Writers: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Producer: Jimmy Miller
Recorded: November 17th, 1968, at Olympic Studios in London
Released: July 4th, 1969
| Players: | Mick Jagger — vocals Keith Richards — guitar Jimmy Miller — drums Bill Wyman — bass Al Kooper — piano, French horn, organ London Bach Choir — backing vocals Madelaine Bell, Doris Troy, Nanette Newman — backing vocals Jack Nitzche — choral arrangements Rocky Dijon — percussion |
| Album: |
Let It Bleed (London) |
Though it was recorded a few months before Brian Jones left the band (and then died), he receives no credit for this song or for Let It Bleed. So, technically, “You Can't Always Get What You Want,” as the B-side to “Honky Tonk Women,” was the Rolling Stones' first Jones-less single.
Bassist Bill Wyman remembered that Jones's contribution to that session was to “lie down on his stomach most of the night, reading an article on botany.”
Drummer Charlie Watts was also AWOL on the song.
The French horn part was Al Kooper's suggestion during initial recording sessions for the song. Kooper wrote and recorded an entire horn section, but the Stones kept only his intro.
In his memoir, Wyman remembered it as “an extremely long session, running from 10:00 p.m. until 6:15 a.m., and proof that when the mood took the band, the motivation and music was always there.”
The Stones performed the song for their Rock And Roll Circus, a lavish televised show held on December 8th, 1968. Unhappy with their performance, the Stones did not release a video and album of the event until 1996, though footage of “You Can't Always Get What You Want” was included in the home video 12×5.