Word: jagger
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...second side the disco-style is given another try. "Hey Negrita" fares somewhat better, drawing from Latin and Carribean rhythms which add spice to the otherwise rather mechanical beat. Jagger's voice, strained to cracking and loaded with insinuation, narrates this first person tale of a poor man's encounter with a South American whore. "One last dollar/I've got my pride/I'll cut your balls and I'll tan your hide." Subtle? The Stones always did have a way with words. But like "Hot Stuff," "Hey Negrita" suffers at the hands of too much repetition...
...Jagger attempts to lead the band through a Jamaican reggae tune, "Cherry O Baby," the only non-original song on the album, but no one can generate the energy or interest to break through the monotony. But the problem may lie as much with the sequencing of the cuts as with the quality of the Stones' rendition or the song itself. Listened to in isolation, "Cherry Oh Baby" comes off as a fairly good and authentic reggae imitation. But for the ear accustomed to rock and roll's strong second beat emphasis and generally faster pacing, the reggae rhythm often...
...Hand of Fate" resurrects a favorite theme. Always fond of Southern tales, in this version Jagger adopts the persona of a southern man "on the run 'cause (he) killed a man" and in narrative style informs us of the details. Jagger's voice is sometimes disturbing as he descends below his natural register, but for the most part the song rocks in a typical Jagger-Richard fashion, pleasing because it is so familiar. Yet Keith Richard's clean, tough guitar riffs have lost something of their power since the early days. Interestingly the finest guitar work to be found...
Black and Blue's most important outside influence comes from Billy Preston, who also toured with the Stones last summer. "Melody," a Preston-inspired number--essentially a dialogue between himself and Jagger--has an old fashioned jazzy piano rhythm and stylized vocals which range from falsetto through scatting and even a throaty 'cocktail bar' whisper. The result is something completely unlike anything the Stones have done before, and the departure from standard fare works remarkably well. Jagger sings in an exaggerated style, demonstrating a suprising vocal complexity and range. Clearly he is experimenting with this new-found idiom and enjoying...
...next cut begins, Jagger reasserts full vocal control. "Fool to Cry" (available as a single) is a slow, haunting ballad heavily tinged with a soul orientation. An undulating string filled (string synthesizer) arrangement builds with the song as a lonely Jagger talks, cries and confesses. This, and the album's other ballad, "Memory Motel," a tough-tender song about life on the road, may be the most important works on the album, in signifying the direction the Stones are moving. These songs--intensely personal in their lyrics and musically straightforward--recall the autobiographical nature of early Jagger-Richard compositions, though...