The Under Assistant West Coast
Promotion Man

Composer: "Nanker Phelge" (Rolling Stones)
Recording date: May 1965          Recording location: Chess Studios, Chicago, USA
Producer: Andrew Oldham            Engineer: Ron Malo
Performed onstage: 1965

Probable line-up:

Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman
Electric guitar: Keith Richards
Vocal: Mick Jagger
Piano: Ian Stewart
Harmonica: Brian Jones
 

Well I'm waiting at the bus stop in downtown L.A.
Well I'm waiting at the bus stop in downtown L.A.

But I'd much rather be on a boardwalk on Broadway

Well I'm sitting here thinking just how sharp I am
Well I'm sitting here thinking just how sharp I am
I'm an under assistant West Coast promo' man

Yeah, yeah

Well I promote groups when they come into town
Well I promote groups when they come into town
Well they laugh at my toupee, they sure do put me down

Well I'm sitting here thinking just how sharp I am
Well I'm sitting here thinking just how sharp I am
I'm a necessary talent behind every rock and roll band

Yeah I'm sharp, I'm really, really sharp
I sure do earn my pay sitting on the beach every day, yeah
(I had two flops, I break my ass every day)*

I'm real, real sharp, yes I am
I've got a cravat and a seersucker suit, yes I have
Here comes the bus
Uh-oh, I thought I had... Where's my dime? I know I've got a dime here somewhere...
Uh-oh, I'm so sharp (you won't believe how sharp I really am
Don't laugh at me, I'm no phony, I'm no phony, no, no)*



*additional lines from the version on the London Singles Collection (1989)
 

TrackTalk

The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man was a good-natured jibe at George Sherlock, the London Records promo man who accompanied us on our first American tour. The track is based on Buster Brown's 1960 hit, Fannie Mae, which also inspired the Beach Boys' Help Me Rhonda.

- Bill Wyman, Rolling With The Stones (2002)



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