MEMO FROM TURNER
Mick Jagger / Keith Richards / 4:08
SINGLE
Memo from Turner / Natural Magic
Release date
United Kingdom: October 23, 1970
Record label: Decca
RECORD NUMBER: DECCA F 13067
Musicians (for the Performance version)
Mick Jagger: vocals
Ry Cooder: slide guitar
Russ Titelman (?): rhythm guitar
Randy Newman (?): organ
Jerry Scheff (?): fuzz bass
Gene Parsons (?): drums
Unidentified musicians: maracas, claves
Recorded
Olympic Sound Studios, London / Elektra Studios (?), Los Angeles: September–October 1968, early 1970
Technical Team
Producer: Jack Nitzsche
Sound engineer: Glyn Johns
Genesis
In 1968, Mick Jagger took his first steps as an actor in Performance, directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg. He plays the part of Turner, a former rock star. The plot involves a gangster named Chas (James Fox) who has been on the run since killing another hood. He takes refuge with Turner, who lives with two young women, Pherber (Anita Pallenberg) and Lucy (Michèle Breton), in his apartment in Notting Hill, London. A strange relationship develops between the two men from very different milieux, against a background of narcotics and decadence.
With the ambition of attaining the same kind of success that Richard Lester had known with the Beatles, Warner had hoped that the Glimmer Twins would write the music for this full-length movie. However, Anita Pallenberg’s intimate relationships during the shoot with Mick Jagger on the one hand and Donald Cammell on the other led Keith Richards to slam the door on the project. As a result, the original soundtrack features only one number, “Memo from Turner,” sung by the Stones singer. Although credited to Jagger-Richards, it seems to have been written by Jagger alone (with a modest contribution from Cammell) is typically “Stones” in spirit. Sean Egan rightly calls it the “great lost Rolling Stones classic.”79 In the film, Turner/Jagger performs the song to a group of dumbfounded criminals. And the lyrics are pretty hard-hitting: I remember you in Hemlock Road in 1956/You’re a faggy little leather boy with a smaller piece of stick.
Production
There are three versions of “Memo from Turner.” The first was recorded in September and/or October 1968 at Olympic Sound Studios. At this session, Mick Jagger was accompanied by various musicians, including Traffic members Stevie Winwood and Jim Capaldi. Of the three, this is the version that swings the most. In addition to the guitar parts and bass, the talented Winwood seems to have played the Hammond B-3 organ, the sound of which is forever associated with his name. The piano was most likely played by Jack Nitzsche, who was also in charge of the instrumental parts for the film. As for Capaldi, his drumming is excellent in every respect, and he is assisted by Jagger on maracas.
The second version dates from November 17, 1968, and was also recorded at Olympic, with Al Kooper on guitar rather than organ. The day after he had done the session for “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” he received a phone call: “It was Mick. He and Keith were down in the lobby. They came to pick me up! That night we cut a track from the film Jagger was currently working on, Performance. The song was called ‘Memo from Turner,’ but was not the version used in the film or on the soundtrack album. I believe it was used on a later album of outtakes. I played guitar with Keith on that one.”82 The other musicians have not been clearly identified. Bill Wyman could be on bass, with Charlie Watts or Jim Capaldi on drums. The funky result eventually found a home on Metamorphosis (1975).
The third and final version is the one that can be found on the soundtrack album. This was also released as a single on October 23, 1970, and has been a part of the official Rolling Stones discography ever since. Jagger’s voice is taken from the first version, recorded in London. The instruments, on the other hand, were recorded in Los Angeles, most probably at Elektra Studios, with Ry Cooder and possibly Russ Titelman (rhythm guitar), Randy Newman (organ), Jerry Scheff (fuzz bass), and Gene Parsons (drums). The listener is immediately captivated by the slide guitar of the incredible Ry Cooder. This sets the track aglow, lending it an aggressiveness and power that is lacking in the other two versions. Jagger is also exceptional. His performance veers between disdain, provocation, and cynicism, all delivered in a sensual blues-rock voice. The rhythm section, meanwhile, is highly efficient, incorporating Jerry Scheff (?) on fuzz bass. “Memo from Turner” is a real gem, a song that would have merited inclusion on Let It Bleed, but Keith, harboring a persistent grudge, would apparently not hear of it… It is claimed, incidentally, that faced with Keith’s refusal to take part in the song, Mick broke down in tears before Donald Cammell, and the director immediately took advantage of the situation to interfere in the writing of the lyrics. This version was to reach number 32 in the United Kingdom on November 21, 1970.