(I can't get no) Satisfaction

[ksdaddy]

Yeah, I was five when it came out, my sisters had the 45, (I think I have it now somewhere). Grew up hearing it and it was ingrained long ago. However, yesterday it came on the radio and the Impala has a very nice factory stereo. It was the stereo version and I was able to hear the right side quite well, with Keef's Hummingbird (I assume).

 

I assume it to be a Hummingbird because I've seen lots of photos of Keef with one about that time and I think it's still around. That is an assumption though. I have read that Brian was the one playing it on this recording.

 

 

I've also seen a natural topped Hummingbird in later photos.

 

WHERE did that sound come from??? It just seems to explode in your right ear. Heavier strings? Something other than bronze? Higher action? Brian Jones' fingers?

 

Awesome sound.

[OldCowboy]

Yeah, I was five when it came out, my sisters had the 45, (I think I have it now somewhere). Grew up hearing it and it was ingrained long ago. However, yesterday it came on the radio and the Impala has a very nice factory stereo. It was the stereo version and I was able to hear the right side quite well, with Keef's Hummingbird (I assume).

 

I assume it to be a Hummingbird because I've seen lots of photos of Keef with one about that time and I think it's still around. That is an assumption though. I have read that Brian was the one playing it on this recording.

 

 

I've also seen a natural topped Hummingbird in later photos.

 

WHERE did that sound come from??? It just seems to explode in your right ear. Heavier strings? Something other than bronze? Higher action? Brian Jones' fingers?

 

Awesome sound.

My understanding was that Jones was partial to the natural top 'bird. Anyhow, yeah, I've caught the same sound in recordings where he was allegedly playing that guitar - and it must have been a real screamer! I've played only two from that era that came close to approximating that sound, and have wondered for years about his strings and set-up.

[MissouriPicker]

Don't know what's actual fact and what's myth (guess it doesn't matter much when it revolves around legends), but I heard for years that Richards came up with the riff for "Satisfaction" in a story told by Jagger. Of course, that was many, many moons ago, doesn't tell if it was Keith or Jones who played it on the recording, and no one remembers things "exactly" as they happened decades later. They tend to remember it the way they like it. Besides, when you've got people like Richards and Jones (and later Ronnie Wood) swapping riffs, no telling who actually came-up with what. Besides, all are/were capable of playing whatever was needed.....I enjoy hearing stories that evolve from legends. The presumably gentle folk music guitar coveted by generations of folk artist and known as The Hummingbird, used by the legendary "bad boys" of rock & roll in an ear-blasting, hardcore, R&R song. It don't get any better.

[Denis57]

Yeah, I was five when it came out, my sisters had the 45, (I think I have it now somewhere). Grew up hearing it and it was ingrained long ago. However, yesterday it came on the radio and the Impala has a very nice factory stereo. It was the stereo version and I was able to hear the right side quite well, with Keef's Hummingbird (I assume).

 

I assume it to be a Hummingbird because I've seen lots of photos of Keef with one about that time and I think it's still around. That is an assumption though. I have read that Brian was the one playing it on this recording.

 

 

I've also seen a natural topped Hummingbird in later photos.

 

WHERE did that sound come from??? It just seems to explode in your right ear. Heavier strings? Something other than bronze? Higher action? Brian Jones' fingers?

 

Awesome sound.

 

 

 

A young man who changed the musical world for ever.

 

I just love the natural top Bird...too bad Gibson don't do it anymore though...

[Boyd]

Speaking of the Stones…. I liked them back in my college years and had several albums, but pretty much forgot them during the 70's. ;) However my daughter just gave me this for Fathers Day. Wow, I had forgotten how amazing they were back then. Well worth watching, it really does transport you back to those crazy years!

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122689/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[E-minor7]

Quintessential picture - and a very early pair of beat realm granny glasses.

 

First - The Bird is cherryburst like Jaggers from the same era. Jones might have used one of theirs on the recording, but had a sunburst J-200 himself. As far as I know the blonde Hummingbirds didn't hit the Stones camp until later, , , in fact up in start 70's.

