The Rolling Stones cover Mick Jagger doesn’t think you should listen to: “What’s the point”
Every classic rock act has to start somewhere, but when a band gets catapulted into seismic fame, it’s easy to lose sight of those humble beginnings. That seems to be the case for Mick Jagger, who has developed a somewhat jaded and flippant stance when reflecting on the early days of The Rolling Stones’ thunderous journey.
Their 1964 self-titled debut album was hailed as a revolution in many respects, awakening the sonic spirits of everyone from the youngest eager listener right the way up to future titans like David Bowie, but despite its unshakable legacy, Jagger is more dismissive of the effort. This is especially true when it comes to one particular tune, which he feels, with the benefit of hindsight, doesn’t live up to the spectacle it should do.
The song in the firing line is ‘I’m A King Bee’, a cover of the original version by blues musician Slim Harpo, first recorded in 1957. What with the Stones being at the heart of the British blues boom some seven years later, naturally, Jagger revered the singer of the swamp sub-genre but came to review his own attempt as pretty much below par.
He questioned the reasoning behind the Stones’ cover in a 1968 interview, saying: “I mean, what’s the point in listening to us do ‘I’m A King Bee’ when you can listen to Slim Harpo doing it?” To be completely fair, he had a decent argument. While many covers of songs will try and add some new level of dimension or spice to its existing blueprint, the band’s version stuck entirely faithfully to the original.
Though it’s not something to be ashamed of, if you’re looking for a Stones example of ingenuity and fresh vision, it’s probably best to look elsewhere. Within the album, there are a slew of other covers to keep it company, however, between Chuck Berry’s ‘Carol’ to ‘I Just Want to Make Love to You’ by Willie Dixon. Laying the groundwork for the blazing titans that Jagger and co would become and maintain throughout the decades, their roots in the blues scene were there for all to see before they took the reins of rock and roll.
That said, as much as the frontman has perhaps been quite ruthless about his early work when future beasts like ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ and ‘Paint it Black’ lay not too far off on the horizon, his snubbing of songs that don’t technically belong to him is relatively understandable. You could counter that they wouldn’t have had those seismic successes without the debut rocketing off in the first place, but pity the fool who questions those blasting opines.
The Stones’ debut record shot them out of a canon and straight to the top of the charts, where they reigned for a whole three months. Not many artists starting out in their careers can parallel that. So, much as they may have long since moved on to much more expansive pursuits, maybe the band’s early covers are worth listening to, after all. Just don’t tell them that.
