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You call it morbid fascination/ I call it nasty education…
Also known as: I Can’t Help It / Shaved Stone Written by: Jagger/Richards Recorded: EMI Pathé Marconi Studios, Paris, France, Oct. 10-Dec. 1977; Jan. 5-March 2 1978; Jan. 15-March 3 1985. Overdubs by Mick at Le Fork Studios, Pocé sur Cisse, France and La Fourchette (Mick’s homestudio) in Sept. 2011 and by Keith at Electric Lady Studios, NYC and Berkeley St. Studios, Los Angeles, Sept. 2011 *Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012
From the Rolling Stones – All the Songs, The Story Behind Every Track book: The Rolling Stones chose to record Some Girls at the Pathé Marconi EMI Studios on rue de Sèvres in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris. This may seem a surprising choice for an album inspired to such an extent by New York, but the British musicians apparently had a strong bond with France, as this was the second time, after Exile on Main St., that they had recorded there. And they would remain faithful to that country for their next four albums. The real reason was that the studios were owned by EMI, with whom they had just signed a worldwide agreement (with the exception of North America) When they turned up, they were presented with three possibilities: there were two large, high-ceilinged studios equipped with 24- tracks, plus a more modest studio equipped with a 16-track.
They opted for the latter as a rehearsal room, but Mick wanted to move when it came to recording, in order to take advantage of the fashionable technology of the day. It should also be pointed out that the control room could not accommodate more than four people at any one time and the two (JBL) playback speakers were not on the same horizontal plane. Chris Kimsey, the sound engineer who had worked as an assistant on Sticky Fingers and was now replacing Keith Harwood, who had been killed in a car accident in September 1976, tried to dissuade him, explaining that this technical limitation was actually a blessing: “Well, I think you should stay here—it sounds great in this room…” Jagger did not see things the same way, replying: “We can’t use that, it’s 16-track!”
Keith came down on Kimsey’s side: “It was a great room to play in. So, despite Mick doing his usual ‘Let’s move to a proper studio’, that’s where we stayed, because in a recording session, especially with this kind of music, everything has to feel good” (Ref. rolling stones I love you too much)
