Mick Jagger / Keith Richards / 3:41
Musicians
Mick Jagger: vocals
Keith Richards: acoustic guitar, lead guitar, fuzz bass
Brian Jones: marimba
Bill Wyman: bass
Charlie Watts: drums
Ian Stewart: piano
Unidentified musician(s): finger snaps, hand claps
Recorded
RCA Studios, Hollywood: March 6–9, 1966
Technical Team
Producer: Andrew Loog Oldham
Sound engineer: Dave Hassinger
The criticisms that rained down on the shoulders of the Rolling Stones when they started singing their misogynist and antifeminist diatribes assumed a new dimension with “Under My Thumb.” This time, the central character is not leaving his girlfriend. She has made his life a misery, and he is staying with her in order to finally indulge in some role reversal. He will no longer be the plaything of this diabolical creature, but will instead be a kind of domineering Pygmalion. The first verse has a certain startling clarity to it: Under my thumb/The girl who once had me down/Under my thumb/The girl who once pushed me around. The narrator—Jagger himself?—is relishing his revenge, and throughout the song it is this sense of delight that dominates; the pleasure of seeing this squirmin’ dog turn into the sweetest pet in the world, of ruling with a rod of iron a girl who has had the upper hand (in the bedroom as well?) for far too long!
This thirst for revenge on women expressed by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in “Under My Thumb” would anger even the most inured feminists. The song has to be seen as yet another in a sequence of provocations, and certainly also as a desire to take up a contrary stance to the politically correct, to the progressive movements. Mick Jagger: “But if you really listen to the lyrics closely—not too closely—‘under my thumb, a girl who once had me down’—you see? It’s not so unfair. Why should it apply to every girl? But I think it was really true. It’s funny to think about it—it was very adolescent, those songs, about adolescent experiences.”48 And the Rolling Stones’ singer would pursue this conciliatory line two years later, again in Rolling Stone: “That’s going back to my teenage years!”29 and claim that the squirmin’ dog thing was a matter of being deliberately provocative: “Well, that was a joke. I’ve never felt in that position vis-à-vis a person—I’d never want to really hurt someone.”29 So Chrissie Shrimpton was not in his sights after all? Keith would take a more self-justifying approach, blaming the pressure from fans who pursued the band members as far as their hotel rooms, and the fatigue engendered by incessant touring, concluding that “that’s how one got.”11
Since the days of “Satisfaction,” when the group had experienced extraordinary international success, Brian Jones had been playing the guitar less and less. Keith Richards explains: “I don’t know if he lost interest because he got on a star trip, but it seemed to coincide anyway with his lack of interest in the guitar.”11 Brian’s enthusiasm for all kinds of other instruments also dates from this time. On “Under My Thumb” he plays a marimba rented by Dave Hassinger specially for that session. It was this new sonority that gives the number its true identity, just as the dulcimer had done for “Lady Jane.” Keith Richards deplored Brian’s ever more frequent absences, but would later acknowledge his great value when he did turn up: “When he was there and came to life, he was incredibly nimble. He could pick up any instruments that were lying around and come up with something. Sitar on ‘Paint It Black.’ The marimbas on ‘Under My Thumb.’ But for the next five days we won’t see the motherfucker, and we’ve still got a record to make.”2 As a result, it is Keith who provides all the guitar parts on the number: lead guitar, acoustic guitar, and even a fuzz bass (using the Maestro Fuzz-Tone) played on Bill’s Vox Wyman (from 0:32). For his part, Bill plays a very good bass guitar along the lines of Brian’s marimba part, with a superb sound obtained from one of his two basses, the Framus Humbug or the Vox Wyman. In doing so he supports Charlie’s brilliant, Motown-like groove. Ian Stewart accompanies his bandmates on the piano, fleshing out Keith’s guitar playing with discreet but efficient chords. Finally, Mick Jagger delivers his lyrics with a voice that is simultaneously sardonic, aggressive, and sensual, and enhanced by an ever-present reverb. It would seem that Mick is also responsible for the finger snaps in the intro and the hand claps throughout the track (no doubt assisted by Jack Nitzsche).