Get Yer Ya Ya's In The Record Player

Yesterday I took my weekly (at least) visit to the local record store The Record Exchange. With a huge supply of beautiful albums they never fail to impress me. I was looking through the usual Neil Youngs and Lenard Cohens but I was so drawn to the Stones today for some weird reason. There I picked up an album that I was totally surprised I didn't already have, Get Yer Ya Ya's Out. This is the first full length live album done by the Stones and they done it well. Recorded in Maryland in '69 and later in New York in '70 they ripped though their usual set on this album leaving the crowds happy and full filled without the tragedy that was Altmont. That's always a good thing.

At the beginning of the album they were introduced with screams blaring in the background. The screams were silenced with Jagger's own screams with the help of Richards' screaming guitar on Jumpin' Jack Flash. They picked the right song to open up with, killing the crowd with an amazing riff from one of the greatest songs ever written.

Next they cover one of their major influences Chuck Berry. Carol got the crowd dancing in the aisle's with a great twangy sound to it. The Stones really do Chuck Berry well as is heard on this live set. Then, later on the tour had Chuck replace BB King which must have been an honor.

Stray Cat Blues flows in next. One of the Stones' attempt at a deep down dirty blues song. It wasn't a huge hit for them but it did have a great guitar riff throughout it, Richards really did shine on this song like he did on Exile On Main St.

Next comes in one of my favorite songs of all time. Another cover by the Stones, Robert Johnson's Love In Vain. It has been done a million times by different artists., but one of my favorite covers come from the Stones. Done acoustically with just Keith and Mick at first it had that singing on your front porch feel to it. Then later the drums chime in with Keith switching it up with an amazing slide piece which goes really well with the blues. I'm a huge Robert Johnson fan and love hearing his influence in classic rock. You can really hear it here.

To end out the first side the Stones break in with one of my favorite songs by them The Midnight Rambler. Keith Richards has got to be the riff king. He powers his way through this song with an amazing solo, you can faintly hear Mick blowing the harp in the background but there's no way hes playing over Keith's gritty guitar. An amazing song from an iconic group.

Starting off Side two you can hear some silly girl yell out Paint It Black, the Stones didn't listen and started off with one of the most haunting of their songs Sympathy For The Devil. I've heard better versions of this song live but you just the fact of denying that girl at the beginning makes the song even that much greater. They start off slow like a lot of their songs and start getting more into through the middle. Keith's solos are always great and this one does not disappoint, he kills the song just like they kill Satan, or do they?

They come in next with Live With Me, one of their lesser known songs. Lesser known doesn't really mean bad. This song is great. With backing vocals from Keith, Mick kills they lyrics while Keith kills the strings. They rampage through this song, it sounded great and is better song live than on the album.
Next is another Chuck Berry cover song Little Queenie. It does have the twangy Berry feel to it, although I liked their version of Carol better, they seemed a little less impressed with this song and kind of walked through it. I wasn't at all impressed with it and think its one of the lesser songs on this album, hey 1 out of 10 ain't bad.

At the beginning of Honky Tonk Women Mick praises Charlie Watts because of his greatness on the drums though out the whole album. Honky Tonk Women is one of the Stones' most famous songs but really isn't my favorite in the studio or on this album.

They end the album with Street Fighting Man which left the crowd wanting more and more. Its one of those songs that can really get a person riled up and amped. They achieved what they wanted in giving everyone a great show, great album Stones.

This album was great, I've got the original copy with heavy vinyl which really makes a guy think he's right there. Nothing sounds as good as a great clean vinyl. Plus the cover alone was worth the money. Charlie Watts jumping in the air with two guitars in his hands and a huge smile on his face on one side of the road with a donkey with a drum set strapped to  its back and a guitar, pair of binoculars and a camera around its head. Which was inspired by Bob Dylan's lyrics from Visions of Johanna. The album Get Yer Ya Ya's Out was inspired also by the blues legend Blind Boy Fuller's song Get Yer Ya Yas Out.