Brian Jones plucked the haunting sitar melody at the 1966 L.A. session for this classic. Bill Wyman added klezmer-flavored organ; studio legend Jack Nitzsche played the gypsy-style piano. “Brian had pretty much given up on the guitar by then,” said Richards. “If there was [another] instrument around, he had to be able to get something out of it. It gave the Stones on record a lot of different textures.”
~rollingstone.com
The principal riff of “Paint It Black” (almost all classic Rolling Stones songs are highlighted by a killer riff) was played on a sitar by Brian Jones and qualifies as perhaps the most effective use of the Indian instrument in a rock song. The exotic twang was a perfect match for the dark, mysterious Eastern-Indian melody, which sounded a little like a soundtrack to an Indian movie hijacked into hyperdrive.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)
Brian Jones plucked the haunting sitar melody at the 1966 L.A. session for this classic. Bill Wyman added klezmer-flavored organ; studio legend Jack Nitzsche played the gypsy-style piano. “Brian had pretty much given up on the guitar by then,” said Richards. “If there was [another] instrument around, he had to be able to get something out of it. It gave the Stones on record a lot of different textures.”
~rollingstone.com
The principal riff of “Paint It Black” (almost all classic Rolling Stones songs are highlighted by a killer riff) was played on a sitar by Brian Jones and qualifies as perhaps the most effective use of the Indian instrument in a rock song. The exotic twang was a perfect match for the dark, mysterious Eastern-Indian melody, which sounded a little like a soundtrack to an Indian movie hijacked into hyperdrive.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)
Original version:
Wikipedia:
from the album Aftermath
B-side
“Stupid Girl” (US)
“Long Long While” (UK)
Released
7 May 1966 (US)
13 May 1966 (UK)
Format
7″
Recorded
6–9 March 1966
Genre
Psychedelic rock, raga rock
Length
3:45 (mono single mix)
3:22 (stereo album mix)
Label
London 45-LON.901 (US)
Decca F.12395 (UK)
Writer(s)
Jagger/Richards
Producer
Andrew Loog Oldham
“Paint It, Black” is a song released by The Rolling Stones on 13 May 1966 (7 May 1966 – US) as the first single from the US version of their fourth album Aftermath. It was originally titled “Paint It Black” without a comma. Keith Richards has stated that the comma was added by the record label, Decca.
At a book signing in Nashville in 2001, Bill Wyman explained that the comma was simply a typographical error that stuck.
The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Mick Jagger wrote the lyrics and Keith Richards wrote the music.
Bill Wyman claims in his books that the song was a group effort although it was credited to Jagger/Richards.
The single reached number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom charts in 1966.
In 2004 it was ranked number 176 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In the US and UK, it was the first number one single to feature a sitar.
Live version:
Musicians:
Mick Jagger – lead vocals
Brian Jones – sitar, percussion
Keith Richards – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
It’s a long old road, but I know I’m gonna find the end.
~Bessie Smith
I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich, and rich is better.
~Bessie Smith
Press: Who are your favorite singers?
Bob Dylan: Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Billie Holiday and Nancy Sinatra
~Bob Dylan press conference – Paris, May 1966
Downhearted Blues, 1923:
Trouble, trouble, I’ve had it all my days. It seems that trouble’s going to follow me to my grave.
~Bessie Smith (Downhearted Blues)
Wikipedia:
Born
April 15, 1894
Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
Died
September 26, 1937 (aged 43)
Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States
Genres
Blues, Jazz
Occupations
Singer, actress
Instruments
Vocals
Years active
1912–1937
Labels
Columbia
Associated acts
Ma Rainey, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer.
Nicknamed The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s.She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and, along with Louis Armstrong, a major influence on subsequent jazz vocalists.
She scored a big hit with her first release, a coupling of “Gulf Coast Blues” and “Downhearted Blues”, which its composer Alberta Hunter had already turned into a hit on the Paramount label. Smith became a headliner on the black T.O.B.A. circuit and rose to become its top attraction in the 1920s.Working a heavy theater schedule during the winter months and doing tent tours the rest of the year (eventually traveling in her own railroad car), Smith became the highest-paid black entertainer of her day.Columbia nicknamed her “Queen of the Blues,” but a PR-minded press soon upgraded her title to “Empress”.
Smith was gifted with a powerfully strong voice that recorded very well from her first record, made during the time when recordings were made acoustically. With the coming of electrical recording (circa 1925), the sheer power of her voice was even more evident.
She made 160 recordings for Columbia, often accompanied by the finest musicians of the day, most notably Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, Joe Smith, and Charlie Green.
Selective awards and recognitions:
Grammy Hall of Fame
Recordings of Bessie Smith were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. This special Grammy Award was established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have “qualitative or historical significance.”
In 2002 Smith’s recording of the single, “Downhearted Blues”, was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.The board selects songs on an annual basis that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
“Downhearted Blues” was included in the list of Songs of the Century by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001. It is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock ‘n’ roll.
