Wild Horses (The Rolling Stones song)

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"Wild Horses"
Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones Japanese vinyl.jpg
Japanese single picture sleeve
Single by the Rolling Stones
from the album Sticky Fingers
B-side "Sway"
ReleasedJune 12, 1971 (US)
Format 7-inch single
RecordedDecember 1969 –February 1970
Studio
Genre Country rock [1]
Length5:38
Label Rolling Stones (RS-19101)
Songwriter(s) Jagger/Richards
Producer(s) Jimmy Miller
Rolling Stones US singles chronology
"Brown Sugar"
(1971)		"Wild Horses"
(1971)		"Tumbling Dice"
(1972)

"Wild Horses" is a song by the Rolling Stones from their 1971 album Sticky Fingers , written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Rolling Stone ranked it number 334 in its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2004.

The Rolling Stones English rock band

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The first stable line-up consisted of bandleader Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman (bass), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ian Stewart (piano). Stewart was removed from the official line-up in 1963 but continued to work with the band as a contracted musician until his death in 1985. The band's primary songwriters, Jagger and Richards, assumed leadership after Andrew Loog Oldham became the group's manager. Jones left the band less than a month before his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who remained until 1974. After Taylor left the band, Ronnie Wood took his place in 1975 and continues on guitar in tandem with Richards. Since Wyman's departure in 1993, Darryl Jones has served as touring bassist. The Stones have not had an official keyboardist since 1963, but have employed several musicians in that role, including Jack Nitzsche (1965–1971), Nicky Hopkins (1967–1982), Billy Preston (1971–1981), Ian McLagan (1978–1981), and Chuck Leavell (1982–present).

<i>Sticky Fingers</i> 1971 studio album by The Rolling Stones

Sticky Fingers is the ninth British and eleventh American studio album by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in April 1971. It is the band's first album of the decade and the first release on the band's new label Rolling Stones Records, after having been contracted since 1963 with Decca Records in the UK and London Records in the US. It is also Mick Taylor's first full-length appearance on a Rolling Stones album and the first Rolling Stones album not to feature any contributions from guitarist and founder Brian Jones.

Mick Jagger English songwriter, singer of The Rolling Stones

Sir Michael Philip Jagger is an English singer, songwriter, actor, and film producer who gained worldwide fame as the lead singer and one of the founder members of the Rolling Stones. Jagger's career has spanned over five decades, and he has been described as "one of the most popular and influential frontmen in the history of rock & roll". His distinctive voice and energetic live performances, along with Keith Richards' guitar style, have been the trademark of the Rolling Stones throughout the band's career. Jagger gained press notoriety for his admitted drug use and romantic involvements, and was often portrayed as a countercultural figure.

Contents

Inspiration and recording

In the liner notes to the 1993 Rolling Stones compilation album Jump Back , Jagger states, "I remember we sat around originally doing this with Gram Parsons, and I think his version came out slightly before ours. Everyone always says this was written about Marianne but I don't think it was; that was all well over by then. But I was definitely very inside this piece emotionally." Richards says, "If there is a classic way of Mick and me working together this is it. I had the riff and chorus line, Mick got stuck into the verses. Just like "Satisfaction", "Wild Horses" was about the usual thing of not wanting to be on the road, being a million miles from where you want to be." [2]

<i>Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones</i> 1993 greatest hits album by The Rolling Stones

Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones is the sixth official compilation album by The Rolling Stones. It was initially released worldwide, except in North America, in 1993. The North American release came on 24 August 2004.

Gram Parsons American singer-songwriter

Ingram Cecil Connor III, known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work with the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers. He also popularized what he called "Cosmic American Music", a hybrid of country, rhythm and blues, soul, folk, and rock. He recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. His relatively short career was described by AllMusic as "enormously influential" for country and rock, "blending the two genres to the point that they became indistinguishable from each other."

Marianne Faithfull British singer, songwriter and actress

Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single "As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British Invasion in the United States.

