The 500 - #270 - Some Girls - The Rolling Stones

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #270

Album Title: Some Girls

Artist: The Rolling Stones

Genre: Multiple, including Rock, Country, Disco, Punk & New Wave

Recorded: Pathe Marconi, Paris

Released: June, 1978

My age at release: 12

How familiar was I with it before this week: Quite

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, At #468, dropping 198 spots

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Shattered

In the summer of 1980, our family rented a cottage for a week in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario. It was idyllic. A rustic cabin on the high rocky shores of Stoney Lake surrounded by Eastern white pine trees, every vista would inspire a Group of Seven painting.

The rental came with a canoe and my brother and I spent the first day paddling around the lake in search of the perfect rocky outcrop for cliff jumping. Once found, we spent the next six days climbing and diving into the cool, blue waters.

Stoney Lake region of the Kawarthas (Red Circle)

In the common room of the cottage was a small stereo system that included an 8-Track player and an assortment of cassettes. The two that appealed to me most were April Wine's Greatest Hits and Some Girls, the 16th studio release by The Rolling Stones. Both had plenty of plays during evening card games or lazy, rainy afternoons.

The Some Girls album had been on my radar for some time. The Rolling Stones appeared on the Season Four premier of Saturday Night Live (SNL) in October, 1978. The group performed three songs from this record, Beast Of Burden, Shattered and Respectable. Additionally, SNL cast member Garrett Morris had joked about Mick Jagger's controversial lyrics to the album's title track.

"White girls they're pretty funny, sometimes they drive me mad
Black girls just wanna get ****** all night, I just don't have that much jam."

During the faux-editorial portion on the show's satirical news program, Weekend Update, Morris recited the lyric and facetiously asked, "I have one question. Where are these women, Mick? I would like to find these black women."

Garrett Morris on Saturday Night Live

In 1976, the popularity of The Rolling Stones was in decline. Disco, Punk Rock and New Wave were on the rise, and rock bands like The Stones were seemingly being replaced by hipper new acts, including KISS and Aerosmith. Additionally, in 1977, Stones' guitarist, Keith Richards, had been arrested in Toronto, Canada, for possession of heroin. He managed to obtain a conditional visa to travel to France in order to join his bandmates and, as he worked toward detoxification and sobriety, Some Girls was the product of that collaboration.

Keith Richards in 1977.

Consequently, Jagger took the helm during this period and is considered by many to be the principle creative force behind this record. Wisely, Jagger leaned into the contemporary sounds of the late seventies and it informed several of the songs. The opening track, Miss You, is disco-inspired and Shattered is an obvious nod to the punk rock sounds of the day. The album also features a humourous Bakersfield-Sound country song, Far Away Eyes -- an infectiously catchy little ditty that always make me smile.

Some Girls was a commercial and critical success and re-established The Rolling Stones as one of the most important bands of the era. Revisiting them for this week's blog was delightful. Not only does it weave its way brilliantly through multiple genres, but also because it immediately transports me back to a simpler time -- my carefree early teenage years...watching Saturday Night Live, jumping from rocky outcrops into impossibly blue Ontario waters or listening to music in a rustic cottage surrounded by white pines.