“The best country song ever,” according to Axl Rose
It’s fun to indulge in a little bit of musical hyperbole; it’s a treat we can all rustle up every so often. One such band, The Rolling Stones, are declared time and time again to be the greatest rock and roll band of all time.
But the rock descriptor never truly does justice to their genre-blending and expansive sound that’s always pushed the boundaries of expectations. The group has rarely stood still, and while “rock” is a part of their default, it has usually been the “roll” that the Stones have enjoyed most. That kind of revolution can lead you anywhere and into any genre. If you ask Axl Rose, he’d say that the group are also the greatest country artist thanks to one track.
“Rolling Stones wrote whatever kind of music they felt like writing,” Rose said. In one succinct and simple sentence, he perfectly sums up the energy of the band. When it comes to the Stones, any and all kind of pressure or limitation was always thrown out of the window. Their journey into the rock and roll world was paved with all kinds of influences as the members each brought their own unique tastes and education to the table.
“He’s got every record Chuck Berry ever made and all his mates have too, they are all rhythm and blues fans, real R&B I mean (not this Dinah Shore, Brook Benton crap) Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Chuck, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker all the Chicago bluesmen real lowdown stuff, marvellous,” Keith Richards wrote excitedly at 18 after he met Mick Jagger. At first, the two bonded over the original sounds of blues, which provided the first spark of inspiration for rock. But soon after, the band were embedded in London’s jazz scene, taking influence from the bands they met then.
It wasn’t long before the songs they were writing sounded nothing like any one of these influences, but as a unique merge of them all. Despite being British-born and bred, Jagger has always taken major inspiration from American artists, giving vocal performances with a clear southern twang like the country crooners of years gone by. With his singing and their love for slide guitars, country music has certainly always had a place at the band’s table of influence.
But for Rose, one song in particular shows it best. “‘Far Away Eyes’ to me, that’s the best country song ever written,” he said of their 1978 track.
Sitting on their album Some Girls, the song sees them lean fully into the country and blues influences that have always added texture to their rock and roll. But here, they’re all in as Jagger puts on his finest cowboy character and the band is stripped back to acoustic guitar strums and pedal steel guitar. With lyrics about Jesus, truck drivers, the open road and yearning for a sweet girl, it’s got all the stereotypical makings of a classic country hit.
“You know, when you drive through Bakersfield on a Sunday morning or Sunday evening,” explained Jagger to Rolling Stone in 1978, denoting the tune as a replica of what he heard on the airwaves, “All the country music radio stations start broadcasting black gospel services live from LA. And that’s what the song refers to. But the song’s really about driving alone, listening to the radio.”
For Rose, they nail every element of the genre, allowing the rock and roll legends to make the best country track around.
Perhaps the labels attached to the band need a switch-up. With tracks like ‘Sweet Virginia’, ‘Country Honk’, ‘Wild Horses’, ‘Torn and Frayed’ and plenty more, the Stones so regularly seem to put rock aside to fully transform into a country troupe as if the London lads were supposed to be born in Texas instead.
