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| "Dead Flowers" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Rolling Stones | |
| from the album Sticky Fingers | |
| Released | 23 April 1971 |
| Recorded | April 1970 |
| Studio | Olympic, London |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:03 |
| Label | Rolling Stones Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Jagger–Richards |
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Miller |
"Dead Flowers" is a song recorded by the Rolling Stones. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it appears on their 1971 album Sticky Fingers as the fourth track of side two.
Recording of "Dead Flowers" took place in April 1970 at the Olympic Studios in London. The lyrics to the song are notably dark, and feature the line, "I'll be in my basement room, with a needle and a spoon", a reference to injecting heroin.
"Dead Flowers" was written during the period when the Stones were stepping into country music territory, when Richards's friendship with Gram Parsons was influencing his songwriting. Jagger commented in 2003:
The 'Country' songs we recorded later, like "Dead Flowers" on Sticky Fingers or "Far Away Eyes" on Some Girls , are slightly different (than our earlier ones). The actual music is played completely straight, but it's me who's not going legit with the whole thing, because I think I'm a blues singer not a country singer – I think it's more suited to Keith's voice than mine. [3]
Both Richards and Mick Taylor contribute the 'honky-tonk' style lead guitar lines throughout the album version. Richards's choppier fills act primarily as a response to Jagger's vocal lines during the verses, while Taylor's more fluid licks counteract with the vocals of the chorus. It is Taylor who performs the guitar solo in place of a third verse.
"Dead Flowers" was performed live during the album tours for Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. in 1970–72, then once during the Black and Blue Tour in 1976. It was not played again until the Steel Wheels Tour in 1989. Live performances of the song from 1995 can be found on the Stones' album Stripped and its 2016 edition Totally Stripped.
Personnel adapted from Sticky Fingers liner notes [4]
The Rolling Stones
Additional Performer
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The song has been widely covered. Townes Van Zandt included a version of the song on his album of live covers Roadsongs ; [5] this version was used in the film The Big Lebowski . Jerry Lee Lewis released a version of the song on his 2010 album, Mean Old Man , which featured Mick Jagger. [6] Willie Nelson performed this song with Keith Richards, Hank Williams III and Ryan Adams on his live album Willie Nelson & Friends – Stars & Guitars . [7]
Michael Kevin Taylor is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on Let It Bleed (1969), Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert (1970), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goats Head Soup (1973) and It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974).
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"Moonlight Mile" is a song recorded by the Rolling Stones. Credited to Jagger-Richards, it was written by Mick Jagger with assistance from Mick Taylor. It appears as the closing track on their 1971 album Sticky Fingers. The song features multiple musicians playing alternate instruments due to the frequent absence of Richards during recording sessions of the period.
"Sister Morphine" is a song written by Marianne Faithfull, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Faithfull released the original version of the song as the B-side to her Decca Records single "Something Better" on 21 February 1969. A different version was released two years later by the Rolling Stones for their 1971 album Sticky Fingers. Jagger produced the track.
"Bitch" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Bitch" is a "hard-bitten rocker" featuring Jagger on vocals and a powerful horn line. It was released as the B-side to the advance single, "Brown Sugar", from their ninth British and eleventh American studio album, Sticky Fingers. It was originally released one week before the album. Despite not being used as an official single by itself, the tune has garnered major airplay from AOR radio stations. The song was recorded in October 1970 at London's Olympic Studios, and at Stargroves using the Rolling Stones Mobile studio.
"Far Away Eyes" is the sixth track from the English rock band the Rolling Stones' 1978 album, Some Girls. It was released, as the B-side of the single "Miss You", on Rolling Stones Records, on 9 June 1978. Rolling Stone magazine made it the 73rd song on their list of 100 Greatest Rolling Stone's Songs.
The Rolling Stones' 1971 UK Tour was a brief concert tour of England and Scotland that took place over three weeks in March 1971.
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