![]() Īt about 2:59 into the song, Clayton's voice cracks under the strain once during the second refrain on the word "shot", then on the word "murder" during the third refrain, after which Jagger is faintly heard exclaiming "Woo!" in response to Clayton's powerful delivery. It remained the most prominent contribution to a Rolling Stones track by a female vocalist for 54 years, until the October 2023 release of " Sweet Sounds of Heaven" on their album, Hackney Diamonds, featuring Lady Gaga, whom producer Andrew Watt described as "almost embodying Merry Clayton" on the track. '" Summoned from bed around midnight by Nitzsche, Clayton – about four months pregnant – made her recording with just a few takes and then returned home to bed. It would be one of those moments along the lines of 'I hear a girl on this track – get one on the phone. When speaking of her inclusion in the recording, Jagger stated in the 2003 book According to the Rolling Stones that the Rolling Stones' producer Jimmy Miller thought of having a female singer on the track and told fellow producer Nitzsche to contact one: "The use of the female voice was the producer's idea. She and Jagger then repeat the line "It's just a shot away" and finish with repeats of "It's just a kiss away". Then, with great energy, Clayton repeatedly sings "Rape, murder! It's just a shot away! It's just a shot away!", almost screaming the final stanza. A harmonica solo by Jagger and guitar solo by Richards follow. After the first verse is sung by Jagger, Clayton enters and they share the next three verses. The recording features guest vocals by Merry Clayton, recorded at a last-minute late-night recording session in Los Angeles during the mixing phase, arranged by her friend and record producer Jack Nitzsche. ![]() We went further into it until it became, you know, rape and murder are 'just a shot away'. It was just people running about looking for shelter – that was the germ of the idea. I had been sitting by the window of my friend Robert Fraser's apartment on Mount Street in London with an acoustic guitar when suddenly the sky went completely black and an incredible monsoon came down. The song's inspiration was not initially Vietnam or social unrest, however, but Richards seeing people scurrying for shelter from a sudden rain storm. ![]() It's been used a lot to evoke natural disaster. It's still wheeled out when big storms happen, as they did the other week. When it was recorded, early '69 or something, it was a time of war and tension, so that's reflected in this tune. It was a very moody piece about the world closing in on you a bit. It's apocalypse the whole record's like that. ![]() That's a kind of end-of-the-world song, really. People objected, and people didn't want to fight it. It was a real nasty war, and people didn't like it. The thing about Vietnam was that it wasn't like World War II, and it wasn't like Korea, and it wasn't like the Gulf War. And Vietnam was not war as we knew it in the conventional sense. Violence on the screens, pillage and burning. Well, it's a very rough, very violent era. Of Let It Bleed 's bleak world view, Jagger said in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone magazine: Īs released, the song begins with Richards performing a guitar intro, soon joined by Jagger's lead vocal. In his autobiography Life, Richards revealed that the tension of the song was inspired by his jealousy at seeing the relationship between Pallenberg and Jagger, and his suspicions of an affair between them. Richards began working on the song's signature opening riff in London while Jagger was away filming Performance with Richards' then-girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg. "Gimme Shelter" was written by the Rolling Stones' lead vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards, the band's primary songwriting team. In 2021 "Gimme Shelter" was ranked at number 13 on Rolling Stone's list of the " 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". "Gimme Shelter" has placed in various positions on many "best of" and "greatest" lists including that of Rolling Stone magazine. It features prominent guest vocals by American singer Merry Clayton.Īmerican author, music journalist and cultural critic Greil Marcus, writing for Rolling Stone magazine at the time of its release, praised the song, stating that the band has "never done anything better". The song covers the brutal realities of war, including murder, rape and fear. ![]() Written by Jagger-Richards, it is the opening track of the band's 1969 album Let It Bleed. " Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. ![]()
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