"Memo from Turner" is a solo single by

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 ...

, featuring slide guitar by

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

, from the soundtrack of ''

Performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

'', in which Jagger played the leading role of Turner, a reclusive rock star. It was re-released in October 2007 on a 17-song retrospective compilation album ''

The Very Best of Mick Jagger ''The Very Best of Mick Jagger'' is a compilation album that was released worldwide on 1 October 2007 and the following day in the United States on Warner Music Group, WEA/Rhino Records. This 17-track release is the first ever overview of Mick ...

'', making a re-appearance as a Jagger solo effort. After its original release in 1970, it was included on Rolling Stones compilations, such as '' Singles Collection: The London Years'' as a track credited to the Jagger/Richards songwriting partnership. "Memo from Turner" was ranked No. 92 in the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs list of ''Rolling Stone''. Music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

has said, "Jagger's version of Jagger–Richard's scabrous, persona-twisted "Memo From Turner" is his

envoi Envoi or envoy in poetry is used to describe: * A short stanza at the end of a poem such as a ballad, used either to address an imagined or actual person or to comment on the preceding body of the poem. * A dedicatory poem about sending the book ...

to the 60s."

Versions

Three versions of "Memo from Turner" have been released, and another "Alternative Take" version is available on

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

recordings. The first version, which is not officially released, is a slow, brooding version recorded by members of the band

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

. It features

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

on all instruments except drums, which are played by

Jim Capaldi Nicola James Capaldi (2 August 1944 – 28 January 2005) was an English singer-songwriter and drummer. His musical career spanned more than four decades. He co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood with whom he co ...

. The second version, released on ''

Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...

'' in 1975 on the

Allen Klein Allen Klein (December 18, 1931 July 4, 2009) was an American businessman whose aggressive negotiation tactics affected industry standards for compensating recording artists. He founded ABKCO Music & Records Incorporated. Klein increased profits ...

Decca/London pre-existing legacy contracts of the Stones 1960s recordings, was a different version recorded by

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 ...

in November 1968, and has a looser feel than the released version. This version supposedly features

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...

on guitar, and perhaps

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

as well. Either

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...

or Capaldi plays drums on this recording. Credited to "Jagger/Richards", it is not clear how many of the Rolling Stones besides Jagger actually played on it. The third version of the song, typified by its slide guitar, was the one recorded for the soundtrack to the film ''

'', starring

as the song title's "Turner". It is featured prominently in the movie, with Mick Jagger, as Turner, lip-synching it. This is the more well-known version of the song, as it was released as a solo single by Jagger in England in 1970 and is featured on the later ''Singles Collection: The London Years''. This track was recorded in Los Angeles in early 1970, and uses the vocal track of the first, slow version. The tape of Jagger's vocals was sent to

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

, where all music parts were recorded by

on slide guitar,

Russ Titelman Russ Titelman (born August 16, 1944, Los Angeles, California) is an American record producer and songwriter. He has to date won three Grammy Awards. He earned his first producing the Steve Winwood song " Higher Love", and his second and third f ...

(guitar),

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...

(piano),

Jerry Scheff Jerry Obern Scheff (born January 31, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for his work with Elvis Presley from 1969 to 1977 as a member of his TCB Band and on the Doors' '' L.A. Woman''. Biography Scheff grew up in Vallejo, California. After ...

(bass) and

Gene Parsons Gene Victor Parsons (born September 4, 1944, in Morongo Valley, California) is an American drummer, banjo player, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and engineer, best known for his work with the Byrds from 1968 to 1972. Parsons has also released sol ...

(drums). Besides the differing lineup between the two released versions, there are also slight changes to the lyrics. The track was reviewed as Jagger:

...puts on his best drawling speak-sing voice for the lyrics, spinning bizarre mini-snapshots of decadent, cruel gangster behavior... The music isn't grim, though; it's more in a sly, ironic happy-go-lucky vein, as if to illustrate the callous, carefree glee gangsters take in such antics. It's not a celebration of the gangster mentality, though, so much as a subtle, mocking look at its decadence, with hints of repressed homosexuality and almost gruesome imagery of dog-eat-dog behavior.Unterberger, Richie. The Rolling Stones "Memo from Turner" ''allmusic''. 2007 (accessed 16 June 2007).

The lyric about "the man who works the soft machine" may be a reference to the

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

novel ''

The Soft Machine ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. Burroughs and writer Robert Palmer assume this connection in a 1972 ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine interview, and strong Burroughsian themes are contained in the film.

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a nu ...

performed "Memo from Turner" live at various club gigs in 1987–88, including some of his shows with

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

used the track—the solo version by Mick Jagger, incorrectly credited as the Rolling Stones version—in a scene from ''

Goodfellas ''Goodfellas'' (stylized ''GoodFellas'') is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book '' Wis ...

'' where

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primeti ...

's character

Henry Hill Henry Hill Jr. (June 11, 1943 – June 12, 2012) was an American mobster who was associated with the Lucchese crime family of New York City from 1955 until 1980, when he was arrested on narcotics charges and became an FBI informant. Hill testif ...

is driving to the hospital to pick up his brother after unsuccessfully trying to sell some pistol silencers to Jimmy Conway.

Cover versions

Dramarama covered the song on their 1991 album ''Vinyl''. British band

Diesel Park West Diesel Park West are an English alternative rock band from Leicester, England. Formed in 1980, they have released nine official albums, plus six singles that have appeared in the UK Singles Chart. Current line-up *John Butler (vocals, guitar) ...

covered the song on their outtakes album ''Flipped''.

Deborah Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

performed this song on several shows from her '

Debravation ''Debravation'' is the fourth solo album by American singer Deborah Harry, released in July 19, 1993. It was the final album Harry made whilst signed to the Chrysalis label, thus ending a successful partnership that began with her time as a memb ...

tour' (1993-1994). A softer cover was performed by Patty Palladin just before & during the credits of "Donald Cammell: The Ultimate Performance" (Kevin Macdonald, Chris Rodley, 1998). This was a documentary about Donald Cammell, who directed Performance (1970), which starred Mick Jagger (among others).

References

External links

"Memo from Turner"
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

(list of recordings) {{authority control The Rolling Stones songs LGBT-related songs Songs about BDSM Mick Jagger songs Decca Records singles 1968 songs 1970 singles Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller Song recordings produced by Jack Nitzsche