Review: Come On - Rolling Stones

"Come On" - Rolling Stones

From: Come On / I Want to Be Loved (1963)

Composer: Chuck Berry

Review:

This is it: the very first release of the Rolling Stones. I do find it interesting that Keith, of the plethora of great Chuck Berry songs to choose from, decided on this one as their first. The original was one of Chuck's most elaborate performances ever with those rising horn swoops and the fluid melodic guitar playing. This version couldn't hope to live up to that perfection, not only because they lacked the horns and backup singers but also because Keith wasn't ready to beat the master at his own game yet. It was an ambitious move to take on one of Chuck's most beautiful compositions, but it was almost guaranteed to not fully succeed.

Yet, I kinda like it anyways. Although the band didn't possess technically impressive chops yet, they already were gelling quite well as a ensemble. Each of those guitar bursts, with the tight rhythm section, sounds fairly effective. Mick even shines a bit here: the vocal performance is generic, but the harmonica swoops help compensate for the lack of horns. Above all, the echoey subtle darkness and nastiness of the band are already starting here. So, it is not a terribly impressive debut single that adds little to the original, but I think it's a solid performance here all the same.