Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Your Tuesday Moment of Words Fail Me

You know, there are some days I think "Beast of Burden" is among the Top Ten best songs the Rolling Stones ever wrote. I'm also extremely fond of The Divine Miss M's cover of it.

That said, this particular video is...well, let us simply stipulate that it may be vastly more self-revealing than was intended at the time.

.

Which is to say, as a friend noted, that some great art doesn't actually depend on subtlety.

I should add that the answer to Bette's question -- 'what's the matter with me?" -- is....absolutely nothing.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

i like the song, too, but (yes, this is a "the day I gave up on the Stones" comment) it's always been associated in my mind with an amateurish performance of it by the Stones on SNL. I went back to youtube to see if I got it wrong, and the playing is not bad (a lot slower than Ms. M's version), but the singing was more like bellowing. I was easily disillusioned back then.

Anonymous said...

Hello all...no, please remain seated,

I think that the Stones performance of BoB on Some Girls is one of the absolute finest example of what Mr. Richards described as "the ancient art of weaving". An opinion he further stated was a strongpoint of the Keith/Brian days. In addition, Charlie's drumming is superlative. What a groove.

I haven't listened to Bette's version in literally decades. I liked it very much back then and it has aged well. (She had great taste in her covers...remember Hello In There?)

And this video! Holy guaca-mackeral...Bette sure had a great set of...vocal chords. Ahem.

As the poster above points out, the Stones version on SNL didn't do it for me back then...and that was my peak period of devotion to my favorite band. Don't think I need to re-confirm that impression.

regards,

RichD

Anonymous said...

The Stones SNL appearance was a travesty. But, I suppose the show had to go on.

BoB is a groove song. I think it's a Keith thing. And it's now a fucking standard. It sounds a bit like the VU's Sweet Jane.

Never been a fan of Bette Midler, though obviously Mick and others are. She bugs me. Both her singing and acting. A bit much for me. Even though that's her schtick, I find myself choking on it the same way her tits smother. Oh well, different strokes, motor-boaters.

Here's a couple of other covers of the Beast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBPDqtZBFeg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaEJLaNjxGY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvFqT8UP4Tw

Vickie Rock - I'm not too blind to see

Mark said...

Three things.

First, great version, Bette.

Second, visually, I could see a duet with a 1984-era Midler and a 1984-era Dee Snider.

Third, the scenic backdrop makes me think that this clip could've been a deleted scene from Mel Brooks' HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART I.

Peter Power Pop said...

Hey Vickie: Thanks for the link to Garland Jeffries and Kira Puru's version of "Beast Of Burden". (It was second on your list of three other versions.) That performance was on the Australian rock music quiz show, RocKwiz.

It reminded me of another Stones song performed on RocKwiz: Chris Cheney and Chrissy Amphlett raising the temperature of the room with their duet of "Stray Cat Blues"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAC4DRvidmQ

It's one of my favourite RocKwiz duets.

Anonymous said...

Peter Power Pop:

I just noticed this.

Oh yeah! Very nice indeed! A few lyric stumbles but that's rock 'n' roll. Is this from 2005? She seems a bit fucked up. But it's perfect for the song.

Too bad about Chrissy. I mean how unlucky is it to get both cancer and MS. She was a treasure. A great loss.

She exuded attitude and sex. I would have sooo gone Lesbyterian for her. It'd be wildcats in heat. Succubus on Siren.

I gained even more respect for Chrissy when my Aussie cousin and I saw her in a production of The Boy from Oz. She fuckin' played Judy Garland. It was amazing. She blew me away and only then did I realize that she had way more up her sleeve than I ever imagined.

Thanks for posting this. I love it. Best cover of Stray Cat I've ever heard. Chrissy was one of a kind. When I saw the Divinyls do "Boys In Town" as an opener in the early eighties, they, particularly Chrissy, made a big impression on me. I didn't care about her teeth, I was in lust with the singer.

Still, nothing tops the salaciousness of Ya Ya's version IMHO. Plus, in the live version she's the proper age: thirteen. I can relate.

Fuck that PC fifteen shit.

Vickie Rock - No scare-eyed honey