The Rolling Stones – Between The Buttons

Really nice 70s stereo reissue featuring the original UK track listing. Sounds fantastic.

I'm listening to this pressing right now and am really floored by how present and punchy it sounds.

I love this cassette. My copy has a torn up label on the case but the tape itself sounds really good. I love the 60s US snapcases.

Surprised. Psychedelic, understated, unsure of itself. Feels kinda hesitant. Good rhythms without being jammy. Harmonica on cool calm and collected. Ruby Tuesday.

Títulos en la lista de canciones como en la etiqueta; tres pistas difieren en la contraportada:
— Yesterdays' Papers
— Cool, Calm & Collected
— Who's Been Sleeping Here?
No son diferentes, estan bien escritos.

Not nearly as bluesy as previous albums, there are still some rockers, but there's also more experimentation going on, and "Cool, Calm & Collected" is strongly reminiscent of the Kinks. This mono mix sounds great, with plenty of low end and a full-bodied soundstage. My copy plays nice and clean with occasional faint surface noise.

The Rolling Stones entered 1967 progressing into psychedelic sounds and having some success with “Paint It, Black” and “Have You Seen Your Mother”, among several other great singles and album tracks. ‘Between the Buttons’ has a lot of divided opinions among Stones fans. I would put it at least one giant step below ‘Aftermath’ in of my own personal preferences but some may beg to differ. One thing that became glaringly apparent was the musical genius of Brian Jones who ironically forsook the guitar (leaving Keith Richards to do the lion’s share of both lead and rhythm guitar tracks) and dabbled in almost any instrument thrown his way. Sitar, saxophone, harmonium, clarinet, trombone, marimbas, etc., etc. ‘Buttons’ also moved into music hall territory (almost like British vaudeville) with mixed results and would also be the last record released in different UK and US formats. The US version included huge hits “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Ruby Tuesday” while the Brits got “Backstreet Girl” (personal fav) and “Please Go Home”. The British bands would often not put chart singles on their LPs as they considered it as a ripping off their fans but London Records (the Stones’ US outlet) didn’t have those problems (and put out the ‘Flowers’ compilation with both “Night Together” and “Ruby Tuesday” on it!). Anyway as far the other tracks go, Mick and Keith sing “Connection” together (almost a harbinger for the drugs bust soon coming their way), “Yesterday’s Papers” was another diatribe against an ex-girlfriend (and the opening song for the British LP) and “Miss Amanda Jones” which was almost pro-punk in its aggressive guitar delivery. Previously mentioned “Backstreet Girls”, perhaps another exhibit in the case against Mick for his misogynistic lyrics, is definitely one of the better Stones from this period. But all was not piss and vinegar against bad women as Jagger was dating Marianne Faithful and the gentle and romantic side seemed to come out on tracks such as “Who’s Been Sleeping Here” and “My Obsession”. Even with a not so secret weapon as Brian Jones, the Stones would always be grasping at straws in attempts to beat the Beatles at their own game but ‘Between the Buttons’ is a decent example of British psychedelic rock but since it wasn’t what the Rolling Stones did best, it would never reach the dizzying heights of the masterpieces from that year (you know the ones). He don’t know if it’s right or wrong, maybe he should tell someone…

Probably the worst pressing in my entire collection. Easily mistakeable for an early Bestway pressing on casual inspection, but clearly made from tired and well used stampers acquired at a later date. Avoid!

This U.S. 1A/1A Bell sound stereo album has balanced and detailed sonics that I can't fully appreciate in my 4K/5K 1s Uk pressing. I prefer this version over the UK version because of its wider soundstage and greater instrumental clarity. All around amazing pressing.

US Mono Pressing, like most of these recordings mine's quite noisy but it's also very well balanced. Also the US version is just far superior with a better selection