Fifty Year Friday: Rolling Stones “Between the Buttons”
Prior to checking this album, Between The Buttons, out of our local public library sometime around 1969, I had never heard anything by the Stones except what I heard on low-fidelity AM radio. I was surprised to find the consistency of quality songs on the album — and how appealing each track was.
The album I heard was the American version which starts out with the three tracks that I had previously heard on the radio: “Let’s Spend the Night Together”, “Yesterday’s Papers” and “Ruby Tuesday.”
If you are looking to pick one of the two best Rolling Stones’ songs ever, “Ruby Tuesday” seems a must, with its dreamy, reflective, beautifully A minor melodic verse and the upbeat, celebratory verse (in the relative major key) — and “Let’s Spend the Night Together” deserves serious consideration. If this album contained nothing more, it would be worthwhile to have in one’s collection.
After these first three songs on side one, we get “Connection”, a solid, steady-beat rock song, “She Smiled Sweetly”, a sensitive ballad, and “Cool, Calm & Collected” with its ragtime-like piano-dominated verse (representing the successful, material-based elements of life) and it’s Indian-influenced chorus (representing the spiritual sentiment of “cool, calm, collected” that tag-team throughout the tune to its accelerating frenzy climax.
Side two may not be as strong as side one, and doesn’t hold up as well to repeated listenings, but is still generally good with “Who’s Been Sleeping Here” and “Something Happened to Me Yesterday” with its English Musical Hall quality and steady march beat. Please note Nicki Hopkins incredibly important contributions on piano to both “Cool Calm Collected” and “Something Happened to Me Yesterday.”
AMERICAN ALBUM TRACK LISTING [from Wikipedia]
| Side one | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | “Let’s Spend the Night Together“ | 3:38 |
| 2. | “Yesterday’s Papers“ | 2:01 |
| 3. | “Ruby Tuesday“ | 3:16 |
| 4. | “Connection“ | 2:08 |
| 5. | “She Smiled Sweetly” | 2:44 |
| 6. | “Cool, Calm & Collected” | 4:17 |
| Side two | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 7. | “All Sold Out” | 2:17 |
| 8. | “My Obsession” | 3:20 |
| 9. | “Who’s Been Sleeping Here?” | 3:55 |
| 10. | “Complicated” | 3:15 |
| 11. | “Miss Amanda Jones” | 2:48 |
| 12. | “Something Happened to Me Yesterday“ | 4:5 |
Personnel [from Wikipedia]
As per the American release:
- The Rolling Stones
- Mick Jagger – lead vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (1-3, 7, 8, 10-12), tambourine (2-5, 9, 10), bass drum (4), harmonica (6)
- Keith Richards – electric guitar (1, 2, 4, 6-12), backing vocals (1, 3-5, 7, 8, 10-12), acoustic guitar (3, 9, 12), piano (1, 4, 5), bass guitar (1, 4, 5), organ (5), double bass (3)
- Brian Jones – organ (1, 10), recorder (3, 7), electric guitar (1), marimba (2), piano (3), banjo (6), kazoo (6), harmonica (9), trombone (12), saxophone (12), clarinet (12)
- Bill Wyman – bass guitar (2, 3, 6-12), double bass (3)
- Charlie Watts – drums (all tracks), maracas (10)
- Additional musicians
- Jack Nitzsche – piano (1, 3, 5, 9), harpsichord (2)
- Nicky Hopkins – piano (6, 12)
- Ian Stewart – piano (7, 8, 10, 11), organ (11)
zumpoems 