Ok, they needed some time to recover from the series of concerts in America, which among insiders was also known as the Cocaine And Tequila Sunrise Tour. A camera crew even made a controversial documentary about it called Cocksucker Blues.
But Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had enough inspiration a few months after the tour to write some new songs. Now they just had to find a studio because in many countries The Stones weren’t welcome in 1972. The band members were plagued by British tax issues, and Richards was under investigation for alleged drug possession. Thus, Goats Head Soup became another album by The Rolling Stones with a story.
Most fans have always appreciated this album more than the media did. It became a massive commercial success, largely due to the hit song Angie. However, over the years, the artistic quality of the album seemed to fade into the background. The reason? Its predecessor Exile On Main St. had become a true 1970s classic and a pinnacle in The Stones body of work. It seemed as if the shadow that Exile cast over the successor grew larger over the years. Anyway, that studio was found, and surprisingly it was in Kingston, Jamaica, where most of the songs were recorded. Interestingly, there are no traces of reggae on Goats Head Soup.
Instead the album contains songs that by Stones standards turn somewhat inward. It’s as if the band, after their ever-rising fame, dealing with the press, countless parties, and being hailed as “the best rock ‘n roll band in the world” wanted to downplay themselves. Mick Jagger in front, depicted on the cover seemingly trapped in a vacuum-sealed plastic bag. In the first song, a date is immediately made in a cemetery. Further on, Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) touches on the death of a child due to police violence. At the time this concerned a ten-year-old African-American boy. Yes, even back then.
Keith Richards’ reflective contribution in Coming Down Again adding Mick Taylor on bass stands out. In the beautiful ballad Winter there’s a fervent longing for a woman and a long warm summer in California. Silver Train tells the story of a one-night stand with a prostitute. And so, in the lyrics, there are more sexually charged situations combined with relationship woes.
Listening to it now, fifty years later, detached from Exile you’ll discover that the lp undoubtedly belongs in the list of Stones classics. Because the songs are so great the familiar countryblues influences are not even necessary. After all in 1973 The Rolling Stones were still in top form with their typical and recognizable sound: Keith Richards’ showers of riffs, Charlie Watts swinging around rock clichés, guitarist Mick Taylor’s decisive slide.
