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October 21st, 2026 · 2:00am BST
In 1967, The Rolling Stones were in somewhat of a transition in their music career.
For the most part, they had spent the decade being one of the premier live bands, performing for crowds all over the world with their exciting brand of blues rock that was mainly built on cover tracks. Stars of the 1950s were funnelled into the ‘60s rock and roll sound and reimagined through this unlikely British band, who were redefining the genre.
But then the crossroads of creativity quickly came, and they were forced to reckon with the fact that, to go further, they had to develop their songwriting. Covers of Chuck Berry and BB King could no longer suffice if they wanted to keep up with the fast-moving music industry, and so they had to react, which they did emphatically with ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’.
With the release of that one track, they announced themselves as songwriters, with no turning back. Now they could truly rival The Beatles in a way that everybody wanted them to, writing albums over singles and dedicating their craft to expansive long-form bodies of work.
Just two years later, they released Between the Buttons, which to any Stones fan worth their salt would be deemed the first true record of greatness, a collection of songs all their own that showcased what their unique sound as a band was. And it came at a crucial time, in ‘67, when there was no shortage of great records being released around them.
The Beatles were releasing Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band while The Velvet Underground & Nico were releasing their self-titled album. Genius was all around those who loved music, yet it was Between the Buttons that struck a chord with two virtuosos of the rock and roll era: Jerry Garcia and Frank Zappa.
The Grateful Dead leader was enamoured with The Stones’ eclectic ambition, something that they were helping to foster in the vibrant West Coast psychedelic scene. Brian Jones’ abandonment of the guitar for the marimba, organ and even the kazoo won Garcia over, and he spent the remaining stages of his career paying tribute to the record wherever he could.
Further reading: From The Vault
When he co-founded the country rock band New Riders of the Purple Sage (NRPS), he covered the song ‘Connection’ countless times before recruiting Bruce Springsteen’s saxophonist, Clarence Clemons, in 1989 to perform a psychedelic rendition of ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’. Something was brewing in the West Coast waters during the ‘67 Summer of Love, as it wasn’t just Garcia from the San Francisco scene that loved this record. His avant-garde counterpart Frank Zappa also jumped on the trend, celebrating The Stones’ record as a fundamental source of inspiration for his own artistry.
In fact, it was Zappa’s praise that served as the core memory of the record for Jagger, who explained, “Frank Zappa used to say he really liked it. It’s a good record.”
But clearly, the praise wasn’t enough for Jagger, as The Stones often regard it as one of their most unmemorable pieces of work, with Jagger continuing to explain that the overthought recording process made it somewhat “spoiled” in its finished product.
Nevertheless, it remains a core record for these two godfathers of psychedelic rock and for a band not even writing their own songs a few years before; that was something to celebrate.
