C/D:: Mick Jagger's vocals in "Dead Flowers"

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Great song. But the vocals, not so much.

At a friend's Dr. Who fest (don't ask...) it was pointed out that Brits imitating Americans often end up sounding like John Wayne. The next day I heard this and thought to myself, OTM.

― john'n'chicago, Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

he doesn't sound like john wayne on "the girl with the faraway eyes"!

― the underground homme (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:15 (twenty years ago)

he kinda does, though.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

My favorite Stones song...love everything about it.

― Brett Hickman (Bhickman), Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

this song is perfect. I will tolerate no criticism of Mick's totally silly American drawl.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

http://www.bobgruen.com/files/rollingstones/files/R.033%20MICK%20JAGGER.jpg

"don't apologize, it's a sign of weakness"

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

it's funny, but I enjoy the Stones' SO MUCH more when I don't have to watch Mick singing.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:21 (twenty years ago)

His vocals are part of the charm! His gift for pastiche/parody is at its peak. He's not rich enough yet to buy that expensive smarm he would slather on the likes of "Faraway Eyes," "Time Waits For No One" and "Angie."

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:29 (twenty years ago)

His vocals are part of the charm!

OTM. If you think a genuine southern American voice would be an improvement, seek ye the Ryan Adams cover.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:41 (twenty years ago)

Even with the reference to the needle and the spoon Jagger sounds as cuddly as he would ever get.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:45 (twenty years ago)

I remember going to a wedding in the early 90s and just wishing and hoping over and over again that the band performing would play "Dead Flowers."

I've never been one to believe in the power of positive thinking, but goddamn if that band didn't play "Dead Flowers" in the latter part of the evening without any request by me.

It was magical.

― Brett Hickman (Bhickman), Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:48 (twenty years ago)

DUD. Mick's intentional fake drawl sucks. His unintentional one, though; that's another story.

― J (Jay), Thursday, 30 June 2005 21:48 (twenty years ago)

Wrong. The fake drawl SAVES "Dead Flowers" from soggy self-pity and country cliche.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Thursday, 30 June 2005 22:02 (twenty years ago)

Big freaking classic, man!

― Bryan Moore (Bryan Moore), Thursday, 30 June 2005 22:38 (twenty years ago)

Total stone cold classic. Correct fake drawl: "Dead Flowers"
incorrect fake drawl: "Faraway Eyes"

Yesterday I was thinking about starting a "Faraway Eyes" drawl c/d thread. That song is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Mick sounds like a kid making fun of something he doesn't understand. Utterly charmless, BAH!

― Joseph B. Cowart (flamingrev), Thursday, 30 June 2005 22:53 (twenty years ago)

Holy crap, so weird, I just recorded a cover of this song for my demos yesterday.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Thursday, 30 June 2005 22:55 (twenty years ago)

I imagine they enjoyed doing this one a lot--"Kan-tucky Derby day." A great record.

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Thursday, 30 June 2005 22:58 (twenty years ago)

JBC OTM. cf. "Dear Doctor"

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Thursday, 30 June 2005 23:08 (twenty years ago)

I've been listening the fuck out of Sticky Fingers lately, and I do believe Mick is at the peak of his lead-man powers with this stuff.

― p.j. (Henry), Thursday, 30 June 2005 23:16 (twenty years ago)

Total stone cold classic. Correct fake drawl: "Dead Flowers"
incorrect fake drawl: "Faraway Eyes"

OTFM brah. C'mon, the fake accent MAKES that song - it's like the doofy happy la-la sibling of "Sister Morphine," playing with nihilism and sadness and drugz rather than being overwhelmed by it/them. It's not mocking the drawl either, it's just having a little fun with a style you love. "Faraway Eyes," though, I feel crosses the line into condescending mockery.

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Friday, 1 July 2005 01:50 (twenty years ago)

cf. *what* w/ "Dear Doctor". "Dear Doctor" rules.

As does "Torn and Frayed". How come nobody ever mentioned that one? Are you people Stones fans or what?

