{"id":345107,"date":"2025-12-31T18:35:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T18:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/345107\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T18:35:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T18:35:10","slug":"the-one-rolling-stones-song-mick-jagger-struggled-to-sing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/345107\/","title":{"rendered":"The one Rolling Stones song Mick Jagger struggled to sing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mick<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n

Wed 31 December 2025 15:40, UK <\/p>\n

Mick Jagger<\/a> feels more like a superpowered frontman these days than an actual rock star. <\/p>\n

While most artists have tried their best to dominate the stage whenever they play, no one can claim to have put hours behind the microphone and still be able to sing as well as Jagger does across over half a century of being in the same group. That\u2019s not to say that Jagger doesn\u2019t have his pitfalls, and he admitted that the song \u2018Can\u2019t You Hear Me Knockin\u201d would always be a challenge for him to pull off.<\/p>\n

Once The Stones started writing their own tunes, though, there didn\u2019t seem to be anything off the table for Jagger to sing. Outside of the blues growl that he was known for in the early days, there were just as many times that he could turn on the crooner voice when putting together tracks like \u2018As Tears Go By\u2019.<\/p>\n

If anything, the fact that The Beatles kept innovating meant that The Stones were always right behind them. Jagger couldn\u2019t always put his voice through different acrobatics, but he could still turn on the fruitiness when making Between the Buttons or twisting his blues-infused tone until it sounded psychedelic on Their Satanic Majesties Request<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After making Beggars Banquet, Jagger learned an important lesson about his voice: it\u2019s better to be yourself. Although those experiments were still incredible for what they were, hearing him go back to the ratty blues voice that he had started with was just the kind of tone that he worked best in.<\/p>\n

When it came time to make Sticky Fingers, though, the riff that Keith Richards came up with or \u2018Can\u2019t You Hear Me Knockin\u2019\u2019 was going to be difficult for him to sing, telling Spotify<\/a>, \u201cI [did] lots of vocals, harmonies to sort of hide the fact that I didn\u2019t really hit the notes that great in the chorus bits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mick<\/a>Mick Jagger strutting his stuff. (Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n

You can usually hear those vocals a lot more prominently whenever the title of the song drops, almost like a gang of different Jaggers have suddenly entered the room whenever he fires one off. But does that really mean that every one of Jagger\u2019s vocals wasn\u2019t good enough to be sung?<\/p>\n

Not at all. If anything, the fact that his vocal is a bit rough around the edges actually fits a lot better with the character behind the song. The track is meant to be a loose blues jam centred around a man knocking at his old lady\u2019s door, so hearing him screaming is the equivalent of Jagger waiting outside begging for some kind of romantic relief.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also one of Richards\u2019 favourite riffs from the band: \u201cOn that song, my fingers just landed in the right place, and I discovered a few things about that [five-string, open G] tuning that I\u2019d never been aware of. I think I realised that even as I was cutting the track.\u201d<\/p>\n

The luck continued as the iconic final jam sessions were never meant to be recorded. \u201cAnd then that jam at the end \u2013 we didn\u2019t even know they were still taping. We thought we\u2019d finished,\u201d Keef continues, \u201c\u2018Oh they kept it going. Okay, fade it out there \u2013 no wait, a little bit more, a bit more\u2026\u2019 Basically, we realised we had two bits of music: there\u2019s the song and there\u2019s the jam.\u201d Luckily, Richards is there to help and delivers a spellbinding opening riff for \u2018Can\u2019t You Hear Me Knocking\u2019 that will go down in the annals of rock.<\/p>\n

Outside of Jagger\u2019s vocal enhancements, the star of the show is that outro featuring some of the greatest guitar fills that Richards and Mick Taylor had ever recorded together. The band didn\u2019t even know that the tape was still rolling towards the end of that extended instrumental, but it just adds to the mystery of the tune. This is a bluesy dirge of desperation, and if Jagger\u2019s voice couldn\u2019t reach those high notes, the guitar duel waiting at the back end of the tune was enough to keep things rolling. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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