Between the Buttons the Rolling Stones

When The Rolling Stones and producer Andrew Loog Oldham got together in Los Angeles during the summer of 1966 they had ambitious plans. The band's sound and direction was changing. With their previous album, Aftermath, they had started to write most of their own material. They had also departed a bit from their earlier hard Chicago electric blues influenced style and were exploring other forms of music.

This experimentation continued on Between The Buttons. Bands in both the United States and United Kingdom were releasing albums that stretched the limits of pop and rock music. 1966 was the year when intelligent pop came to the forefront. Much of the album was recorded in Los Angeles where the Beach Boys were putting out Brian Wilson's opus Pet Sounds. The rest of the album was recorded in London where the Beatles were putting together Revolver.

With two different versions, a United States and a United Kingdom version, common at the time, there is a wealth of material here. In the intelligent pop direction both Ruby Tuesday and Lets Spend The Night Together come quickly to mind. Both released as singles before the release of the album and therefore didn't make it onto the UK version of the album.

Something Happened To Me Yesterday has horns and all sorts of other instruments weaving in and out. Miss Amanda Jones is more of a straight ahead rocker. The album is a mish mosh of influences from the Kinks, Beatles and Chuck Berry.

Brian Jones who frequently picked up instruments to fill in the backgrounds of songs was quite busy on this one. Wikipedia list him as playing the organ, vibraphone, accordion, harmonica, recorder, percussion, kazoo, saxophone, dulcimer, marimba, theremin, harpsichord, guitar , piano, sitar, trumpet, horn, trombone and backing vocals. Listening to the album it all seems quite possible.

One person who isn't very fond of the album is Mick Jagger. Within a year of it's release he was criticizing it. Within two years he claimed not to remember recording it at all. Some of this may have been a reaction to the changes going on in the band. Andrew Loog Oldham was out as producer. Brian Jones was soon to leave the band and then pass away.

Both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were to have legal problems over drugs. In fact Between The Buttons is almost a last look at a simpler, happier time as the 1960's were soon to be enveloped in drugs and violence.

Rolling Stone magazine lists the album at # 355 on its list of 500 greatest albums. I think this is a bit ambitious but still the album is worth a listen even today.