“Paint it Black” thunders right through from beginning to end without pausing for breath. Much of The Rolling Stones catalogue has a more laid-back, languid style. The net result was an unusual blend - part Indian mysticism and part hard-driving rock from one of the world’s best rock bands. Hey presto - recording music history was made. Brian Jones had been experimenting with the sitar prior to the recording session so he played the piece on that instead, rather than following Keith’s original plan of trying to mimic the sound on his guitar. The story goes that Keith had tried to play the sitar part on a guitar at first but couldn’t bend the strings enough to make the sound required. But it was the first Number One…so that’s quite an achievement.ĭespite Keith Richards’ enduring, if not entirely accurate, image as The Rolling Stones’ main guitar player, it was actually Brian Jones who played the sitar on “Paint It Black”. “Paint It Black” certainly wasn’t the last hit record of the 1960s to feature a sitar. Most notably the Beatles had already been down that avenue, although the sitar hadn’t featured on any of the Beatles’ Number One hits up to that point in time. “Paint It Black” was the first UK Number One record to feature a sitar, although the Stones weren’t the first group to use one on a record. There weren’t many of those in rural Louisiana back in the 1920s, that’s for sure. It must have been a big surprise to the record buyers of 1966 when The Rolling Stones decided the sitar was the ideal instrument for their next record. A groove that could easily trace its roots back to a late-night bar in a small town somewhere deep in rural Louisiana during the 1920s. The Stones made their name recording good old-fashioned blues - which they updated around the edges to chime better with the more modern tastes of 1960s record buyers and in the process created a sound all of their own.īy the time “Paint It Black” came along, The Rolling Stones had established their distinctive groove. On so many levels, “Paint It Black” is a song unlike any other Rolling Stones track. Watching a video montage celebrating Ronnie Wood’s 40-year anniversary as a Rolling Stone the other day, I heard the unmistakable twang of my favourite Rolling Stones song in the background.
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