"Midnight Rambler" is a song by 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 ...

, released on their 1969 album ''

Let It Bleed ''Let It Bleed'' is the eighth British and tenth American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released 28 November 1969 on London Records in the United States and shortly thereafter by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. ...

''. The song is a loose biography of

Albert DeSalvo Albert Henry DeSalvo (September 3, 1931 – November 25, 1973) was an American rapist and suspected serial killer in Boston, Massachusetts, who purportedly confessed to being the "Boston Strangler," the murderer of thirteen women in the Boston ...

, who confessed to being the

Boston Strangler The Boston Strangler is the name given to the murderer of 13 women in the Boston, Massachusetts, area during the early 1960s. The crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo based on his confession, details revealed in court during a separate case, ...

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 ...

has called the number "a blues opera" and the quintessential Jagger-Richards song, stating in the 2012 documentary ''

Crossfire Hurricane ''Crossfire Hurricane'' is a 2012 documentary film about the Rolling Stones written and directed by Brett Morgen. The film chronicles the early years of the band through to 1981. The film is a series of interviews conducted without cameras, while ...

'' that "nobody else could have written that song."

Composition and recordings

On the composing of the song,

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 ...

said in a 1995 interview with ''

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 ...

'', When asked about the song in a 1971 interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Richards said: The song's lyrics include the verse: The studio version of the track (which runs six minutes and fifty-three seconds) was recorded during the spring of 1969 at London's

Olympic Sound Studios Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...

and

Trident Studios Trident Studios was a British recording facility, located at 17 St Anne's Court in London's Soho district between 1968 and 1981. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield, drummer of the 1960s group the Hunters, and his brother Barry. ...

. Jagger performs vocals and harmonica, while Richards plays all the guitars on the track, using

standard tuning In music, standard tuning refers to the typical tuning of a string instrument. This notion is contrary to that of scordatura, i.e. an alternate tuning designated to modify either the timbre or technical capabilities of the desired instrument. Viol ...

for the main guitars and

open E tuning Open E tuning is a tuning for guitar: low to high, E-B-E-G-B-E. Compared to standard tuning, two strings are two semitones higher and one string is one semitone higher. The intervals are identical to those found in open D tuning. In fact, it i ...

for the slide. Bill Wyman plays bass and Charlie Watts drums, while multi-instrumentalist

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...

is credited with playing the congas. The song bears similarity to "The Boudoir Stomp" and "Edward's Thrump Up", recorded in April 1969 by the band minus Keith Richards and Brian Jones, featuring Ry Cooder on guitar and

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...

on piano. The sessions were released on the 1972 LP ''

Jamming With Edward ''Jamming with Edward!'' is a 1972 album by three Rolling Stones band members (Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman) accompanied by Nicky Hopkins and Ry Cooder. Background The album was recorded at London's Olympic Studio on April 2 ...

''. Jones' congas are audible during the middle part of the track, playing on the downbeats and following the guitar responding to the lead vocals. It starts at around the 4:30 mark. The Rolling Stones debuted "Midnight Rambler" on stage on 5 July 1969 and performed it regularly in concert through 1976; performances frequently included Jagger crawling around and lashing the stage with his belt. One notable 1969 performance (running just over nine minutes) was captured for the 1970 album ''

Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! ''Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!: The Rolling Stones in Concert'' is the second live album by the Rolling Stones, released on 4 September 1970 on Decca Records in the UK and on London Records in the US. It was recorded in New York City and Baltimore in ...

'' and was re-released on the 1971 compilation album ''

Hot Rocks 1964-1971 Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand ** Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distric ...

''. This rendition features

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

on lead guitar, in addition to Jagger, Richards, Wyman and Watts. The bootleg ''

Live'r Than You'll Ever Be ''Live'r Than You'll Ever Be'' is a bootleg recording of the Rolling Stones' concert in Oakland, California, from 9 November 1969. It was one of the first live rock music bootlegs and was made notorious as a document of their 1969 tour of th ...

'' includes a performance in Oakland, California, in November 1969. Versions from 1975 following the departure of Taylor from the band feature

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 ...

instead of Taylor. Some of the 1975 versions are the longest live renditions ever, clocking in at almost 15 minutes. "Midnight Rambler" returned to the Rolling Stones' repertoire in 1989 and has remained a powerful concert favourite ever since. The January 2003 rendition featured in the Stones' concert collection ''

Four Flicks ''Four Flicks'' is a concert DVD collection by British rock band the Rolling Stones, filmed during the band's Licks World Tour in 2002–2003. The collection was released exclusively through Best Buy on 11 November 2003, which caused other reta ...

'' runs about twelve minutes, while a briefer July 1995 performance appears on '' Totally Stripped'' (2016). The Stones with special guest former band member Mick Taylor played the song at all the concerts of the 50 & Counting... tour, including 12-minute versions of "Midnight Rambler" during their 25 November 2012 concert at London's O2 Arena, at the 2013 Glastonbury Festival, and during their July 2013 Hyde Park concerts, as seen in '' Sweet Summer Sun: Hyde Park Live''.

Personnel

lead vocals, harmonica *

guitar *

congas * Bill Wymanbass * Charlie Wattsdrums

Controversy

In his book ''

The Better Angels of Our Nature ''The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined'' is a 2011 book by Steven Pinker, in which the author argues that violence in the world has declined both in the long run and in the short run and suggests explanations as to why this ...

'',

Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. ...

discusses the song as an illustration of his thesis that the 1960s counterculture "pushed against"

the Civilizing Process ''The Civilizing Process'' is a book by German sociologist Norbert Elias. It is an influential work in sociology and Elias' most important work. It was first published in Basel, Switzerland in two volumes in 1939 in German as ''Über den Prozeß ...

(identified by

Norbert Elias Norbert Elias (; 22 June 1897 – 1 August 1990) was a German sociologist who later became a British citizen. He is especially famous for his theory of civilizing/decivilizing processes. Biography Elias was born on 22 June 1897 in Bresla ...

), which, Pinker argues, had been reducing violence over many centuries, and that the counterculture's "glorification of dissoluteness shaded into indulgence of violence.... Personal violence was sometimes celebrated in song, as if it were just another form of antiestablishment protest." He says the song "acted out a rape-murder by the

..." and he sees this as an example of how in the 1960s counterculture "the control of women's sexuality was seen as a perquisite" of men.Steven Pinker, ''The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined'' (Viking Books, 2011), Chapter 3,

Notes

{{authority control Songs about criminals Songs about Boston Songs based on actual events Cultural depictions of Albert DeSalvo The Rolling Stones songs 1969 songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller