The Rolling Stones – Live In Hot ‘Lanta (Tarantura TCDRS-9-1, 2)

Live In Hot ‘Lanta
(Tarantura TCDRS-9-1, 2)

The Omni, Atlanta, GA – July 30th, 1975

Disc 1 (63:44):  Intro music Fanfare For The Common Man, Honky Tonk Women, All Down The Line, If You Can’t Rock Me, Get Off Of My Cloud, Star Star, Gimme Shelter, Ain’t Too Proud To Beg, You Gotta Move, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Happy, Tumbling Dice, It’s Only Rock’n Roll

Disc 2 (56:03):  band introduction, Fingerprint File, Wild Horses, That’s Life (Billy Preston), Outta Space (Billy Preston), Brown Sugar, Midnight Rambler, Rip This Joint, Street Fighting Man, Jumping Jack Flash

The Rolling Stones’ 1975 Tour Of The Americas was meant to be a bigger and bolder sequel to the 1972 STP.  Introducing new guitarist Ron Wood and an expanded auxiliary band including Billy Preston, it visited more American cities and was even going to include their first tour of South American cities.  

But the band were let down by the weakness of their new material.  It’s Only Rock And Roll wasn’t a strong follow up to Exile On Main Street (or Goats Head Soup for that matter) and the songs that would have worked very well on stage like “Dance Little Sister” and “Luxury” weren’t given much of a chance (both were dropped after the opening shows).  Despite that, there are many legendary concerts from the era.  

The Stones played the Omni in Atlanta on July 30th, the beginning of the final week.  Live In Hot ‘Lanta is the first release of this show on silver disc.  It starts off rough and fluctuates for the first two songs.  It clears up and becomes pretty good and stable in “All Down The Line.”  There is a small cut at the end of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and at the end of “Brown Sugar.”  The tape wobbles a bit in the opening of “Midnight Rambler,” but becomes steady for the show’s finale.  

It isn’t the best recording from the tour, but it is enjoyable.  And it is nice to have a new show on disc.  

Aaron Copeland’s “Fanfare For The Common Man” starts off the show as an introduction before the band start with “Honky Tonk Women” followed by an energetic rendition of “All Down The Line.”  

“If You Can’t Rock Me” is the first new song to appear in the set.  These live versions are played at a quicker tempo than the studio recording and they lose their funkiness as a result.  The segue into “Get Off Of My Cloud” is always an exciting moment early in the show.  

“Star Star” is a song about “a girl from New York City.”  The moment the giant inflatable phallus elicits a roar of approval from the crowd.  The show slows down a bit with the serious “Gimme Shelter” and the Temptations cover “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” from the latest album.  

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” retains the epic dimension from the earlier tours. Ron Wood doesn’t attempt to match Mick Taylor’s dexterity, but is able to attain a high level of emotion and interest. To his credit, his work doesn’t have that sloppy, drunken, good-time feeling as in the Faces. The follow up with “Happy,” which Jagger refers to as a song that Keith “wrote all by himself,” and a gorgeous “Tumbling Dice.”

Jagger introduces the band after “It’s Only Rock And Roll.” He tells Atlanta “we haven’t been here since … I don’t know when.” The Stones, in fact, never played in Atlanta. This was their first appearance in the city. He introduces “Fingerprint File.” The people by the taper have a hard time understand what he just said. The band really get into the groove of this song.

They follow with the “romantic part of the show,” according to Jagger. Up until two weeks before this show they played “Angie” and “Wild Horses.” But the restlessness of the audiences who wanted to hear the rock songs prompted the band to drop “Angie.” Jagger makes a petulant comment, telling those who don’t like romance to go buy some popcorn or a t-shirt while they’re playing the song.

Before anyone could get bored Billy Preston scorches the stage with his two song set.  “Brown Sugar” always sounds strange plunked in the middle of the set. Since its release on Sticky Fingers it usually serves as an opening song, closing song, or encore.  

“Midnight Rambler” sounds appropriately long and chilly, and the show ends with “Rip This Joint,” a fast “Jumping Jack Flash” and even faster “Street Fighting Man” as the lotus petals close around the band.  The tape runs for a bit as the crowd beg for an encore, but they don’t get it and Handel can be heard blasting through the PA.

Live In Hot ‘Lanta is in line with many Rolling Stones titles in the past year.  Instead of recycling well known shows, Tarantura gives a show with a halfway decent audience recording which has never been out a proper silver release.  This isn’t for the casual collector.  There are much better sounding tapes from New York, Los Angeles and Boston.  But for the experienced collector this is a very nice title to have.