Where were you in 1978? That was the year The Rolling Stones released their “Some Girls” album. You can make the argument some of the songs on the album are in the “overplayed” classic rock radio category — “Beast of Burden” and “Miss You” come to mind. (Depending on where you live, “Shattered” might also fall into that category. ) However, there are some other gems on the record. It would be hard for me to pick one favorite cut, but the Keith Richards-penned “Before They Make Me Run” is a safe choice for me.
For me, the crunchy guitar and the harmony vocal really grabbed me the first time I heard it. It’s definitely not the only Stones song to mention drugs, but “booze and pills and powders – you have to choose your medicine” is pretty clear to me. Another song on the album makes reference to “heroin with the president”. That one, called “Respectable”, is an underrated Chuck Berry styled rocker.
This song might be a little too straightforward to some, but to my ears, this song has some great raggedy vibes to it. Somewhere along the way, there was a re-release of the album with unreleased cuts. About the only one of those I remember liking was their cover of “Tallahassee Lassie.”
Mick’s tongue-in-cheek country song “Faraway Eyes” and “When the Whip Comes Down” round out the album. Did I miss any? There’s a Temptations cover “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” and a couple of others.
What else can you say about this late 70s Stones effort? Well, Ron Wood played on the record as the band’s newest band member. You can also hear the harmonica playing of Sugar Blue. “Some Girls” is not my favorite Stones album, but there is some great rock n roll on it. I always thought the album cover was kind of lame, but the Stones can always blame it on sex, drugs, and rock n roll.
Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!