Not Fade Away

Composers: Norman Petty & Charles Hardin Holly       Original performer: Buddy Holly (1957)
Recording date: January 1964          Recording location: Regent Sound Studios, London
Producer: Andrew Oldham          Engineer: Bill Farley
Performed onstage: 1964-66, 1994-95

Probable line-up:

Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman
Acoustic guitar: Keith Richards
Electric guitar: Keith Richards
Vocals: Mick Jagger
Harmonica: Brian Jones
Tambourine: Mick Jagger
Maracas: Mick Jagger
Handclaps: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards & Brian Jones
 

I'm going to tell you how it's going to be
You're going to give your love to me
I'm going to love you night and day
Well love that's love will not fade away
Well love that's love will not fade away

My love bigger than a Cadillac
I'll try to show it if you drive me back
Your love for me has got to be real
Before you can know just how I feel
Love real not fade away
Well love real not fade away

Yeah

I'm going to tell you how it's going to be
You're going to give your love to me
Love to last more than one day
Well love that's love will not fade away
Well love that's love will not fade away

Well love that's love will not fade away
Love that's love will not fade away
Not fade away
 
 

TrackTalk

I suppose I suggested (we record) it. I have the song on an EP by Buddy Holly - he always seemed to go in for these Bo Diddley things. I mentioned it when we started talking about a new single. Well, we all tossed the idea around, and in the end we thought it was a good one because it had a vague tune - which does help commercially, and that's more than you can say for a lot of the tunes in that Diddley style, isn't it?

- Mick Jagger, 1964


Although it was a Buddy Holly song, I considered it to be like the first song Mick and Keith wrote, in that they picked the concept of applying that Bo Diddley thing to it. The way they arranged it was the beginning of the shaping of them as songwriters. From then on they wrote. At that time, Mick, Keith, and I lived together. They were into the last half bottle of wine and going through, it was one of those magical moments. When Keith played that to me in the front room you could actually HEAR the record in that room. What basically made the record was that whole Bo Diddley acoustic guitar thrust. You heard the whole record in one room. We gotta record it! But there's no way if someone had just said coldly, Right, let's do "Not Fade Away" that we would have wanted to do it without hearing the way that Keith was playing it on the guitar. Keith just did it. And that was that. To me, they wrote the song. It's a pity we couldn't have gotten the money.

- Andrew Oldham, c. 1979


Keith played guitar on that track, Brian the harmonica. The rhythm thing was formed basically around the Buddy Holly thing. We brought the rhythm up and emphasized it. Holly had used that Bo Diddley trademark beat on his version, but because he was only using bass, drums and guitar, the rhythm element is sort of a throwaway. Holly played it lightly. We just got into it more and put the Bo Diddley beat up front.

- Bill Wyman

Back to TrackTalk Menu.

Back to The Rolling Stones - England's Newest Hit Makers.

Back to Main Page.