“We all came out to . . . make records with a mobile”, to quote Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water lyric as a description of this set made up of tunes by various artists recorded using The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio aka the mobile ‘unit’ or ‘the Rolling truck Stones thing’ as further described in the lyrics to Smoke On The Water. Here’s a couple videos about the mobile, total time about 15 minutes.
My track-by-track tales follow the bare-bones list.
1. Dire Straits, Telegraph Road (from Alchemy – Dire Straits Live)
2. Bob Marley and The Wailers, No Woman No Cry (from Live!)
3. Santana, Dance Sister Dance (live, from Moonflower)
4. Ten Years After, Help Me (from Recorded Live)
5. Led Zeppelin, The Rover
6. Fleetwood Mac, Hypnotized
7. Nazareth, Silver Dollar Forger (Parts 1 & 2)
8. Deep Purple, When A Blind Man Cries
9. Iron Maiden, Tailgunner
10. The Rolling Stones, Let It Rock (live, Leeds University 1971)
11. Bad Company, Silver, Blue & Gold
12. The Who, Water (live, 1971 appeared on Who’s Next deluxe expanded release)
13. Wishbone Ash, Baby What You Want Me To Do (from Live Dates)
14. Dire Straits, Solid Rock/Going Home – Theme From ‘Local Hero’ (from Alchemy – Dire Straits Live)
1. Dire Straits, Telegraph Road (from Alchemy – Dire Straits Live) . . . Epic storytelling track released on the band’s 1984 live album, originally on the studio record Love Over Gold from 1982.
2. Bob Marley and The Wailers, No Woman No Cry (from Live!) . . . Originally on the 1974 studio album Natty Dread, this soulful version from 1975’s Live! has become, to many, the definitive one, evidenced by its appearance on various Marley compilations.
3. Santana, Dance Sister Dance (live, from Moonflower) . . . From the 1977 release, a part studio, part live album, the live album recorded using the Stones’ mobile unit. A blend of Latin rhythms, fusion, and extended jamming; intoxicating, as much of Santana’s best work tends to be.
4. Ten Years After, Help Me (from Recorded Live) . . . A driving riff by guitarist/singer Alvin Lee on the Willie Dixon tune as interpreted not only by TYA but by blues great Sonny Boy Williamson II aka Rice Miller, from whom TYA drew inspiration. A raw, gritty, blues-rock odyssey from TYA’s 1973 album.
5. Led Zeppelin, The Rover . . . I love the sort of, how would I describe it, ‘backwards entry’ of the killer riff off the initial drumbeat on this one from 1975’s Physical Graffiti. To my ears, it’s like it comes in from where one might not expect yet when it comes, there it is as if that’s where it obviously should have been. It all works and tends to conjure up in me an image of a plane coming in for a landing for some reason, not sure why but I feel like I’m flying when I listen to it.
6. Fleetwood Mac, Hypnotized . . . Trippy, dreamy laid back groove, a mesmerizing and, er, hypnotizing track that is one of my favorites from the middle period of Fleetwood Mac featuring Bob Welch on guitar, often lead vocals and songwriting duties. This one’s from the 1973 album Mystery To Me. Two years and one album later, out was Welch, in came guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac became a pop-rock phenomenon. I like that version of the band but am still partial to the initial Peter Green-fronted early blues years and the, I think, underappreciated Welch lineup.
7. Nazareth, Silver Dollar Forger (Parts 1 & 2) . . . A heavy riff rocker from the 1974 album Rampant, produced by Roger Glover of Deep Purple bass-playing fame. He was at the helm of several Nazareth albums, others being the previous releases to Rampant and among the band’s most successful – Razamanaz and Loud ‘n’ Proud.
8. Deep Purple, When A Blind Man Cries . . . B-side to the single Never Before, issued from 1972’s Machine Head album that yielded Purple’s signature song, Smoke On The Water which, perhaps strangely, none of the band members apparently thought would be a hit although it obviously became an iconic rock track. Never Before made No. 4 in Switzerland and No. 35 in the UK while Smoke On The Water made the top five in most countries, No. 3 in the US and No. 2 in Canada although never No. 1. As for When A Blind Man Cries, it’s a beautiful blues ballad. It was recorded for Machine Head but according to singer Ian Gillan, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore ”no like” (despite his typically fine playing) so it didn’t make the album until subsequent remastered re-releases. The song has, since Blackmore’s departure from Purple in the mid-1990s, being replaced by Steve Morse and then Simon McBride, been regularly played in concert.
9. Iron Maiden, Tailgunner . . . Pulsating war-themed lead cut from the 1990 album No Prayer For The Dying, recorded in bass player Steve Harris’s barn using the Stones mobile. Maiden was attempting – and succeeding at, via mobile studio methods or otherwise – to achieve a more earthy, stripped down production sound within the typical Maiden metal method.
10. The Rolling Stones, Let It Rock (live, Leeds University 1971) . . . Great version of the Chuck Berry classic from the Stones’ 1971 so-called Goodbye Britain tour where they were escaping the onerous UK taxman, eventually resulting in them being at a villa in southern France, using their mobile truck again, to come up with 1972’s classic Exile On Main St. album. I first heard this version of a song the Stones have done various times on the terrific Get Your Leeds Lungs Out! bootleg I still own. The album has subsequently been officially released, with Let It Rock also included on the Rarities 1971-2003 compilation.
11. Bad Company, Silver, Blue & Gold . . . Not a single but could have been and a Bad Co. fan favorite by all accounts, and definitely one of mine by the band. It’s from the 1976 album Run With The Pack.
12. The Who, Water (live, 1971 appeared on Who’s Next deluxe expanded release, 2003) . . . Stirring, gritty vocals by Roger Daltrey on a relatively obscure track The Who did in typically raw fashion during a London gig. It appeared on later, expanded versions of the Who’s Next album. Explosive stuff, Daltrey rising above but also enveloped in that all-encompassing volcanic Who sound.
13. Wishbone Ash, Baby What You Want Me To Do (from Live Dates) . . . Wishbone Ash was a for the most part progressive hard rock band but they had roots in the British blues and here they are on their 1973 album Live Dates with an extended, more electrified version of the Jimmy Reed tune – Ash-ified as it were while retaining key elements of the original.
14. Dire Straits, Solid Rock/Going Home – Theme From ‘Local Hero’ (from Alchemy – Dire Straits Live) . . . Coming full circle to close the set with Dire Straits live, putting the songs together as they appeared in order on Alchemy. Solid Rock, taken from the studio album Making Movies, is paired with the majestic instrumental Going Home from the soundtrack to the 1983 movie Local Hero, composed by Straits’ leader Mark Knopfler.