"December's Children" is a record deserving closer attention from fans and critics alike. Superior efforts from each member of the band are highlighted in every song, from Charlie Watts' crashing beat in "Get Off My Cloud" to Jagger's persuading vocals for "The Singer not the Song." While the last 6 tracks probably attract the most mainstream attention, it is the beginning tracks that will keep the consummate Stones fans coming back for another listen. "December's Children" signifies the pinnacle of Keith Richards and Brian Jones' musical comradery and their talents as razor-edged and gritty performers have never been showcased better.

This album is often overlooked by fans of the early Stones, caught as it is between Out Of Our Heads (which contained "Satisfaction" and was their first hit LP in the U.S.) and Aftermath (which usually gets the lions' share of critical acclaim for Stones albums of this period). But I actually much prefer this to either of those albums; the songs, individually and as a whole, are stronger here and the band simply sounds more "together." Toss in a great cover photo and Andrew Loog Oldham's hilariously pretentious back-cover poetry and you've got a perfect time capsule of the band in its mid-60's breakout period.

As great as the music itself is, however, you can't avoid the fact that the current CD version, like all of the Stones' '60s catalog, just plain bites. Terrible sound quality (even allowing for the age of the recordings), bare-bones packaging...when is Abkco going to reissue these titles, with decent remastering, improved CD booklets, and bonus tracks? Oh well, at least the original albums are available on CD rather than just a couple of greatest-hits collections.

A collection of everybody's B-sides and definitely one A-side at the times when A-side was the bright sunny good Dr Jekyll's side and B-side was somewhat shadowy nocturnal Mr Hyde's side. The shadowy nature of this ellpee is also conveyed by the choice of the photos and low-key liner notes by Andrew Loog Oldham (rhymed, to be sure). Tired and exhausted, uninspired and knocked off in what was left of a recording session, these efforts all borrow their light from a major star called "Get Off Of My Cloud", like cold planets circling round their white hot sun.
A quicksilver rendition of "She Said Yeah" opens this little solar system of songs, the version Sir Paul McCartney surely had in mind when he said "yeah" to the song some 34 years later ("Run Devil Run"). The Stones didn't play it, they attacked it, like they attacked earlier Lennon/McCartney's "I Wanna Be Your Man".
It takes as many as four songs to balance the breathtaking pace with which the record starts. If Chuck Berry really said the Stones' "Carol" ("Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out") is best-ever version of his song, then the same could be said 'bout this classic rocker of his (Funny how the opening note resembles the notorious feedback in the Fab Four A-side "I Feel Fine").
Alexander's "You Better Move On" is an exceptional track. There's nothing one can compare it to and this might be one of the reasons the song made it on the Big Hits Volume 2 "Through the Past, Darkly", UK version.
The haunting choruses of "You Better Move On" give way to all the more haunting harmonica hovering around "Look What You've Done". The subtlety and certain elegance of this blues gives one an eerie feeling of an echo of the song itself, like if recorded long after the band had left the premises.
But before we leave for the Rolling Stones' concert, there's the Jagger/Richards unmistakable blend of raw voices harmonizing in the self-penned "Singer, Not The Song". One can almost feel they sing it with their backs to prying microphones. One do not dare intrude on this private moment of the Glimmer-Twins-to-be. The draft of the "Portrait of The Singer As A Young Song". Still very young and fresh and honest in all its campfire charm. They know already that they "must be right".
The sheer energy of live "Route 66" pulsating, throbbing rhythm instantly overwhelms you. Once the band's put in motion, you can't stop them, you only wonder how they are going to stop themselves. And, indeed, they usually didn't stop, they were stopped after a couple of such numbers.
The thing which is most appealing to me in "Get Off Of My Cloud" is this almost romantic repeated guitar phrase flying on top of the otherwise straightforward excellent rocker, adding to it an altogether new dimension. A lot of the most remarkable Stones' songs have that ambiguity.
"I'm Free" is so unpretentious that even a missed beat halfway through the song doesn't matter. It has also an air of Beatlesque formula songwriting. The song's rather upbeat mood is questioned in Hyde Park when, adorned by intertwined excellent ringing guitar work by Richards and Taylor, it sounds pretty ominous.
Andrew Loog Oldham in one of his many moments of revelation turned "As Time Goes By" ("Casablanca", thank you) into "As Tears Go By" and eventually made it a perfect Stones' B-side in the UK. And that's pretty much all he could do to make more existential what for Marianne Faithfull dubbed as "the Europop you might hear on a French jukebox".
The shortage of studio time is nowhere more evident than in the next song and even the title agrees: "Gotta Get Away". No solo (why bother?), no middle eight (ain't got a clue), no nuffink. Just a quick run through three verses and three refrains and whoever played the tambourine was surprised at having been left alone playing after everybody had gone.
"Well, now that she is gone" (and not only she, I'm afraid) continues the singer on the theme of abandonment, "you won't feel bad for long". You won't because since the studio time is definitely over and you won't be able to eavesdrop on any more of the December's children's studio Back-sides, you are treated to yet another live, excellent, steamy Chattanooga Choo Choo of a song while the band "keeps on moving on".
What we witness here is the unique moment in time when the band (and everybody) pupates in search of its own voice, adopts and impatiently abandons airs, knowing that the period of metamorphosis has only just begun.

