THE ROLLING STONES’ STUDIO RECEIPT FOR RECORDING ‘WILD HORSES’ AND ‘BROWN SUGAR’
09.19.2014



Bill Wyman, Jimmy Johnson, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Marshall Chess (president of Rolling Stones Records), Ahmet Ertegun (president of Atlantic Records) and Terry Woodford


Is Sticky Fingers  the Stones’ best album? What do you think? There’s a lot of competition, Let It Bleed , Exile on Main Street , Beggars Banquet ...... Sticky Fingers is up there, though.

Sticky Fingers was one of the first albums recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, in Sheffield, Alabama, having been founded by the Swampers just a couple years earlier. Over the course of the 1970s a lot of great music was recorded there, from Paul Simon and Rod Stewart to Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and beyond. Cher’s album 3614 Jackson Highway  takes its title from the studio’s address. In 2009 Akron’s the Black Keys came down to Muscle Shoals to cut Brothers , which ended up winning a Grammy.

As it happens, only three songs off of Sticky Fingers were recorded at Muscle Shoals, but two of them were the album’s only two singles and are without question the most immortal tracks off the album: “Wild Horses” and “Brown Sugar.” (The third song recorded at Muscle Shoals was “You Gotta Move.”)





Here’s the receipt that Muscle Shoals remitted to the Stones, or more precisely ABKCO, being the company founded by one Allen B. Klein, the shark tasked with managing both the Beatles and the Stones for a time. The Sticky Fingers sessions ran from December 2 to 4, 1969, with the rest of the album being recorded during much of 1970. This session was one of the last times Klein would be their manager, as the Stones would jettison him (as much as was possible) as soon as they could. As you can see, the receipt helpfully says “The Rolling Stones / Wild Horses” right on it.

So that’s that: In 1969 recorded two of rock music’s greatest songs and paid a cool grand for the privilege. That amount of money translates into about $6,500 today.

Here are some wonderful pics of the Stones recording parts of Sticky Fingers at Muscle Shoals:


Mick Taylor, Keith Richards, and Ian Stewart (standing)


Charlie Watts


Bill Wyman, Jimmy Johnson, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, and Ian Stewart


Mick Jagger recording the percussion on “Brown Sugar”


Mick Taylor working out on the congas


Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama

via Blue Arrow Records

Posted by Martin Schneider


http://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_rolling_stones_studio_receipt

I hope they were finally able to recoup that $1000.00 back...

$8.25 for three empty reels?  Not at Radio Shack!

They may have cut these Sticky Fingers classics at Muscle Shoals, but the versions on the album were actually done (or finished) later :

From Aeppli's 'Ultimate Guide' :
STICKY FINGERS
A1 Brown Sugar
A2 Sway
A3 Wild Horses
A4 Can’t You Hear Me Knocking
A5 You Gotta Move (McDowell, Davis)
B1 Bitch
B2 I Got The Blues
B3 Sister Morphine (Jagger, Richards, Faithfull)
B4 Dead Flowers
B5 Moonlight Mile

Cut A1: Recorded at Olympic Sound Studios, London, April 24, 1970.
Cuts A2, B1, B5: Recorded with RSM, Stargroves, Newbury and/or at Olympic Sound Studios, London,
October 21 onwards and November, 1970.
Cuts A4, A5: Recorded at Olympic Sound Studios, London, March-May, 1970.
Cut A3: Recorded at Olympic Sound Studios, London, February 17, 1970.
Cuts B2, B4: Recorded with RSM, Stargroves, Newbury, March, 1970.
Cut B3: Recorded at Olympic Sound Studios, London, March 28-31, 1969.




from zentgraf.de

691209A  9th, 10th & 18th December: London, Olympic Sound Studios. Producer: Jimmy Miller.
                   Sound engineer: Glyn Johns.
                   - Brown Sugar III (MJ/KR) -STU on piano; partly to be heard in Gimme Shelter-
                        movie, released on Hot Rocks (by mistake on 1st pressings only!)
                   - Dead Flowers I (MJ/KR) -STU on piano; "little Lucy"-version
                   - Wild Horses II (MJ/KR) -remixed version I, released on Hot Rocks (by mistake
                        on 1st pressings only!)
                   - Wild Horses III (MJ/KR) -version II without piano
                   - You Gotta Move II (Fred McDowell/Rev. Gary Davis) -partly to be heard in Gimme
                        Shelter-movie
                   - You Gotta Move III (Fred McDowell/Rev. Gary Davis) -"Decca-acetate"-version,
                       slightly different mix to Sticky Fingers-version


