Artist: The Rolling Stones
Album: Flowers
Release Info: German Decca Stereo LP
Year Of Release: 1967
{Tracklisting}
A1 Ruby Tuesday
A2 Have You Seen Your Mother ? Baby, Standing In The Shadow
A3 Let's Spend The Night Together
A4 Lady Jane
A5 Out Of Time
A6 My Girl
B1 Back Street Girl
B2 Please Go Home
B3 Mother's Little Helper
B4 Take It Or Leave It
B5 Ride On Baby
B6 Sitting On A Fence
{Technical Details}
Turntable: VPI Scoutmaster Signature Plus
Cartridge: Audio-Technica AT33PTG
Preamp: Pro-Ject Tubebox
Interconnects: Blue Jean Cables
Soundcard: E-MU 0202 USB
Signal Chain: Turntable > Phono Preamp > Soundcard
Click Repair
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MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU
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Dismissed as a ripoff of sorts by some critics, as it took the patchwork bastardization of British releases for the American audience to extremes, gathering stray tracks from the U.K. versions of Aftermath and Between the Buttons, 1966-67 singles (some of which had already been used on the U.S. editions of Aftermath and Between the Buttons), and a few outtakes. Judged solely by the music, though, it's rather great. "Lady Jane," "Ruby Tuesday," and "Let's Spend the Night Together" are all classics (although they had all been on an LP before); the 1966 single "Mother's Little Helper," a Top Ten hit, is also terrific; and "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow" making its first album appearance, is the early Stones at their most surrealistic and angst-ridden. A lot of the rest of the cuts rate among their most outstanding 1966-67 work. "Out of Time" is hit-worthy in its own right (and in fact topped the British charts in an inferior cover by Chris Farlowe); "Backstreet Girl," with its European waltz flavor, is one of the great underrated Stones songs. The same goes for the psychedelic Bo Diddley of "Please Go Home," and the acoustic, pensively sardonic "Sittin' on a Fence," with its strong Appalachian flavor. Almost every track is strong, so if you're serious about your Stones, don't pass this by just because a bunch of people slag it as an exploitative marketing trick (which it is). There's some outstanding material you can't get anywhere else, and the album as a whole plays very well from end-to-end.