Released 59 years ago today in glorious Mono, by London Records in the US, “Satisfaction,” b/w “The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man.” The story of its composition is legendary. Keith claimed to have written the riff almost in his sleep, recording the basic riff in the middle of the night on a portable cassette player, playing the tape in the morning having forgotten he’d recorded it. The story for years was that it had taken place at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida, but Keith wrote in Life that Mick wrote the lyrics there but that he’d recorded the riff at his flat in St. John’s Wood, England.

The first recording of “Satisfaction” took place at Chess Studios in Chicago, with the final version cut two days later at RCA Studio in Hollywood, with Jack Nitszche on keyboards and tambourine. The Chicago version was actually used for an appearance on ABC TV’s Shindig!, with the band miming and Mick singing live:

Keith envisioned the final version of the song to have a horn section playing the main riff, with the Gibson Maestro fuzzbox guitar part being there more as a guide for horns rather than as the main part. He said “this was just a little sketch, because, to my mind, the fuzz tone was really there to denote what the horns would be doing.” But manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham thought the RCA version was the one, and the rest of the band agreed. It would hit the Hot 100 the week of June 12, 1965, reaching the Top 10 by July 10th, and finally hitting #1 for four weeks until it was knocked off on August 7th by Herman’s Hermits’ “I’m Henry the Eighth, I Am.” “Satisfaction” wasn’t released in England until August 20th (by Decca Records), hitting #1 in mid-September by knocking off Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You, Babe.”

Mick’s lyric is fantastic, describing the tensions of public life and touring, a sense of alienation, and being fed all kinds of “useless information” on the radio, and on television about “how white my shirts can be,” and being taunted by The Marlboro Man, for not being a real man because he doesn’t smoke the brand. The big controversy at the time was over the “I can’t get no girl reaction.” Mick said “they didn’t understand the dirtiest line,” which was the follow-up, when the girl asks him to come back next week because she’s on a losing streak, Mick’s veiled reference to her having her period. The “trying to make some girl” line was omitted when the Stones appeared on Shindig!, though it was heard during their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February ’66.

Keith’s original idea for “Satisfaction” was more or less achieved in 1972 when Mick joined the Stones’ opening act Stevie Wonder for “Uptight,” segueing in to “Satisfaction.” Check this out:

On May 26th of this past year in New Jersey, it still delivered:

In honor of today’s 59th anniversary of the US release of “Satisfaction,” Today’s Playlist is a SomethingIsHappening compendium of “Can’t Get” songs:

#RollingStones #Satisfaction #Chicago #Decca #London #St.John’sWood #Clearwater #KeithRichards #MickJagger #BrianJones #BillWyman #CharlieWatts #AndrewLoogOldham