{"id":806890,"date":"2026-08-08T14:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/806890\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:12:15","slug":"paul-mccartney-picks-the-three-best-songs-by-the-rolling-stones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/806890\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul McCartney picks the three best songs by The Rolling Stones"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

Credit: Far Out \/ Ingen Uppgift \/ Alamy \/ Bradford Timeline<\/p>\n

Sat 8 August 2026 12:41, UK <\/p>\n

The Beatles and The Rolling Stones<\/a> were undoubtedly the two biggest bands to emerge from the 1960s. Their differences helped to define the decade.<\/p>\n

Forming part of the British invasion that dominated the music industry, they roared out the traps to the point of musical royalty in only a matter of months. But they did so in wildly different ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whereas the Fab Four often donned matching suits and haircuts, The Stones were marketed as the bad boys of rock and roll, framed by headlines such as \u201cWould you let your daughter marry a Rolling Stone?\u201d There were even links to Satanism.<\/a><\/p>\n

The two bands were always pitted as rivals, although in Mick Jagger\u2019s speech at the 1988 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he explained, \u201cWe went through some pretty strange times. We had a sort of a lot of rivalry in those early years and a little bit of friction, but we always ended up friends.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Beatles even gave The Rolling Stones a head start in 1963, with the latter\u2019s second single, \u2018I Wanna Be Your Man\u2019,<\/a> originally written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The track, which appeared on With the Beatles, was a hit for the Stones, peaking at number 12 in the UK Singles Chart.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Within two years, Jagger and his crew had amassed legions of fans and worldwide fame, scoring a number one with their second record, The Rolling Stones No. 2, in January 1965. Vitally, the vying duo pushed each other on.<\/p>\n

Despite their status as rival bands, the members have never exactly hated each other. McCartney admires the Stones\u2019 work, telling Esquire<\/a> about his favourite tracks from the band, and how he\u2019d still love to see the trio of anthems performed. The first is their iconic hit \u2018(I Can\u2019t Get No) Satisfaction\u2019<\/a>, released in 1965. The track gave the band their first number one hit in the United States, propelling them to unknown heights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Jagger, \u201cIt was the song that really made the Rolling Stones, changed us from just another band into a huge, monster band \u2026 It has a very catchy title. It has a very catchy guitar riff. It has a great guitar sound, which was original at that time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Mick<\/a>Credit: Far Out \/ Alamy<\/p>\n

With its instantly recognisable riff and uncouth look at teenage angst, it proved iconic in an instant. This wasn\u2019t lost on Jagger who continued, \u201cAnd it captures a spirit of the times, which is very important in those kinds of songs \u2026 Which was alienation.\u201d Evidently, it caught McCartney\u2019s attention as he looked to do something similar with the likes of \u2018Helter Skelter\u2019.<\/p>\n

McCartney also enjoys \u2018Honky Tonk Women\u2019, which was first released in 1969. The track, with its sexually suggestive lyrics<\/a>, was another number one hit for the Stones in several countries, including the United States and their home turf.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inspired by Hank Williams\u2019 \u2018Honky Tonk Blues\u2019, the band initially fleshed out the song in a country style before turning it into a more commercially viable rock hit. As Keith Richards explained in a promotional interview, \u201cMick and I were sitting on the porch of this ranch house, and I started to play, basically fooling around with an old Hank Williams idea. \u2018Cause we really thought we were like real cowboys.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Stones put their country version of the track, \u2018Country Honk\u2019, on Let It Bleed. And while it\u2019s the rockier take that McCartney prefers, the \u201869 still stands out as a moment that defines the Stones\u2019 lesser-noted versatility that McCartney admires in all of his peers.<\/p>\n

Finally, another of McCartney\u2019s favourite songs by the Rolling Stones is \u2018Ruby Tuesday\u2019, yet another American number one for the band. Although the song was meant to be a B-side for \u2018Let\u2019s Spend the Night Together\u2019, the sexual nature of the A-side meant that \u2018Ruby Tuesday\u2019 often got played by radio stations instead, allowing it to become an unexpected success. <\/p>\n

The song features Brian Jones on the recorder, one of his many musical talents. Richards told Rolling Stone, \u201cHe was a gas. He was a cat who could play any instrument. It was like, \u2018there it is, music comes out of it. If I work at it for a bit, I can do it.’\u201d That spirit is highly evident in this era-defining tune.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a wonderful song,\u201d Jagger told Jann Wenner in 1995. \u201cIt\u2019s just a nice melody, really. And a lovely lyric. Neither of which I wrote, but I always enjoy singing it.\u201d Clearly, McCartney, as the modern king of melody, agreed.<\/p>\n

Evidently, there\u2019s a lot of respect there, even if he does admit, \u201cThe Beatles were better\u201d.<\/p>\n

Paul McCartney\u2019s three favourite Rolling Stones songs:\u2018(I Can\u2019t Get No) Satisfaction\u2019\u2018Honky Tonk Women\u2019\u2018Ruby Tuesday\u2019<\/p>\n

ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE \"\"\/ <\/a> The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n

All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Credit: Far Out \/ Ingen Uppgift \/ Alamy \/ Bradford Timeline Sat 8 August 2026 12:41, UK The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":806891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[2617,88,216,13501,2156,13979,1735],"class_list":["post-806890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-classic-rock","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-paul-mccartney","tag-rock-music","tag-the-beatles","tag-the-rolling-stones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}