Great British guys buys
Albums by The Rolling Stones and Elton John worth picking up
Christmas is over and for reasons you can’t quite recall, you still have money left. What should you do with it? You could save it for next year, the little voice inside your head says.
But if you’re anything like me, you won’t listen to that voice.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll spend it on music.
So where should these newly freed-up dollars be directed?
Allow me to offer two suggestions.
“On Air” - The Rolling Stones
Release Date: Dec. 1, 2017 Like many of their contemporaries in the U.K. during the 1960s, The Rolling Stones made frequent appearances on the BBC.
The forward-thinking BBC had several radio and television shows at that time that focused the spotlight on contemporary music, at least one of which – “Top of the Pops” - even found its way to this side of the Atlantic.
On Air brings together 18 of the Stones’ BBC performances recorded between 1963 and 1965 for shows like Saturday Club, The Joe Loss Pop Shop and Top Gear. The songs in this collection are a little treasure trove for Stones fans because eight of those 18 songs have never been recorded or released commercially until now.
Seven others were debuted over the airwaves before being featured on albums or EPs. You won’t find a lot of original material on this set because the Stones were still primarily doing covers at the time but the three originals here are noteworthy and include two of their biggest early hits, “(I Can’t get No) Satisfaction” and “The Last Time” as well as “The Spider and The Fly”. The covers include no less than four Chuck Berry songs, with great takes on “Memphis, Tennessee” and “Come On”. They also cover Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” but not as well as The Beatles did.
Other covers include “Route 66,” “Hi Heel Sneakers,” “Mercy, Mercy” and “It’s All Over Now,” which is still one of my all-time favourite Stones recordings.
The songs on this record accurately represent the blues and R&B influences that were prevalent in their music at the time and have continued to serve as a source of inspiration for the band for decades. They also serve to remind us that even back then they were a killer live band.
“On Air” has been released as a CD, double CD deluxe edition, heavy-weight vinyl and special limited-edition coloured vinyl. (Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars)
“Diamonds” - Elton John
There have been numerous Elton John compilations over the years so some people might not see the need for yet another repackaging of his back catalogue.
But Diamonds has special meaning for the iconic singersongwriter, as it coincides with the 50th anniversary of his phenomenal songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin.
The duo met in 1967 through a music magazine advertisement looking for songwriters and went on to become one of the most enduring songwriting duos of all time, getting their first major taste of success just four years later with “Your Song,” which also happens to kick off Diamonds.
There are more than 30 tracks on this two-CD release, almost all of them huge hits at some point in time. In addition to Your Song the classics lined up here including “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man,” “Bennie And The Jets,” “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and “I’m Still Standing”.
But there’s at least one track here that has not made it onto a previous hits collection: Elton’s duet with the late George Michael on “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.”
There are bound to be people who will question why certain songs did not make it onto Diamonds but hey, it is what it is, and it’s not a bad representation of his overall body of work.
I’m sure there will be other compilations before the sun goes down on this piano man.
(Rating 4 out of 5 stars)