Originally recorded over a three-day period at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama during 2–4 December 1969 while Albert and David Maysles were shooting for the film that was titled Gimme Shelter , the song was not released until over a year later due to legal wranglings with the band's former label.[ citation needed ] Along with "Brown Sugar", it is one of the two Rolling Stones compositions from Sticky Fingers (1971) over which ABKCO Records co-owns the rights along with the Stones. It features session player Jim Dickinson on piano, Richards on electric guitar and twelve-string acoustic guitar, and Mick Taylor on acoustic guitar. Taylor uses Nashville tuning, in which the EADG strings of the acoustic guitar are strung one octave higher than in standard tuning. Ian Stewart was present at the session, but refused to perform the piano part on the track due to the prevalence of minor chords, which he disliked playing. [3]

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio United States historic place

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio at 3614 Jackson Highway in Sheffield, Alabama was formed in 1969 by four session musicians called The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section who had left Rick Hall's nearby FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to create their own recording facility. The group closed the Jackson Highway studio in 1979, moving the operation to 1000 Alabama Avenue. The old studio has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since June 2006. It was partly restored in the early 2000s and was sold to the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation in 2013. This group completed a major restoration and the location reopened on January 9, 2017. The Alabama Avenue location ceased operations in 2005 when it was sold to a record label.

Albert and David Maysles American brothers documentary filmmaker duo

Albert and his brother DavidMaysles were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films include Salesman (1969), Gimme Shelter (1970) and Grey Gardens (1975).

<i>Gimme Shelter</i> (1970 film) 1970 documentary film

Gimme Shelter is a 1970 British-American documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin chronicling the last weeks of The Rolling Stones' 1969 US tour which culminated in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert. The film is named after "Gimme Shelter", the lead track from the group's 1969 album Let It Bleed. Gimme Shelter was screened out of competition as the opening film of the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.

Music video

A music video, filmed in black and white, was produced to promote an acoustic version in 1995. [4]

Release and legacy

Released as the second US-only single in June 1971, "Wild Horses" reached number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

<i>Billboard</i> Hot 100 Song chart in U.S

The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales, radio play, and online streaming in the United States.

An early, acoustic take of "Wild Horses" was released on the Deluxe and Super Deluxe versions of the reissued Sticky Fingers album on 8 June 2015.

A reworked studio version recorded in 1995 appeared on the album Stripped . This version was released as a single in early 1996.

The song appears on a handful of the Rolling Stones' concert DVDs: Bridges to Babylon Tour '97–98 (1998), Rolling Stones - Four Flicks (2003), and The Biggest Bang (2007).

Jagger's ex-wife, Jerry Hall, has named "Wild Horses" as her favourite Rolling Stones song. [5]

"Wild Horses" figures prominently in the films Adaptation (2002) and Camp (2003). On television, the song was played during Parks and Recreation in the episode "Li'l Sebastian" (S3: E16) as background music to Li'l Sebastian's memorial service, and was used during the Season 1 finale of Bojack Horseman in the episode "Later".

In the TV version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer , the cover version by The Sundays is used for Angel's appearance at Buffy's prom in "The Prom", Season 3 Episode 20. The same version is used in the episode 01x01 of the series Friends from College (2017).

An instrumental version of the song is featured during the end credits of Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary film Shine a Light (2008).

Personnel

The Rolling Stones
Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (1971)Peak
position
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [6] 11
US Billboard Hot 100 [7] 28
Chart (1996)Peak
position
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [8] 59
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [9] 53

Cover versions

Studio versions

One year prior to its release on Sticky Fingers, Gram Parsons convinced Jagger and Richards to allow him to record "Wild Horses" with his band The Flying Burrito Brothers. He had become good friends with Richards and helped with the arrangement of "Country Honk" as it appeared on the album Let It Bleed . The song was included on the album Burrito Deluxe released in April 1970 on A&M Records. [10]

Leon Russell recorded the song in 1974 for his album Stop All That Jazz, and again in 1998 for the multi-artist tribute album Cover You: A Tribute to the Rolling Stones. Leon played piano on the original Burrito Brothers recording of the song on Burrito Deluxe.

Melanie Safka also recorded the song in 1974 for her album Madrugada.

The bluegrass band Old & In the Way released a version of the song on their 1975 debut album.

The song was prominently covered by British dream-pop group The Sundays, for the B-side of their 1992 single "Goodbye". This version was featured in the 1996 thriller film Fear , the CSI episode "Crash and Burn", the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "The Prom", and was released on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album compilation. The Sundays' cover was also used in a television advertisement for Budweiser beer in the mid-1990s, featuring slow-motion footage of galloping Clydesdale horses.

