@AirplayBeats reacts to The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar Like comment and subscribe patreon.com/user?u=81569817 Airplay Beats 3609 Bradshaw Rd Ste H #337 Sacramento, CA 95827 Www.Airplaybeats.com
I can’t help loving this song! And I have since the 70s!Even though I’m a black woman and I’m supposed to be offended. That riff, that sax solo, just pure rock gold!
Why would you be offended? There's nothing whatsoever demeaning in the lyrics. The song is a social statement about the ills of slavery during that particular time in America. Period.
@@hackdaniels7253It was really kinda confusing to me when I used to hear it as a kid, but now it seems obvious the Stones were deliberately f-ing with the record company and with the censors on radio, by thumbing their noses at repressed social taboos. They made this total rock n roll radio hit, filled with flaunting interracial sex, confronting the reality of colonialist slavery, with BDSM overtones.. essentially poking fun at the historic perversions of white slave traders, which takes a blatant jab at the USA as well.
It’s just about the enslaver boinking his black slaves, the rich white woman boinking the black houseboy, and Mick’s present-day attraction to black women. It's quite an interesting chronology.
But Aftermath, Between the Buttons, and Beggars Banquet are better than Goats Head Soup and It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll. Also, Let It Bleed was practically a finished record when Taylor joined.
YEP! You're so right! After Sticky fingers their music, little by little, got worse and worse! Even Excile on main street isn't as good! People who disagree and keep saying that Excile on main street was their best work just repeat what the mainstream want to hear. As people are sheep and not able to listen with a critical ear. @@fuchsiaswing8545
Everybody loved Ian Stewart. He was actually in the band at first but was older than the rest and the band manager said he didn’t fit the image - so he became the road manager and occasional pianist. Stu definitely gave the Stones a signature sound when he played.
@@ThePittsburghToddy That’s awesome! One thing I’ve never given up is my record collection! I started buying albums in 1968, when I was 10 yrs old, and had some “working” money, beyond my “allowance” Peace
I read an interview with Mick recently where he explained this was an anti-slavery song; due to the lyrics, they don't play it in concert anymore. It was a big top 40 radio hit for them but I doubt it would get airplay today. Great song though!
Lol that's so soft. It really is incredible how some people are such energy vaccums that they can't enjoy the song and be happy with it in concert. They really have to make an effort to believe this song is racist and wrong lol
This was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama along with "Wild Horses" and "You Gotta Move." It was featured in the documentary on Muscle Shoals which is totally worth checking out.
I haven't seen that documentary. I'm wondering if the footage is the same as the Maysles brothers’ documentary, Gimme Shelter (1970). Does anyone know?
@@fuchsiaswing8545 I've seen both, and yes, there is some overlapping footage. But there is also material that is unique to "Muscle Shoals." Also, there is an early performance of the Stones doing "You Better Move On" which was their cover of Arthur Alexander who was a Muscle Shoals artist.
Certainly a matter of taste. It does have an edge with me cause it was the first Stones album I bought. However, I will always feel like Exile is their best, and perhaps the best ever. "Let it Loose" and "Sweet Virginia" are difficult to top.
Sticky Fingers came out in 71'... so about 8yrs into the Stones legacy... Ian Stewart was an original Stone right from the beginning... but was removed from the lineup because his image wasn't quite the same as the Stones.... he did stay on with the group as a road manager (I believe) and of course piano player right up till around the time of his death in 85'... Stu was heavily regarded as a great among his peers of the honky tonk style piano playing and is credited on many albums throughout the generation...
@@john-daviddennison2862 I mean, I'm only 53, but I think of the entire 70s as 'mid-period' Stones... but when you think they've basically been a heritage act since Steel Wheels, perhaps that's right.
Claudia Lennear was the inspiration for this song (as well as "Lady Grinning Soul" by David Bowie). She had a minor west coast hit with the Superbs, became an Ikette behind Tina Turner in the Ike and Tina Turner Review, then went into the backup singer stratosphere with Leon Russell - from whom all her other musical connections proceeded. Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Concert For Bangladesh, etc., etc. The lady is a legend.
