Mick Jagger / Keith Richards / 2:17
Musicians
Mick Jagger (?): vocals
Keith Richards: backing vocals
Jimmy Page (?): guitar
John McLaughlin (?): guitar
Reg Guest (?): piano
Joe Moretti (?): bass
Andy White (?): drums
Ivy League: backing vocals
Andrew Loog Oldham: backing vocals
Unidentified musicians: horns, percussion
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
In helping a friend to seduce the girl who is the object of his desire, Mick Jagger does not stint on his advice. Try a little harder; Don’t you see you gotta give her all the lovin’ that she needs: the message is clear. “Try a Little Harder” is the only song among the early compositions of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards collected on Metamorphosis that gave rise to no other version. However, it is far from being the weakest from this period, above all thanks to Mick Jagger’s performance and Oldham’s production, influenced as much by Phil Spector as by Motown. It is for this reason, moreover, that it was chosen as the B-side of “I Don’t Know Why,” the single taken from Metamorphosis.
It is very difficult to say who might have been involved in the recording of “Try a Little Harder.” Some sources claim that Mick Jagger was the only member of the Rolling Stones present. Others put Brian Jones on acoustic guitar, Keith Richards on electric, and Bill Wyman on bass. It is also possible that Jimmy Page and/or John McLaughlin played on the song. However Oldham shed a little light on the mystery in 2010: “[It had] a vocal group mixed in with Keith and myself ‘bottom humming.’ The vocal group would have been the Ivy League, the orchestra were hired hands.”28
“Try a Little Harder” opens with a bass accompanied by a tambourine. This sound immediately conjures up the Motown signature, albeit, once more, with a hint of the wall of sound. The rhythm section is subdued but effective, and horn arrangements with a predominance of saxes lend the number a reasonably successful coloration. Jagger is provided with perfect support by the backing vocalists, and the result is good in spite of the production, which leaves a little to be desired on a technical level. Uncertainty persists to this day about the recording dates, and sources differ, but it is likely that the February session at Regent Sound Studios in London was the only session dedicated to the song.