Rolling Stones, Fingerprint File
Fingerprint file is the last song on the Rolling Stones 1974 album, It’s Only Rock ’n Roll. And it’s clear to hear that the funk stylings pumping through this fantastic track lean into a Stones interpretation on the funk music of the time, the Blaxploitation scene, those very cool movie soundtracks that were coming out in the early seventies: the brilliance of Shaft (1971) by Isaac Hayes; Curtis Mayfield’s masterpiece, Superfly (1972). The glory of the funk in a golden age.
Who loves James Brown’s The Payback album of 1973? (Stone to the bone, anyone?) Apparently this album, initially developed for a blaxploitation film, was rejected by the director for not being funky enough —yet history has revealed it to be one of JB’s most funky jams ever! And treat your ears to the magnificent achievement of Sly and the Family Stone’s 1973 album, Fresh. For those familiar with this album, who thinks Prince was fond of it?
The Rolling Stones on Fingerprint file, draw inspiration from this thriving output. Of course, the Stones have a great musical ability of building their influences into their own sound. First blues, then country, then some of the funk. (Apart from Fingerprint file, one year earlier on the 1973 album Goats Head Soup is the excellent Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo…
