It's Only Rock 'n Roll is the twelfth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 18 October 1974 by Rolling Stones Records. It was the last album to feature guitarist Mick Taylor; the songwriting and recording of the album's title track had a connection to Taylor's eventual replacement, Ronnie Wood. It's Only Rock 'n Roll combines the core blues and rock 'n' roll–oriented sound with elements of funk and reggae. as possible replacements after the departure of Taylor, while recording the next studio album, Black and Blue (1976).

History

Work began on It's Only Rock 'n Roll following the Rolling Stones' autumn 1973 European tour. Production began in November at Munich, Germany's Musicland Studios. According to guitarist Keith Richards, "We were really hot (off the road) and ready just to play some new material." The recording sessions were attended by Belgian painter Guy Peellaert, who Mick Jagger invited to do the album cover after seeing his work in the book Rock Dreams, which featured illustrations of various rock musicians such as the Rolling Stones. Peellaert eventually painted the band as "rock deities", descending a temple staircase, surrounded by young girls and women worshiping them in Grecian clothing. The cover bears a very strong resemblance to Henri Gervex's painting, The Coronation of Nicolas II (1896). The artist refused to sign a deal of exclusivity, and in 1974 provided the album art for David Bowie's Diamond Dogs.

Recording

The album was at first developed as a half-live, half-studio production with one side of the album featuring live performances from the Stones' European tour while the other side was to be composed of newly recorded cover versions of the band's favourite R&B songs. Covers recorded included a take of Dobie Gray's "Drift Away", Jimmy Reed's "Shame Shame Shame", and the Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud to Beg". Soon the band began working off riffs by Richards and new ideas by Mick Jagger and the original concept was scrapped in favour of an album with all-new material. The cover of "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" was the only recording to make the cut, while the "Drift Away" cover is a popular bootleg.

It's Only Rock 'n Roll marked the Stones' first effort in the producer's chair since Their Satanic Majesties Request, and the first for Jagger and Richards under their pseudonym "The Glimmer Twins". On the choice to produce, Richards said at the time:

<blockquote>I think we'd come to a point with Jimmy (Miller) where the contribution level had dropped because it'd got to be a habit, a way of life, for Jimmy to do one Stones album a year. He'd got over the initial sort of excitement which you can feel on Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed. Also, Mick and I felt that we wanted to try and do it ourselves because we really felt we knew much more about techniques and recording and had our own ideas of how we wanted things to go. Goats Head Soup hadn't turned out as we wanted to – not blaming Jimmy or anything like that... But it was obvious that it was time for a change in that particular part of the process of making records.</blockquote>

Taylor's statement contradicts Jagger's earlier comment concerning the album. Jagger stated in a 1995 Rolling Stone interview about "Time Waits for No One" that Taylor "maybe threw in a couple of chords".

Alongside the usual outside contributors, namely Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins and unofficial member Ian Stewart, Elton John sideman Ray Cooper acted as percussionist for the album. Several songs were finished songs and overdubs and mixing were performed at Jagger's home, Stargroves, in the early summer of 1974.

Release

The lead single, "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)", was released by Rolling Stones Records on 26 July 1974, with the catalogue number RS 19114 and "Through the Lonely Nights" as the B-side. Despite the familiar sound, it surprised many by failing to reach the top 10 in the United States (although it did reach the top 10 in the UK). With its sing-along chorus, it has become a staple at Rolling Stones concerts. The B-side "Through the Lonely Nights" (later included on the album Rarities 1971–2003) dates back to the previous year's Goats Head Soup sessions as well as the track "Short and Curlies". It's Only Rock 'n Roll appeared three months later on 18 October 1974, with the catalogue number COC 59103.

In order to promote the album, music videos were filmed for several of the songs. The most commonly seen video from the album was the one for "It’s Only Rock’n’Roll (But I Like It)", featuring the band (in US Navy sailor suits) playing in a tent, which gradually fills with soap bubbles (Taylor, Watts and Wyman are all featured in the video but did not play on the actual recording). Videos were also filmed for "Ain’t Too Proud to Beg" and "Till The Next Goodbye".

