2024 can be kinda lame...
Come Join us in 1974
May 8th, 1965: Stones work at getting satisfaction
The events we write about at Gaslight Records happened in some form or another 50 years ago to the day. Roll along with us and imagine you are back in 1974.
Support Gaslight Records
May 6, 1965 - Keith Richards began working on The Rolling Stones’ biggest hit to date, "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction".
Well, maybe “working” is the wrong word. As Richards later told the story, the guitar riff came to him one night when he was drifting off to sleep in a Florida hotel room, at which point he had the presence of mind to take up his guitar and press record on the dictophone beside his bed. When he listened back to the tape the following morning, there was roughly two minutes of guitar playing and then forty minutes of him snoring before the tape expired.
In that two minutes of guitar playing was the backbone of the "Satisfaction" riff.
There’s one hell of a lesson here for the aspiring writers amongst you: always take note of those quick flashes of inspiration, even if they come when you’re in a drunken stupor on the verge of passing out. True, you might wake up to a total pile of crap—see the Seinfeld episode where Jerry makes a half-conscious note of a potential ‘bit’, only to wake the next morning to the ramblings of an insane person scribbled on a piece of paper. But you also might just jot down the beginnings of work tantamount to genius.
The Stones first recorded the track four days later at Chess Studios in Chicago. “Satisfaction” was then re-recorded on May 12 at RCA Studios in Hollywood. The later version featured a different beat, new lyrics, and a Gibson Maestro fuzzbox guitar effect that added both sustain and crunch to the lead sound.
Both Richards and Jagger envisioned re-working the song again using a horn section as the predominant instrumental melody. In fact, Richards said of the fuzzbox guitar sound—now regarded as one of the central attributes of the track—that it was just a place holder: “It was there to denote what the horns would be doing”. As it turned out, however, the other members of the group, along with producer and manager Andrew Loog Oldham, outvoted Jagger and Richards, leading to the release of the RCA version as a single.
By the end of 1965, the Gibson fuzzbox, which had previously made only rare appearances on recorded music, had completely sold out of stock worldwide. The fuzzbox led “Satisfaction” had gone to number one in the UK, as well as topping the billboard charts in the US (the Stones’ first US number one). As Jagger later put it, “It was the song that really made the Rolling Stones, changed us from just another band into a huge, monster band.”
2024 can be kinda lame...
Come Join us in 1974
Recomended for you
More recent news
News
August 26th, 1972: John Prine returns with second album
News
August 24th, 1972: Joni Mitchell recording 5th studio album
28-year-old Joni Mitchell has begun recording her 5th studio album in Hollywood, California. For The Roses is Mitchell's follow up to her 1971 album Blue.
News
August 23rd, 1972: Bruce Springsteen has begun recording debut album in New York
John Hammond signed Springsteen to Columbia Records earlier this year.
News
February 7th, 1970: Black Sabbath share debut single "Evil Woman": Listen
The English rock band's debut album is due out this week.
News
December 30th, 1969: Norman Greenbaum releases "Spirit In The Sky" from his debut album: Listen
Greenbaum's sings the gospel on his new single
News
December 23rd, 1969: Watch The Jackson 5 perform single from their debut album on Ed Sullivan
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 is the latest release from Motown
News
December 20th, 1969: The Clancy Brothers have released a new album of Christmas songs: Listen
Irish folk group, The Clancy Brothers have recorded 11 songs to bring a little joy to your Christmas
News
December 18th, 1969: See photos from The Doors album cover shoot in Los Angeles today
The new Doors album is due for release early next year.
Article
December 10th, 1969: Four people died over the weekend at The Altamont Speedway Free Festival
Here's the story of Altamont in quotes from many of the people involved.
News
December 5th, 1969: The Rolling Stones have released a new studio album ahead of their free concert tomorrow at Altamont
As The Stones finish their run of U.S. concert dates they have released their eighth album, Let It Bleed.
News
December 3rd, 1969: Emmylou Harris covers Bob Dylan on debut album
Listen to Harris's cover of Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" from her album Gliding Bird
Live At The Gaslight
Peter Stone Brown covers Bob Dylan's "She Belongs To Me"
Recorded in Atlantic City at Dylan Fest in 2015