Ruby Tuesday (song)

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"Ruby Tuesday"
Let's Spend the Night Together-Ruby Tuesday US picture sleeve.jpeg
US picture sleeve
Single by the Rolling Stones
from the album Between the Buttons (US release)
A-side "Let's Spend the Night Together" (double A-side)
Released13 January 1967
RecordedNovember 1966
Studio Olympic, London
Genre
Length3:12
Label
Songwriter(s) Jagger–Richards
Producer(s) Andrew Loog Oldham
The Rolling Stones singles chronology
"Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?"
(1966)
"Ruby Tuesday" / "Let's Spend the Night Together"
(1967)
"We Love You"
(1967)

"Ruby Tuesday" is a song recorded by the Rolling Stones in 1966, released in January 1967. The song became the band's fourth number-one hit in the United States and reached number three in the United Kingdom as a double A-side with "Let's Spend the Night Together". The song was included in the American version of Between the Buttons (in the UK, singles were often excluded from studio albums).

Contents

Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song number 310 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. [4]

Composition and recording

The Rolling Stones recorded "Ruby Tuesday" around November 1966 at Olympic Studios, [5] during the sessions for their album Between the Buttons . [6] [note 1] The song was produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. [8] Brian Jones plays a countermelody on an alto recorder, [9] while the double bass was played jointly by bassist Bill Wyman and guitarist Keith Richards; Wyman did the fingerings while Richards bowed the instrument. [5] [6]

Richards explained that the lyrics are about Linda Keith, his girlfriend in the mid-1960s:

Who could hang a name on you
When you change with every new day?
Still, I'm gonna miss you. [10]

"That's a wonderful song," Mick Jagger told Jann Wenner in 1995. "It's just a nice melody, really. And a lovely lyric. Neither of which I wrote, but I always enjoy singing it." [11] Wyman states in Rolling with the Stones that the lyrics were completely written by Richards with help from Jones on the musical composition.[ page needed ] However, Marianne Faithfull recalls it differently; according to her, Jones presented an early version of this melody to the rest of the Rolling Stones. [12] [ full citation needed ] According to Victor Bockris, Richards came up with the basic track and the words and finished the song with Jones in the studio. [13] [ full citation needed ]

Cash Box described the single as a "smooth ballad a la baroque." [14]

Release

"Ruby Tuesday" was released as the B-side to "Let's Spend the Night Together" in January 1967. [15] Due to the controversial nature of the A-side's lyrics, "Ruby Tuesday" earned more airplay and ended up charting higher in the US. [16] The song topped the American Billboard Hot 100 chart, while reaching number three in the UK's Record Retailer chart, which listed "Let's Spend The Night Together"/"Ruby Tuesday" as a double A-side.

"Ruby Tuesday" was included on the US version of the 1967 album Between the Buttons , while being left out of the British edition, as was common practice with singles in the UK at that time. That summer, the song appeared on the US compilation album Flowers . [10] Due to its success, the song became a staple of the band's compilations, being included on Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (1969), Hot Rocks 1964–1971 (1971), Rolled Gold (1975), and 30 Greatest Hits (1977), and, in mono, on Singles Collection: The London Years (1989).

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon, [17] except where noted:

The Rolling Stones

Additional musician

Charts and certifications

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [29] Gold35,000
United States (RIAA) [30] Gold1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Live version

"Ruby Tuesday (live)"
Single by the Rolling Stones
from the album Flashpoint
B-side "Play with Fire (live)"
Released24 May 1991 (1991-05-24)
Recorded27 February 1990
VenueKorakuen Dome, Tokyo
Genre Rock
Length3:34
Label Rolling Stones
Songwriter(s) Jagger/Richards
Producer(s)
The Rolling Stones singles chronology
"Highwire"
(1991)
"Ruby Tuesday (live)"
(1991)
"Love Is Strong"
(1994)

"Ruby Tuesday" was first played live on Brian Jones' last concert tour The Rolling Stones European Tour 1967. The next time was on the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour in 1989/1990. A concert rendition from this tour was featured on the band's 1991 live album Flashpoint and released as a single. [31] This live version was recorded in Japan in 1990 and can be seen on the video release Live at the Tokyo Dome . The B-side was "Play with Fire (live)" recorded in 1989 but not included on the Flashpoint album.

A July 2013 live performance is featured on Sweet Summer Sun: Hyde Park Live .

Melanie version

"Ruby Tuesday"
Ruby Tuesday - Melanie.jpg
Single by Melanie
B-side "Merry Christmas"
ReleasedDecember 1970 (1970-12)
Length4:31
Label Buddah
Songwriter(s) Jagger/Richards

American folk and pop singer Melanie recorded "Ruby Tuesday" for her 1970 album Candles in the Rain . Her version was released as a single in the UK, where it became a Top Ten hit that year. It also reached number seven in New Zealand. [32] She recorded a second cover version for her 1978 album Ballroom Streets .

Chart (1970–71)Peak
position
Canada RPM Top Singles [33] 25
Ireland (IRMA) [34] 12
New Zealand7
South Africa (Springbok) [35] 10
UK (The Official Charts Company) [36] 9
US Billboard Hot 100 [37] 52
US Cash Box Top 100 [38] 34

Other cover versions

Restaurant chain

Samuel E. Beall III used the title of the song when he started his restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday. The name was suggested by one of several fraternity brothers who were co-investors. [49]

Notes

  1. Bill Wyman writes the band recorded the song on 16 November 1966. [7] Authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon write the song's sessions took place between 16 November and 6 December 1966, [5] while authors Andy Babiuk and Greg Prevost instead write it was 9–26 November 1966. [6]
  2. Margotin and Guesdon write that Jones "probably" contributed harpsichord during the refrains, but offer the possibility it was a honky-tonk piano. [5] In his autobiography, Stone Alone, Wyman writes it was piano. [7] Authors Andy Babiuk and Greg Prevost write Jones' "main contribution" was recorder. [6]

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Sources