"In the ballrooms and smelly bordellos" / "and dressing rooms filled with parasites" ... now THAT's a classic fake drawl

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 1 July 2005 02:07 (twenty years ago)

I like all the fake drawls, including "Faraway Eyes". That's a classic routine!

And I was so pleased to be informed of this that I ran
Twenty red lights in his honor
Thank you Jesus, thank you lord

― Baby BobO (nordicskilla), Friday, 1 July 2005 02:37 (twenty years ago)

Jagger was always a country influenced vocalist, fwiw. "It's All Over Now" is a good early example.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 1 July 2005 02:44 (twenty years ago)

cf. *what* w/ "Dear Doctor". "Dear Doctor" rules.

Oh dear. I was unfortunately vague there. cf. "Dear Doctor" for correct fake drawl. It does indeed rule.

"As she plahd me - with burb'n- so sowerrrrr..."

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Friday, 1 July 2005 03:31 (twenty years ago)

Faraway Eyes seems actually quite sincere to me, like the singer has adopted a persona he can't wholly inhabit in order to articulate the particular feeling he's looking for

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Friday, 1 July 2005 03:34 (twenty years ago)

Jagger was always a country influenced vocalist, fwiw. "It's All Over Now" is a good early example.

so why not just sing it straight?

― john'n'chicago, Friday, 1 July 2005 04:10 (twenty years ago)

"Far Away Eyes" seems like a big joke, but damn if it's not a really funny one. It's one of my favorite Stones songs. I remember someone saying that "Dead Flowers" features the Jagger vocal easiest to imitate, which seems pretty accurate. His country voice is great on nearly every song in which its put to use.

― Adam Harrison-Friday, Friday, 1 July 2005 04:25 (twenty years ago)

Josh, is your argument about degrees of affectation? I think "Dead Flowers" is inherently kitsch (unlike "It's All Over Now") and I'm not sure that a less affected vocal would have done anything but make it more bland.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 1 July 2005 04:31 (twenty years ago)

Love the Stones and REALLY love Sticky Fingers but have always hated their country parodies, especially the vocals. "Far Away Eyes" is way the worst and I suppose "Dead Flowers" is the most tolerable but that's sure not saying much. "Dear Doctor", "Country Honk", "Sweet Virginia", bleh.

― Burr (Burr), Friday, 1 July 2005 05:04 (twenty years ago)

it's so much more than kitsch. in fact it's not even kitsch! i think your kitschometer needs some calibration.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 1 July 2005 05:07 (twenty years ago)

Burr, where would that put a straight-up Gram Parsons number like "Wild Horses"?

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Friday, 1 July 2005 05:10 (twenty years ago)

I didn't say it was just kitsch. How can you think there is nothing kitschy about it, though?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 1 July 2005 05:19 (twenty years ago)

I used to have a theory that Jagger's voice on Dead Flowers makes him sound unintentionally like Townes Van Zandt, and a crazy idea that maybe that was why Townes covered the song.

C, by the by. But maybe I prefer Townes'.

― A.C.M.E. (A.C.M.E.), Friday, 1 July 2005 10:26 (twenty years ago)

Of course his vocals are classic on "Dead Flowers," and so are all the other country-ish songs the Stones did.

AMG on "Faraway Eyes"--I would love to hear these alternate takes:

Jagger admittedly has a hard time keeping a straight face when singing straight-out country songs. Instead, he employs the fake American hick accent he had been using on Stones country-flavored songs since 1968. In a 1995 interview, he explained: "I love country music, but I find it very hard to take it seriously. I also think a lot of country music is sung with the tongue in cheek, so I do it tongue in cheek. The harmonic thing is very different from the blues. It doesn't bend notes in the same way, so I suppose it's very English, really. Even though it's been very Americanized, it feels very close to me, to my roots, so to speak." Though he is clearly a fan, it is Keith Richards who is more reverential in dealing with the music and has expressed disappointment in Jagger's overly affected last vocal take on "Far Away Eyes": " Mick feels the need to get into these caricatures. He's slightly vaudeville in his approach. "Far Away Eyes" is like that. He did it great every time except for the final take. It's good when he does it straight 'cause it's funny enough without doing a pantomime...You expect Mick to walk out in his cowboy duds on an 18-wheeler set (laughs). Or sing it into his CB as part of his skit."

