(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction – Today’s classic song, the artist who inspired it and covers by a soul giant, an innovative new wave act and a dance pop queen. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #TheRollingStones #MuddyWaters #OtisRedding #BritneySpears

One of the best things about music is it has the potential to move people in many ways. Physically and emotionally. The power of music has changed lives the world over. The interesting thing about this  obvious point is when there are literally millions of songs out there that offer this potential the number of songs that filter their way down to having a sound so distinct it is universally recognized are relatively few by comparison. Today’s song is undoubtedly one of those songs. The innovative opening guitar riff and lamenting lyrics typify the rock and roll rebellion of the mid ‘60s. The boldness of it established the Rolling Stones as a clear rival to the Beatles hit machine, and forever established them, in contrast to the Beatles; as the ‘bad boys’ of the British invasion.

When I write about ‘Satisfaction’ I am also thinking about it from another point of view. It is one of those songs that I wish I was around at the time of its actual release, just to get a sense of how it impacted the listener. When the first DJ set the needle on the groove for this track the music industry changed a little. I can’t help but sense that “Satisfaction’ made people stop in their tracks and listen. It is that strong. As I was listening to it again for today’s post, this is where my mind went. There are thousands of great songs, but ‘Satisfaction’ is on another level. Oddly, it doesn’t reside among my favourite Rolling Stones songs. It is so popular and perhaps overplayed that it becomes taken for granted in some respects. Having said that, try this; listen to it today and take yourself back to June of 1965 and imagine how fresh ‘Satisfaction’ must have sounded to a generation of music lovers who were thirsty for the next big hit, and were being bombarded with great songs on a daily basis. Then think about how ‘Satisfaction’ still stands out from that incredible opening riff and raw energy right through to its fade out at the end. All I can say is WOW!

So why I am I babbling on about a song that was released nearly 54 years ago? Well, because the lyrics to ‘Satisfaction’ were written at the side of a hotel pool in Clearwater, Florida on this day in 1965. It was a few days before the Rolling Stones were going to be heading into the studio and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were finalizing some material for what would become their new album. As is so often the case the music for the song was already worked out to some degree. This is part of the legend behind ‘Satisfaction’. Keith Richards wrote the riff while in his sleep. This famous story suggests that the riff came to him in a dream state. He recorded it on a Phillips cassette player and rolled over and went back to sleep. When he woke up the next morning he was greeted with a unique recording and the remainder of the tape was the sound of his own snoring. Accounts of this story vary slightly as to where it happened, but Keith Richards insists the riff was recorded in his flat at St. John’s Wood in London. As mentioned above the lyrics were written by Jagger in Clearwater in and effort to match the energy of the driving riff. Now understand that to this point the structure of the song was based on a combined rock and blues chord structure that was relatively common during this period. It was originally recorded on May 10, 1965 at Chess Studios in Chicago. Here is an alternative take:

It is a little more basic in terms of its production. Two days later it was recorded at RCA Studios in Hollywood, and this is where it took its ultimate form, through a strong collaboration between the band and the production team. When Keith Richards wrote the music for ‘Satisfaction’ he actually envisioned a horn section overlaying the guitar riff. As interesting as this sounded, the band wasn’t equipped with the proper musicians to do that so Stones producer/manager Andrew Loog Oldham and sound engineer suggested using the new technology of the day; a Maestro Fuzzbox, to enhance the sound of the guitar riff.

 This was just a little sketch, because, to my mind, the fuzz tone was really there to denote what the horns would be doing.”

Andrew Loog Oldham

The ultimate result was a single that hit #1 on the U.S. charts in July of 1965 and remained there for four weeks.  It spent a total of 14 weeks in the U.S. Top 10. It was knocked out of #1 by Herman’s Hermits song ‘I’m Henry the Eighth, I Am’. Remarkably, its release as a single was delayed in Britain due to its perceived racy lyrical content, which depicted sexual frustration and an attack on blatant commercialism. It became a hit on British pirate radio and eventually upon its release it went to #1 in August of 1965, replacing ‘I Got You Babe’ by Sonny and Cher.

