The Rolling Stones, The #4 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

Richards says he woke up in the middle of the night while on the group's second tour of the United States.  He recorded a primitive version of the now-historic riff on his Philips cassette player before dozing off again.  On that cassette recording, there are two minutes of guitar strumming before the music stops, then the sound of a pick hitting the floor and "then me snoring for the next forty minutes", Richards explained.

"I never thought it was anything commercial enough to be a single," Richards once said.  But Jagger saved the song for all-time.  "I think Keith thought it was a bit basic.  I don't think he really listened to it properly.  He was too close to it and just felt it was a silly kind of riff."  Little did he know that song would change the band's fortunes overnight and change history in the process.

 

While touring North America, the Stones released the single "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", which dominated the U.S. charts for four weeks and was #1 in virtually every country, finished the year as The #1 Song of 1965*, and is The #5 Song of the Rock Era*!

Singles sell albums, and the Gold 45 "Satisfaction" elevated the album Out of Our Heads to #1 as well and for the first time, the Rolling Stones had a Platinum album.  This song was paired with the single "The Last Time".  Jagger and Richards recorded it late into the night after the rest of the band left a recording session--Phil Spector played guitar while Jack Nietzsche played harpsicord on the track.  Here is the mysterious "Play With Fire".

 

The Stones recorded this song in Chicago, Illinois during their first U.S. tour.  "The Spider And The Fly" was the B-side for "Satisfaction" in the U.K.

 

In 1965, Otis Redding covered "Satisfaction" and the Stones reciprocated by recording this Redding song he did the previous year.  The noticeable difference is that while Redding's version is mournful, the Rolling Stones' cover is driven by the guitar playing of Jones and Richards.  Enjoy "That's How Strong My Love Is".

 

Here is the band's cover of Solomon Burke's 1962 song "Cry To Me".  The Stones recorded it at the same May '65 sessions at RCA Studios in Los Angeles that yielded "Satisfaction".

The band released the album December's Children, which reached #4 in the U.S. and was certified Gold. With the long sought-after success comes pressure that few outside the music business can relate to.  Richards' describes the ordeal:

              "Get Off My Cloud" was basically a

               response to people knocking on our door

               asking us for the follow-up to 

               "Satisfaction", which was such an 

               enormous hit worldwide.  This, to us, was

               mind-blowing.  I mean, not only was it a

               #1 record but boom!  We thought, "At

               last.  We can sit back and maybe think

               about events."  Suddenly, there's the

               knock at the door and of course what

               came out of that was "Get Off Of My 

               "Cloud".  Because within three weeks, 

               in those days hey, they want another

               single.  And we weren't quite ready for

               that.  So it was our response to the 

               knock at the door:  "Get off of my cloud."

   

The Stones had another Top 500 Song* with "Get Off Of My Cloud", #1 in the U.S., U.K. and Germany.

 

The group pulled another hit off the album with this song, originally written for Jagger's girlfriend Marianne Faithfull, who reached #22 in 1964 with it.  "As Tears Go By" climbed to #1 in Canada and #6 in the U.S. for the Stones.

 

This standard was written by Bobby Troup and first recorded by the King Cole Trio in 1946.  Here is the Stones' version of "Route 66".

 

The Hank Snow song "I'm Moving On"  has been covered by numerous artists, including Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, the Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash, the Box Tops and Steppenwolf.  

This tambourine-led Folk Rock song reminds one of a Byrds song and while it wasn't a hit, it remained in the group's concert repertoire for years.  This is "I'm Free".

Jagger and Richards wrote this next song while on tour in 1965.  "We had just done five weeks hectic work in the States," Jagger told the Rolling Stones Monthly magazine, "and I said, 'Dunno' about you blokes, but I feel about ready for my nineteenth nervous breakdown,'" he continued.  "We seized on it at once as a likely song title.  Then Keith and I worked on the number at intervals during the rest of the tour."  

 

The Rolling Stones released "19th Nervous Breakdown", another Trans-Atlantic smash at #1 in Germany and #2 in both the U.S. and U.K.  Their first compilation Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass) sold two million copies.

The group that defied all odds by being a factor for 60 years.  Part Three is tomorrow, exclusively on Inside The Rock Era!