – The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Tattoo You in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  43. ↑ "American album certifications – The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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