"Good Time Women" is a song recorded by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

. A product of

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it is an upbeat song with a blues boogie-woogie rhythm. "Good Time Women" formed the basis of the band's later song, " Tumbling Dice", which was released as a single in 1972. Recorded at

Stargroves Stargroves (also known as Stargrove House) is a manor house and associated estate at East Woodhay in the English county of Hampshire. The house belonged to Mick Jagger during the 1970s and was a recording venue for the Rolling Stones and variou ...

using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio between March and May 1970, "Good Time Women" went unreleased until 2010, when it was included on the deluxe remastered release of the band's 1972 album, ''

Exile on Main St. ''Exile on Main St.'' is the 10th British and 12th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 12 May 1972 by Rolling Stones Records. Recording began in 1969 in England during sessions for ''Sticky Fingers'' a ...

Background and recording

"Good Time Women" eventually transformed into " Tumbling Dice". "Good Time Women" was recorded at

using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio sometime between March and May 1970 during the

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for '' Sticky Fingers''.

Music and lyrics

"Good Time Women" is a bluesy boogie-woogie, with heavy emphasis on Ian Stewart's piano work. Though the song has differing lyrics to "Tumbling Dice", it contained a similar structure, chord progression, and melody. Mick Jagger sings the hook to the accompaniment of

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...

's lone lead guitar. However, "Good Time Women" lacked an opening

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

, a background choir, and the beat which propels the groove of "Tumbling Dice". The lyrics of "Good Time Women" are incomplete, consisting largely of

gibberish Gibberish, also called jibber-jabber or gobbledygook, is speech that is (or appears to be) nonsense. It may include speech sounds that are not actual words, pseudowords, or language games and specialized jargon that seems nonsensical to outsider ...

, mentions of

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and "dry white wine". The lyrics also refer to "Red light women," or prostitutes, and can be heard as alluding to their then-recent single, "Honky Tonk Women," from 1969.

Release

"Good Time Women" was not initially released, though its successor, "Tumbling Dice" was. An October 1970 recording of "Good Time Women" was included on the 16 May 2010 deluxe remastered issue of ''Exile on Main St'' (1972).

Critical reception

Upon its release in 2010, reactions were mixed. Writing for

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

, critic Jim Farber considered "Good Time Women" to merely be "Tumbling Dice" "sped up". However,

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larges ...

entertainment editor Gene Triplett lauded "Good Time Women" as a "stinging guitar rocker", noting how it "sounds like an early version of 'Tumbling Dice' but with a different title... and different lyrics."

References

{{Exile on Main St., state=expanded The Rolling Stones songs Boogie-woogie songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards