Fans say The Rolling Stones’ Top of the Pops performance needs to be ‘remembered forever’

A Top of the Pops performance from The Rolling Stones is worth being “remembered forever,” according to thrilled fans.

The Mick Jagger-fronted band appeared on the programme to promote Gimme Shelter, the opening song of their masterpiece album, Let It Bleed. It’s a performance which has thrilled fans of the band and has even turned a few other listeners onto the talents of the Keith Richards-featuring group. Members of the public shared their love for the performance, which has since been uploaded to YouTube. Comments were full of praise for the performance, with many believing it to be one of The Rolling Stones’ very best moments on public television. Their performance has some praising the group for adapting in the studio, while others suggested they were foolish to let Mick Taylor “get away” in the years to follow this performance.

One fan wrote: “Not a huge Rolling Stones fan but this song is amazing. Any man who can write a tune like this needs to be remembered forever.” Another added: “The greatest song in the history of rock and roll music. [Martin] Scorsese used it in at least three of his films.”

A third fan added: “The Rolling Stones at their barebones. So much rawness and attitude in this version.” Part of the attitude may be because of guitarist Mick Taylor, who received plenty of praise from members of the public.

One person wrote: “Don’t often see Mick Taylor playing straight downbeat rhythm chords, but here he is.” Another added: “Never should have let Mick Taylor get away. One of the greatest and underrated blues guitarists in the world.” A third shared: “Taylor and [Bill] Wyman look like they’re having a great time here. Usually don’t see them smile like this on stage… wonderful.”

Some have suggested the song is a timeless classic, with it untouched by any other song from that decade. One person wrote: “Sonically, there’s no song in history that touches Gimme Shelter. So ahead of it’s time.”

Another added: “The guitar by Keith Richards is fantastic. Lead and rhythm. And that opening, so ominous!” A third wrote: “For me, the best version of Gimme Shelter.” It may come as no surprise that many of the songs featured on Let It Bleed were inspired by the band’s reactions to imagery from the Vietnam War.

Jagger, speaking to Rolling Stone Magazine founder Jann Wenner, has since confirmed the album was a reaction to the horrors of the American invasion of Vietnam. Asked by Wenner for his influences during this “ugly” period, Jagger says the “real nasty war” was a huge reason for the darker tone of Let It Bleed, and songs like Midnight Rambler highlight it.

Jagger told Wenner: “Well, it’s a very rough, very violent era. The Vietnam War. Violence on the screens, pillage and burning. And Vietnam was not war as we knew it in the conventional sense. The thing about Vietnam was that it wasn’t like World War II, and it wasn’t like Korea, and it wasn’t like the Gulf War.

“It was a real nasty war, and people didn’t like it. People objected, and people didn’t want to fight it. The people that were there weren’t doing well. There were these things used that were always used before, but no one knew about them – like napalm.” Wenner would then ask Jagger to clarify if it was the Vietnam War itself which had impacted the record.

Jagger replied: “I think so. Even though I was living in America only part time, I was influenced. All those images were on television. Plus, the spill out onto campuses.” The horrors of the Vietnam War are a stark contrast to the “beautiful, sunny place” Midnight Rambler was written. You can watch The Rolling Stones perform Gimme Shelter on Top of the Pops below.