Memo from Turner
Encyclopedia
"Memo from Turner" is a solo record by Mick Jagger
, featuring a guitar solo by Ry Cooder
, from the soundtrack of Performance
, where Jagger played a major part. It was re-released in October 2007 on a seventeen-song retrospective compilation album The Very Best of Mick Jagger
, making a re-appearance as a Jagger solo effort. After its original release in 1970, it had been included on Rolling Stones compilations, such as Singles Collection: The London Years
as a track credited to the Jagger/Richards
songwriting partnership. "Memo from Turner" was ranked #92 in the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs list of Rolling Stone.
to the movie Performance
, starring Mick Jagger
as the song title's "Turner". It is featured prominently in the movie, with Mick Jagger, as Turner, lip-synching it. This is the more well-known version of the song, as it was released as a solo single by Jagger in England in 1970 and is featured on the later Singles Collection: The London Years. Ry Cooder
plays the slide guitar part on this version, which was probably recorded in late 1968, near the time the film was being shot. The identity of the other musicians is not known, though they were likely session players chosen by soundtrack producer Jack Nitzsche
.
The second version, released on Metamorphosis
in 1975 on the Allen Klein
Decca/London pre-existing legacy contracts of the Stones 1960s recordings, was a different version recorded in November 1968, and has a looser feel than the released version. This version features Al Kooper
on guitar, and perhaps Brian Jones
and Stevie Winwood of Traffic
as well. Either Charlie Watts
or Jim Capaldi
(also of Traffic) plays drums on this recording. Credited to "Jagger/Richards", it is not clear how many of the Rolling Stones besides Jagger played on it.
Besides the differing lineup between the two versions, there are also slight changes to the lyrics. The track was reviewed as Jagger:
The lyric about "the man who works the soft machine" may be a reference to the William S. Burroughs
novel The Soft Machine
. Burroughs and writer Robert Palmer assume this connection in a 1972 Rolling Stone
magazine interview, and strong Burroughsian themes are contained in the film the song was written for.
Ronnie Wood performed "Memo from Turner" live at various club gigs in 1987-88, including some of his shows with Bo Diddley
. Martin Scorsese
uses the track in a scene from Goodfellas
where Ray Liotta
's character Henry emerges from the house during the daylight on a cocaine binge.
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
, featuring a guitar solo by Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
, from the soundtrack of Performance
Performance (film)
Performance is a 1968 British crime drama film; the film was produced in 1968 but not released until 1970. Directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, Performance stars James Fox and Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones in his film acting debut.-Plot:...
, where Jagger played a major part. It was re-released in October 2007 on a seventeen-song retrospective compilation album The Very Best of Mick Jagger
The Very Best of Mick Jagger
The Very Best of Mick Jagger is a compilation album that was released worldwide on 1 October 2007 and the following day in the United States on WEA/Rhino Records...
, making a re-appearance as a Jagger solo effort. After its original release in 1970, it had been included on Rolling Stones compilations, such as Singles Collection: The London Years
Singles Collection: The London Years
Singles Collection: The London Years is a compilation album of Rolling Stones music released by former manager Allen Klein's ABKCO Records after the band's departure from Decca and Klein....
as a track credited to the Jagger/Richards
Jagger/Richards
The songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, known as Jagger/Richards , is a musical collaboration whose output has produced the majority of the catalogue of The Rolling Stones....
songwriting partnership. "Memo from Turner" was ranked #92 in the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs list of Rolling Stone.
Versions
Two different versions of "Memo from Turner" have been released. The first released version of the song, typified by its slide guitar, was the one recorded for the soundtrackPerformance (soundtrack)
Performance is a 1970 soundtrack album to the film Performance by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg. It features music from Randy Newman, Merry Clayton, Ry Cooder, Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie, The Last Poets and Mick Jagger....
to the movie Performance
Performance (film)
Performance is a 1968 British crime drama film; the film was produced in 1968 but not released until 1970. Directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, Performance stars James Fox and Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones in his film acting debut.-Plot:...
, starring Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
as the song title's "Turner". It is featured prominently in the movie, with Mick Jagger, as Turner, lip-synching it. This is the more well-known version of the song, as it was released as a solo single by Jagger in England in 1970 and is featured on the later Singles Collection: The London Years. Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
plays the slide guitar part on this version, which was probably recorded in late 1968, near the time the film was being shot. The identity of the other musicians is not known, though they were likely session players chosen by soundtrack producer Jack Nitzsche
Jack Nitzsche
Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche was an arranger, producer, songwriter, and film score composer. He first came to prominence in the late 1950s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spector, and went on to work with the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and others...
.
The second version, released on Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis (Rolling Stones album)
Metamorphosis is the third compilation album of The Rolling Stones music released by former manager Allen Klein's ABKCO Records after the band's departure from Decca and Klein...
in 1975 on the Allen Klein
Allen Klein
Allen Klein was an American businessman, talent agent and record label executive. His clients included The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.- The accountant :...
Decca/London pre-existing legacy contracts of the Stones 1960s recordings, was a different version recorded in November 1968, and has a looser feel than the released version. This version features Al Kooper
Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...
on guitar, and perhaps Brian Jones
Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones , known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones....
and Stevie Winwood of Traffic
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
as well. Either Charlie Watts
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder.-Early life:...
or Jim Capaldi
Jim Capaldi
Nicola James "Jim" Capaldi was an English musician and songwriter. His musical career lasted more than four decades. He co-founded Traffic in Birmingham with Steve Winwood, and the band's psychedelic rock was influential in Britain and the United States...
(also of Traffic) plays drums on this recording. Credited to "Jagger/Richards", it is not clear how many of the Rolling Stones besides Jagger played on it.
Besides the differing lineup between the two versions, there are also slight changes to the lyrics. The track was reviewed as Jagger:
...puts on his best drawling speak-sing voice for the lyrics, spinning bizarre mini-snapshots of decadent, cruel gangster behavior... The music isn't grim, though; it's more in a sly, ironic happy-go-lucky vein, as if to illustrate the callous, carefree glee gangsters take in such antics. It's not a celebration of the gangster mentality, though, so much as a subtle, mocking look at its decadence, with hints of repressed homosexuality and almost gruesome imagery of dog-eat-dog behavior."
The lyric about "the man who works the soft machine" may be a reference to the William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
novel The Soft Machine
The Soft Machine
The Soft Machine is a novel by William S. Burroughs, first published in 1961, two years after his groundbreaking Naked Lunch. It was originally composed using the cut-up and fold-in techniques from manuscripts belonging to The Word Hoard...
. Burroughs and writer Robert Palmer assume this connection in a 1972 Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine interview, and strong Burroughsian themes are contained in the film the song was written for.
Ronnie Wood performed "Memo from Turner" live at various club gigs in 1987-88, including some of his shows with Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
. Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
uses the track in a scene from Goodfellas
Goodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
where Ray Liotta
Ray Liotta
[File:Ray Liotta is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Henry Hill in the crime-drama Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese and his role as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams...
's character Henry emerges from the house during the daylight on a cocaine binge.