700217A  17th February: London, Olympic Sound Studios. Producer: Jimmy Miller.
                    Sound engineers: Glyn & Andy Johns . Final sessions for Wild Horses.
                    - Wild Horses V (MJ/KR) -shortened; included in Gimme  Shelter-movie
                    - Wild Horses VI (MJ/KR) -Billy Preston on organ
                    - Wild Horses VII  (MJ/KR) -Sticky Fingers-version
                    - Wild Horses VIII (MJ/KR) -7" promo-edit

700424A  24th April: London, Olympic Sound Studios. Producer: Jimmy Miller. Sound
                   engineers: Glyn Johns, Andy Johns & Chris Kimsey. Final mixing.
                   - Brown Sugar IV (MJ/KR) -STU on piano, with Bobby Keys on sax, MT hardly
                        audible
                  - Brown Sugar I (MJ/KR) -STU on piano, Bobby Keys on sax; much clearer mix of
                       version IV, earlier strike up of Bobby Keys
                  - Brown Sugar VI (MJ/KR) -STU on piano, Bobby Keys on sax; Sticky Fingers-
                       version.
                  - Dead Flowers II (MJ/KR) -STU on piano; Sticky Fingers-version

Thanks, but the research was done by two great Stones historians. I cant take any credit for that.

Marker to recall ’69 Rolling Stones session in Shoals




Photo courtesy of Muscle Shoals Sound
Mick Jagger in the studio of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios during the Rolling Stones’ 1969 recording session.





Photo Courtesy of Jimmy Johnson
Jimmy Johnson, Mick Jagger, Mick Taylor and Terry Woodford in the control room of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios during the Rolling Stones’ December 1969 recording session.




Posted: Thursday, October 9, 2014 11:23 pm
By Robert Palmer Staff Writer



FLORENCE — The Shoals is getting a new state historic marker commemorating its world-renowned music industry.

The marker will be placed at the site of the former Holiday Inn on South Court Street, where the Rolling Stones stayed during their Dec. 2-4, 1969, recording session at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield.

State tourism director Lee Sentell made the announcement at Thursday’s Florence-Lauderdale Tourism Board meeting.

The English rock band’s stay was documented in the movie “Gimme Shelter.” During the course of three days, the Stones recorded three songs, the No. 1 “Brown Sugar,” Top 30 hit “Wild Horses,” and the blues standard “You Got To Move.”

A week ago, a state historic marker was unveiled at the site of the former Norala Recording Studio in Sheffield, where Leighton native Percy Sledge recorded “When A Man Loves A Woman” in 1966, the first No. 1 record to come from the Muscle Shoals music industry.

Sentell said the marker commemorating the Rolling Stones visit will be unveiled during an upcoming First Friday in downtown Florence. The site is now occupied by Hampton Inn.

“This December is the 45th anniversary of the Rolling Stones recording here,” Sentell said.

Their recording session was somewhat clandestine because their work permits did not allow for recording, only live performance. The Stones worked at night while the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, which owned the studio, worked by day on an R.B. Greaves session. Greaves’ Top 5 hit “Take A Letter Maria” was the studio’s first significant hit after opening in April 1969.

Sentell has been instrumental in getting the state historic markers for the Muscle Shoals music sites. The state tourism office has also played a significant role in the reopening of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia. He said the documentary movie “Muscle Shoals,” which was released in 2013, has brought renewed attention to the area’s music heritage.

Robert Palmer can be reached at 256-740-5720 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @TD_RobertPalmer.


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Stones marker unveiling is Friday

 
Posted: Friday, November 28, 2014 11:55 pm | Updated: 11:56 pm, Fri Nov 28, 2014.