So glad somebody mentioned this fact about Claudia Lennear & Bowie's song 'Lady Grinning Soul.' It has always been a fave of mine since it came out back in the 70's. I can keep my fingers crossed that maybe these guys will react to Bowie's song as well since they are Bowie fans too (hint-hint, nudge-nudge). It is a first listen likable song that should have been released as a single at the time, IMHO.
Hearing this song opened my eyes to a whole new dating pool! My Kentucky parents almost shit a brick the first time I brought a black girl home! They got used to it.
I feel so lucky to have been young in the 70's. There wasn't any 'merch', fancy stage set ups, choreography, synth, auto-tune etc Jagger doesn't even have a particularly great voice, but how can somebody like, say, Taylor Swift compare to this kind of raw pulsating music, instruments being played? There's no comparison. So very many excellent bands back then competing for sales. Exciting times. The song doesn't celebrate slavery, it's just honest about the shit that happened.
There may have been a double entendre meaning to this song also. Brown sugar was a slang term for a type of heroin that some members of the band may have been partaking of at various times during their lives.
One of the Stones most popular songs. BUT in today's WOKE world it's deemed racist and they don't play it live any more (for maybe 5 years) otherwise they would get cancelled. Even radio shows have been told not to play it. We live in strange times indeed.
Very few stations still play it. It's being air-brushed out into the wilderness by pandering white Liberal mouth-breathers. They even got Jagger to call it embarrassing and outdated for chrissake.@@DonCarne
Stones are too big to be cancelled; isn't it possible that they recognize that slavery, racial, pedophilia tinged lyrics may not be interpreted in 2023 as they were in 1971 and self-regulated cuz they don't wanna sound like insensitive jerks? They've grown 50 years since they wrote it.
I remember this song back in the day because they would play it at the beach, when my family was visiting (back in Maryland/Delaware area). I was 8 years old and it just locked in my brain as a Summertime, bikini girls, and sweet waves song! I love this song!
The Stones, I've heard, don't do this song anymore. The song seems a little too cavalier about interracial sex during slavery, especially in today's times. I still listen to the Sticky Fingers album this is off of regularly, for about 52 years now, so needless to say I'm not offended. If I were trying to turn a black friend on to the Rolling Stones music, I probably wouldn't start here, although I've heard Jagger call it their best song. (It may be!) Despite how the lyrics may seem offensive to some, I don't think the Stones had a racist bone in their collective bodies.
Freedom against a background of slavery. …that is what I think it was about. Mick’s first child was with a black female model. Keith dated Ronnie Spector…George Harrison dated her sister…
Ian Stewart was the 6th Rolling Stones from the begininng but music executives said he didnt 'look' like a Rolling Stone so he was kept off album pictures but was a major part of their history.
Now this is the way to put it down and really rock. The people upset with the topic are silly, politically correct snowflakes, who are more than willing to let women be called bitches and hoes. Right or wrong, at least this song has historical context. And it is a great jam. Mick Taylor and Keith Richards were in their prime during the Jimmy Miller produced music of this era. The Stones were never better. I was a teenage black kid growing up on military bases when this song was making the rounds. Our parents heard it. Our friends heard it. And we shared it with our friends. Given the openness of the time we lived back, to explore and at least give something a chance before condemning it, there is something to be said for what we have lost. Why do you think so many RU-vid channels are react to this older music with such enthusiasm? This music is still relevant. Full of life, creativity, soul, funk, and exciting ideas. The world would be a better place if we could express ourselves like this, rather than being afraid of opening our mouths because we fear the repercussions. The computer has limited thought and expression. Too bad. I bet there are so great ideas not being expressed because we fear being canceled, silenced, or ridiculed. In the meantime, here is a great song from the Rolling Stones catalog. It is called SHATTERED. It's about New York, Mick going through divorce, the trappings of crime, fashion, and a city in turmoil, and being alone. And then there's that driving rhythm. Enjoy
The Stones' musical contribution to the issue of slavery. They just stated the truth of how it used to be, & rocked out with it. Thanks for your reaction.
This is The Stones drawing attention to the injustices of life in early America, and even England. English slave ships landing in Louisiana. This is why that idiot FLA Governor is trying to disallow books that depict this, our truth in our history. Many Stones songs come with messages and not all pleasant. Being that Mick had his own appreciation of black women, I myself think Mick sang about this history and infused some of his own history (minus owning slaves and whipping them) into this song.
This was Micks give to a black lady he dated. He has a black daughter from that relationship. My teenage me would sing it loud and proud being one of the few black kids in my high school! Chiguy
If I recall correctly, Ian Stewart was an original founding member of The Stones but got booted offstage by manager Andrew Oldham for looking too old. So he became their road manager instead and still contributed amazing boogie-woogie piano to many of their classic studio tracks.
The Stone’s do not play this song live anymore because of the controversy about the opening lyrics …..even thou he had a black girlfriend at the time when he wrote the lyrics. Mick said he had no intention of the song be racism oriented.
I’m sure it’s been pointed out numerous times that this is the quintessential Stones lineup. Savor some of these albums, then watch concert footage ‘69 to ‘73 and you’ll agree they were the World’s Greatest Rock ‘n Roll Band.
You had to have been living under a rock not to have heard this song but great that your reacting to the stones best 2 albums IMHO. Every song is a banger and kudos to you guys for going for it.
La and Che, I can see this was uncomfortable for you both - understandably so. As a 63 year old white guy, a Stones fan for 50 years and a real fan of you both for a year or more, I am sorry. Through the years, we told each other stories that have made this less objectionable. The two I remember are: brown sugar was heroin; brown sugar was inspired by a sexually very attractice singer named Claudia Lennear (who sang a lot of great backup vocals with Leon Russell). Those are plausible, in the context of the Stones’ lifestyles. However, rhe fact is they wrote the song the way they did and any first-time listener can only interpret it as it pertains to slavery. For 25+ years or more fans and critics have said this song could not be written or published ‘today.’ It has been a very popular song live, often as part of a 3-4 song encore. There is no denying the music is catchy and phenomenal. I’ll guarantee you 85% of fans do not know or fully understand the lyrics - general public, not people savvy enough to be your subscribers. The bottom line is that The Stones themselves have acknowledged that the song is inappropriate and insensitive and stopped performing it about 4 years ago. This has been one guy’s (me) thoughts, YMMV. I hope this song will not discourage you from continuing to explore The Stones catalog.
Ian Stewart was an original member of the Stones. Some say he even started the band. He played on some albums but mostly served as the Stones Road manager.
Ian Stewart was an original full member of the Stones but, he wasn’t a pretty boy and their management told them to dump him, however they kept him as an unofficial member playing piano in the studio and on tour. He sadly died in 1985 aged 47. Former Ronnie Wood band mate Ian McLagen keyboardist with the Small faces and the Faces would replace him.
I went to the Stones concert in 1972 in St. Louis. . .Brown Sugar was the first song. . .It was a great concert. . .Think about it, the "opening act" for the show was some guy named. . .Stevie Wonder!
The Velvet Underground's albums. They invented Punk, New Wave and rewrote the Rock N Roll playbook, and then the 70s and 80s bastardized the hell out of it. I'd start with the song "Rock & Roll" from their Loaded album. Start with Loaded their 4th album and work backwards. If you play them, you'll get a lot of requests. The Stones stole from TVU so did lots of bands. Everybody wants to sound like Little Richard, Bob Dylan and Lou Reed. That's the top of the vocal style heap in Rock N Roll.
Ian Stewart was with the Stones since 1962. He was an original. As a matter of fact, Ian answered the ad placed in a magazine called Jazz News by Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones. However, in 1964, Stones manager (Andrew Oldham) politely asked Ian to step aside. He would still play on the records, but he didn't fit the Stones image. Ian agreed. He continued to play on the records, and became their road manager. He was a great Blues/Boogie Woogie Piano player. He can be heard on any Bluesy, or old school Rock N roll tracks. He refused to play on any tracks that were not rooted in the blues, or Chuck Berry style rock N Roll.
