All types of music are subjective. For everyone who enjoys the sound of a loud guitar ringing out of a distorted amplifier, there will always be a few who think it sounds like nails on a chalkboard. Keith Richards was willing to try anything while working with The Rolling Stones. However, he believed that using processed instruments would bring his music to a halt.
When you look at what Keef has accomplished with The Stones, it is usually all about playing from the heart. In the late 1960s, they may have had the ability to translate their music into any style. It always came back to how they interacted with each other when they were jamming.
Consider one of their best songs, ‘Can’t You Hear Me Knockin‘. The song could have been completed in about three minutes. But the long extended jam at the end is something that cannot be replicated. It was with the band making up whatever they could as the tape was rolling and Richards matching Mick Taylor note for note.
However, cheesy 1980s music was not the only association with synthesizers and drum machines. Artists were using samples in their music as early as the ‘Summer of Love‘. Thanks to Mellotron for including various pieces of sounds to fill out their songs, such as the flamenco guitar that opens ‘The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill’.
Even Mick Jagger was not afraid to experiment with different synthesizers on some of The Stones‘ 1980s albums. They were attempting to adapt to the times with albums like Dirty Work. But the band traded in many of their signature licks for something that sounds more like cheesy lounge music with a bunch of over-padded production in the background.
According to Richards, the music industry would have been a much better place if synthesizers and backing tracks had never taken over. He stated, “They don’t have a lot of time to think about it to realize that a lot of this synthesizing and sampling are dead-end streets.” This music is human and natural. You need people who collaborate, musicians who can play and record together, to make it more natural.”
When discussing the most popular new bands at the time, Jagger expressed a sentiment similar to that of the 1980s. At a time when artists like Frankie Goes to Hollywood were dominating the charts. Jagger believed they weren’t as good as they could be. It was because they relied heavily on backing tracks when performing live.
Jagger and Keith Richards may be the last remaining original Stones touring the world. But their solution for filling out the sound is simple: bring in more people. With Steve Jordan providing the backbeat in place of Charlie Watts, various backup singers have augmented the band to create a massive wall of noise whenever they perform. It’s natural for most artists to slow down as they get older. Richards prefers playing his guitar with all his energy rather than being locked onto a grid.
