Falling Into Place: Keith Richards on the fastest track the Rolling Stones ever made
Speed is not everything when it comes to musical composition. Even within the world of rock and roll, which often draws connotations with raucous, adrenaline-fueled tracks and buzzsaw guitar riffs, it can often be beneficial to slow things down a little. On the other hand, bumping up the bpm of a record can help to make it seem more driving and energetic. The Rolling Stones always played a little faster than their contemporaries during the 1960s, but one song in particular takes the record as their fastest effort.
If you look at the biggest hits of The Stones, particularly during their early period, you will find that they were usually of a faster tempo than most other artists of the era. ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, for instance, comes in at 136 beats per minute, which is certainly on the faster side of the rock spectrum, even by modern standards. This should come as no real surprise given The Rolling Stones’ image as being the defiant voice of an angry post-war generation of misfits in the United Kingdom.
The Rolling Stones have had their fair share of slower songs too, with ‘Wild Horses’ being a prominent example. However, the group never really lost their early desire for speed, adrenaline and adolescent rebellion. This is perhaps best exemplified by the band’s 1972 album Exile on Main St. Embracing hard rock and a style which would go on to greatly influence the development of punk and hardcore, Exile on Main St. is among the Stones’ finest – and fastest – records.
The 1972 album was the third in a particularly good run of records for The Rolling Stones, following on from Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers, thus cementing the fact that the band certainly had not lost their mojo by the early 1970s. Exile on Main St. saw the band move in different directions, spurred on by the maturing of both Keith Richards and Mick Jagger as songwriters. A particular highlight of the album came with the second track on side A, ‘Rip This Joint’.
‘Rip This Joint’ formed an important moment in the songwriting careers of Jagger and Richards; it was, at the time, the fastest song the pair had ever penned, at an impressive 196 beats per minute. “‘Rip This Joint’ was the fastest track the Stones ever cut,” Richards later said of the song, before clarifying, “until ‘Flip the Switch’, which is a couple of beats faster”.
The speed of the song was not merely a novelty gimmick. As Richards, attested, the bpm allowed the Stones to uncover an entirely new side to their side. “There’s something about that speed when you cut it in half and the acoustic bass plays that tempo,” the legendary guitarist said, adding, “I just love the air that you get. Same as the acoustic guitar. There’s a power you can get from an upright bass if you record it right”.
“It just has a different feel than electric bass,” he continued, “It doesn’t thump so much. And it doesn’t have such a precise note sound. There’s a wider, fatter bounce on it. It puts the roll back into the rock”. It is certainly difficult to dispute that claim, especially given the fact that Exile on Main St. is among the finest rock and roll records of the 1970s.
