One member of legendary rock group The Rolling Stones has been singled out for their role in a “hair-raising” performance.
The Mick Jagger-fronted group would perform You Can’t Always Get What You Want over 800 times in total, with the first performance given on December 11, 1968. It featured in the band’s most recent show at the Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri, on July 21, 2024, too. But the member responsible for the “hair-raising” version below was absent from the most recent performance, with Mick Taylor no longer part of the band. But he received plenty of praise for a performance given by the band in 1972. Listeners were thrilled by the performance, with an upload of the show to YouTube giving fans a place to share their thrills at such a strong version of You Can’t Always Get What You Want.
One fan wrote: “Compared to many Stones videos this has few views. But the Taylor solo is hair-raising great. And as a plus, the camera was on him for a good portion of it.” Another added: “Nicky Hopkins playing is just beautiful. Mick Taylor adds tension in the solo. Micks vocal performance is graceful and Keith’s Rythm is brilliant. Charlie and Bill are on point. The sax joining in towards the end puts the cherry on top.”
A third added: “Distilled to a majestic Blues chant. Full of melancholy, snark, regret and so many other emotions. My absolute favourite Rolling Stones is them doing this live from 1972 to 1981.”
It’s a fantastic version of a classic song from the band, with even Jagger saying it’s one of the best tracks by The Rolling Stones. Jagger named You Can’t Always Get What You Want as the song which best defines Let It Bleed, an album he still says is one of his “favourites”. Speaking of the song, Jagger said: “It’s a good song, even if I say so myself.” He was then asked why it was so popular, to which he suggested Jack Nitzsche was a big help.
Jagger explained: “‘Cause it’s got a very sing-along chorus. And people can identify with it: No one gets what they always want. It’s got a very good melody. It’s got very good orchestral touches that Jack Nitzsche helped with. So it’s got all the ingredients.”
Speaking of the song in a separate interview, Jagger added it was a difficult one for drummer Charlie Watts to get the hang of. Jagger explained: “You Can’t Always Get What You Want was something I just played on the acoustic guitar — one of those bedroom songs.
“It proved to be quite difficult to record because Charlie couldn’t play the groove, and so Jimmy Miller had to play the drums. I’d also had this idea of having a choir, probably a gospel choir, on the track, but there wasn’t one around at that point. Jack Nitzsche, or somebody, said that we could get the London Bach Choir, and we said, ‘That will be a laugh.’”
You can watch The Rolling Stones’ performance of You Can’t Always Get What You Want below.
