Friday Freak-Out: The Rolling Stones' "2,000 Light Years From Home" (1967)

[video link]

Friday Freak-Out: The Rolling Stones perform "2,000 Light Years From Home," from Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967).

• [zandar]

  Love Mick’s hat. Pretty far out.

  So very underrated. It’s not my absolute fave but it is way up there, I listen to tracks from it all the time.

• [fpatrick]

  Back when the album first came out, one night one of the channels went out on my stereo – don’t remember left or right – and that made it clear that all the vocals were in the one channel that disappeared.

  The resulting stuff from the channel that played – mainly the organ and bass – became one of my favorite bits of “space music”. Still is.

• [Anonymous]

  what is it with the british and crazy head-gear?

• [Cowicide]

  Nice to hear this song again… luv it.

• [princeminski]

  Boy, “Anonymous” apparently pushed a few buttons, though his (I assume) comment is not extant. Thanx for this ongoing gift for the seniors among us who are interested in something besides computers. Friday Freakouts are a continuing fave.

• [DG]

  Mellotron heaven!

• [Anonymous]

  There are some GREAT Stones songs–my classic rock station just started playing one right now–but there’s something, well, fake about them. They started out as fake black guys from the Delta, then became fakely psychedelic; when that didn’t work, they were fakely evil for a while.

  None of them have much imagination or much to say, which is why they can keep cranking out the same tunes decade after decade. Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad they exist and like some of their tunes, but I’m more of a Beatle fan.

  • [Tdawwg]

    Boo. Hiss.

    I couldn’t care less about influences and origins, it’s more about tone and texture for me. If you can really call fake the part of “Gimme Shelter” where the thunderous rhythm section crashes down, then you’re welcome to your George Martin and Co. records: some nice electronica on a few of those tracks.

  • [Anonymous]

    The stones had a higher percentage of good songs than most bands, but The Beatles (arguably) were damn near 100%.

  • [Dirk]

    The only points the Stones were actually fake to me are in some of their love songs. I just can’t believe Mick can love one woman and reminisce about no money in his coat.

    The great thing about this group is, yes, they cynically put out a psychedelic album on the tail of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s, but that’s kind of what made the Stones: they’re mercenary, self-serving. They are willing to come in through the rat hole and steal your scraps and your women. And that flavor — the fact that they were stealing from the Heads of the Class — makes the Stones the Stones. Ironically, this kind of helps prove they really are one the few bands to NOT fake being evil.

• [Revisorius]

  What a find! I still can’t believe they pulled this nugget out of their nethers for the Steel Wheels tour.

• [JayByrd]

  “Satanic Majesties” is actually my favorite Stones album. I still have the original LP with the 3-D cover art.

• [fatuousplatitudes]

  I can’t get over how un-ravaged Keef looks…

• [Anonymous]

  Dandelion will make you wise.