Music Blog

Do You Have Any Singles?

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Today, Jim at Song Lyric Sunday is asking us to write about a song that was not originally released as an album single or never became a single.

The songs I’ve chosen were written and recorded by one of the biggest bands to come out of the UK in the 60s. No, not the Beatles! This time I’m talking about the Rolling Stones. Contrary to what some people believe, a person can be into both the Beatles and the Stones. Shocking, isn’t it!

Here’s a quick bio: The Rolling Stones were formed in London by founding members, vocalist Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts. During their early years, Jones was the primary leader of the band.

Just like all bands starting out at that time, the Stones’ catalog consisted of cover songs. When they began writing their own songs, the Jagger-Richards partnership became the band’s primary songwriting and creative force; this alienated Brian Jones, who developed a drug addiction that by 1968 interfered with his ability to contribute meaningfully. Jones left the band shortly before his death in 1969, having been replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor. In 1971 the Stones released the album Sticky Fingers, the first of eight consecutive #1 studio albums in the US. Taylor left the band at the end of 1974 and was replaced by Ronnie Wood. Following Wyman’s departure in 1993, the band continued as a foursome.

Two of the Rolling Stones’ songs that were never released as singles are both mega hits – “Gimme Shelter” off their 1969 album Let It Bleed and “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” from their first #1 album, Sticky Fingers.

“Gimme Shelter” is about the political and social unrest at the time. There was the war in Vietnam, race riots, the murders by the Manson Family and politicians being assassinated. Mick Jagger sings of needing shelter from this “storm”. Merry Clayton is the female vocalist featured singing the line “Rape, murder, it’s just a shot away”. She delivered a chilling vocal with her voice cracking on the word “murder” at the 3:01 mark and you can hear Jagger in the background saying “Whoo!” The Stones didn’t release the song as a single but Merry Clayton did …. in 1970 which made it to #73 in the US.

This is “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones; be sure to listen for Merry in the background.

“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” is the fourth track on the Rolling Stones’ 1971 album Sticky Fingers. The first two and a half minutes of the song are down and dirty, riff-tastic Rolling Stones. The last four and a half minutes are an improvised, instrumental jam session. The length of this song made for a tough sell; in order to improve the chances of radio play, singles were held to around three minutes. The entire track was captured in one take, with the jam being a happy accident. The band had assumed the tape machine had been stopped and were surprised to find the entire session had been captured. Originally they were going to end the song before the jam started, but were so pleased with the results, they decided to keep it in.

The four singles from Sticky Fingers were “Brown Sugar,” “Bitch,” “Wild Horses,” and “Sway.” However, popular consensus is “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” stands miles higher than “Sway”. Not only does it bear one of the Rolling Stones’ most instantly recognizable guitar riffs, but it’s been included in the soundtracks for  a number of movies including Casino and The Fighter.

But what’s the song all about? What are the Stones trying to tell us? It’s probably best not to read too much into the lyrics of this one since even Mick Jagger isn’t exactly sure what he wrote! Appearing on the track is Bobby Keys, who had debuted his saxophone for the Stones on “Live With Me” back on Let It Bleed. Mick Taylor’s got that impressive guitar track starting at the 4:32 mark.

So, since I don’t have any spectacular words of wisdom to add to that, let’s just enjoy the Stones and “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”.

The Rolling Stones’ estimated record sales of 200 million makes them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. They have won three Grammy Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. Billboard and Rolling Stone magazine have ranked them as one of the greatest musical groups of all time. I definitely concur. 

Thanks so much to Jim for all the work he does week after week on Song Lyric Sunday.

Should Have Been a Single

NARŠ2024

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44 thoughts on “Do You Have Any Singles?”

    1. Thanks, Sanjeet! As a uni student in India, are you aware of the Stones? I’m a little surprised that some people commenting here have not heard these songs before. It’s a rush for me to introduce music I love and take for granted to someone who’s hearing it for the first time …. and enjoying it!

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      1. No, I am not aware of the Stones and the songs here are the only reason I have come to know them. But I take great pride in listening to new music here fully knowing the majority of my peers don’t have the taste to go through such hits.

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        1. That’s what I thought. It’s surprising to me, in a way, having had all sorts of music at my fingertips all my life. I’m sure your age has a great deal to do with this. What’s shocking is people close to my age who are totally unaware of these songs or even the groups performing them. It’s a delight to know you’re enjoying these WP blogs. We’re passionate about our music and love sharing it.

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  3. Nancy, aside from their early early slower stuff, Can’t You Hear Me Knockin is in my top 10 favorite songs by The R Stones. Glad to learn some of the nitty-gritty of why it wasn’t released as a single.

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  7. I imagine that Mick is knocking on somebody’s door, and they are not answering so he starts putting someone down for their “satin shoes,” “plastic boots,” “cocaine eyes,” and “speed freak jive”, other than that I have no idea what this song is about, but since it is such a great jam, who really cares. Nice choices, Nancy.

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  8. I kind of hate to admit it, but I always thought that was Jagger singing throughout the song and never new about Merry Clayton. I appreciate the band (especially Richards) but have never been a big fan or paid them much attention and it’s all because of their introduction early on as, “Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World”.

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    1. Back in the Stone Age (no pun) when I was newly married, my hubs and I were deep into British metal bands (of course, I was also a Beatles fan since the beginning). A new couple moved into our apartment bldg; they were Stones freaks. They turned us onto the Stones and we turned them onto metal. And they all lived happily ever after.

      Re Merry – it took a long time before I realized she was saying ‘rape, murder’; you didn’t hear that every day in songs back then. She was in 20 Feet From Stardom, a very interesting (and Oscar-winning) documentary about background singers and their contributions to the music industry.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Michael.

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          1. Good article, but this was the one I was hoping to find! https://theelephantstrunk.org/2023/10/17/in-the-groove-metal-madness-october-17-2023/ (And why aren’t there like 100 likes on that article?)

            Metal begins (and could end as far as I’m concerned) for me with Deep Purple. Sure, there are other bands, great bands, but not Deep Purple level bands. You can correct me because maybe I’m missing someone I should be listening to, but Deep Purple is the only metal band I know that combines metal with extended jams. Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers and Deep Purple. I guess that might have been my holy trinity. Of course now I feel guilty for not including some others…

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            1. If I remember I’ll address this again later but I’m shooting out the door for a dr apt.

              Aside from the Beatles, Deep Purple is and always will be my #1 band, tops definitely in metal.

              I’ve seen so many groups perform – none had the impact of DP (except for the Beatles but I was 14!)

              Thank you, Michael, for following my link to these old (and great) posts. I’m thrilled you did and took the time to comment.

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                  1. I’m jealous! I had seen a website a long time ago that listed all the bands that had played Fillmore East and it’s jaw-dropping to see the names. And sometimes on the same bill. And then not only to see those bands, but to see them in that intimate of a setting. It’s a time machine fantasy!

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                    1. A time machine fantasy! That’s perfect! If memory serves correctly, there were always multiple acts per night, ranging in variety from Pentangle to Hendrix. The Joshua Light Show was amazing and the air was perpetually thick with the smell of weed. Great memories!

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  13. I promise that when I scheduled my SLS post tonight I hadn’t read your SLS post. I went with “Gimme Shelter” too. Mine is scheduled to post in about four hours. Seems, outside of our opinions on Michael McDonald’s time with the Doobie Brothers, our musical tastes are very similar.

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