Tattoo You

Tattoo You is the 16th British and 18th American studio album by the Rolling Stones, released in 1981. The album is mostly composed of studio outtakes recorded during the 1970s, and contains one of the band's most well-known songs, "Start Me Up", which hit number two on the United States's Billboard singles charts.

Tattoo You
Studio album by
The Rolling Stones
Released24 August 1981
Recorded
  • November and December 1972
  • January – March 1975
  • January – March 1978
  • January – October 1979
  • October 1980 – June 1981
Genre
Length44:23
LabelRolling Stones
ProducerThe Glimmer Twins
The Rolling Stones chronology
Emotional Rescue
(1980)		 Tattoo You
(1981)		 Still Life
(1982)
Singles from Tattoo You
  1. "Start Me Up"
    Released: 14 August 1981
  2. "Waiting on a Friend"
    Released: 30 November 1981
  3. "Hang Fire"
    Released: April 1982

A combination of touring obligations and personal feuding between band members made it difficult to arrange dedicated recording sessions for the band's follow-up to 1980's Emotional Rescue. As a result, the band's production team combed through unused recordings from prior sessions, some dating back almost a decade. While a few of the songs were used essentially as-is in their original form, most of these earlier recordings were not complete, consisting of song fragments requiring much work. Studio time was booked throughout 1980 and 1981 and band members came in when available to finish off the tracks. The credited members of the Rolling Stones for the album were vocalist Mick Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, bassist Bill Wyman, and drummer Charlie Watts, though two tracks feature former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. Keyboardists Nicky Hopkins, Billy Preston, and Ian Stewart also appear on the album.

The album proved to be both a critical and commercial success upon release, reaching the top of the Billboard charts. It was also the final Rolling Stones album to reach the top position of the US charts, thus concluding the band's string of number-one albums there, dating back to 1971's Sticky Fingers.

History

Tattoo You is an album primarily composed of outtakes from previous recording sessions, some dating back a decade, with new vocals and overdubs. Along with two new songs, the Rolling Stones put together this collection to have a new album to promote for their worldwide American Tour 1981/European Tour 1982 beginning that September. Guitarist Keith Richards commented in 1993:

"The thing with Tattoo You wasn't that we'd stopped writing new stuff, it was a question of time. We'd agreed we were going to go out on the road and we wanted to tour behind a record. There was no time to make a whole new album and make the start of the tour."[1]

Recording

The album's associate producer, Chris Kimsey, who had been associated with The Stones dating back to Sticky Fingers (1971) said Tattoo You really came about because Mick [Jagger] and Keith were going through a period of not getting on. There was a need to have an album out, and I told everyone I could make an album from what I knew was still there."[2] He began sifting through the band's vaults: "I spent three months going through (the recording tapes from) like the last four, five albums finding stuff that had been either forgotten about or at the time rejected. And then I presented it to the band and I said, 'Hey, look guys, you've got all this great stuff sitting in the can and it's great material, do something with it."[2]

Many of the songs consisted at this point of instrumental backing tracks for which vocals had not been recorded. Jagger said in a 1995 interview, "It wasn't all outtakes; some of it was old songs... I had to write lyrics and melodies. A lot of them didn't have anything, which is why they weren't used at the time – because they weren't complete. They were just bits, or they were from early takes".[3] Despite the eclectic nature of the album, the Rolling Stones were able to divide Tattoo You into two distinct halves: a rock and roll side backed with one focusing on ballads.

The earliest songs used for Tattoo You are "Tops" and "Waiting on a Friend". The backing tracks for both songs were cut in late 1972 during the Goats Head Soup (1973) sessions and feature Mick Taylor, not Ronnie Wood, on guitar. Taylor, who was not credited, later demanded and received a share of the album's royalties.

Dating from the Black and Blue sessions are the backing tracks for "Slave" and "Worried About You". They feature Billy Preston on keyboards and Ollie E. Brown on percussion. Wayne Perkins plays the lead guitar on "Worried About You".

The album opens with "Start Me Up", originally rehearsed under the working title "Never Stop" and as a reggae-influenced number in 1978 during the Some Girls sessions, and the balance of it was recorded during these particular sessions in Paris (at Pathé Marconi studios) sessions where the more rock-infused track was recorded. "Black Limousine" was also worked on during these sessions .

