Mick Jagger / Keith Richards / 3:50
Musicians
Mick Jagger: vocals, rhythm guitar
Keith Richards: lead guitar
Bill Wyman: bass
Charlie Watts: drums
Ron Wood: rhythm guitar
Bobby Keys: saxophone
Michael Shrieve: tambourine
Recorded
EMI Pathé Marconi Studios, Boulogne-Billancourt, France: June 27–October 8, 1979
Electric Lady Studios, New York City: November–December 1979, April 1980
Technical Team
Producers: The Glimmer Twins
Associate producer: Chris Kimsey
Sound engineer: Chris Kimsey
Assistant sound engineers: Sean Fullan, Brad Samuelsohn, Ron “Snake” Reynolds, Jon Smith
The party’s over, let me go, sings Mick Jagger. The contrast with the previous song is striking, for “Let Me Go” is a song about breaking up, like “Gotta Get Away” and “Out of Time” from a few years before. You’ll never find that perfect love, continues the Stones singer, referring to the love the girl has read about in books and dreamed of. With the result that the lover is now enamored of the prospect of freedom and even dreams of hanging out in gay bars. This is an example of Jagger at his most cynical! “Let Me Go” may not be a major Rolling Stones song, but it nevertheless went down well onstage during the concerts of 1981–1982.
Compared to the live version, the album cut seems somewhat restrained: the tempo is slower and the band members give the impression of not fully giving themselves up to the song. Although merely an album track, it is a very good one, made by Keith, who, right from the introduction, has no other intention than to lead his pals down the rock ’n’ roll path, as he is so adept at doing. He plays an intro that almost brings to mind a less savage Led Zeppelin. His sound is rockabilly, colored by his MXR and its analog delay. He plays an impeccable guitar part with an extremely well-worked solo starting at 1:45, the whole thing supplemented by short but highly prominent reverb. Ron supports him discreetly but highly effectively on rhythm, as does Mick, who has started accompanying his bandmates on the guitar on rock numbers. Charlie works his Gretsch kit with some power, and Bill keeps him on his toes by stressing the beat with his very solid bass line. Michael Shrieve can be heard on tambourine, ultimately a key rhythmic element on the track by virtue of its place in the mix. Bobby Keys contributes on sax, but unfortunately is undermixed and in any case comes in only at the very end of the track, at 3:34. Finally, Mick Jagger is beyond reproach, as on every rock number he sings, harmonizing with and double-tracking himself in the refrains.