![]() ![]() That’s what the Rolling Stones started – maybe we should have a revival of that.” ![]() It’s like the beginnings of miserable psychedelia. Mick Jagger: “That was the time of lots of acid. While some fans interpreted this as a statement on race relations, it’s far more likely that the rogue comma was the result of a clerical error, something not uncommon in the ’60s. On the single, there is a comma before the word “black” in the title, rendering it, “Paint It, Black.” This of course changes the context, implying that a person named “Black” is being implored to paint. This was used as the theme song for Tour Of Duty, a CBS show about the Vietnam War which ran from 1987-1989. We tried a guitar but you can’t bend it enough.” To get the right sound on ‘Paint It Black’ we found the sitar fitted perfectly. We had the sitars, we thought we’d try them out in the studio. They’re very brittle and you have to be careful how you handle them. Sitars are made out of watermelons or pumpkins or something smashed so they go hard. They make sitars and all sorts of Indian stuff. ![]() Keith Richards: “We were in Fiji for about three days. Jones made good television by balancing the instrument on his lap during appearances. On this track, Stones guitarist Brian Jones played the sitar, which was introduced to pop music by The Beatles on their 1965 song Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown). This new more upbeat rhythm was then used in the recording as a counterpoint to the morbid lyrics. Co-manager Eric Easton (who had been an organist), and Charlie Watts joined in and improvised a double-time drum pattern, echoing the rhythm heard in some Middle Eastern dances. When Bill Wyman began fooling around on the organ during the session doing a takeoff of their original as a spoof of music played at Jewish weddings. The Rolling Stones wrote this as a much slower, conventional soul song. “If I look hard enough into the setting sun, my love will laugh with me before the morning comes” – This refers to her in Heaven. “I could not foresee this thing happening to you” – It was an unexpected and sudden death. He talks about his heart being black because of his loss. “With flowers and my love both never to come back” – The flowers from the funeral and her in the hearse. “I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black” – The hearse and limos. The song seems to be about a lover who died: It’s not an original thought by any means. When asked at the time why he wrote a song about death, Mick Jagger replied: “I don’t know. There was no specific inspiration for the lyrics. This is written from the viewpoint of a person who is depressed he wants everything to turn black to match his mood. Every time this is used in a commercial or TV show, Klein’s estate (he died in 2009) gets paid. With Klein controlling their money, The Stones signed over the publishing rights to all the songs they wrote up to 1969. In 1965, The Stones hired him and signed a deal they would later regret. ![]() The Stones former manager Allen Klein owned the publishing rights to this song. The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #1 in the UK, and #4 in New Zealand in 1966. After Brian left they played mostly blues-rock along with a little reggae-influenced music later on. Along with some blues they ventured into pop, rock, and a bit of psychedelia. The Stones were more adventurous in the mid-sixties. Whatever song they wrote, Jones would play a different instrument to color the song. Brian Jones plays a sitar on this record. It’s menacing with a dash of eastern influence. Of all of the Rolling Stones riffs…this one is one of the most memorable. ![]()
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