London 429
Producer: Andrew Loog Oldham
Track listing: Mercy Mercy / Hitch Hike / The Last Time / That’s How Strong My Love Is / Good Times / I’m All Right / Satisfaction / Cry to Me / The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Mon / Play with Fire / The Spider and the Fly / One More Try
August 21, 1965
3 weeks
It was only fitting that the Rolling Stones scored their first Number One by knocking the Beatles from the summit, since the bands were arch rivals, frequently and battling it out on the charts and in debates among music enthusiasts.
The Stones’ first three American albums fared well. In late 1964, England’s Newest Hit Makers/The Rolling Stones reached number 11, while 12 x 5 climbed to number three. In the spring of 1965, The Rolling Stones, Now! peaked at number five. Yet the Stones wouldn’t truly break through in America until the release of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and Out of Our Heads.
The group’s fourth American album marked a few firsts. It was the first to be issued in the U.S. before the U.K. and and band’s first album recorded in stereo. The landmark single “Satisfaction” was also released first in America. “It was only because we were actually in America touring,” says Stones manger/producer Andrew Loog Oldham. “Once you have a record like ‘Satisfaction,’ you just want to get it out.”
Much has been written about singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards’s initial distaste for the song. “I don’t think they should be criticized for not being able to see the woods through the trees for a couple of days,” Oldham says. “We were making albums in about 10 days. Each song would get 20 to 25 minutes and then it was on to the next one.”
The Stones recorded the first take of “Satisfaction” and four other songs for Out of Our Heads on May 10, 1965, at the historic Chess studios in Chicago. “It was up-tempo, but a more acoustic version,” Oldham says. The following day, the final, electric version was cut at RCA Studios in Hollywood. While the Stones may have been turned off by the fact that “Satisfaction” was, in Oldham’s words, “so fucking simple,” he saw the appeal of the song. “I said, ‘This is the National Anthem.’ Let’s put it out.”
Although Oldham’s own liner notes boast that Out of Our Heads was recorded in London, Chicago, and Hollywood, he admits that he was it stretching a bit. ” ‘I’m All Right’ was recorded live, but it wasn’t in London,” he says. “It was either in Liverpool or Manchester.” Yet Jagger did overdub some of his vocals in a London studio, he says.
The bulk of Out of Our Heads was recorded in Los Angles. The Stones covered material recorded by Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, and Solomon Burke, but Jagger and Richards also showed off their budding songwriting talents. The original “The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man,” credited to fictitious Nanker Phelge, was inspired by a London Records employee. “In England promotion men never left their office, but this guy actually toured with us,” Oldham says.
The track “Play with Fire” featured a notable guest. After mixing “The Last Time” during a break in touring, Oldham called producer Phil Spector to the studio for his opinion. “Everyone was very tired,” Oldham says. Drummer Charlie Watts, bassist Bill Wyman, and guitarist Brian Jones couldn’t stay awake. “But we needed a B-side. So we recorded ‘Play with Fire’ at 8 A.M. with some portly gentleman cleaning the studio. It was Mick singing, Keith playing acoustic, [Spector’s assistant] Jack Nitzsche on harpsichord, and Phil Spector on bass.”
On July 10, 1965, “Satisfaction” hit Number One on the Hot 100. Six weeks later Out of Our Heads topped the album chart, while the Stones were packing them in on tour. “It was a triple-header — the single, the album, and the tour,” Oldham says. “It was the beginning of the period where we were on a roll and no one could stop us.”
THE TOP FIVE
Week of August 21, 1965
1. Out of Our Heads, The Rolling Stones
2. Beatles VI, The Beatles
3. Summer Days (and Summer Nights), The Beach Boys
4. Herman’s Hermits on Tour, Herman’s Hermits
5. The Sound of Music, Soundtrack5. The Sound of Music, Soundtrack