Mick Jagger / Keith Richards / 2:27
Musicians
Mick Jagger: vocals
Keith Richards (?): guitar
Brian Jones: (?) guitar
Bill Wyman (?): bass
Charlie Watts (?): drums
Ian Stewart (?): piano
Big Jim Sullivan: pedal steel guitar
Jimmy Page (?): guitar
John McLaughlin (?): guitar
Joe Moretti (?): bass
Andy White (?): drums
Mike Leander: arrangements and conducting
Recorded
Regent Sound Studios, London; Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London: February 13 (?), June 29–July 7, 1964 (?)
Technical Team
Producer: Andrew Loog Oldham
Sound engineers (?): Bill Farley, Gus Dudgeon
Why does the sky turn gray each evening? What is it that is so entrancing about going on one’s first date with a girl? The eternal teenagers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards speculate about these things and others over a pop melody with a somewhat middle-of-the-road arrangement. “Some Things Just Stick in My Mind” was initially recorded at the beginning of 1965 by the American duo Dick and Dee Dee, who had opened for the Rolling Stones on their 1964 tour, and subsequently by Vashti Bunyan, with the help of Nicky Hopkins on piano. In fact, it was the debut single of the folksinger from Newcastle. It is interesting to note that on the Metamorphosis cover, both the vinyl and the CD versions, no one seems to have noticed the spelling mistakes in the titles: Somethings instead of Some Things and Everyday instead of Every Day.
According to various sources, the Rolling Stones recorded the song either on February 13, 1964, or else during the sessions that extended from June 29 to July 7, 1964. In all probability, the playback was cut during this second phase, because it seems unlikely that any of the Stones other than Mick Jagger actually took part in the recording. Instead, it was probably made by studio musicians recruited by Oldham, because the instrumentation bears no resemblance to that of the London quintet. This is also the backing track Dick and Dee Dee would use for their cover of the song. The only real musical interest lies in the identity of the instrumentalists, such as (very probably) Jimmy Page (but possibly John McLaughlin), who plays the only acoustic guitar part (12-string) with brio, and Big Jim Sullivan on pedal steel guitar, which lends the track a country feel. In addition to these two instruments, Mike Leander’s arrangement includes percussion, triangle, bongos, and güiro, a rhythm section consisting of bass and drums, a piano with heavy reverb that calls to mind the sound Jack Nitzsche would achieve with the Stones by the end of that same year, and some slightly uncomfortable backing solos. The results are somewhat reminiscent of Phil Spector, which is not surprising given the admiration the Stones producer had for him.