I Got the Blues

Composers: Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
Recording date: March-May 1970
Recording location: Rolling Stones Mobile Unit, Mick Jagger's home, Newbury & Olympic Sound Studios, London, England
Producer: Jimmy Miller           Chief engineers: Glyn Johns & Andy Johns
Performed onstage: 1971, 1999, 2015

Line-up:

Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman
Electric guitars: Keith Richards & Mick Taylor
Lead vocal: Mick Jagger
Harmony vocal: Keith Richards
Saxophone: Bobby Keys
Trumpet: Jim Price
Organ: Billy Preston
 

As I stand by your flame, I get burned once again
Feeling low down and blue
As I sit by the fire of your warm desire
I've got the blues for you

Yeah

Every night you've been away
I've sat down and I have prayed that you're safe

In the arms of a guy who will bring you alive
Won't drag you down with abuse

Oh

In the silk sheet of time, I will find peace of mind
Love is a bed full of blues

And I've got the blues for you
And I've got the blues for you
And I bust my brains out for you
And I'll tear my hair out, I'm going to tear my hair out just for you
If you don't believe what I'm saying, at 3 o'clock in the morning, baby, I'm singing my song for you
 
 

TrackTalk

We did it in Olympic. It's really slow. The thing is that it's so slow and sometimes, when you get really slow tunes like this, it's hard to keep the tempo. We're that kind of band. We always speed up things. But this one holds the tempo. It's kind of wrenching. You can only get that by doing it really slow and this one comes off... It's in the style of Otis Redding. He did tunes super-fast but he used to do these super-slow ballads, too.
- Mick Jagger, 2015

I Got the Blues was probably one of the best songs I ever did with (my first bass guitar).
- Bill Wyman, 1978

I think where Jim (Price) and I contributed most was on slower stuff like I Got the Blues. We always added just to embellish here and there, put an accent here and there, and every once in a while I'd get to play a solo.
- Bobby Keys, 2011


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