The Rolling Stones, Now!
| The Rolling Stones, Now! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by the Rolling Stones | ||||
| Released | 13 February 1965 (US) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:58 | |||
| Label | London | |||
| Producer | Andrew Loog Oldham | |||
| The Rolling Stones US album chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Rolling Stones, Now! | ||||
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The Rolling Stones, Now! is the third American studio album by the Rolling Stones, released in February 1965 by their initial American distributor, London Records. Although it contains two previously unissued tunes and an alternative version, the album mostly consists of songs released earlier in the United Kingdom, plus the group's recent single in the United States, "Heart of Stone" backed with "What a Shame". Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote four of the songs on the album (including the US single), with the balance composed by American rhythm and blues and rock and roll artists.
The album reached number four on the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified "gold" by the Recording Industry Association of America. The liner notes on initial pressings contained producer Andrew Loog Oldham's advice to the record buying public, which was quickly temporarily removed from some subsequent pressings:
This is THE STONES new disc within. Cast deep in your pockets for the loot to buy this disc of groovies and fancy words. If you don't have the bread, see that blind man knock him on the head, steal his wallet and low [sic] and behold you have the loot, if you put in the boot, good, another one sold!
This quote also appeared on some issues of the UK 'Rolling Stones No. 2' LP.
In August 2002, The Rolling Stones, Now! was reissued in a new remastered CD and SACD digipak by ABKCO Records. This version included stereo mixes of "Heart of Stone", "What a Shame", and "Down the Road Apiece".[2]
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Music Story |  |
| The 1000 Best Pop-Rock Albums |  |
In a retrospective review, music critic Richie Unterberger gave the album AllMusic's highest rating (5 out of 5 stars). He commented "Now! is almost uniformly strong start-to-finish, the emphasis on some of their blackest material. The covers of "Down Home Girl," Bo Diddley's vibrating "Mona," Otis Redding's "Pain in My Heart," and Barbara Lynn's "Oh Baby" are all among the group's best R&B interpretations."[1]
The Rolling Stone magazine album guide also gave the album 5 out of 5 stars, the highest rating for a pre-Aftermath album by the group.[3] It noted "The Rolling Stones, Now! is their first consistently great LP, with the mean 'Heart of Stone,' the funky 'Off the Hook,' and the Leiber-Stoller oldie 'Down Home Girl'".[3] The magazine also ranked it at number 180 on the list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[6]
Track listing
| Side one | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original release | Length |
| 1. | "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" | Solomon Burke, Bert Berns, Jerry Wexler | The Rolling Stones No. 2 (UK) has an alternative longer version | 2:57 |
| 2. | "Down Home Girl" | Jerry Leiber, Artie Butler | The Rolling Stones No. 2 | 4:15 |
| 3. | "You Can't Catch Me" | Chuck Berry | The Rolling Stones No. 2 | 4:30 |
| 4. | "Heart of Stone" | Jagger/Richards | single (US) | 2:49 |
| 5. | "What a Shame" | Jagger/Richards | B-side of "Heart of Stone" (US) | 2:50 |
| 6. | "Mona (I Need You Baby)" | Ellas McDaniel a.k.a. Bo Diddley | The Rolling Stones (UK) | 3:55 |
| Total length: | 21:16 | |||
| Side two | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original release | Length |
| 7. | "Down the Road Apiece" | Don Raye | The Rolling Stones No. 2 | 3:00 |
| 8. | "Off the Hook" | Jagger/Richards | B-side of "Little Red Rooster" (UK) | 2:35 |
| 9. | "Pain in My Heart" | Naomi Neville a.k.a. Allen Toussaint | The Rolling Stones No. 2 | 2:12 |
| 10. | "Oh Baby (We Got a Good Thing Goin')" | Barbara Lynn Ozen | The Rolling Stones, Now! | 2:06 |
| 11. | "Little Red Rooster" | Willie Dixon | single (UK) | 3:00 |
| 12. | "Surprise, Surprise" | Jagger/Richards | The Rolling Stones, Now! | 2:20 |
| Total length: | 15:13 | |||
Recording sessions
The songs were recorded between 10 June and 8 November 1964 at the Chess Records studio in Chicago, and RCA Records studio in Hollywood, California; except "Mona (I Need You Baby)", 3–4 January 1964, Regent Sound Studios, London.
Personnel
The Rolling Stones
- Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, tambourine, percussion
- Keith Richards – electric guitar, backing vocals
- Brian Jones – electric and slide guitars, harmonica, backing vocals
- Charlie Watts – drums, percussion
- Bill Wyman – bass guitar, backing vocals
Additional personnel
- Jack Nitzsche – piano (2), "Nitzsche phone" (sound effects on 9)
- Ian Stewart – piano (1, 5)
Chart positions
- Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Billboard 200 | 5 |
- Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | "Heart of Stone" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 19 |
Certifications
| Country | Provider | Certification (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|
| United States | RIAA | Gold |
References
- 1 2 3 Unterberger, Richie. "The Rolling Stones, Now! - The Rolling Stones | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ↑ Walsh, Christopher (24 August 2002). "Super audio CDs: The Rolling Stones Remastered". Billboard. Billboard. p. 27.
- 1 2 3 Rolling Stone album guide
- ↑ http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/album/A47.htm
- ↑ "Fresh Cream". acclaimedmusic.net. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
- ↑ Rolling Stone (2010). "500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 180 – The Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones, Now!". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
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