― Keith C (kcraw916), Friday, 1 July 2005 11:47 (twenty years ago)

rogermexico, I don't have the same problem with "Wild Horses", does't sound like a parody.

― Burr (Burr), Friday, 1 July 2005 14:54 (twenty years ago)

i love when the stones actually talk music instead of talking about groupies and drugs and shit.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 1 July 2005 17:08 (twenty years ago)

Jagger, Richards, and Woods are always willing to talk about music; it's the journalists who insist on asking them about gossip.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 1 July 2005 22:16 (twenty years ago)

i know, it's annoying huh?

there was a bob herbert op-ed a few months ago which epitomized the know-nothing journalist take on the stones. basically: "they aren't really any good as musicians, and that rock stuff they play is awful simple, but: good times, eh?" fuck you.

i imagine i could sit around with jagger & co talking about old stax/volt 45s and political economy and shit.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 1 July 2005 22:18 (twenty years ago)

Yeah that quote from Mick is great ... just a little snippet and yet it shows, regardless of how much people like to pigeonhole or caricature him, the guy is a great vocalist and REALLY thinks about what he does like a true craftsman. Which is of course apparent to anyone with the facility to listen critically to his work, but it's nice to be reminded of his thoughtfulness when it comes to vocal performance...

They are really smart guys with a great grasp of musical formalism and the evolution of popular music. I mean, of course they are, they wouldn't be the Stones otherwise...

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Saturday, 2 July 2005 04:40 (twenty years ago)

i like "country honk," it has a sort of sinister/melancholy feel to it, as if they'd recorded "honky tonk women" a thousand years before and only vaguely remembered how it went. fits the apocalyptic mood of let it bleed really well.

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Saturday, 2 July 2005 08:36 (twenty years ago)

totally! J.D. otm, "Country Honk" works so well in the context of LIB just the way it is!

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Saturday, 2 July 2005 09:42 (twenty years ago)

but my POO Stones country song remains...

TORN AND FRAYED

feel it, mofos!!

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Saturday, 2 July 2005 09:43 (twenty years ago)

One of Jagger's finest country vocals (and songs for that matter) is on 'Wedding Gown' from the Wandering Spirit disc. Alejandro Escovedo also did a damn fine cover of it on a Bloodshot Anniversary disc a few years ago.

― personality crisis, Saturday, 2 July 2005 15:20 (twenty years ago)

The song is "Evening Gown," and the Escovedo cover is indeed damn fine. Though less so than the original. Part of the magic is the way that the utterly hearfelt chorus transforms the self-mocking verses.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Saturday, 2 July 2005 16:36 (twenty years ago)

I've always thought it hypocritical of Greil Marcus to call out Lucinda Williams for her allegedly exaggerated southern drawl, while having no problem with Mick. I mean, she's originally from the south, for crissakes.

― Jim M (jmcgaw), Saturday, 2 July 2005 19:16 (twenty years ago)

what's wrong with mick singing southern? i mean, the whole point of the band is an american accent on everything, and it's only natural that after the bands travels into the deep south (see true adventures of the rolling stones) mick would try to hone his american schtick. "torn and frayed," "dead flowers" and "sweet virginia" are easily my three fave stones songs -- and this coming from a southerner! i would put the stones' country stuff up there with anyone, save hank. i love mick's vampy attitude toward everything, his foot always half out the door. "faraway eyes," on the other hand, is my least favorite stones song. it's ugly and nasty in a way that they generally managed to avoid. and listening to it as a southerner, i feel the way a woman must listening to "under my thumb."

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Saturday, 2 July 2005 23:02 (twenty years ago)

It's not Mick singing like a southerner that I mind, it's Mick singing like a cartoon.

― Burr (Burr), Sunday, 3 July 2005 02:07 (twenty years ago)

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