Some Girls was originally released June 9, 1978, it went to #1 in the US and #2 in the UK. This is their best selling album ever (>8,000,000 copies to date). Although the Stones seemed to be on somewhat of a female bashing kick (and certainly aroused intense ire among feminist groups) with their billboards for Black and Blue and the album cover for some Girls (which produced lawsuits and a revised cover), the sessions for Some Girls were the most productive the Band would ever have and saved the Stones from oblivion. The album included not only the superhit Miss You (their first #1 hit in 7 years), but Beast Of Burden (Keith's tender last love song to Anita Pallenberg), When The Whip Comes Down, Shattered, Before They Make Me Run, Respectable, and Just My Imagination. Most people know the music, so in my reviews I try to give you data on the sessions and interesting facts connected with the songs and the album. Here we go:

Interesting notes include:
.....the most famous story about Some Girls concerns the cut-out cover which originally had images of Lucille Ball, Raquel Welch, Farrah Fawcett, and Sophia Loren, all of whom threatened legal action, causing a revised cover to be released (both the original and revised covers from the original vinyl album are easily available on e-bay and in vinyl shops)
.....the original album cover was issued in 3 different color variations
.....Keith argued (and won) to have Start It Up removed from the album because he was afraid he had copied the main riff from the radio (it turned out it was his own licks he had heard)
.....when asked by a reporter why the name Some Girls had been chosen, Keith replied, "Because we can't remember their (freak)ing names!"
.....the first Stones disco mix was made by Bob Clearmountain from a tape of Miss You

The sessions for Some Girls were the most productive the Stones would ever have. They started in Paris Oct 10, 1977 and ended Mar 2, 1978 with final mixing at Atlantic Studios in New York Mar 15-31, 1978. The sessions were:
Oct 10 - Dec 21, 1977 at Pathe Marconi/EMI Studios in Paris
.....Miss You (Mick on guitar)
.....When The Whip Comes Down (Mick on guitar)
.....Just My Imagination (Mick on guitar)
.....Some Girls (Sugar Blue on harmonica, Keith on bass & acoustic, Ron on acoustic, Mick on guitar, Bill Wyman on synthesizer)
.....Lies (Mick on guitar)
.....Far Away Eyes (Mick & Keith on piano, Ron on pedal steel)
.....Respectable (Mick on guitar)
.....Beast Of Burden
.....Shattered (Ron on bass, pedal steel, and lead guitar)
Jan 5 - Mar 2, 1978 at Pathe Marconi/EMI Studios in Paris
.....Before They Make Me Run

Everything Is Turning To Gold was also recorded (it was released as a B side and special collections track).

Tracks from these sessions that were never released included the famous Claudine (which was never released because it was sure to cause litigation from Claudine Longet after she was reprieved from killing her boyfriend), plus Everlasting Is My Love, Covered In Bruises, Indian Girl, Misty Roads, Jah Is Not Dead, We Had It All, Fiji Gin, I Can't Help It, Do You Think I Care, The Way She Held Me Tight, I Need You, Let's Go Steady, Petrol, No Spare Parts, You Win Again, It's A Lie, It's All Wrong, Never Let Her Go, Never Make You Cry, Not The Way To Go, Biscuit Blues, Disco Music, When You're Gone, Angeline.

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.

As the 70's wound down, disco and punk music were the sounds du jour, going to a club had become an all night activity, nobody had heard of AIDS, the standard mode of dress was arguably as grotesque as it ever had been, and there was a huge party going on everywhere. At least that's the way I remember it.

The Rolling Stones were quite a few years removed from their last really great work, Keith Richards was staring life imprisonment straight in the eye, due to yet another drug bust, Mick and Bianca Jagger were on the outs, and every magazine you picked up contained a photograph of one, two, or all three of them attending some party, premiere, or otherwise notable event, looking wasted.

Amidst the confusion, Jagger and Richards were able to get their heads together enough to write and record "Some Girls," an album that incorporated the big mess that had become their lives, and also an album that helped define the musical mayhem of the times. There's no question that, above all, Mick Jagger has always been a shrewd businessman, and even with all that was happening, he obviously had his finger firmly on the pulse of the music - buying public.

"Some Girls" managed to ignite controversy as soon as it hit the racks, the title track's racy lyrics and the album cover providing that punch. "Miss You," the song that seemed to be playing every time you turned around, found the Stones venturing into the disco / dance arena, but armed (unlike the myriad of others who tried) with a song that had an edge to it. Somehow, they made it work. The song became a classic, not a relic. The punk - driven "Respectable" and especially "Shattered" ("go ahead, bite the Big Apple, don't mind the maggots") found the Stones in top shape, and, unlike many of the bands of the punk era, these guys actually knew how to play instruments. What a novel concept. "Beast Of Burden" and the band's cover of "Just My Imagination" became hits, although they were, in my opinion, two of the weaker tracks on the album.