The basic tracks for "No Use in Crying", "Neighbours", "Heaven" and "Little T&A" came from the Emotional Rescue sessions.

"Hang Fire" was worked on in both the Some Girls and Emotional Rescue sessions.[4]

The vocal parts for the songs on Tattoo You were overdubbed during sessions in October–November 1980 and April–June 1981. Jagger was the only member of the band present at some of these sessions. Other overdubs, such as Sonny Rollins' saxophone parts on "Slave" and "Waiting on a Friend", were also added at these sessions. The album was mixed at Atlantic Studios, Electric Ladyland, Hit Factory and Power Station in New York City.[2]

Release and aftermath

"Start Me Up" was released in August 1981, just a week before Tattoo You, to a very strong response, reaching the top 10 in both the United States and UK, and number 1 in Australia. Widely considered one of the Stones' most infectious songs, it was enough to carry Tattoo You to No. 1 for nine weeks in the United States, while reaching No. 2 in the UK with solid sales. It has been certified 4x platinum in the United States alone. The critical reaction was positive, many feeling that Tattoo You was an improvement over Emotional Rescue and a high-quality release. "Waiting on a Friend" and "Hang Fire" became Top 20 US hits as well.

"Start Me Up" would prove to be The Rolling Stones' last single to reach as high as No. 2 in the US, while Tattoo You is their last American No. 1 album to date.

The album title was originally planned to be simply Tattoo. Jagger claims to this day that even he has no clue how the "You" became attached to the title. The title caused friction between Jagger and Richards, with Richards suspecting that Jagger had changed the title without seeking his input. The album cover for Tattoo You had concept origination, art direction and design by Peter Corriston and illustration by Christian Piper. The album cover won the Grammy Award in 1982 in the Best Album Package category. It was the first Grammy Award for the Rolling Stones.

There were several videos directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for this album including:

  • "Start Me Up", "Hang Fire" and "Worried About You": Consisting of a standard band performance setting, miming to a backing tape.
  • "Neighbours": An homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window, it features the band playing in one apartment of an apartment building with various happenings seen in the windows of the other apartments: A working-class couple relaxing and making love, a t'ai chi practitioner exercising, and most notoriously, a man putting bloody body parts in a suitcase. This video was heavily censored when presented on television.
  • "Waiting on a Friend": Filmed on location in New York City's East Village, it consists of Richards walking down the street, meeting Jagger, who is sitting on the front steps of 96-98 St. Mark's Place (the same building used by the designer Peter Corriston for cover art of Led Zeppelin's 1975 album Physical Graffiti) with several other men, one of whom is the late reggae musician Peter Tosh, who also shakes Richards' hand. They then proceed down the street and enter a bar where the rest of the band is waiting. The video also features Wood, rather than Mick Taylor on guitar (similar to the videos for "Hot Stuff" and "Worried About You" in which Harvey Mandel and Wayne Perkins respectively actually played).

Legacy
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The A.V. Clubfavourable[6]
Blender[7]
Robert ChristgauA–[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[11]
Tom HullA–[12]

Critical reception

Reviews for Tattoo You were largely positive, proclaiming the album a return to form and ranking among the Rolling Stones' finest works. Debra Rae Cohen commented in Rolling Stone: "Just when we might finally have lost patience, the new record dances (not prances), rocks (not jives) onto the scene, and the Rolling Stones are back again, with a matter-of-fact acceptance of their continued existence – and eventual mortality …"[1]

Robert Christgau gave the album a good review but criticised "Start Me Up" in his Pazz and Jop essay in 1981, saying, "Its central conceit – Mick as sex machine, complete with pushbutton – explains why the album it starts up never transcends hand-tooled excellence except when Sonny Rollins, uncredited, invades the Stones' space. Though it's as good in its way as 'Street Fighting Man', how much you care about it depends entirely on how much you care about the Stones' technical difficulties."[13]

