Play with Fire (Rolling Stones song)

Last updated
"Play with Fire"
RollStones-Single1965 TheLastTime.jpg
American single picture sleeve
Single by the Rolling Stones
A-side "The Last Time"
Released
  • 26 February 1965 (1965-02-26) (UK)
  • 13 March 1965 (US)
Recorded11 January 18 February 1965
Studio RCA, Hollywood, California
Genre
Length2:14
Label
Songwriter(s) Nanker Phelge
Producer(s) Andrew Loog Oldham
Rolling Stones UK singles chronology
"Little Red Rooster"
(1964)
"The Last Time" / "Play with Fire"
(1965)
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
(1965)
Rolling Stones US singles chronology
"Heart of Stone"
(1964)
"The Last Time" / "Play with Fire"
(1965)
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
(1965)

"Play with Fire" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, originally released as B-side to the song "The Last Time". It was later included on the American release of their 1965 album Out of Our Heads .

Contents

Composition and recording

"Play with Fire" is credited to Nanker Phelge, a pseudonym used when tracks were composed by the entire band, even though lead singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards are the only Rolling Stones to appear on the track. The song was recorded late one night in January 1965 while the Stones were in Los Angeles recording with Phil Spector at the RCA Studios. Richards performed the song's acoustic guitar opening while Jagger handled vocals and tambourine (enhanced using an echo chamber). Spector played bass, and Jack Nitzsche provided the song's distinctive harpsichord arrangement and tamtams. The Stones left for a tour of Australia the following day. [2]

The song's lyrics talk of the singer's relationship with a high society girl, disparaging the lifestyle much in the same way that "19th Nervous Breakdown" would with a more up-tempo feel. The title derives from the saying "If you play with fire, you will get burned."

In a 1995 interview with Jann Wenner for Rolling Stone , entitled "Jagger Remembers," Jagger said, "'Play with Fire' sounds amazing—when I heard it last. I mean, it's a very in-your-face kind of sound and very clearly done. You can hear all the vocal stuff on it. And I'm playing the tambourines, the vocal line. You know, it's very pretty." [3] According to Richie Unterberger, a friend of the Stones wrote that an unreleased version of the song, entitled "Mess with Fire", was also recorded, featuring a much more upbeat, soul-oriented feel. However, the story is considered dubious by Unterberger. [4] In a contemporary review, Cash Box described it as "a tender, lyrical hauntingly plaintive weeper." [5]

Releases and lawsuit

"Play with Fire" went to No. 96 on the U.S. chart. [6] It was also featured on the U.S. version of Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) (1966), Hot Rocks (1971) and Singles Collection: The London Years (1989). The song was performed in concert during the Rolling Stones' tours of 1965 and 1966, and was revived on their 1989–90 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour.

In July 2008, "Play with Fire" became the subject of a lawsuit when ABKCO Music, which owns the rights to the Rolling Stones' early catalogue, filed a suit against Lil Wayne, asserting that the rapper's song "Playing with Fire" is based on the Rolling Stones' song. [7]

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street Fighting Man</span> 1968 single by the Rolling Stones

"Street Fighting Man" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, written by the songwriting team of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Considered one of the band's most popular and most controversial songs, it features Indian instrumentation contributed by Brian Jones, which has led to it being characterized as a raga rock song. It also features controversial and ambiguous lyrics about armed revolution. In the United States, it was released as a single in August 1968, while it was not released in the United Kingdom until four months later on the Beggars Banquet album, where it opened side two. The B-side of the American single featured "No Expectations", considered one of the final Stones tracks in which founding member Jones played a significant role in its construction.

<i>Let It Bleed</i> 1969 studio album by the Rolling Stones

Let It Bleed is the eighth British and tenth American album studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 28 November 1969 by London Records in the United States and on 5 December by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. Released during the band's 1969 American Tour, it is the follow-up to Beggars Banquet (1968), and like that album is a return to the group's more blues-oriented approach that was prominent in the pre-Aftermath (1966) period of their career. Additional sounds on the album draw influence from gospel, country blues and country rock.

<i>Between the Buttons</i> 1967 studio album by the Rolling Stones

Between the Buttons is the fifth British and seventh American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 20 January 1967 in the UK and on 10 February in the US. Reflecting the band's brief foray into psychedelia and baroque pop balladry during the era, the album is among their most eclectic works; multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones frequently abandoned his guitar during the sessions in favour of instruments such as organ, marimba, dulcimer, vibraphone, trumpet, and kazoo. Keyboard contributions came from two session players: former Rolling Stones member Ian Stewart and frequent contributor Jack Nitzsche. Between the Buttons would be the last album produced by Andrew Loog Oldham, who had to this point acted as the band's manager and produced all of their albums.

<i>Out of Our Heads</i> 1965 studio album by the Rolling Stones

Out of Our Heads is a 1965 album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in two editions with different covers and track listings. In the US, London Records released it on 30 July 1965 as the band's fourth American album, while Decca Records released its UK edition on 24 September 1965 as the third British album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones song)</span> 1971 single by The Rolling Stones

"Brown Sugar" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written primarily by Mick Jagger, it is the opening track and lead single from their album Sticky Fingers (1971). It became a number one hit in both the United States and Canada. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it charted at number two. In the United States, Billboard ranked it as the number 16 song for 1971.

