Between the Buttons

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Between the Buttons is the fifth UK and seventh US studio album by The Rolling Stones and was released in 1967 as the follow-up to the ambitious Aftermath.

Recorded in two spurts in Los Angeles in August 1966 and London that November, Between the Buttons caught The Rolling Stones at a period where they were moving more into arty territory and away from their R&B roots. With the release of The Beatles' Revolver, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde during 1966, the parameters of rock music had been expanded considerably and The Rolling Stones - in particular Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, as the main songwriters - were forced to keep up. Conscious that they had to progress beyond Aftermath, the Stones follow-up - betraying influences drawn from the British pop of contemporaries like The Kinks - was Between the Buttons. Although Jagger has publicly denounced the album over the years, it is still highly prized by most contemporary critics and considered somewhat of a curio for most Rolling Stones fans.

Much like Aftermath, Between the Buttons saw some differences in its UK and US versions. The UK edition (how producer Andrew Loog Oldham and The Rolling Stones intended it) was issued in January 1967 on Decca Records, concurrently with a separate single, "Let's Spend the Night Together" b/w "Ruby Tuesday". Because of common practice in the British record industry at the time, the single did not appear on the album. Generally well-received (although the critics took note of their influences), Between the Buttons reached #3 in the UK.

In the US, "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday" were naturally slotted onto the album, with "Back Street Girl" (one of the album's major highlights) and "Please Go Home" getting the boot. With "Ruby Tuesday" (allegedly co-written with an uncredited Brian Jones) reaching #1, Between the Buttons shot to #2 in the US, going gold.

Brian Jones continues his experiments in exotic instruments on this album, playing electric and acoustic guitars, sitar, recorder, piano, trumpet, trombone, banjo and kazoo, in addition to singing backing vocals.

Additionally, Between the Buttons would prove to be the last album produced by Andrew Loog Oldham, with whom The Rolling Stones would have a creative falling-out in mid-1967.

In the years following its release, Between the Buttons somehow became overlooked. Today, however, many critics and fans have come to appreciate the album's eclectic qualities and a wealth of obscure gems, making it a unique album in The Rolling Stones' released catalogue, one that more or less abandoned the Stones blues based and featured more consistent songwriting than their previous efforts.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 355 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

In August 2002 both editions of Between the Buttons were reissued in a new remastered CD and SACD digipak by ABKCO Records.

UK Track listing

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards except where noted.

"Yesterday's Papers" – 2:04
"My Obsession" – 3:17
"Back Street Girl" – 3:27
"Connection" – 2:08
"She Smiled Sweetly" – 2:44
"Cool, Calm And Collected" – 4:17
"All Sold Out" – 2:17
"Please Go Home" – 3:17
"Who's Been Sleeping Here?" – 3:55
"Complicated" – 3:15
"Miss Amanda Jones" – 2:47
"Something Happened To Me Yesterday" – 4:55

US Track listing

"Let's Spend the Night Together" – 3:36
"Yesterday's Papers" – 2:04
"Ruby Tuesday"* – 3:17
"Connection" – 2:08
"She Smiled Sweetly" – 2:44
"Cool, Calm And Collected" – 4:17
"All Sold Out" – 2:17
"My Obsession" – 3:17
"Who's Been Sleeping Here?" – 3:55
"Complicated" – 3:15
"Miss Amanda Jones" – 2:47
"Something Happened To Me Yesterday" – 4:55

*According to various people present during the recording of this song, this was a Brian Jones/Keith Richards composition. However on all official releases it remains a Mick Jagger/Keith Richards credit.

External links

[Between The Buttons]

Albums by The Rolling Stones
U.K. studio albums and EPs 1964 - 1967: The Rolling Stones (EP) \| The Rolling Stones \| Five by Five (EP) \| The Rolling Stones No. 2 \| Out of Our Heads \| Aftermath \| Between the Buttons
U.S. albums 1964 - 1967: England's Newest Hitmakers \| 12 X 5 \| The Rolling Stones, Now! \| Out of Our Heads \| December's Children (And Everybody's) \| Aftermath \| Between the Buttons \| Flowers
Albums 1967 - present: Their Satanic Majesties Request \| Beggars Banquet \| Let It Bleed \| Sticky Fingers \| Exile on Main St. \| Goats Head Soup \| It's Only Rock'n Roll \| Black and Blue \| Some Girls \| Emotional Rescue \| Tattoo You \| Undercover \| Dirty Work \| Steel Wheels \| Voodoo Lounge \| Bridges to Babylon \| A Bigger Bang
Live albums: got LIVE if you want it! (EP) \| Got Live if You Want It! \| Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert \| Love You Live \| "Still Life" (American Concert 1981) \| Flashpoint \| Stripped \| No Security \| Live Licks
Compilations: Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) (US) \| Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) (UK) \| Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) \| Made in the Shade \| Sucking in the Seventies \| Rewind (1971-1984) \| \| Forty Licks \| Rarities 1971-2003
Post-contract ABKCO albums: Hot Rocks 1964-1971 \| More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies) \| Metamorphosis \| \| The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus \| Singles 1963-1965 \| Singles 1965-1967 \| Singles 1968-1971
Nicky Hopkins, Ry Cooder, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts: Jamming with Edward

The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger \| Keith Richards \| Charlie Watts \| Ron Wood
Former Members
Brian Jones \| Bill Wyman \| Mick Taylor \| Ian Stewart
See Also
Chuck Leavell \| Darryl Jones \| Dick Taylor \| Andrew Loog Oldham \| Allen Klein
Related Articles
Discography \| The Glimmer Twins \| Nanker Phelge \| Rolling Stones Records \| Rock and Roll Circus
Categories
\| \| \| [The Rolling Stones discography#Singles\|Singles] \|

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