Patty Rose, in Musician, said, "The feel of the album … is more one of rediscovered youth, of axes to play, not grind, of the latest cope, not dope. … The Stones have shed yet another layer of self-consciousness and their shiny vinyl new skin tingles with an open, early-decade kind of excitement."[1]

Writing in Creem, Nick Tosches expressed contempt for the Stones' gratuitous sexism and general negativity in their lyrics. After pointing out the misogyny in "Slave", "Little T+A", "Hang Fire" and even "Waiting on a Friend", he added: "Let it never be said that the Stones have a one-track mean streak. They are capable of singing for minutes on end without spewing venom at the target sex. 'Neighbours', for example, is quite catholic in its grimacing, directed as it is towards the whole family of man, with nary a mention of race, color or creed. 'No Use In Crying' contains the imperative phrase "Stay away from me," addressed to no one in particular, more times than I could count ...."[14]

Accolades

In 1989, it was ranked No. 34 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 213 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[15] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[16]

In 2000 it was voted number 759 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[17]

Peter Corriston, who was responsible for the album cover's concept origination, art direction and design, won a Grammy Award for Tattoo You in the category of best album package.

Band appraisal

In the 1995 Rolling Stone interview during which editor Jann Wenner called Tattoo You the Stones' "most underrated album", Jagger said, "I think it's excellent. But all the things I usually like, it doesn’t have. It doesn’t have any unity of purpose or place or time."[3]

Reissues

Tattoo You was remastered and reissued in 1994 by Virgin Records, and again in 2009 by Universal Music. It was released on SHM-SACD in 2011 by Universal Music Japan. The 1994 remaster was initially released in a Collector's Edition CD, which replicated in miniature elements of the original vinyl album packaging.

Track listing

All songs composed by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except "Black Limousine" and "No Use in Crying" co-written with Ronnie Wood.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Start Me Up"3:31
2."Hang Fire"2:20
3."Slave" (Remastered CD version is 6:34)4:55
4."Little T&A"3:23
5."Black Limousine"3:32
6."Neighbours"3:31
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Worried About You"5:16
2."Tops"3:45
3."Heaven"4:21
4."No Use in Crying"3:24
5."Waiting on a Friend"4:34

Personnel

The Rolling Stones

  • Mick Jagger – lead vocals (all but 4), backing vocals (all but 5); electric guitar (9, 10); percussion (track 9)
  • Keith Richards – electric guitar (all but 9), backing vocals (1–4, 6–7, 10); lead vocals and bass guitar (track 4)
  • Ronnie Wood – electric guitar (all but 7, 8, 9, 11), backing vocals (1–2, 4, 6, 10); bass guitar (track 2)
  • Bill Wyman – bass guitar (all but 2, 4); synthesizer, electric guitar, and percussion (track 9)
  • Charlie Watts – drums, percussion (track 9)

Additional personnel

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia — 225,000[40]
France (SNEP)[41] Gold 332,190[42]
Canada (Music Canada)[43] 4× Platinum 400,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[44] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[45] Platinum 15,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[46] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[47] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[48] 4× Platinum 4,000,000^
Yugoslavia — 50,000[49]

^shipments figures based on certification alone

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References
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  2. Tattoo You Archived 4 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Wenner, Jann. "Jagger Remembers". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  4. The Complete Works of the Rolling Stones - Database Archived 19 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Thomas, Stephen (30 August 1981). "Allmusic Review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  6. "We're No. 1 Review". theavclub.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  7. Blender Review
  8. "Robert Christgau Review". Robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  9. Debra Rae Cohen (15 October 1981). "Rolling Stone Review". Rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  10. "The Rolling Stones: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived version retrieved 15 November 2014.
  11. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  12. Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Grade List: The Rolling Stones". tomhull.com. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  13. Christgau, Robert. "The Year the Rolling Stones Lost the Pennant". Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  14. Tosches, Nick (November 1981). "The Rolling Stones: Tattoo You (Rolling Stones Records)". Creem. Retrieved 17 June 2019 – via Rock's Backpages.
  15. "The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You". Rolling Stone. 1 November 2003. Archived from the original on 26 November 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
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  40. "Major fight economics with quirky rock originals". Billboard. 12 June 1982. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
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