Monday, August 15, 2011

You Can Make It If You Try

On January 6, 1964 the Rolling Stones embarked on their second UK Tour (Group Scene 1964), this time with the Ronettes. A couple of days before the band started work on their first album at Regent Sound Studios, London. On January 3-4 the Stones recorded five tracks, among which "You Can Make It If You Try", a slow, hollering song led by Mick Jagger's pleading vocals.

Ian Stewart plays organ and Keith Richards and Brian Jones strum on acoustic guitars. Stu's gospel-type organ playing lends a warm feeling to this calm soul ballad, a 1957 Gene Allison original. Recordings for the band's debut album were continued on January 10, once again at Regent Sound Studios.





Adapted from the following sources:
Martin Elliott, The Rolling Stones. Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2002.
James Hector, The Complete Guide to the Music of the Rolling Stones, Omnibus Press, 1995.

1 comment:

  1. January 3-4, 1964: Regent Sound Studios, London, England.
    The Rolling Stones: Carol (Berry) (2:35)
    The Rolling Stones: Mona (McDaniel) (3:34)
    The Rolling Stones: You Can Make It If You Try (Jarrett) (2:03)
    The Rolling Stones: Route 66 (Troup) (2:22)
    The Rolling Stones: Walking The Dog (Thomas) (3:11)
    Bill Wyman and Keith Richards: Recording the first album
    Bill: On the first album, we cut everything in mono. The band had to record more or less live in the studio so what was on our record was more or less our act, what we played on the ballroom and club circuits. It was really just the show you did onstage recorded in one take - as it should be.
    Keith: Many of the English punk records sound like our early records and that is very hard to achieve nowadays with sophisticated technology, 24-track studios. We did our early records on a 2-track Revox in a room insulated with egg cartons at Regent Sound. It was like a little demo in Tin Pan Alley, as it used to be called. Denmark Street in Soho. It was all done on a 2-track Revox that he had on the wall. We used to think, oh, this is a recording studio, huh? This is what they're like? A tiny little backroom. Under those primitive conditions it was easy to make the kind of sound we got on our first album and the early singles, but hard to make a much better one.

    640103A January 3-4: London, Regent Sound Studios. Producer: Andrew Oldham. Sound engineer: Bill Farley.
    - Carol (Berry)
    - Mona (McDaniel)
    - You Can Make It If You Try (Jarrett) - Ian Stewart on organ
    - Route 66 (Troup)
    - Walking The Dog (Thomas).
    Line-up: Mick Jagger (voc, maracas, tamb)/Brian Jones (gtr, bvoc)/Keith Richards (gtr)/Bill Wyman (bass, bvoc)/Charlie Watts (dr).

    January 10, 1964: Regent Sound Studios, London, England.
    The Rolling Stones: I'm A King Bee (Moore) (2:37)
    The Rolling Stones: I Just Want To Make Love To You (Dixon) (2:15)
    The Rolling Stones: Honest I Do (Reed) (2:12)
    The Rolling Stones: Not Fade Away (Petty-Hardin) (1:51)
    Andrew Oldham: "Not Fade Away"
    Although Not Fade Away was a Buddy Holly song, I considered it to be like the first song Mick and Keith wrote, in that they picked the concept of applying that Bo Diddley thing to it. The way they arranged it was the beginning of the shaping of them as songwriters. From then on they wrote. What basically made the record was that whole Bo Diddley acoustic guitar thrust. You heard the whole record in one room.

    640110C 10th January: London, Regent Sound Studios. Producer: Andrew Oldham. Sound engineer: Bill Farley.
    - I'm A King Bee (Moore)
    - I Just Want To Make Love To You (Dixon)
    - Honest I Do (Reed)
    - Not Fade Away (Petty-Hardin).
    Line-up: Mick Jagger (voc, harm, tamb, maracas)/Brian Jones (gtr, harm, tamb)/Keith Richards (gtr)/Bill Wyman (bass)/Charlie Watts (dr).

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