(Credits: Far Out / Larry Rogers)
Tue 18 November 2025 18:00, UK
One of the defining frontmen of rock and roll history, Mick Jagger’s vocal prowess and eccentric energy have been enough to sustain The Rolling Stones for over 60 years, at this point.
Along the way, though, Jagger and the band have occasionally called in some backup in the form of various backing vocalists, adding new layers of enduring appeal to classics like ‘Tumbling Dice’.Â
That 1972 single reflected the changing sound of The Rolling Stones, as the Jagger-Richards songwriting partnership moved on from the youthful rebellion of their younger years during the 1960s into the big-budget rock and roll hedonism of the 1970s. After all, the band had reached the uppermost echelon of the rock landscape years prior, and their tax exile put unfathomable amounts of money and influence into their pockets – or, rather, their veins.
Ultimately, ‘Tumbling Dice’ harked back to the band’s earliest origins as a band of blues devotees, dominating the nightclubs and dingy late-night venues of early 1960s London. At the same time, though, The Stones had developed a lot since those days, and efforts like that 1972 smash were far bigger productions than their early singles, boasting extensive casts of session musicians and supporting stars.
Namely, the single featured the piano stylings of the band’s regular collaborator, Nicky Hopkins, whose presence is felt on virtually all of The Stones’ greatest hits, even though he was never considered a permanent member of the group. Inarguably, though, the greatest unsung heroes of the Exile On Main St standout was the three backing vocalists who carved out the backbone of the song’s vocal track.
In the great tradition of the American R&B scene, which has formed the basis for a lot of The Stones’ material, the band recruited a trio of backing singers for ‘Tumbling Dice’, giving the track its infectious gospel-tinged spirit.
Much like Merry Clayton, who was virtually unknown to the music mainstream until she performed those earth-shattering backing vocals on ‘Gimme Shelter’ a few years prior, the singers chosen from ‘Tumbling Dice’ weren’t exactly huge names.
Leading up the pack was Clydie King, the veteran session vocalist who had emerged during the 1960s as a favourite recruit of Phil Spector, before going on to perform alongside everybody from Bob Dylan to Ray Charles at various points in her career. At one time, in fact, she performed alongside the aforementioned Merry Clayton, providing the backing for ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, of all songs.
For the most part, though, King worked alongside two other vocalists, Venetta Fields and Sherlie Matthews – the latter of whom had cut her teeth in the cut-throat world of Motown Records before uniting with her vocal comrades.
It was this holy trinity of R&B excellence that arrived at Keith Richards’ Nellcôte mansion during the early 1970s to lay down the backing for ‘Tumbling Dice’ and, although they are rarely afforded much credit for their session work, the groundbreaking classic simply wouldn’t have sounded the same without their infallible talents backing up Mick Jagger’s tales of gambling woes.
Related Topics