 

Regarding the 1965 Satisfaction-riff, it must be said that it leans heavily on basic soul-gospel. Listen to fx Can I Get a Witness with Marvin Gaye (written by Holland/Dozier/Holland in 1963) and you got the classic note-back'n'forth-climb right there. Go further back inside the churches and it'll be everywhere.

 

You can also hear an echo of the theme on Buffalo Springfield's/Neil Young's Mr. Soul from 67, , , and let's not forget J. Zawinul's fantastic and ultra cühl Mercy Mercy Mercy born in 1966. A year and a song I would have a hard time living without. .

 

Enjoy

 

Cannonball Adderly ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4rXEKtC8iY

[ksdaddy]

Brian had a J200? That could explain the explosive quality if he used it on Satisfaction.....

[mountainpicker]

I looked it up in the book Rolling Stones Gear and on page 171 it says that Keith played the acoustic part on a Gibson Heritage. Two pages earlier it says that both Keith and Brian were given matching Heritage guitars along with some amps, a couple of Firebirds and the Fuzz-Tone pedal that supplies that signature sound to the song.

[fortyearspickn]

I had a pair of pants like that back in the early '70s. Too bad this picture isn't in color - it would be 'psychedelic' - leaving 'technicolor' in the dust.

[BluesKing777]

I just finished ""The Sun, The Moon and the Rolling Stones' recently....

 

To quote that book, abbreviated...

 

"It was written in Keith's sleep in possibly NY's Chelsea Hotel. (Touring, they travelled all and every night after gigs...) Under pressure to write hits, Keith travelled with his acoustic guitar and a Phillips tape recorder. One morning in 1965, he woke in the hotel, noticed his guitar was moved and the recorder turned on - someone had recorded over the entire tape. When re rewound and played, his guitar played 5 notes Baa Baa Ba-Ba-Ba.......the guitar was put down and a person hit the sheets.... Keith put the tape in an envelope marked 'Can't Get No Satisfaction'.

 

May 9, 1965, the first version was recorded at Chess Records, later to be redone at RCA Studios Hollywood with producers David Hassinger and Jack Nitzsche......... Keith wanted distortion for the riff like the Kinks' 'You Really Got Me'.... Ian Stewart went around the corner to Wallach's Music City and came back with a distortion box........"

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[OldCowboy]

This thread is splendid! So many fine tales, speculations, legends, and possibly the occasional stray fact. Curious to know - how old were y'all in 1964-65 when Stones Awareness really took off? First time I heard 'em was a little earlier than that - my reaction was instant affinity. They had so much more going on musically and lyrically than most, and you could identify the roots music in what they were doing - and the whole sideshow dripped attitude.

[E-minor7]

 

 

 

Too bad this picture isn't in color -

 

 

 

I recall it was used on some gatefold cover, but not the exact record.

 

1965/66 ~

 

 

 

[ksdaddy]

I believe it was this one.

 

[Boyd]

I had a pair of pants like that back in the early '70s..

 

So did I, circa 1969!

[OldCowboy]

So did I, circa 1969!

I still wear mine!

[fortyearspickn]

I still wear mine!

 

My kids absolutely can NOT believe, when seeing photos of me back then - that I had such HORRIBLE taste in clothes.

They do, however, appreciate my taste in guitars and music. Which, of course, is more important.

[fortyearspickn]

I recall it was used on some gatefold cover, but not the exact record.

 

1965/66 ~

 

 

 

 

Yep. That's what I'm talking about!

Thank you Em7 !!

 

 

 

[Smurfbird]

The story I'd always heard was that Keith used the fuzz-tone to replicate where he heard horns. He considers Otis Redding's version to be closer to what he had in mind.

 

Despite the inexperience of their manager-producer Andrew "Loog" Oldham, the Stones were always smart to layer their rhythm guitar parts with acoustics and electrics.

 

I wouldn't recommend anyone quit on the Stones until after the '73 tour. And then drop back in for the '78 tour and the Some Girls / Emotional Rescue / Tattoo You trio.

 

If you love the Stones and don't own Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St. and/or Brussels Affair (originally a $5 digital download from Google Music of a fantastic show from the '73 tour), you need to be kind to yourself and enjoy!