The song “Paint it, Black” is one of the most famous works of The Rolling Stones. It is perhaps second in popularity only to the band’s other hit, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”.
Despite more than half a century of history, The Rolling Stones song “Paint it, Black” is a “must have” in the playlists of several generations of rock’n’roll fans and self-respecting rock radio stations. With some mystical appeal, it doesn’t get boring even after thousands of listens.
History of the creation of the song “Paint it, Black”
The release date of “Paint it, Black” as a single fell on “Bloody Friday” – May 13th, 1966 (in the UK, and May 7th in the USA).
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger are believed to be behind its creation, for the most part. But it wouldn’t be that catchy hit without Brian Jones’ original riff and Bill Wyman’s work with the lows.
The original plan was for the song to be more rhythmic, groovy and funky. But in the end they decided to replace the regular guitar with an Indian sitar, which the band brought back from Fiji. And, according to Richards, that’s what made the whole song.
Later music critics put forward theories that The Rolling Stones in “Paint it, Black” copied The Beatles, who used sitar in the song “Norwegian Wood” (Jones was familiar with the “Beatle” George Harrison, who was fond of this instrument). But they might as well have criticized the band for playing guitar, drums or any other musical instrument anyone had played before.
Besides, though the official version claims that the Indian instrument appeared in the band’s repertoire under the influence of the Beatles, Mick Jagger mentioned in his interview a “weirdo” playing sitar in some jazz band whom the Rollings had met in the studio while recording “Paint it, Black”. They supposedly liked the unusual muffled sound of the sitar so much that they decided to make it the “basis” for a future hit.
In general, it doesn’t matter how, but it happened, and the instrument was definitely the right one – with an ordinary guitar this song would have hardly become so memorable.
Another experiment was realized by Bill Wyman, who wanted to shade the soft sound of the sitar with deeper bass. But since it was impossible to achieve the desired effect with a bass guitar, Bill sat down at the electric organ. Or rather, lay down. He sprawled out on the floor and pounded the pedals with his fists.
In contrast to the musical component, on which almost all the members of The Rolling Stones worked, the text of “Paint it, Black” was composed by Mick Jagger from the first to the last word.