THE SINGER NOT THE SONG
Mick Jagger / Keith Richards / 2:22
SINGLE
Get Off of My Cloud / The Singer Not the Song
RELEASE DATE
United Kingdom: October 22, 1965
Label: Decca
RECORD NUMBER: F 12263
Musicians
Mick Jagger: vocals
Keith Richards: 6-string and 12-string acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Brian Jones: 12-string electric guitar
Bill Wyman: bass
Charlie Watts: drums
Recorded
RCA Studios, Hollywood: September 5 or 6, 1965
Technical Team
Producer: Andrew Loog Oldham
Sound engineer: Dave Hassinger
Genesis
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards borrowed the title for the B-side of the British single “Get Off of My Cloud” from a 1961 feature film directed by Roy Ward Baker. This film created something of a stir upon its release because it deals with the love of a seductive young woman for a Catholic priest, and the ambiguous relationship between the priest and a criminal. The latter is an atheist and although he accepts the priest (the singer), he does not accept his religion (the song). Mick Jagger adapts this idea by transposing it to the relationship between a man and a woman. What he wants to get across is no doubt that the important thing for the man is not simply to be with a woman, but to choose one who understands him. The last verse reveals that for the narrator There’s something wrong. Has he chosen an unsuitable companion after all?
Production
“The Singer Not the Song” is not for the squeamish! The number fails on account of its poor recording and is frightfully out of tune. Who is to blame? Brian with his Rickenbacker 12-string or Keith with his Harmony 12-string or possibly his 6-string acoustic? It is difficult to say. Possibly both. Moreover, the harmonies in the choruses are far from perfect. And if, on top of all this, one also takes into account the songwriters’ significant borrowings from the Beatles’ number “Not a Second Time” (on the album With the Beatles, 1963), the verdict cannot be altogether positive. Why none of the members of the group, nor Jack Nitzsche, Dave Hassinger, or Andrew Loog Oldham expressed any misgivings about the results is a mystery. Fortunately, not everything about the song is bad: Mick delivers a good vocal performance (double-tracked) although he sometimes seems to lack any point of reference against which to adjust his voice. Bill’s bass and Charlie’s drumming are beyond reproach, and the concluding harmonies, still very Beatles in style, and pretty ambitious, work reasonably well in spite of everything. The falsetto part, which comes as something of a surprise on a Stones record, seems to be sung by Keith. The final outcome is disappointing, and it is a shame that greater care was not taken with the production.