Song Of The Day: ‘Gimme Shelter’: The Rolling Stones
As my classmates and I celebrate our 50th High School Reunion this month (Brandywine HS, Class of ’69), I’m gonna present a month of great songs from one of the greatest years in music ever.
Newsweek described ‘Gimme Shelter’ as ‘an erotic exorcism for a doomed decade’. And this article, must reading, which provides a tremendous history of the song’s evolution, describes it as the song that ‘became the emblem of the moment when the 60s dream flared into the 70s nightmare.’ The song, of course, was released on the eve of the Stones’ ill-considered appearance at the Altamont Speedway in northern California (Hell’s Angels as security guards? What could possibly go wrong?)
This song is all Keith, with the incredible vocals of Merry Clayton kicking it into the stratosphere:
Good choice for the start of the impeachment shitstorm.
Credit Jack Nitzsche with Merry Clayton’s presence. He was mixing the track when the idea of a female vocalist hit him, so he called Clayton around midnight. Clayton, heavily pregnant, got out of bed, went to the studio, sang several takes and went back home to bed. She later miscarried.
My favorite from ‘69-‘70. A rallying song, for me, Nixon going into Cambodia and all. I needed emotional support, and this song was it.