Saturday Club (SODD-110)
(70:24): October 26th 1963: Come On, Memphis Tennessee, Roll Over Beethoven. February 8th 1964: Ain’t That Loving You Baby, Don’t Lie To Me, Mona, Walking The Dog, Bye Bye Johnny, I Wanna Be Your Man, You Better Move On. March 8th 1964: Roll Over Beethoven. April 18th 1964: Not Fade Away, Walking The Dog, I Just Wanna Make Love To You, Beautiful Delilah, High Heeled Sneakers, Oh Carol. June 6th 1964: Meet Me In The Bottom, You Can’t Make It If You Try, Route 66, Confessin’ The Blues, Down The Road Apiece. September 18th 1965: Cry To Me, Fanny Mae. Bonus tracks, Chess Studio, Chicago, November 8th 1964: Mercy Mercy, Key To The Highway, Good Bye Girl. Regent Sound Studio, London, February 5th 1964: Susie Q. RCA Hollywood Studio, Los Angeles, October 27th & November 2th 1964: Heart Of Stone (true stereo version)
The Saturday Club BBC radio program lasted for twelve years, from 1957 to 1969. For a long time it was the only radio show to broadcast popular music and as such is a good source for early Beatles and Rolling Stones sessions (among others). Saturday Club on SODD presents the complete tracks from The Rolling Stones’ six appearances on the show scattered over two years.
The sound quality varies from session to session, but are all very good to excellent. There is nothing new on this release either and has been included with other radio broadcasts on Beat Beat Beat at the Beeb, “How Britain Got The Blues” (BW-0211001) and Get Satisfaction…If You Want! (TSP-CD-003) among many others. But this does serve as a competent collection of songs focused upon a single show on the BBC.
The first three tracks are the earliest session and are in sterling sound quality. It was recorded on September 23rd with host Brian Matthew and broadcast a month later on October 26th. Five songs were recorded plus an interview with the host, but only three songs are in circulation. The other two which are not included are “Talkin’ Bout You” and “Money (That’s What I Want).” It’s revealing that all but “Money” are Chuck Berry covers, revealing the musical inspiration for the Stones very clearly.
“Come On” was the Stones’ first single, released on June 7th, 1963 and they disliked it to point where they didn’t play it live. Having this performance is very special since it’s one of the few times they played it.
The second Saturday Club session with Brian Matthew occurred several months later in February 1964. The session was recorded on February 3rd and broadcast five days later. There is some dispute about whether or not the first song “Ain’t That Loving You Baby” belongs to this session or to the October 8th “Rhythm And Blues” with Alexis Korner session later in the year. All of the boot releases favor the selection and sequence on this release, but Zentgraf favors the latter. The similarity in sound quality, which is very good mono, suggest they all belong to the same session. Again the session contains covers derived from their setlist at the time including their second single “I Wanna Be Your Man.”
The following Saturday Club session is a month later on March 8th, 1964. This session comprised of two songs, “Beautiful Delilah” and “Roll Over Beethoven.” Only the latter survived and is present here. These two tracks were recorded live on their UK tour at the time and is a rare glimpse into their early live sound.
The fourth Saturday Club is also one of the longest. With host Brian Matthew, it was recorded on April 13th and broadcast on April 18th. This session starts off with their third single, a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away.” Matthew can be heard talking about the impending release of their first LP The Rolling Stones (released in the UK on April 16th). The band plays “Walking The Dog,” the final song on the album. “I Just Want To Make Love To You” and “Carol” are also from the new album while the other two songs, “Beautiful Delilah” and “Hi Heeled Sneakers” aren’t.
The fifth session was recorded on May 25th, the afternoon of a show they played in London that night at the Granada Theatre. It’s also a few days before they left for their first US tour.
The final Saturday Club broadcast occurs more than a year later. It was taped on August 20th, 1965 and broadcast a month later on September 18th. Two originals, “Satisfaction” and “The Spider And The Fly” were incorporated into the broadcast. But those two plus “Oh Baby” are omitted from this tape. It has a short interview with Mick Jagger where he says he likes American studios before the Stones play “Cry To Me” and “Fanny Mae.”
Several miscellaneous tracks, including a true stereo take of “Heart Of Stone,” are tacked onto the end of the disc as a bonus. Overall this is a good collection although there is nothing new nor gained by its release. Those who have an extensive Stones collection will have this material already.