I was happy to see other reviewers mention "Before They Make Me Run," Richards' autobiographical tale of his problems with the law. It is indeed a great song, and even more than that, it has always been an undiluted pleasure to hear Richards blow the dust out of his vocal chords and sing a little bit. (His mid - 80's solo release "Talk Is Cheap" is proof that Richards has a respectable Rock and Roll vocal style).

"Far Away Eyes," a song dismissed by a number of reviewers, is, to me, The Stones' brilliant satirical goof on both the generic country music style of the day and on media evangelists. True, much of The Stones' early work was country - influenced, but not by the generic country style of the 70's. Mick's way over-the-top vocals are hilarious, and the lyrics even better. (...all I had to do was send ten dollars to the Church Of The Sacred Bleeding Heart Of Jesus, located somewhere in Los Angeles, California and next week they'd say my prayer on the radio and all my dreams would come true.) Jagger must have been laughing as listeners wondered why The Stones hadn't been able to capture the smooth, quasi - country sound of "Honky Tonk Woman."

The remaining tracks are also solid, the band tight (Charlie Watts' drumming is particularly superb), the production and arrangements perfect for the sound the band needed.

Another interesting footnote is that The Stones, by 1978, were already considered to be among the old geezers of Rock. Their time had come and gone, according to a lot of experts. Imagine that - here we are, 22 years later and, while the albums may not be as frantically great as they once were, the Stones remain one of the few bands that can sell out a 50,000 seat stadium. Not only that, but Keith still plays with the enthusiasm of a teenager who just got his first guitar, and he seems to be in pretty good shape, for the shape he's in.

"Some Girls" is not in the same league as "Exile On Main Street", "Beggars Banquet", "Sticky Fingers," or "Let It Bleed." Few recordings are. It is, however, a strong album that captures, perfectly, a brief moment in time.

The Stones have always been adept at putting their own touch on different musical styles. When they first started out, they played their version of Chicago R&B and they went on to explore the sounds of country, blues & reggae among others. When Some Girls was released in 1978, disco and punk were the new musical stylings and the album contains the band's attempts at those genres. As usual, the Stones were able to employ musical elements from those styles and make it sound all their own. From the opening of the discoized number hit of "Miss You" to the closing of the frenzied punk of "Shattered", the Stones bounce around the musical map. You get strong punk influenced rockers like "When The Whip Comes Down", "Respectable" & "Lies" to the goofy country of "Faraway Eyes" to the midtempo of "Beast Of Burden" & "Some Girls". They transform the Temptations' "Just My Imagination" from the original ballad to a ripping rocker. Some Girls is the last album by the Stones that goes from beginning to end without a throwaway track. They went on to release some very good albums after this one, but this was their last truly great one.

Some Girls is the last album on which the Stones manage to get their act together for a full set and make good on their self-proclaimed status as greatest rock outfit in the world. Devoid of the filler that has become a staple of recent albums, Some Girls is the perfect distillation of the late '70s vibe, in which punk, rock and even disco, all vied for commercial and/or critical supremacy. In vintage Stones' fashion, Mick and Keith employed all the styles and more, to create a stunningly diverse, yet cohesive record. Apart from the fact that most of the songs are in the same key, Some Girls never stays in one place for very long. The striding disco of 'Miss You' quickly gives way to straight-ahead rock of 'When the whip comes down' which then moves to the soul classic 'Imagination.' However, the best is definitely saved for last. 'Beast of Burden' to this day remains a slow rock standard, while the unashamedly sleazy 'Shattered' shows the lads mugging and jibing at their best. Recorded in the prime of Richards' heroin addiction and topped off with a classic cover and sleeve, Some Girls sublimely documents the turbulent environment in which it was conceived.

This was the first Rolling Stones album I ever purchased, when I was just a lad, and even today, it sounds as fresh and as raw as when I first heard it. It's the rare case of a record perfectly capturing its time, its place, and its creators, for posterity. In 1978 the band was struggling to remain relevant to fans of popular music; mellow California sounds from one side, disco pumping from New York and other urban locations, and punk rock from the band's native England were threatening to toss the Stones onto the ash-heap of rock history---and then, they put out this record! "Miss You" apes the Donna Summer/ABBA disco sound, and ups the ante by adding snarling, inner-city bite to its inexorable beats; "Shattered," "Lies" and "Respectable" shout down the Sex Pistols, revealing them as the one-trick ponies they really were; "Far Away Eyes" is a brilliant Nashville joke, so effective it is often played in honky-tonks to this day. The record pulsates with new energies, without sacrificing the band's own sound. Keith Richards and Ron Wood play guitar riffs so jagged they could tear your flesh; Charlie Watts, the finest drummer in rock, never loses the backbeat, even when asked to play a disco four-ono-the-floor; Bill Wyman's bass keeps the whole thing anchored. As a late-model example of the band's greatness, it may pale next to "Beggars Banquet" or "Sticky Fingers," but it puts their Eighties work to shame. It's a classic rock album, and a great document of the late Seventies. Buy it, play it, live it.