Otis Clay recorded the song for the 1997 tribute album Paint It Blue: Songs of the Rolling Stones.

A cover version by Neil McCarthy and Ivo Matos appeared on the 2011 album Paint It Black An Alt Country Tribute To The Rolling Stones. [11]

In 2009 Susan Boyle recorded a version as the opening track of her I Dreamed a Dream album. Her version reached number 9 in the UK that spring, [12] and number 11 in Ireland during the fall.

Country/Americana singers Buddy Miller and Shawn Colvin recorded the song for his 2016 album "Cayamo: Sessions at Sea".

Live performances

It has proven to be a popular live cover song for other artists. It has been covered by Susan Boyle, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, [13] The Black Crowes, Deborah Harry, The Avett Brothers, [14] Garbage, Elvis Costello with Lucinda Williams, Neil Young, Gary Stewart, Old & In the Way, Leon Russell, Guns N' Roses, Johnny Goudie, Gregory Isaacs, Bush, Labelle, Robin Williamson, Jewel, Dave Matthews, Indigo Girls, Charlotte Martin, Kelly Clarkson, Chantal Kreviazuk, Molly Hatchet, Alicia Keys featuring Adam Levine, Tre Lux, Flowing Tears, Iron & Wine, Stone Sour, Honeytribe, Sheryl Crow, Deacon Blue, Elisa, Melanie Safka, Karen Pernick, John Barrowman, The Sundays, BlackHawk, The Lovemongers with Chris Cornell, Corey Taylor, Richard Marx with Jessica Andrews, Robert Francis, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Solveig Slettahjell. In 2007, Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps used the song for their field show, "Triple Crown", and Daniel Letterle sang it in the film Camp . Dave Matthews performed a live duet of the song with Jagger, backed by the Rolling Stones, on 12 December 1997 in St. Louis, Missouri (released officially on the Bridges to Babylon Tour live DVD). Aly Michalka covered the song in a Hellcats episode. Willie Nelson and the Nelson Family covered the song and issued a video to help the Animal Welfare Institute campaign to protect wild horses in America. [15]

On the first season of the American version of The X Factor in 2011, contestant Josh Krajcik performed a rendition of the song solo while playing the piano as his fifth live performance.

Haley Reinhart sang a version with Slash and Myles Kennedy at the 18th Annual Power of Love Gala for Muhammad Ali.

Cui Jian performed this song with the Rolling Stones during A Bigger Bang Tour in Shanghai, 2006.

The song was performed on the American television series The Voice by Sarah Simmons in 2013 and Bria Kelly in 2014.

Miley Cyrus covered this song during her Bangerz Tour in Europe in 2014.

Florence Welch performed this song with the Rolling Stones during the No Filter Tour in London in 2018.

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References

  1. ↑ Dowley, Tim (1983). The Rolling Stones. Hippocrene Books. p. 84. ISBN   978-0-85936-234-4. 'Dead Flowers' and 'Wild Horses' have them playing a kind of country rock.
  2. ↑ "Wild Horses". Time Is On Our Side. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  3. ↑ Wyman 2002. p. 482.
  4. ↑ "Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones 1995". YouTube. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Odell, Michael (29 April 2007). "This much I know: Jerry Hall, actor and model, 50, London". The Observer . Retrieved 19 September 2009.
  6. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5351." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Rolling Stones Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2933." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Rolling Stones – Wild Horses". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  10. ↑ Einarson, John (2001). Desperados: The Roots of Country Rock . Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 166, 179. ISBN   9780815410652.
  11. ↑ "Review: Various Artists, 'Paint It Black: An Alt Country Tribute To The Rolling Stones' » Cover Me". Covermesongs.com. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "Susan Boyle | full Official Chart History". Official Charts.
  13. ↑ "Grace Potter live - Wild Horses (The Rolling Stones cover) - at Fabrik in Hamburg 2013-03-05". YouTube. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  14. ↑ "Rolling Stones-Wild Horses". YouTube. 16 March 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  15. ↑ "Willie & The Nelson Family | Animal Welfare Institute". Awionline.org. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
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