Here is Mick Jagger’s assessment of ‘Satisfaction in terms of what it meant to the band’s career.

“It was the song that really made the Rolling Stones, changed us from just another band into a huge, monster band … It has a very catchy title. It has a very catchy guitar riff. It has a great guitar sound, which was original at that time. And it captures a spirit of the times, which is very important in those kinds of songs … Which was alienation.”

Mick Jagger

To summarize, ‘Satisfaction’ represented an example of a song that captured the feelings of thousands of music fans and wrapped the sentiment up in a three – minute onslaught of raging energy. It became a classic rock anthem, and it is recognized to this day as a song that left its mark on rock and roll history.

Two other quick points. On a few occasions I have referred to the impact Jack Nitzsche had behind the scenes in music and in film in terms of his production work and contributions to movie soundtracks (See Ted Tocks – ‘Up Where We Belong’, ‘I Got You Babe’, Da Doo Ron Ron’, Needles and Pins’). Jack Nitzsche plays piano on a version of ‘Satisfaction’ as well as a very understated acoustic guitar and the very prominent tambourine on the famous track. I always find it interesting how the same names pop up in the stories of famous songs from the glory days of rock and roll. At the time Nitzsche was a very prominent Los Angeles area studio musician and producer. He would go on to produce Neil Young’s early solo career and become a top – notch producer of movie soundtracks.

The second item that cannot go without mentioning,  is the source of inspiration that Mick Jagger clearly drew from when writing the lyrics to ‘Satisfaction’. As mentioned above The Rolling Stones recorded the song at Chess Studios in Chicago. Chess was the home of the great Muddy Waters. Waters was a massive inspiration to the Stones and there is a clear line that can be drawn from this famous Muddy Waters song and the opening line and title of the iconic Rolling Stones release. Here is ‘I Can’t Be Satisfied’. Listen to that riff. There will never be another Muddy Waters.

Just one more example of how the blues greats inspired some of the greatest rock and roll tracks of all time. This can never be forgotten.

There have been several covers of ‘Satisfaction’ through the years by some fascinating names. I will feature three.

Here is the great Otis Redding who recorded ‘Satisfaction’ shortly after the Rolling Stones achieved success with the song. Famously, his guitarist, the legendary Steve Cropper wrote down what he thought were the lyrics. Otis read through the words and threw the paper away. A short time later they set to recording his version. The result was a piece that becomes a pure example of Otis Redding’s greatness because he is well known for his improvisation. You can hear the song evolve from the opening as Redding gradually makes the song his own. Here is Steve Cropper’s account of the session;

If you ever listened to the record you can hardly understand the lyrics, right? I set down to a record player and copied down what I thought the lyrics were and I handed Otis a piece of paper and before we got through with the cut, he threw the paper on the floor and that was it.”

Steve Cropper

Note the horns…Remember Keith Richards initial vision of the song? This version of ‘Satisfaction’ is pure rock and ‘soul’.

The Rolling Stones loved this version so much that the band adapted it for their live performances throughout the 2000s. This is an homage to the great Otis Redding.

Now we head to 1977 and the New Wave visionaries, Devo. This version received Mick Jagger’s approval.

The Devo version has a prominent place in the 1995 Martin Scorsese film Casino.

Finally, believe it or not pop music diva Britney Spears released a version of ‘Satisfaction’ in 2000 as part of her second studio album. The recording received mixed reviews but let’s give her credit for taking a stab at such an iconic song and having the courage to turn it into an epic dance production. Here she is at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.

She makes a statement. That is what music is all about. As clueless as I am, I had never heard this before the time of writing. The blend with her famous ‘Oops I Did it Again’ is creative and the combination of generational productions makes for a strong performance. Put me down for a thumbs up 19 years later. Once again. I am late to the party. ‘Oops, I did it Again’…….