Flowers
Abkco - Abkco
The Rolling Stones
Release date: 2002-08-27
Audio CD
British Invasion, British Psychedelia, Early Pop/Rock, Pop, Pop/Rock, Pop/Rock Music, Psychedelic, Rock, Rock & Roll, Rock/Pop
1. Ruby Tuesday
2. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby Standing in the Shadow?
3. Let's Spend the Night Together
4. Lady Jane
5. Out of Time
6. My Girl
7. Backstreet Girl
8. Please Go Home
9. Mother's Little Helper
10. Take It or Leave It
11. Ride on Baby
12. Sittin' on a Fence
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Flowers
Date undefinedIt used to be that 45's were the mainstay of immediate satisfaction. LPs were for hits and leftovers.
Rolling Stones, like most bands of the time, wanted to put out their newest within a few weeks of recording it. That is what made the '60's so great; popular culture as soon as you turned the radio dial to your favorite station.
"Flowers" is a complilation of 45's from 1966 to 1967, most not on any LP. Baroque songs like "Lady Jane" "Ruby Tuesday" "Ride on Baby", Motown sweet first attempts "My Girl", hard rockin' nasty "Let's Spend The Night Together", folk/country Dylan "Back Street Girl" "Sittin' on A Fence", trad blues of "Please Go Home", contempory rock like "Mother's Little Helper".
This is an example of Rolling Stones as they found their way competing with Beatles and other jacks to kings. This is mid-way Stones, eager and figuring it out. Mid 1967 came the 45 "We Love You" and later the 3D LP. "Their Satanic Majesties Request".
"Flowers" is like a summer romance. Seems better with age.
The sound is basic '60's stereo with left/right separation and the mono is pristine (some will perfer).
Flowers
Date undefined Totally blown opportunity, but thankfully it's a blown opportunity filled with good music. The intention of this album was to round up some stray tracks that didn't make the US versions of Aftermath and Between the Buttons, along with a few other songs that happened to be lying around. But for some weird reason, they also decided to include "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday," which were both on the US version of Between the Buttons, and "Lady Jane," which was on everyone's version of Aftermath. Meanwhile, the classic a-side "19th Nervous Breakdown" somehow missed this album, even though it didn't come out on an LP in either the U.S. or the U.K.! That is both impractical and stupid.
However, there is still many a fine song here. The best of them is probably "Mother's Little Helper," which I already talked up in my Aftermath review. But do you know how cool I think that song is? They got the twelve-string guitar to sound like a sitar! That, I think, is pretty sweet. The song's lyrics must also be mentioned. Like "19th Nervous Breakdown," it's got a lot of drug references in them (here it's about a housewife who pops pills to get through the day), but they're cleverly hidden - the cool people would get them, but they would go over the censors' heads. "Out of Time" is a gem of a pop song as well, boasting a fantastic arrangement. Love the marimbas! And the harmonies! "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing in the Shadows?" is a great stab at psychedelia. That song is, like, ADD or something. Horns, guitars, vocals, pianos, and all that stuff fly in and out of the mix. Me likey! You probably already know "Ruby Tuesday" and "Let's Spend the Night Together," and if you've got Aftermath you've heard "Lady Jane." They're still classic songs, of course... but come on, enough is enough.
A lot of the other, less famous songs win, too! "Backstreet Girl" is easily the best song of what's left, an acoustic waltz with subtle shades of accordion and innuendo alike. Those who like that softer side of the Stones will also be quite pleased with "Ride On, Baby" and "Sittin' on a Fence," which are both lilting acoustic tunes. Meanwhile, fans of "Have You Seen Your Mother..." will probably also get a kick out of the acid Bo Diddley "Please Go Home," which works despite itself.
Not every song is great or even good, though. I've never been a "Take it or Leave It" aficionado (if such a thing even exists (which I doubt, because no one ever talks about it)), and their version of "My Girl" is an insult to the classic original. Everything that could go wrong with that song does. The strings sound terrible! It's oversung! Whee! Just kidding. Oh, and I guess it's annoying how "What to Do" missed this album even though it's on the UK version of Aftermath but not the U.S. one.
Still, some good songs here, and only one bad one. '66-'67 was an interesting era for the Stones, and this is a good representation of it.
Flowers
Date undefinedI am the Stones Authority. This is a good collection of songs. The Stones were and always will be this band - a product of the Sixties. And this is the age before albums were albums, but merely a bunch songs stuck on vinyl as they fit. But come one - you've got "Ruby Tuesday" and "Lady Jane", haunting and wonderful songs. There is "Out Of Time" and "Let's Spend The Night Together". Even "Sitting On A Fence" and "Mother's Little Helper". They are fresh and alive, immature and sometimes awkward. But great and fun songs. This is the Rolling Stones. How can you not love this period in their career? Some of the serious fans don't want to listen to anything before Beggars Banquet, and others won't listen to anything after Between The Buttons, but I say you got to love and appreciate the entire arc of the flight - for there is not one without the other. Do we not look at the man and wonder what sort of child he was? Do we look at a favorite son and not wonder of tomorrow's promise for him? This was a great band right from the start. And you should really know about these songs and this time in the band's life.
