How The Rolling Stones song ‘Memo From Turner’ made it to Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese had the perfect plan for the pivotal helicopter scene in his 1990 masterpiece Goodfellas. As Henry Hill darts around the city in a cocaine-induced haze, the radio dial on his car continuously switches between snippets of music. The frenetic pace of the scene is heightened by the music choices, which include The Who’s ‘Magic Bus’, George Harrison’s ‘What Is Life’, and no less than three versions of Harry Nilsson’s ‘Jump Into the Fire’. It was also supposed to have The Rolling Stones, which it kind of did and kind of didn’t.
Scorsese’s love for the Stones is well-documented. While he might have a bad habit of using ‘Gimme Shelter’ over and over again in Goodfellas, it all serves a purpose. During his most paranoid lows, Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill can barely tell where he is at any given time. So when the audience hears the voice of Mick Jagger three different times over the course of 20 minutes, it helps convey how discombobulated Henry has become.
Throughout Hill’s descent into coke madness, the audience hears two Stones classics: ‘Gimme Shelter’ and ‘Monkey Man’, two itchy and tense tracks from Let It Bleed. But the Stones are credited with three songs in the film’s end credits. In reality, Scorsese had used a Mick Jagger solo single that had previously been credited to the Stones on the 1989 compilation Singles Collection: The London Years.
‘Memo from Turner’ was originally written by Mick Jagger after the sessions for 1968’s Beggar’s Banquet. Steve Winwood originally tried his hand at recording the song, but a version by the Stones (or, at least, some of the Stones) was eventually tracked. Jagger then recorded his own solo version featuring Ry Cooder on guitar and Randy Newman on piano. Since it was meant for his rock star character in the 1970 film Performance, the song was titled after the character and became ‘Memo from Turner’.
Jagger’s solo version was released as a single in 1970, while the Stones’ version eventually appeared on the 1975 compilation Metamorphosis. When Singles Collection: The London Years was released in 1989, the Jagger solo version was used, but the credit went to the band. This was likely the version that Scorsese got his hands on during the production of Goodfellas, hence the incorrect credit. In any case, most songwriting credits now list both Jagger and Keith Richards as the song’s composers.
Check out Jagger’s version of ‘Memo from Turner’ down below.
