"Rocks Off" is the opening song on the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
' 1972 double 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 ...
'' Recorded between July 1971 and March 1972, "Rocks Off" is one of the songs on the album that was partially recorded at
Villa Nellcôte, a house
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 ...
rented in the south of France during the summer and autumn of 1971. Overdubs and final mixing for the song were later done at
Sunset Sound
Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spring ...
studios in Los Angeles, California between December 1971 and March 1972.
Lyrics and composition
The lyrics to the song, difficult to hear since the vocals were mixed very low, describe subjective dissociation, as if from intravenous drug injection. The song features a sudden divergence near the two minute fifteen second mark into a psychedelic jam of sorts, with
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 ...
's vocals electronically distorted and phased, and the guitar chords stretched.
Recording and releases
The song's mix is notoriously haphazard, as many instruments, and even the lead vocals, fade in and out of prominence.
The villa's basement, where many of the songs were recorded, was extremely hot and many of the guitars could not stay in tune as a result.
Jimmy Miller
James Miller (March 23, 1942 – October 22, 1994) was an American record producer and musician. While he produced albums for dozens of different bands and artists, he is most closely associated for his work with several key musical acts of t ...
produced the track, and it features session men
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,
Jim Price and
Bobby Keys
Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Ni ...
on brass, as well as regular band members Jagger (lead vocals), Richards (backing vocals, guitar),
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 ...
(drums),
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 ...
(guitar), and
Bill Wyman
William George Wyman (né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who achieved international fame as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member ...
(bass).
"Rocks Off" was released as a single in Japan. It was played through the album's ''
1972 North American Tour'' and ''
1973's Winter Tour of Australasia'', during which it was the third song in-between "
Bitch
Bitch may refer to:
* A female dog or other canine
* Bitch (slang), a vulgar slur for a human female
Bitch or bitches may also refer to:
Arts and media Film and television
* ''The Bitch'' (film), a 1979 film starring Joan Collins
* ''Bitc ...
" and "
Gimme Shelter
"Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. Released as the opening track from band's 1969 album ''Let It Bleed''. The song covers topics of war, murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singer ...
". The song was only played at the first of two opening shows in Baton Rouge during the ''
1975 Tour of the Americas'', and then dropped from any setlist until the ''
Voodoo Lounge Tour
The Voodoo Lounge Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Rolling Stones to promote their 1994 album '' Voodoo Lounge''. This was their first tour without bassist Bill Wyman, and their first with touring bassist Darryl Jones, as an addition ...
'' of 1994. A live recording was captured during the band's 2002–2003 ''
Licks Tour
The Licks Tour was a worldwide concert tour undertaken by the Rolling Stones during 2002 and 2003, in support of their 40th anniversary compilation album ''Forty Licks''. The tour grossed over $300 million, becoming the second highest grossin ...
'' and released on the 2004
live album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
''
Live Licks
''Live Licks'' is a double live album by the Rolling Stones and was released in 2004. Coming six years after '' No Security'', this ninth official Rolling Stones full-length live release captures performances from the band's year-long 2002– ...
''.
Reception
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
critic Jason Ankeny claims that the song "perfectly sets the mood for what's to follow – murky, gritty, and menacingly raw, its strung-out incoherence captures the record's debauched brilliance with marble-mouthed eloquence."
[ The Rolling Stones: Rocks Off – Song Review/ref> AllMusic's ]Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
considers the song a masterpiece. Jonathan Zwickel of ''Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' considers it "some of the Rolling Stones' most enduring and soulful work."
References
{{Authority control
1972 songs
The Rolling Stones songs
1972 singles
Songs written by Jagger–Richards
Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller