Tattoo You

by The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger

Overview

The last great Stones album? Leave that judgment to history, but this 1981 effort does seem to be the last time the band was totally in tune with the zeitgeist. Ironically, many of the songs had been written and recorded several years earlier, but TATTOO YOU hardly feels like an album of leftovers. Divided into a rock side and a ballad side, the material is confident and consistent, and there are even hints of a totally new Stones sound in the trashcan rockabilly of "Hang Fire" and "Neighbors." The big hit, of course, was "Start Me Up," a stadium rocker still capable of rousing the blood (even after its inclusion in the Windows 95 ad campaign), but the barrelhouse blues of "Black Limousine" is equally goosebump-inducing. The album culminates in the surprisingly reflective "Waiting on a Friend," a ballad that effectively features jazz tenor great Sonny Rollins and rates as one of the band's best ever. If this is indeed the Stones' last great record, it's not a bad way to go out.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/09/2009
Label:	Umvd Labels
UPC:	0602527015699
catalogNumber:	001283802
Rank:	26525

Tracks

1. Start Me Up
2. Hang Fire
3. Slave
4. Little T & A
5. Black Limousine
6. Neighbours
7. Worried About You
8. Tops
9. Heaven
10. No Use In Crying
11. Waiting On A Friend

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rolling Stones   Primary Artist
Mick Jagger   Guitar,Harmonica,Percussion,Electric Guitar,Keyboards,Vocals,Background Vocals
Billy Preston   Keyboards
Mick Taylor   Guitar,Electric Guitar
Ronnie Wood   Bass,Guitar,Vocals
Sonny Rollins   Saxophone
Charlie Watts   Drums
Nicky Hopkins   Organ,Piano
Bill Wyman   Synthesizer,Bass,Guitar,Percussion,Keyboards,Vocals
Sugar Blue   Harmonica
Jimmy Miller   Percussion
Ollie E. Brown   Percussion
Chris Kimsey   Electric Piano
Wayne Perkins   Guitar
Keith Richards   Bass,Guitar,Electric Guitar,Keyboards,Vocals,Background Vocals
Ian Stewart   Piano
Barry Sage   Hand Clapping
Pete Townsend   Background Vocals
Michael Carabello   Conga,Claves,cowbell,Guiro,Casaba

Technical Credits

Mick Jagger   Composer
Ronnie Wood   Composer
Mikey Chung   Engineer
Bob Clearmountain   Remixing
Glimmer Twins   Producer
Glyn Johns   Engineer
Keith Harwood   Engineer
Andy Johns   Engineer
Chris Kimsey   Producer,Engineer
Carlton Lee   Engineer
Stephen Marcussen   Remastering Engineer
Keith Richards   Composer
Dave Richards   Engineer
Alex Vertikoff   Engineer
Sean Fullan   Engineer
Barry Sage   Engineer
Stewart Whitmore   Remastering Engineer
Peter Corriston   Art Direction
Brad Samuelsohn   Engineer
Tapani Tapanainen   Engineer
Jon Smith   Engineer
Ron "Snake" Reynolds   Engineer
Reinhold Mack   Engineer

Editorial Reviews

Like Emotional Rescue before it, Tattoo You was comprised primarily of leftovers, but unlike its predecessor, it never sounds that way. Instead, Tattoo You captures the Stones at their best as a professional stadium-rock band. Divided into a rock & roll side and a ballad side, the album delivers its share of thrills on the tight, dynamic first side. "Start Me Up" became the record's definitive Stonesy rocker, but the frenzied doo wop of "Hang Fire," the reggae jam of "Slave," the sleazy Chuck Berry rockers "Little T&A" and "Neighbours," and the hard blues of "Black Limousine" are all terrific. The ballad side suffers in comparison, especially since "Heaven" and "No Use in Crying" are faceless. But "Worried About You" and "Tops" are effortless, excellent ballads, and "Waiting on a Friend," with its Sonny Rollins sax solo, is an absolute masterpiece, with a moving lyric that captures Jagger in a shockingly reflective and affecting state of mind. "Waiting on a Friend" and the vigorous rock & roll of the first side make Tattoo You an essential latter-day Stones album, ranking just a few notches below Some Girls.

All Music Guide - Stephen Thomas Erlewine