<i>Decembers Children (And Everybodys)</i> 1965 studio album by the Rolling Stones

December's Children (And Everybody's) is the fifth American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in December 1965. It is primarily compiled from different released tracks from across the band's recording career up to that point, including the UK version of Out of Our Heads. Bassist Bill Wyman quotes Jagger in 1968 calling the record "[not] an album, it's just a collection of songs." Accordingly, it is only briefly detailed in Wyman's otherwise exhaustive book Rolling with the Stones. It features their then-recent transatlantic hit single "Get Off of My Cloud", as well as their own remake of Marianne Faithfull's Jagger/Richards-penned hit "As Tears Go By", which was released as the album's second single in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love in Vain</span> Robert Johnson blues composition

"Love in Vain" is a blues song written by American musician Robert Johnson. Johnson's performance – vocal accompanied by his finger-style acoustic guitar playing – has been described as "devastatingly bleak". He recorded the song in 1937 during his last recording session and in 1939 it was issued as the last of his original 78 rpm records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Can't Always Get What You Want</span> 1969 single by the Rolling Stones

"You Can't Always Get What You Want" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones on their 1969 album Let It Bleed. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was named as the 100th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in its 2004 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" before dropping a place the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruby Tuesday (song)</span> Song by the Rolling Stones

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lady Jane (song)</span> 1966 single by the Rolling Stones

"Lady Jane" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by the group's songwriting duo of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the song was initially included on the band's 1966 album Aftermath.

"Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Jagger-Richards, it is the opening track of the band's 1969 album Let It Bleed. The song covers the brutal realities of war, including murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singer Merry Clayton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?</span> 1966 song by the Rolling Stones

"Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was recorded in the late summer of 1966 during early sessions for what would become their Between the Buttons album. It was the first Stones single to be released simultaneously in both the UK and the US, and reached number five and number nine on those countries' charts, respectively.

"Ride On, Baby" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in 1965. It was first released as a single by Chris Farlowe in October 1966 and reached No. 31 on the British charts. The Rolling Stones' own version appeared a few months later on Flowers, an album released only in the US in June 1967. It was recorded during the Aftermath sessions in December 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heart of Stone (Rolling Stones song)</span> 1964 single by the Rolling Stones

"Heart of Stone" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, credited to the songwriting partnership of Jagger/Richards. London Records first issued it as a single in the United States in December 1964. The song was subsequently included on The Rolling Stones, Now! and Out of Our Heads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Last Time (Rolling Stones song)</span> 1965 single by the Rolling Stones

"The Last Time" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones featuring the Andrew Oldham Orchestra, and the band's first original song released as an A-single in the UK. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and recorded at RCA Studios in Hollywood, California in January 1965, "The Last Time" was the band's third UK single to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top in March and early April 1965. It reached number two in the Irish Singles Chart in March 1965, and was released on the US version of the album Out of Our Heads on 30 July 1965.

"Goin' Home" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was the longest popular music song at the time, coming in at 11 minutes and 35 seconds, and was the first extended rock improvisation released by a major recording act. It was included as the sixth track on side one of the United Kingdom version and the fifth track on side two of the American version of the band's 1966 studio album Aftermath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction</span> 1965 single by the Rolling Stones

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff by Richards is widely considered one of the greatest hooks of all time. The song's lyrics refer to sexual frustration and commercialism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stupid Girl (Rolling Stones song)</span> Song by the Rolling Stones

"Stupid Girl" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the song featured on the band's 1966 album Aftermath. It was also issued as the B-side of the U.S. "Paint It Black" single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tell Me (Rolling Stones song)</span> 1964 single by the Rolling Stones

"Tell Me (You're Coming Back)" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, featured on their 1964 self-titled album (subtitled and often called England's Newest Hit Makers in the US). It became the first A-side single written by Jagger/Richards to be released, although not in the United Kingdom. The single reached number 24 in the United States (becoming their first top 40 hit there) and the top 40 in several other countries.

"I Am Waiting" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and released on the band's 1966 studio album Aftermath.

References

  1. 1 2 Grant Jackson, Andrew (2005). 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music. Hardcover. p. 13. ISBN   978-1250181718.
  2. "Play With Fire". Time Is On Our Side. 2007 (accessed 8 May 2007).
  3. Wenner, Jann S. (14 December 1995). "Jagger Remembers: The Rolling Stone Interview". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 29 June 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  4. Unterberger, Richie. "Play With Fire by The Rolling Stones - Track Info". AllMusic . Retrieved 8 May 2007.
  5. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 20 March 1965. p. 10. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  6. "The Rolling Stones". Billboard. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  7. Honan, Edith (24 July 2008). "Lil Wayne Sued Over Stones Song". Reuters UK. Retrieved 14 September 2008.