Search - Nicky Hopkins, Ry Cooder, Mick Jagger :: Jamming With Edward

A Real Treat

Guy Incognito | Florida | 11/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After I got hooked on the Rolling Stones' '68-74 material, I pretty much acquired everything I could find from this time period, including a lot of imported and bootlegged material. I hadn't heard of this 1972 official release until recently, and picked it up as soon as I got the chance.



I had a feeling I would really enjoy this album. I've always loved Nicky Hopkins piano work with the Stones, and the same goes for Ry Cooder's contributions to the Stones' albums. Of course, little needs to be said about the three actual Stones that appear on this album. Jagger's celebrity status has overshadowed his incredible understanding of blues singing, and he adds some excellent, murky vocal touches to this album along with harmonica. Drummer Watts and bassist Wyman are together, quite simply, a perfect rhythm section for this kind of music.



There is about 35 minutes of music here, all recorded in 1969 while the musicians waited for Keith Richards to get to the studio. You will find this CD listed as a Rolling Stones album, but the real stars here are Hopkins and Cooder. In most of his work with the Stones, Hopkins was left to jam along in the background, providing a lovely melodious backdrop for the Richards/Taylor guitar combo. In almost all of these songs, Hopkins is allowed to really shine. It's exhilarating, fast-paced, old-fashioned boogie. The piano is most prominently featured on the third track, entitled "Edward's Thump Up".



If you liked Ry Cooder's sound on "Sister Morphine" from the Sticky Fingers album, you will certainly enjoy his playing on Jamming With Edward. This recording is from before the Mick Taylor era, so it's really the first time the Stones recorded something with a truly great lead guitarist. Cooder's guitar is terrific throughout, but it's at its best on the fourth track, "Blow With Ry". He and Watts hit a groove that last for eleven blissful minutes."

Half Classic!

C. Glennon | Hell, New Jersey | 02/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On April 23rd, 1969, while waiting for Keith Richards to show up to the studio for the Let It Bleed sessions, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, and Ry Cooder jammed with "Edward", an alias of Nicky Hopkins'. Ian Stewart is present, in the engineering booth, and is heard commenting throughout the entire album. Now, should a Stones' fan buy this CD? Yes, because tracks 2-4 are classic. Track 1 kicked off the jams while working on "Midnight Rambler", track 5 is an annoying interlude, and track 6 is just plain dull.



1. Edward's Thrump Up [A+]

2. It Hurts Me Too [A+]

3. Blow With Ry [A]

4. Boudoir Stomp [A-]

5. Highland Fling [B]

Grade: A

93.2



Track 01: Boudoir Stomp

Starting out with Mick playing around with Let It Bleed's "Midnight Rambler", "Boudoir Stomp" turns in to a completely different song with Nicky Hopkins' saloon piano playing. Even Mick has some fun with his harmonica at the mic, and after he mumbles something in the middle of the song, he really takes off. The song's "stomp" is essentially Ry Cooder's funky guitar picking, and when the song moves to shuffle at the end, this instrumental track shows how the Rolling Stones could still make a song like "2120 South Michigan Avenue" in 1969. Some talking with Ian Stewart is on this track, and the words "where the hell is Keith?" can be heard right when the music stops. This could be a song for cruising. A-



Track 02: It Hurts Me Too

Cooder starts this Elmore James classic out the way James would have wanted it- with his signature guitar licks that sound like the sky is crying. Hopkins has no trouble playing gospel piano after the last track's boogie-woogie stint on "It Hurts Me Too". Jagger moans like he has a fresh bullet wound in his chest. The second verse, improvised by Jagger, has a line from Bob Dylan's "Pledging My Time", which infers what he was listening to at the time. Hopkins makes good on a nice solo that, combined with the stinging guitar, make the song an album standout. And I actually like Jagger's black accent in this song, and the fact he never sings like this again makes this track a lost Stones gem. A+



Track 03: Edward's Thrump Up

"You're on, Nicky, this is your big chance" says Ian Stewart at the start of this, and Hopkins takes it farther than anyone in the studio would have dreamed. If "Boudoir Stomp" was a song for cruising, this one is for high-speed chases, should one ever happen to you. With the urgent jazz of his piano and Cooder's funky, thumping licks, "Edward's Thrump Up" musically forces one to dance. Jagger puffs at his harmonica appropriately, while Watts and Cooder set the stage for what is the album's greatest jam with Edward, or in other words, the album's best song. A+



Track 04: Blow With Ry

A sexy R&B song that is kind of tarnished by Jagger's voice, but not his lyrics, at least what I could make of them. One clever line was "I went to the graveyard and I looked at my woman's face/ I said I love you honey, but I sure can't take your place". "Blow With Ry" does show off Cooder's slide guitar skills, about three minutes in to the song, and takes the song in to classic territory. Keep the instrumental, and you have a beat Aretha Franklin could sing over, as Cooder plays the enticing "Baby I Love You" toned guitar that suggests that this is not a song so slow one couldn't dance to it, even if the song's improvised lyrics are about death, which could be relating to Brian Jones', or it could be paying homage to Robert Johnson's depressing tales. A



Track 05: Interlude A La El Hopo

What the hell...



Track 05:Highland Fling

Starting out as a classical symphony, "Highland Fling" emerges as essentially a jam between Bill Wyman and Cooder, who make this almost surf instrumental, yet it falls in the category of experimental for the Stones. The fact the Stones could jam with classical music shows potential, and recalls a little of "Between The Buttons" or "Their Satanic Majesties Request", yet this song is too weird and short for my taste, and too much the same as "Edward's Thrump Up". B



Where the hell is Keith, indeed."

Jamming With Edward

J. Tucker | Chicago | 08/15/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is an interesting time capsule of the Rolling Stones rehearsing after Brian Jone's death. As the liner notes say, they spent about $2.98 making the album so they thought they could only justify selling it for $3.98. It includes some excellent slide guitar by Ry Cooder and piano work by Nicky Hopkins, but is otherwise droll and would only interest the most die hard Stones fan."