Goats Head Soup

by

The Rolling Stones

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Goat's Head Soup was originally released Aug 31, 1973 and went to #1 in both the US and the UK. I have found it quite rewarding that over the years this one has gained respect and continues to appear in many rankings of greatest rock albums. Personally, I've always like this one a lot. It's got the usual megahits; Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker), Angie, and Star#$!@% (a hit as a single in Europe and Japan), an incredible jam in Can You Hear The Music, great intro in 100 Years Ago, part 2 of the voodoo chronicles in Dancing With Mr. D., solid rocker Silver Train, and oh yeah, Winter and Hide Your Love too. Most people know the music, so in my reviews I try to give you data on the sessions and interesting facts connected with the songs and the album. Here we go:

There were 23 songs recorded during the Goat's Head Soup sessions between Nov 25-30 and Dec 6-21, 1972 at Dynamic Sound Studios in Kingston, Jamaica. Only 8 of them made it onto Goat's Head Soup. Keith had made strong connections with the Jamaican reggae musicians and had recently bought a house in Jamaica, so he was the driving force behind the sessions. The band included Mick Taylor, Nicky Hopkins (piano), Billy Preston (organ), Bobby Keys (sax), Chuck Finley (trumpet), Jim Horn (horn), and of course Ian Stewart on piano. Sonny Rollins played sax on Waiting On A Friend. Final mixes were done at Island Recording in London May 28 - Jun 20, 1973. Hide Your Love was recorded in separate sessions on May 23 & 26 at Olympic Studios in London. Silver Train was recorded during the mixing at Island in London.

Interesting notes include:

.....The UK version of the album had one verse censored and deleted from Star#$!@% (which appears as Star Star in text on the album) while the US version had the line "I bet you keep your pussy clean" deleted. Both record distributors (US and UK) refused to allow the line "giving head to Steve McQueen" until the Stones got McQueen to sign a release (he said he appreciated the publicity). (The entire song with all the censored lyrics are on this release, or at least they are on my copy.)

.....Short And Curlies was not released until 1974 on the album It's Only Rock `n' Roll.

.....Tops and Waiting On A Friend were not released until 1981 on the album Tattoo You, after which Waiting On A Friend was also released as a single.

.....there are still 12 tracks from these sessions that have not been released (although some have been bootlegged) They are Criss Cross (Save Me), Separately, You Should Have Seen Her Ass, Four And In, Give Us A Break, First Thing, Miami, Man-Eating Woman, Brown Leaves, After Muddy & Charlie, Jamaica I, and Zabadoo.