The Rolling Stones – Reel Time Trip (Scorpio RTT-001)

Reel Time Trip (Scorpio RTT-001)

(79:30):  You’re Right, I’m Left, She’s Gone (Mono) (S. Kesler & W. Taylor) (December 1961, Dick Taylor’s family home), The Last Time (Stereo) (January 17, 1965 , RCA Studios, Hollywood), (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Stereo) (May 12-13, 1965 , RCA Studios, Hollywood), Get Off of My Cloud (Stereo) (September 5-7, 1965 , RCA Studios, Hollywood), 19th Nervous Breakdown (Stereo), December 3-10, 1965 , RCA Studios, Hollywood), Paint It Black (Stereo) (March 6-10, 1966 , RCA Studios, Hollywood), Have You Seen Your Mother, baby, Standing In The Shadow? (Stereo) (August 4-12, 1966 , RCA Studios, Hollywood), Gimme Shelter (Stereo) (February 22-25, 1969, Olympic Sound Studios, London (alternative lyrics)), You Got The Silver (Stereo) (February 17, 1969 , Olympic Sound Studios, London) (Mick on vocals), Loving Cup (Stereo) (June 10 – July 2, 1969 , Olympic Sound Studios, London) (early version), Sister Morphine (Stereo) (March 28-31, 1969, Olympic Sound Studios, London), Brown Sugar (Stereo) (December 2-4, 1969, Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, Alabama) (Version 3 ), Dead Flowers (Stereo) (December, 1969, Olympic Sound Studios, London) (alternative lyrics), Bitch (Stereo) (February 17 – March, 1970 Rolling Stones Mobile, Stargroves, Newbury), Angie (Stereo) (November 25-30 & December 6-21, 1972, Dynamic Sound Studios, Kingston, Jamaica), Winter (November 25-30 & December 6-21, 1972, Dynamic Sound Studios, Kingston, Jamaica), Silver Train (November 25-30 & December 6-21, 1972, Dynamic Sound Studios, Kingston, Jamaica), Dancing With Mr. D (November 25-30 & December 6-21, 1972, Dynamic Sound Studios, Kingston, Jamaica), Criss Cross Man (November 25-30 & December 6-21, 1972, Dynamic Sound Studios, Kingston, Jamaica)

Reel Time Trip is another Rolling Stones outtakes collection on Scorpio, the label who have produced many definitive collections in the past (including the Time Trip series and the Genuine Black Box 1961 1974 issued last year).  There are several outstanding virtues which make this release attractive.  

The first track is a never before released demo from Little Boy Blue & The Blue Boys.  Recorded in December 1961, this was recorded in the back room of Dick Taylors’ parents home with the band consisting of Mick Jagger on vocal, Keith Richard and Bob Beckwith on guitars, Dick Taylor on bass and Allen Etherington on percussion.  “You’re Right, I’m Left, She’s Gone” is recorded in very good mono. 

Chuck Berry was the biggest influence upon the Stones.  The second Little Boy Blue & The Blue Boys demo, recorded a month later, is comprised of three Berry covers ”Johnny B. Goode,” “Little Queenie” and “Beautiful Delilah.”  However, it is interesting to note that the first demo session has “You’re Right, I’m Left, She’s Gone” because it was recorded by Elvis Presley and was issued as the B-side to “Baby, Let’s Play House” on Sun Records issued in April 1955.  Very rarely did the Stones reference Elvis and the demo offers a glimpse into their early inspirations.  

The rest of the tracks, according to the liner notes, are “transferred from the original audio tapes on an Ampex 440 B2 audio tape recorder to Digidesign 002 audio Interface to Pro Tools 24/96 wav to DVD and transferred to cd and re sampled from 24/96 to 16/44.1 using Peak 6.0 for MAC.” 

The sound quality has never sounded as good, especially on the tracks recorded in the 1960’s.  The final three tracks, “Silver Train,” “Dancing With Mr. D” and “Criss Cross Man” have faint traces of tape hiss, but are very clear and enjoyable nevertheless.  

Reel Time Trip is packaged in a standard jewel case with classy looking glossy paper inserts and a very thick booklet with detailed liner notes for each track.  Scorpio have been at the forefront in bringing new Rolling Stones outtakes to the collecting community and score high for the new demo of “You’re Right, I’m Left, She’s Gone.”  They also score high for the significant upgrade in sound quality in the other tracks contained on the disc.