The Rolling Stones: "As Tears Go By"

February 7, 1966 (1 week)

There are many reasons why pre-1968 Rolling Stones deserve a lot more praise. Most obviously, because they had such a glorious collection of singles. (Even more overlooked are their albums, especially Aftermath and Between the Buttons) In addition, I don't think they were ever the same after Brian Jones began to spiral out of control towards his untimely demise. And then there's the fact that they weren't yet a colossus: while hugely popular, they weren't stadium rock gods and weren't being pushed as the "World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band" or any of that tripe. If there was ever a time when the Stones were just a modest pop group, it was during this time.

This extends to Mick Jagger. While always a striking frontman — though a largely underappreciated vocalist and songwriter — he hadn't yet become a figure of depravity, nor was he parodying himself. I think there was more of a musical curiosity to him during this period, as though hanging out with John Lennon and Paul McCartney wasn't just to make himself look cool. The two chief Beatles were raking in cash from songwriting royalties while also flourishing creatively. There's no doubt all that all this rubbed off on Jagger and longtime partner Keith Richards.

1966's Aftermath has long been my favourite Stones album. I don't have anything against the great '68-'72 quartet of long players that they tend to be acclaimed for nowadays — even if I've never been fully convinced by 1969's Let It Bleed — but I don't think there's that same sense of inventiveness. (The Stones' album from the seventies that maybe comes closest to Aftermath's scope is 1978's Some Girls) It was as if they hadn't fully grasped who they were; by the time they did, they became very good at being The Rolling Stones but at the price of youthful wonder and excitement.

In any case, one of the main reasons I am so fond of Aftermath is Brian Jones picking up instruments seemingly at random and adding new sounds to virtually every one of its fourteen tracks with them. What I often overlook, however, is Jagger displaying a range that he would ultimately abandon as his group became a rock concert behemoth. On the track "Lady Jane" - cleverly placed on the album between the cheeky sexism of "Stupid Girl" and the outright misogyny of "Under My Thumb" — he sounds grand and sincere. On "I Am Waiting" he gives off a desperation you don't typically hear in him. The grotesque dirtbag is still present and correct (look no further than "Under My Thumb") but it is but one of his characters rather than the full show.

Aftermath hadn't yet been completed by February of 1966 so it was still the group's singles that did the heavy lifting. While mostly strong and steadily improving, the mess they made of "Get Off of My Cloud" indicates that they could be erratic (and, truthfully, always would be). Yet in spite of its relatively poor quality, it was a big success going number one around the world. The temptation may have been to keep the aggressive rockers coming but Jagger and Richards wisely went in another direction.

Originally a big hit for Jagger's future girlfriend Marianne Faithfull, "As Tears Go By" must have seemed suited to the female voice. While Faithfull does a good job of it, she doesn't sound completely at ease with it. (She would later acknowledge that it wasn't a favourite of hers) Whatsmore, the arrangement isn't anything special: uptempo chamber pop is normally a lovely thing but it doesn't do much for either the singer or the material.

With all this in mind, the Stones chose to tone things down for once. I say "Stones" in the barest sense since it only features Richards strumming an acoustic guitar alongside Jagger's vocal. Though I'm sure Jones could have added a poignant cor anglais solo, I like the fact that they pared "As Tears Go By" down so much. The string section could have very easily come out gloopy but Mike Leander's arrangement is tasteful, not unlike the job he'd do a year later with The Beatles' "She's Leaving Home". (It also brings to mind the work of the great Robert Kirby, whose gentle orchestral touches add that little something extra to Nick Drake's masterpieces Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter) Could the Stones be serious artistes? Oh shit yeah...at least when they wanted to.

Like John Prine's "Hello in There" and Neil Young's "Old Man", "As Tears Go By" is all the more remarkable for having a younger individual document aging so thoughtfully. Entering the RPM Top 10 this week was The Who with their monumental single "My Generation". While guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend has been asked about its memorable line "I hope I die before I get old" even long before his dotage, few have thought to query Jagger about a song he wrote when he was twenty now that he is an octogenarian. Not that it even matters all that much: just the fact that he was trying to wrap his head around an elderly lady in the final act of her life is astounding enough. Mick could take the piss out of bored middle-aged housewives and be a nasty piece of shit to the women he sang about but don't think he didn't have a sensitive side.

Score: 9