12 × 5 is the second American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in 1964 following the success of their American debut The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hit Makers). It is an expanded version of the EP Five by Five, which had followed their debut album in the UK.

12 × 5
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 17 1964[1]
Recorded25 February – 29 September 1964
StudioChess, Chicago
  • Regent Sound, London
Genre
Length30:50
LanguageEnglish
LabelLondon, Decca, ABKCO
ProducerAndrew Loog Oldham
The Rolling Stones American chronology
The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hit Makers)
(1964)
12 × 5
(1964)
The Rolling Stones, Now!
(1965)

The five songs on the British EP were fleshed out with seven additional tracks to bring the work to LP length. Among the additional tracks were the UK single-only release "It's All Over Now", a cover of a Bobby Womack song that was the group's first UK number one hit, an alternative version of "Time Is on My Side", which appears in a more familiar form on other albums, and three Jagger/Richards originals.

Composition

edit

The album, like its predecessor, largely features R&B covers. However, it also contains three compositions by the developing Mick Jagger/Keith Richards songwriting team, as well as two group compositions under the pseudonym "Nanker Phelge". 12 × 5 is notable for featuring the first, and less often heard, of the Stones' two versions of Jerry Ragovoy's "Time Is on My Side", with a prominent electronic organ instead of the better-known version's electric guitar.

"I loved everything about this album as a kid," recalled Joe Satriani. "It was those second-generation electric blues players that I loved, but I had no idea where they got that music from. It took my teenage years to discover that."[2]

After sessions in Chicago in June 1964, the Stones' UK label Decca Records released the five-song EP Five by Five. Because EPs were never a lucrative format in the US, London Records – their American distributor at the time – spread its songs across an album, adding seven new recordings to create a release of 12 songs by five musicians, hence the album's title. The rest of the songs were singles "It's All Over Now" and "Time Is on My Side" with their B-sides, plus three that were later included on The Rolling Stones No. 2. Decca would use the same cover (minus the lettering) for the band's second UK album, The Rolling Stones No. 2, in early 1965.

Critical reception

edit
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [3]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide     [5]
Tom HullA−[6]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [7]
MusicHound Rock     [8]

The album was included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[9]

Remastered version

edit

In August 2002, 12 × 5 was reissued in a new remastered CD and SACD digipak by ABKCO Records. This edition includes stereo versions of "Around and Around", "Confessin' the Blues", "Empty Heart", "It's All Over Now", an extended version of "2120 South Michigan Avenue", and "If You Need Me".[10]

Track listing

edit
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Around and Around*" (originally released on the Five by Five EP)Chuck Berry3:03
2."Confessin' the Blues*" (originally released on the Five by Five EP)Jay McShann, Walter Brown2:46
3."Empty Heart*" (originally released on the Five by Five EP)Nanker Phelge2:35
4."Time Is on My Side (US single version)"Norman Meade2:50
5."Good Times, Bad Times"Mick Jagger, Keith Richards2:32
6."It's All Over Now*"Bobby Womack, Shirley Womack3:27
Total length:17:13
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."2120 South Michigan Avenue*" (originally released on the Five by Five EP)Nanker Phelge2:03
2."Under the Boardwalk"Arthur Resnick, Kenny Young2:48
3."Congratulations"Mick Jagger, Keith Richards2:28
4."Grown Up Wrong"Mick Jagger, Keith Richards2:04
5."If You Need Me*" (originally released on the Five by Five EP)Robert Bateman, Wilson Pickett2:03
6."Susie Q"Eleanor Broadwater, Stan Lewis, Dale Hawkins1:51
Total length:13:17

Note

  • The 2002 CD edition features an extended version of "2120 South Michigan Avenue", at 3:41. The marked tracks are in true stereo on a rare later issue UK Decca EP and on the ABKCO 2002 CD.

Personnel

edit

The Rolling Stones

edit

Additional musicians

edit

Charts

edit
Chart (1964–1965) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[11] 2
US Billboard 200[12] 3

Certifications

edit
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[13] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Great Rock Discography". p. 694.
  2. ^ Chamberlain, Rich: "I got the spirit of the blues into my body"; Classic Rock #216, November 2015, p57
  3. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "12 X 5 – The Rolling Stones". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  4. ^ Browne, David (20 September 2002). "Satisfaction?". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  5. ^ Evans, Paul (1983). "The Rolling Stones". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York: Random House. p. 599. ISBN 0679737294.
  6. ^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Grade List: The Rolling Stones". tomhull.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  7. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2007). "Rolling Stones". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 1197. ISBN 9781846098567.
  8. ^ Kot, Greg (1999). "The Rolling Stones". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (second ed.). Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 952. ISBN 1578590612.
  9. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "A Basic Record Library: The Fifties and Sixties". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0899190251. Archived from the original on 12 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  10. ^ Walsh, Christopher (24 August 2002). "Super audio CDs: The Rolling Stones Remastered". Billboard. p. 27.
  11. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. ^ "The Rolling Stones Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  13. ^ "American album certifications – The Rolling Stones – 12 X 5". Recording Industry Association of America.
edit