This cult favorite among Stones "butcher" albums has songs from an incredible number of sources including the UK issue of Out of Our Heads, and both UK EPs, Rolling Stones and got LIVE if you want it! The 4th track Look What You've Done appears on no other LP or CD. First performed by Marianne Faithfull in 1964, the Stones version of their own composition As Tears Go By, made it's way on to this album as well as the top-10 US singles chart in December.

This is an odd one for the Stones, released only in the U.S. on Dec 3, 1965 (their 3rd album release that year). It was a compilation of 2 hit singles (Get Off Of My Cloud released 7-24-65 and As Tears Go By released 12-17-65) along with other tracks that had not been released in the States.

This was the last album where the record execs had total control. After this one, the Stones got into the studio enough and produced new tracks so that they were able to exert at least some influence on their releases from here on out. Keith has been quoted in several sources as saying their fans in the UK would not have accepted an album like this. He was later proven right when the UK market failed to pick up on the many greatest hits releases by Klein and Decca after the Stones formed their own label in the 1970s.

The album does mark the advent of Jagger and Richards as ballad writers with I'm Free, As Tears Go By, Blue Turns To Grey, and The Singer Not The Song. They also did Gotta Get Away and Get Off Of My Cloud. The rest of the album includes the premature rocker She Said Yeah, Chuck Berry's Talkin' 'Bout You, and Look What You've Done from the Chess Studio sessions in Chicago when Muddy himself was present. I'm Movin' On is a live track from their live UK EP and You Better Move On was from the earlier UK EP "The Rolling Stones." I've never heard anybody explain why Route 66 was added to this album when it was already on their 1st U.S. release.

Now a bit about the hits: Get Off Of My Cloud was the follow up to Satisfaction and was their 2nd #1 single in the States. As Tears Go By was first done as a demo on March 11 or 12, 1964 but was finally finished on Oct 26, 1965 and was also released by Mick's girlfriend at the time, Marianne Faithful.

The tracks were recorded from 1963-5 as follows:
Nov 14, 1963 at De Lane Lea Studios in Kingsway, London
You Better Move On (originally released on the UK EP The Rolling Stones)
Jan 3, 1964 at Regent Sound in London
Route 66 (previously released in U.S. on their 1st album)
June 10-11, 1964 at Chess Studios in Chicago
Look What You've Done
Live in the UK on March 6 (Empire in Liverpool), 7 (Palace in Manchester), or 16 (Granada in Greenford)
I'm Moving On
Sep 6-7, 1965 at RCA Studios in Hollywood
I'm Free
Get Off Of My Cloud
The Singer Not The Song
She Said Yeah
Gotta Get Away
Blue Turns To Grey
Oct 26, 1965 at IBC Portland Place Studios, London
As Tears Go By

Also of interest, the UK Out Of Our Heads used the same artwork as the US release of December's Children.

This information comes from "It's Only Rock And Roll: The Ultimate Guide To The Rolling Stones" by Karnbach and Bernson and from my own collection.