Rolling Stones - Street Fighting Man (Withdrawn single version)

This track was meant to part of Beggar's Banquet Sessions Pt. 1 BILL WYMAN from his book written with Ray Coleman, “Stone Alone – The Story Of A Rock ‘N’ Roll Band.” Published 1990. Excerpts edited by Flip. By March (68) we were all aware that after the dubious reception of Satanic Majesties we would have to start planning that new album. Mick recruited a New Yorker living in London, Jimmy Miller, to produce it after his impressive production work with the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Spooky Tooth. … under Miller’s supervision the juices began to flow. At the start of one session Keith took out his new Philips cassette-recorder and played us a demo of a song he’d done at home. We tried working on it but couldn’t get the same sound or feeling as the demo. Charlie then took out a miniature antique (music) box he’d just bought in town. This contained a tiny snare and small cymbal that fitted on to its side. When he started playing it on the floor, Keith sat beside him with an acoustic guitar and they played the track together. It sounded great. So they fixed up Keith’s cassette player and proceeded to record the song on to cassette, using its microphone. Com- pared with the sophistication of normal recording techniques, even in 1968, this was a raw, “homemade” method, but it worked. We were all knocked out by the crude sound and recorded the hi-fi dub of "Primo Grande (Street Fighting Man)” from cassette on to four-track. Two nights later we transferred it from four-track to eight-track, with some more overdubs. It was to become a Stones classic. For two months the momentum of our music kept us productive and disciplined. After Satanic Majesties, we had to tighten up. Between March 23 and 29 we recorded masters of “Jigsaw Puzzle,” “Child Of The Moon,” “Parachute Woman” – and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” The crucial riff for this song was mine, and it evolved in the unorthodox way that some of the best ideas do. One night during rehearsals at Morden I was sitting at the piano waiting for Mick and Keith to arrive. Charlie and Brian came in as I began playing the electronic keyboard, messing around with a great riff I’d found. Charlie and Brian began jamming with me and it sounded really good and tough. When Mick and Keith walked in they said, “Keep playing that, and don’t forget it – it sounds great.” A few weeks later when we were in the Olympic Studio, out came my riff, the backbone for Mick’s terrific lyrics: “I was born in a cross-fire hurri-cane…” And we all worked on the music. The part I’d composed worked perfectly – but the credit for this, one of our best tracks ever, reads Jagger-Richards. I knew the important riff was my idea and so did the band, but I’d forgotten to do anything about it. Even Keith admitted in interviews that I wrote that song.