Disappointing the Stone succumbed to woke nonsense and announced they will not play this song anymore. Bobby Keyes made that song so whatever Stones...
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee So they are getting paid. Dont like your job, quit. Same as those female athletes complaining about trans men and yet, their they are playing with them. Weak! Stand up for your principles are stfu. All hypocrite whiners, nothing more.
Jumping on the lyrics comment. Not a very wholesome subject is it? Stones had lots of social commentary. including a couple hundred years ago in America.
Keith Richards loved Bobby Keys saxophone sound and described it as “greasy.” In fact Keith was the “grease” that helped Bobby get back in the band, (Jagger fired him) after missing a show from an all nighter. One of the greats, shoutout to Bobby and Lubbock, TX.🍺
Bobby keys also filled a bathtub up with champagne so he and a few ladies could get hammered the right way. Bobby put it on the room service bill and Mick got mad so that was the end of Bobby keys for awhile .it took Keith like a decade or more to get him back In the band.
Bobby played on a catastrophe of hits of various artists some prior to his late sixties years among them Run Around Sue by Dion and The Belmonts , and alto sax on Elvis Presleys Return To Sender and he was playing with Bobby Vee when he met The Stones on their second US concert at the Teen Fair in San Antonio.
….another fun fact…Keef and Bobby Keys born on exactly the same day. Dec. 18, 1943. Sadly Bobby didn’t get the Keef longevity gene. Apparently nobody did! 😂
I'm 63, and have heard this song since it's release, and it wasn't until a couple years ago, that someone pointed out to me what it's "ABOUT". My bad. Great song...if the content weren't so horrid.
Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields Sold in a market down in New Orleans Scarred old slaver, know he's doing alright Hear him whip the women just around midnight
The story behind this song is actually less political than you might think. Basically, Jagger had the hots for one of his Black backing singers/dancers and decided to raise a middle finget to white, conservative America by writing a song about it, which also highlighted racial inequality and slavery. The song is either gratuitously offensive, or an important contribution to the discourse. As a white Englishman it ain't my place to say which. 🤷♂️
You'd be surprised by how many "classic" rock songs are, or have been, a part so many different things over the past 50 or 60 years. You may not know the title but you've heard it at one point.
OMG It's unbelievable how soft people have become. It's social commentary and descriptive of a long gone era. PERIOD Do you also have a problem with the song "Play That Funky Music, White Boy?" Or the movie "White Men Can't Jump?"
@@neilmartin99 Call me what you will but here are some facts: The original title was “Black Pussy” I actually own the original album (the one with the working zipper). You don’t know a damn thing about me. The comparisons you made are so ridiculous that I’m still laughing. Question, do you like mayonnaise and Wonder Bread sandwiches 🥪?
Honestly, both sides of the argument are amiss. This song was intended to be provocative and edgy. Yes, it's a social commentary highlighting the hypocrisy and the taboo attraction whites have for blacks, dating from the Atlantic Slave Trade to the present time. However, some of the lewd language is there merely for shock value. Either way, I love it!
Yaall commenters gotta be careful with the knee-jerk anti- woke stuff; i believe as much as anyone that it goes too far and going out of our way to be offended isnt helping our culture but we shouldnt go too far the other way either. The Stones themselves have re-thought performing this song and i highly doubt they could be forced too; it's still possible to recognize going too far without being hyper-sensitive. This song just goes too close to the line, if not over, imo. People can still hear it if they want to but I find it kinda embarrassing and they've got so many other great songs that don't have the possibility of insulting their black fans.
I commented on this classic track previously on another site and was taken to task by another fan. But shortly after that the Stones announced that they will no longer play this song, due to sensitivity over the lyrics. I love the Stones, but this is a don’t-go-there zone.
I think this is the first song that Bobby Keys added his saxophone to this fabulous song...began a long career with the Stones and a lifelong friendship with Keith!!
