Maps of Music

12 × 5 (1964)

Where the lyrics of 12 × 5 take you, and where it was really made.

This album was built in the US from a British EP and titled after 12 songs by five musicians.

Key places

Recorded at Regent Sound, London (1964)

Recording site Regent Sound Studios — The source lists Regent Sound in London among the album's recording places. The point uses building-level coordinates for that studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Chicago sessions in June 1964 (1964)

Recording site Chicago Recording Company — The album's sessions took place in Chicago in June 1964. The point is placed at the city-center level, not at a specific studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Second American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones
• Released in 1964, following the success of their American debut England's Newest Hit Makers
• Expanded version of the EP Five by Five, which had followed the band's debut album in the UK
• Five songs from the EP were fleshed out with seven additional tracks to reach LP length
• Title comes from 12 songs by five musicians

Background

• Sessions in Chicago in June 1964
• UK label Decca Records released the five-song EP Five by Five
• EPs were never a lucrative format in the US, so London Records spread the EP songs across an album
• Additional tracks include "It's All Over Now", a UK single-only release and a cover of a Bobby Womack song
• That song was the group's first UK number one hit
• An alternative version of "Time Is on My Side" appears here, while other albums carry a more familiar form
• Three Jagger/Richards originals are among the additional tracks

Recording

• The album largely features R&B covers
• Three compositions by the developing Mick Jagger and Keith Richards songwriting team
• Two group compositions under the pseudonym "Nanker Phelge"
• Personnel: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman
• Ian Stewart played piano and organ as an additional musician

Cover

• Decca used the same cover, minus the lettering, for the band's second UK album, The Rolling Stones No. 2, in early 1965

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in 1962 as an English rock band; their first stable line-up was Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts.
• Jones named the band after a Muddy Waters song; they were rooted in blues and rock and roll.
• Manager Andrew Loog Oldham encouraged them to write their own songs, and the Jagger–Richards partnership became their main creative force.

Members

• Current: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood (joined 1975).
• Former: Brian Jones (died 1969), Mick Taylor (1969–1974), Bill Wyman (1962–1993), Charlie Watts (1963–2021, died 2021).
• Steve Jordan became their drummer after Watts' death.

Career

• Hits included "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965), "Paint It Black" (1966) and "Start Me Up" (1981).
• Their 1969 Hyde Park show and Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. are key points of their career.
• Formed Rolling Stones Records in 1970, whose tongue-and-lips logo became their band logo.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989; the band has sold more than 250 million albums.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released in 1964 as the band's second American studio album
• Followed the American debut England's Newest Hit Makers
• Expanded from the UK EP Five by Five
• Seven new recordings were added to the five EP songs to create 12 tracks
• London Records, the American distributor at the time, assembled the album

Reappraisal

• Robert Christgau included the album in his "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings
• The list was published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981)
• Notable for the first, and less often heard, of the Stones' two versions of "Time Is on My Side"
• That version features a prominent electronic organ instead of the better-known version's electric guitar

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• EPs were never a lucrative format in the US, so London Records spread the EP songs across an album, and the album's title refers to 12 songs by five musicians.
• Decca reused the same cover, minus the lettering, for The Rolling Stones No. 2 in early 1965.
• The cover-released single "It's All Over Now" was UK single-only and became the group's first UK number one hit.
• Ian Stewart played piano and organ as an additional musician.
• The first Stones version of "Time Is on My Side" on this album uses electronic organ instead of electric guitar.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact