The Rolling Stones – It’s All Over Now / Good Times, Bad Times
(Decca Records 1964 F11934)
UK Pressing
Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The first settled line-up consisted of Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar), Bill Wyman (bass) and Charlie Watts (drums). Jones left the band less than a month prior to his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who left in 1975. Since then Ronnie Wood has been on guitar in tandem with Richards. Following Wyman’s departure in 1993, Darryl Jones has been the main bassist. Stewart was removed from the official line-up in 1963 but continued as occasional pianist until his death in 1985. Other notable keyboardists for the band have included Nicky Hopkins, active from 1967 to 1982; and Chuck Leavell, active since 1982. The band was first led by Jones, but after teaming as the band’s songwriters, Jagger and Richards assumed de facto leadership.
The Rolling Stones were in the vanguard of the British Invasion of bands that became popular in the US in 1964–65. At first noted for their longish hair as much as their music, the band are identified with the youthful and rebellious counterculture of the 1960s. They were instrumental in making blues a major part of rock and roll, and of changing the international focus of blues culture to the less sophisticated blues typified by Chess Records artists such as Muddy Waters, writer of “Rollin’ Stone”, the song after which the band is named. After a short period of musical experimentation that culminated with the poorly received and largely psychedelic album Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967), the group returned to their bluesy roots with Beggars’ Banquet (1968) which – along with its follow-ups, Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971) and Exile on Main St. (1972) – is generally considered to be the band’s best work, and are considered the Rolling Stones’ “Golden Age”. Musicologist Robert Palmer attributed the “remarkable endurance” of the Rolling Stones to being “rooted in traditional verities, in rhythm-and-blues and soul music” while “more ephemeral pop fashions have come and gone”.
The band continued to make successful records through the 1970s and selling many albums with Some Girls (1978) and Tattoo You (1981) being their two most sold albums worldwide. In the 1980s, a feud between Jagger and Richards about band’s musical direction almost caused the band to split but they managed to patch their relationship and had a big comeback with Steel Wheels (1989) which was followed by a big stadium and arena tour. The band’s tradition of supporting albums with big stadium tours continued through the 1990s and 2000s. The band made what were then the four highest-grossing concert tours of all time (Voodoo Lounge Tour (1994-95), Bridges to Babylon Tour (1997-99), Licks Tour (2002-03) and A Bigger Bang Tour (2005-07)).
The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. Rolling Stone magazine ranked them fourth on the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” list, and their estimated album sales are above 250 million. They have released twenty-nine studio albums, eighteen live albums and numerous compilations. Let It Bleed (1969) was their first of five consecutive number one studio and Live albums in the UK. Sticky Fingers (1971) was the first of eight consecutive number one studio albums in the US. In 2008 the band ranked 10th on the “Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists” chart. In 2012, the band celebrated their 50th anniversary.
“It’s All Over Now” was written by Bobby Womack and Shirley Womack. It was first released by The Valentinos featuring Bobby Womack. The Valentinos version entered the Billboard Hot 100 on June 27, 1964, where it stayed on the chart for two weeks, peaking at No. 94. The Rolling Stones had their first number-one hit with this song in July 1964.
The Rolling Stones version
The Valentinos’ original version of the song was played to the Rolling Stones during their first North American tour in June 1964 by New York radio DJ Murray the K. Murray the K had an extended series of interviews with the Stones on his WINS Swinging Soiree hit radio show following his similar success as the first radio DJ in the USA to have the Beatles with him on the air (February 1964). He played the Valentinos’ song to the Stones, who “raved on it” and said “it was their kind of song”. He also played the Stones’ “King Bee” (their Slim Harpo cover) the same night and remarked on their ability to achieve an authentic blues sound. After hearing “It’s All Over Now” by the Womacks (aka the Valentinos) on the WINS show, the band recorded their version nine days later at Chess Studios in Chicago. Years later, Bobby Womack said in an interview that he had told his manager he did not want the Rolling Stones to record their version of the song, and that he had told Mick Jagger to get his own song. His manager convinced him to let the Rolling Stones record the song. Six months later on receiving the royalty check for the song he told his manager that Mick Jagger could have any song he wanted.
The Rolling Stones’ version of “It’s All Over Now” is the most famous version ever cut of the song. It was first released as a single in Great Britain, where it peaked at number 1 on the Disc Weekly charts, giving the Rolling Stones their first number one hit ever. It was the band’s third single released in America, and stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks, peaking at number 26. Months later it appeared on their second American album 12 X 5. The song was a big hit in Europe and was part of the bands live set in the 1960s.
In his 2010 autobiography, “Life”, Keith Richards says that John Lennon criticized his guitar solo on this song and Richards agreed that it was not one of his best, though Bruce Springsteen and many other guitar fans rank it as one of the most inspired guitar breaks ever recorded, and one that is still hard to mimic.
Music video
The music video, filmed in black and white and taken from The T.A.M.I. Show, features the band playing live in front of a crowd, while Mick Jagger dances around the stage and Keith Richards and Brian Jones sing backing vocals. Brian plays the memorable smashing chord drives on this one (typically on his Vox Phantom or Teardrop) while Keith plays the arpeggios, does the harmony vocal, and plays the signature lead guitar break (on his Epiphone or his Gibson Les Paul in those days) in the middle of the song. A careful viewing of this song taken from The T.A.M.I. Show will note the fact that on the last refrain of “because I used to love her, but it’s all over now,” Mick Jagger uses the “F” word in lieu of the word “love.”
Personnel
- Mick Jagger – lead vocals, percussion
- Keith Richards – high guitar, backing vocals
- Brian Jones – low guitar, backing vocals
- Bill Wyman – bass guitar
- Charlie Watts – drums
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