Nanker Phelge / Phil Spector / 2:41
Musicians
Mick Jagger: vocals, harmonica
Keith Richards: rhythm guitar, lead guitar
Brian Jones: rhythm guitar
Bill Wyman: bass
Charlie Watts: drums
Gene Pitney: piano
Phil Spector: percussion, maracas (?)
Musician(s) not identified: hand claps, tambourine
Recorded
Regent Sound Studios: February 4, 1964
Technical Team
Producer: Andrew Loog Oldham
Sound Engineer: Bill Farley
While British rhythm ’n’ blues of the early sixties was essentially a reworking of Chicago blues, differing from the original in nuance only, the pillars of this black American music scene were not always given the credit they deserved. In the case of “Little by Little,” for example, the Rolling Stones used the title of a blues number recorded in 1959 by Junior Wells and Earl Hooker and the laid-back rhythm characteristic of Jimmy Reed—in this instance “Shame, Shame, Shame” (dating from 1963)—without crediting any bluesman. The lyrics, on the other hand, are original. The song tells of a love that is dying little by little because the narrator of the song has discovered that his lover has been untrue.
The main aim of the session of February 4, 1964, was to record the B-side of “Not Fade Away” so that the single could be released as soon as possible—as Decca was urging. The Rolling Stones, however, were fighting and had stopped speaking to one another. Andrew Oldham appealed for help to Phil Spector and Gene Pitney, who were stopping over in London after a brief trip to Paris. Pitney came up with the idea of pretending it was his birthday and that family tradition demanded the occasion be celebrated with cognac. The ploy worked! The newly restored harmony fostered a collaborative relationship between Spector and Jagger, who wrote the number in a few minutes in a corridor at Regent Sound Studios. One thing is for sure: with Phil Spector in charge, Gene Pitney at the piano, and Graham Nash and Allan Clarke of the Hollies also lending their support, the Rolling Stones were able to make a fine homage to the blues… and it only took them twenty minutes or so. For this reworking of “Shame, Shame, Shame,” the Stones and their guests let it rip, dispensing with any strict setup and allowing Jagger to send Richards off on a nicely executed guitar solo (“All right, Keith, come on!”) before himself launching into an impassioned harmonica break (“My turn!”), with Wyman going off on a kind of supercharged chorus on his bass (between 1:29 and 1:37). Pitney would later reveal that although credited with playing the maracas on the album, Spector actually contributed by striking an empty cognac bottle with a United States half-dollar!