Courtesy: ABKCO Records
Today, May 12th, is an important date in the modern history of music.
Fifty years ago today, Mick Jagger and his band mates in The Rolling Stones first recorded the band’s hit single ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.’ While not the band’s first ever single, it was the first of the band’s singles to go #1 in the United States when it made its debut in June of 1965. In celebration of the anniversary ABKCO Records announced Monday that it will release a special edition of the single on vinyl this summer.
ABKCO Records announced Monday that it will release ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ as a special 12” limited edition vinyl single on Friday, July 10th on 180-gram vinyl. The A-side will feature the final single known to all audiences. Fans on both sides of the Atlantic will be happy to know that this special edition re-issue will also feature as its B-sides the songs ‘The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man’ and ‘The Spider and the Fly.’ The songs in question were its original U.S. and U.K. B-sides respectively. Their appearance here marks the first time ever that they have been presented together on one record. Audiences that might not be so familiar with either single will be interested to learn of the prior of the two singles that its history is rooted in the band’s experience with London Records employee George Sherlock. As the story goes, the band wasn’t entirely enamored with Sherlock. The band allegedly saw him as someone that was just another music industry yes man decked out in a seersucker suit and toupee. The song indirectly makes him the target lyrically as it makes commentary about music industry insiders unnecessarily involving themselves in the creation of bands’ songs. It was loosely based on Buster Brown’s hit single ‘Fannie Mae.’ It wasn’t used in the UK as record executives with DECCA felt that British audiences wouldn’t get the numerous American references throughout the song. That led to Decca opting for ‘The Spider and the Fly’ being used as the B-side for ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ in the UK.
The single’s cover features a picture of the band taken by award-winning photographer David Bailey. It is the same cover art used in the original single’s release. Carl Rowatti re-mastered the single at Trutone Mastering Labs from the song’s original mono tapes for its upcoming 45 rpm 12-inch release.
‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ was originally released as a single by London Records in the U.S. on June 6th, 1965. It reached the #1 spot on Record World’s charts not long after on July 3rd. By July 10th, the single had hit the top spot at Billboard and Cashbox pushing The Byrds’ ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ and The Four Tops’ ‘I Can’t Help Myself.’ It held the top spot on Record World’s Charts and for four at Billboard and Cashbox respectively. By July 19th of that year, it had gone on to become the band’s first ever single to be certified gold by the RIAA. It would go on to be released August 20th in the UK on DECCA Records and would become the band’s fourth #1 single overseas.
Many audiences might find interesting that both the song’s title and main guitar line were developed by guitarist Keith Richards. And the song that audiences have come to love to this day is not the song’s original take. The original take of the song was recorded at Chess in Chicago on May 10th, 1965 before being tossed. The take that went on to become the final product was recorded at RCA Studios in Hollywood, CA on May 12th. Even more interesting to note of the song is that Richards’ guitar line was originally going to be performed by a horn section instead of guitar. However producer/manager Andrew Loog Oldham and engineer David Hassinger opted for Richards’ guitar instead, leading to the now famed line that audiences know today as one of the most famous in music history. Despite popular belief, the song’s lyrical content does not only make reference to sexual frustration but to a dislike for all of the consumerist messages out there. The icing on the cake of the song’s story is that only two people were against publishing the single—Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
The upcoming re-issue of ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ will be pressed in a limited quantity of 10,000 numbered copies in North America and will be released fifty years to the day that the song was originally released. It can be pre-ordered now via Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Satisfaction-Anniversary-Single-Limited-Numbered/dp/B00W34SFGM/?tag=httpwwwabkcoc-20. More information on this and other releases from ABKCO Records is available online at:
Website: http://www.abkco.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/abkco
Twitter: http://twitter.com/abkco
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