Sympathy for the Devil (Rolling Stones cover)

I've been doing home recordings with assistance from Apple's GarageBand app, which provides drum templates. This is my version of Sympathy for the Devil, a Rolling Stones classic from 1968. What you hear on this recording is my singing, guitar playing, and bass playing. The drumming comes from the GarageBand app.

The version of this song you probably know is from the Beggars Banquet album, released in 1968. It is more piano-centric with ample use of the bongos. But when the Stones hit the road in 1969, they turned this into a guitar extravaganza, thanks to their new guitarist, Mick Taylor, who had recently replaced Brian Jones, who was kicked out of the band in spring 1969. Taylor was a whiz-kid, only in his early 20's. He and Keith Richard trade licks on the live version, which you can year on the 1970 live album, Get Your Ya-Ya's Out.

A few notes about this song. Through the end of 1967, the Rolling Stones were probably the second-best band in music, behind the Beatles. Critics had noticed that the Stones seemed to be copying the Beatles. While the Stones had their own style, they were not trendsetting like the Beatles. This became most apparent when the Stones released Their Satanic Majesty's Request in late 1967, a Sgt. Pepper copycat album. The Stones were not big into psychedelia. I know there are contrarians who live Satanic Majesty's Request, but other than She's A Rainbow, there is nothing there quite like Satisfaction, 19th Nervous Breakdown, and Paint if Black. The Stones were losing their way.

They must have regrouped in early 1968 and determined to return to their R&B roots. Hence, Jumping Jack Flash, a single from spring 1968. That year, the band for the first time began writing topical lyrics. That brings us to Sympathy For the Devil.

Sympathy was written in response to the social unrest and riots of 1967-1968. The lyrics were changed after Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in June 1968 while running for U.S. president. "I shouted out 'who killed the Kennedys,' when after all it was you and me." My favorite line in Sympathy: "I watched with glee while your kings and queens fought for ten decades for the gods they made."