Between The Buttons: The Stones Transition From R&B Masters to Pop Princes
Written: Feb 10 '05
Product Rating:
Pros: a handful of excellent tracks, Charlie Watts' drumming, very experimental (both pro and con)
Cons: very experimental, songs sound very loose/unfinished, extremely different direction
The Bottom Line: Between the Buttons is a loose, fun record, though the multitude of sounds and styles may be a turn off to those who love the straight up R&B Stones.
MattA75's Full Review: Between the Buttons [Remaster] by The Rolling Ston...
Few records in the Rolling Stones catalog of releases from their first decade or so together cause as much debate and fuss as the three records they released in 1967 (one of those records, Flowers, was nothing more than another compilation of tracks that had been released in the UK but not in the US). Given the rampant changes overtaking rock and roll in that year (Sgt Pepper, Pink Floyd, The Doors, etc), it probably isn't a complete shock that the Stones themselves took more than a couple of detours in their new material.
While not as dramatic a chance as the band's latter 1967 effort Their Satanic Majesties Request, Between the Buttons is an extremely loose tapestry of songs that can be quite a chore to get through on the first listen. The changes in genres from one song to the next is dramatic, and needless to say, not every musical experimentation works.
While many critics and fans of the band are on the record as being a bigger fan of the UK issue of the album (which featured two tracks not on the US release, tracks that would appear on the Flowers record: Backstreet Girl and Please Go Home), but for me, personally, the US version more than holds its own.
In place of those two tracks, the US version held two of the Stones' biggest hits. Let's Spend the Night Together immediately became a bit too taboo for radio stations (and famously, for Ed Sullivan, who demanded the band sing "let's spend some time together" or not do the show. Mick complied, but he rolled his eyes as he changed the line), but it became a hit anyway. With its bustling piano and driving Charlie Watts beat, Night is one of the few tracks on Between the Buttons that recalls any portion of the Stones early days.
The b-side to Night, Ruby Tuesday, would eventually become a number one single, since many radio programmers chose to play it instead of Night. A sweet pop song moved along by a pretty piano melody (and plenty of backing instrumentation provided by Brian Jones) and strong rolls from Watts, this is one of my very favorite Stones numbers to this day, right up there with Wild Horses and Salt of the Earth.
The energetic R&B and rock and roll that the band had cut their teeth on wasn't all that present on Buttons. Connection featured Keith Richards taking some lead vocal duties for the first time, and it has a bouncy, upbeat flair. All Sold Out was another song that had that classic Stones swagger to it, though musically it was far darker than the material that made the band stars.
Elsewhere, the album is extremely varied. My Obsession tackles extremely risque subject matter for the time, and its lyrics are even more sexual than Let's Spend the Night Together. The song even has a dirty, sleezy sound, thanks to the heavy bassline of Bill Wyman. The song is extremely loose, and other songs on the record are much the same way.
Cool, Calm Collected sounds like an old west tavern song, and finds the band at their most playful, complete with kazoo solo (no, I kid you not). Connection is an upbeat R&B tune that doesn't have much going for it except for its beat. This is a case of the band sounding too loose. On Miss Amanda Jones, the band tries hard to rev things up but I'm not so sure it works, mostly because the song sounds like it was recorded underwater.
Elsewhere, the band experimented with balladry (She Smiled Sweetly), country/folk (Who's Been Sleeping Here) and what sounds almost like a showtune (Something Happened to Me Yesterday), with mixed results.
While many of the songs on Between the Buttons are enjoyable, as an album, it's a bit disjointed and is not an easy listen the first couple of times through. Upon further listening though, its charms grow on the listener, and the loose, fun feel of the record really shines through. No, the songs don't always work, but Between the Buttons is an important album in the timeline of the Rolling Stones. 3.5 stars, rounded...DOWN.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
![Between the Buttons [Remaster] by The Rolling Stones](http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/ff/96/b8/2005390665-177x150-0-0.jpg)
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.