By Russ Corey Staff Writer



SHEFFIELD — Jimmy Johnson admits he wasn’t a big fan of The Rolling Stones, but after cutting three of their biggest songs at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in December 1969, he became one.

Johnson, one of the co-owners of the legendary studio, originally was supposed to be assistant engineer for the three-day session. When The Stones’ producer/engineer, Jimmy Miller, couldn’t make the session, the lead engineer’s role fell on Johnson.

“I was familiar with them, but I wasn’t a big fan of them,” Johnson said. “By the time they left, I was. I got to see how they worked, how they did it and how they worked together.”

At 4:30 p.m. Friday, a marker commemorating The Rolling Stones’ 1969 “Sticky Fingers” recording sessions at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios will be unveiled at Hampton Inn & Suites in downtown Florence.

The hotel was built on the South Court Street site of the old Holiday Inn motel where The Stones stayed during the three-day recording session.

The marker was produced by the Alabama Tourism Department.

Footage of The Stones at the motel and driving across O’Neal Bridge to the studio was included in the 1970 film “Gimme Shelter” and in the “Muscle Shoals” documentary.
Johnson said he learned about 12 hours before the sessions that he would be the lead engineer.

“I’d already cut ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’ and four or five other hits, so it was not like it was new to me,” Johnson said. “I was real comfortable.”

It helped that they were in the studio he, David Hood, Roger Hawkins and Barry Beckett had built not quite a year earlier.

Johnson pointed out that in the documentary, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richard said Muscle Shoals Sound was one of the best studios he’d ever recorded in.

“And he was right,” Johnson said. “We felt the same way about it and I felt the same way about FAME.”

Johnson, Hood, Hawkins and Beckett had worked at Rick Hall’s FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals for years before striking out on their own.

The Stones cut “Brown Sugar,” “Wild Horses” and “You Gotta Move” during the sessions. The tracks were released two years later on the multi-platinum “Sticky Fingers.”

Johnson said the band finished writing “Brown Sugar” and “You Gotta Move” while they were in the studio. “You Gotta Move” had been recorded by Mississippi Fred McDowell and previously by the Blind Boys of Alabama.

“They had ideas for the songs,” Johnson said. “We had five hours to cut and a lot of time was spent coming up with the guitar riffs. That was Keith’s job. So there were three or four hours before we started making takes.”

Hawkins said while Johnson was busy with The Stones at night, the entire rhythm section was busy recording R.B. Greaves during the day.

Greaves’ “Take A Letter, Maria,” which was recorded in August 1969, became the studio’s first hit single. It was produced by Atlantic Records president, Ahmet Ertegun, who accompanied Greaves to the studio when they returned in December 1969.

“It took us about 10 minutes to record ‘Take A Letter, Maria,’” Hawkins said. “It was one of those things that just clicked.”

Johnson said Ertegun was also in the Shoals to negotiate a worldwide distribution deal between The Stones and Atlantic Records.

Johnson said attorneys for The Stones and Atlantic met at the Holiday Inn.

“Jerry Wexler, who wasn’t even supposed to come down, was there to represent Atlantic Records,” Johnson said. “They came up with the whole distribution agreement while they were here. It was quite a week.”

Wexler helped lay the groundwork for the growth of the Muscle Shoals music scene through his relationship with Rick Hall.

Despite their reputation as a hard partying rock band, Jonhson said The Stones stuck to business during the sessions.

“There was no partying,” he said. “Their reputation was they drank all the time and did other things. They drank very little and they were not drunk. They were so businesslike. That’s what got my respect for them.”

Hawkins wasn’t involved in the recording session, but took several photographs while he was in the studio.

“They were working at night,” Hawkins said. “I didn’t get to see the whole thing.”

He said one night he stepped outside the studio and listened to the band.

“They really didn’t have it together yet,” he said.

Hawkins said the sound was actually a bit sloppy. Later, he said, “Brown Sugar” started to come together.

“It was one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll things I’d ever heard,” he said.

Hawkins said he conversed with fellow drummer Charlie Watts.

“It was a cordial chat,” he said. “Somewhere, I have a picture of us together.”

Hawkins said The Rolling Stones sessions are probably some of the most well-known to occur at Muscle Shoals Sound.


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