Critical reception

Initial reviews for It's Only Rock 'n Roll were mixed. Rolling Stones Jon Landau called It's Only Rock 'n Roll "one of the most intriguing and mysterious, as well as the darkest, of all Rolling Stones records." Rock critic Lester Bangs disparaged the album in The Village Voice, much like Goats Head Soup, saying, "The Stones have become oblique in their old age, which is just another word for perverse except that perverse is the corniest concept extant as they realized at inception... Soup was friendly and safe. I want the edge and this album doesn't reassure me that I'll get it, what a curious situation to be stuck in, but maybe that's the beauty of the Stones, hah, hah, kid? This album is false. Numb. But it cuts like a dull blade. Are they doing the cutting, or are we?" Arthur Levy of Zoo World also gave a mixed assessment. While he enjoyed the album more with each listen, he felt it was mixed poorly and that certain tracks, such as "'Till the Next Goodbye" and "Time Waits for No One", were evidence that the band were starting to feel the effects the last couple of years had on their music. Numerous reviewers felt the closing track, "Fingerprint File", was stylistically different from the rest of the album and didn't belong. Similarly, Greg Shaw of Phonograph Record considered the record to be better than its predecessor, but felt there was a pervading "nonchalance" throughout the album: "A certain amount of thought and care is put into each song, but not enough to weight it down or divert anyone's attention from the groove." However, Shaw writes that the album as a whole is cohesive, ultimately calling it "the best party album in years".

Retrospectively, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic felt the record was uneven, but overall considered the songs and performances an improvement over Goats Head Soup.

Legacy

Author James Hector added that It's Only Rock 'n Roll was a definitive turning point for the band. "The album marked the band’s decisive entry into a comfortable living as rock's elder statesmen. From this point on, their youth culture importance vanished, and there would be few musical surprises in the future." Hector concluded with "On It's Only Rock 'n Roll, the band had become what they imagined their mass audience desired them to be. They were wrong."

In 1994, It's Only Rock 'n Roll was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, in 2009 by Universal Music, and once more in 2011 by Universal Music Enterprises in a Japanese-only SHM-SACD version. The 1994 remaster was initially released in a Collector's Edition CD, which replicated in miniature elements of the original vinyl album packaging.

Two different versions of "Luxury" exist. A shorter version (4:30) is included on the early CD version from 1986, while the 5:01 version was originally released on vinyl in Europe, and on the 1994 and 2009 CD remasters. The difference is the shorter version starts the fadeout 30 seconds earlier, and thereby missing the short guitar solo at the end.

Track listing

Personnel

  • Track numbers noted in parentheses below are based on the CD track numbering.

The Rolling Stones

  • Mick Jagger – lead vocals , backing vocals , acoustic guitar , electric guitar
  • Keith Richards – electric guitar , backing vocals , acoustic guitar , bass guitar
  • Mick Taylor – electric guitar , acoustic guitar , backing vocals, synthesizer , congas , bass guitar
  • Bill Wyman – bass guitar , synthesiser
  • Charlie Watts – drums

Additional personnel

  • Nicky Hopkins – piano
  • Billy Preston – piano , clavinet
  • Ian Stewart – piano
  • Ray Cooper – percussion
  • Blue Magic – backing vocals
  • Charlie Jolly – tabla
  • Ed Leach – cowbell

Basic track on "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)"

  • Kenney Jones – drums
  • Willie Weeks – bass guitar
  • David Bowie – backing vocals
  • Ronnie Wood – twelve–string acoustic guitar, backing vocals

Production

  • Andy Johns – recording engineer
  • Keith Harwood – recording engineer, mixing
  • George Chkiantz – overdub engineer
  • Glyn Johns – mixing (on "Fingerprint File")
  • Guy Peellaert – cover art design and painting
  • Bob Ludwig – 1994 remastering

Charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+Weekly chart performance for It's Only Rock 'n Roll

! scope="col"| Chart (1974–1975)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| align="center"| 7

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Finland (The Official Finnish Charts)

| align="center"| 9

|-

|-

! scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)

| align="center"| 6

|-

!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)

| align="center"| 29

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Sweden (Kvällstoppen)

| style="text-align:center;"|3

|-

|-

|}

Certifications

References

Sources

  • It's Only Rock 'n Roll on RollingStones.com