"Take It or Leave It" is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It was initially given away by them to

the Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John W ...

, a band with declining chart success, in hopes of making them popular again.

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherho ...

released the single on 8 April 1966 and it peaked at number 31 on the '' Record Retailer'' chart in May of that year. Though it was more popular in mainland Europe, the single was their penultimate song to chart. It received mixed reviews in the British Press. Jagger and Richards recorded the song with their own group,

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 ...

, in 1965, for their fourth studio album ''Aftermath'' (1966). Written at demand from their manager

Andrew Loog Oldham Andrew Loog Oldham (born 29 January 1944) is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, and was noted for his flamboyant style. Early life Loog Oldha ...

, the song features several key characteristics of their music from this time, including a memorable tune and

misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...

lyrics. It was one of the band's earlier and few ventures into

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

, something that was present on several ''Aftermath'' tracks. Decca Records included "Take It or Leave It" on the album, which was released on 15 April 1966. In the US, the song was first issued on the compilation album ''Flowers'', released on 25 June 1967 by London Records.

The Searchers version

Throughout 1965, the Searchers mainstream success in the UK had been steadily declining. Their final top-ten single was "Goodbye My Love" which was released in February 1965. This was primarily due to the group leaning against covers to record, as opposed to writing original material.

also wanted the group to frantically release a successful single once more, upon which they began to hire professional songwriters for them. One of these covers became "Take Me For What I'm Worth", written by P. F. Sloan. This became their final top-twenty single in '' Record Retailer''. Following "Take Me For What I'm Worth", the group was offered "Take It or Leave It", written by

Jagger–Richards Jagger–Richards (spelled Jagger–Richard from 1963 to 1978) is the songwriting partnership between English musicians Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, of the Rolling Stones. They are one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in history ...

, as a follow up. Because of the status of both

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 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 ...

, it was thought that "Take It or Leave It" would become a hit. David Luhrssen identifies it as a "

Folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

with characteristics of contemporary folk rock songs from America during the same time. The song was recorded in 1966 and released through

in the UK on 8 April of that year. In the UK, it did not become the expected hit single, instead, the song entered ''Record Retailer'' on 27 April at a position of 47, before peaking at number 31 on 11 May. It dropped out completely on 1 June at a position of 42, after spending only six weeks on the chart. It was their penultimate single to reach that chart. The single fared better in Continental Europe however, and in Sweden reached number six in Kvällstoppen and number four on ''

Tio i Topp ''Tio i Topp'' (English: ''Ten At The Top'') was a Swedish record chart and radio program broadcast by Sveriges Radio P3 between the years of 1961 and 1974. It was launched to combat pirate radio charts and was the first official Swedish record ...

'', both official Swedish charts at the time. In the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, it reached number five, and also saw success in Australia, where it peaked at number eight. In a blind date for '' Melody Maker'', Crispian St. Peters stated that "Take It or Leave It" didn't appear to have a

middle eight The 32- bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. ...

. He thought that the record was good, but not on the same level as their previous records. Although he anticipated the single would reach the charts, he closed by stating that the single left a "bitter taste", and would probably grow on him. For '' New Musical Express'', Derek Johnson calls the song a "good adaptation of a Rolling Stones composition." He calls the song "unusual", noting the "fractually mid-tempo" and also praises the harmonies between

Mike Pender Michael John Prendergast (born 3 March 1941), known professionally as Mike Pender, is an English singer and guitarist. He was an original founding member of Merseybeat group the Searchers. He is best known as the lead vocalist on many hit s ...

and Frank Allen. Though he states that it's nothing remarkable "melody-wise", he states that it is "colorful" and "has some good sounds". For ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

'', Norman Jopling and Peter Jones write that the Searchers rendition of the song is in the style of the Rolling Stones, though writes that it has a "lighter-vocal edge." They note that several plays are required to fully enjoy the track, and ends the review by noting the production. Bruce Eden of

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 databa ...

writes that their rendition doesn't hold up that well against the Stones own.

Charts

Rolling Stones version

Contemporary to the Searchers, the Rolling Stones also recorded "Take It or Leave It" for their album ''Aftermath''. The song was one of the first ten or twenty songs recorded in a batch for the album, all of who were recorded between 6–10 December 1965 at RCA Studios in Hollywood,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. "Take It or Leave It" however, was primarily worked on between 8–10 December of that year. According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon,

's production on the track might have been inspired by

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

and his production method

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session ...

. This can in large part be attributed to the lax atmosphere in the studio; according to

, the album was not a result of a rush-job, and instead the band had a chance to relax during recording. The song had the Rolling Stones experimenting with instruments; on the track,

sings, Richards is on acoustic guitar and backing vocals, Bill Wyman plays bass while Charlie Watts is on drums and

finger cymbal Zills or zils (from Turkish 'cymbals'), also called finger cymbals, are small metallic cymbals used in belly dancing and similar performances. They are called () in Egypt. They are similar to Tibetan tingsha bells. In Western music, several pai ...

s. On the recording, they are assisted by session musician

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 ...

on harpsichord. There is some conflicting information on what instrument

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 ...

plays on the recording. While Margotin and Guesdon state that he's playing the organ on the song, Bill Janovitz writes that Jones plays the Japanese instrument

koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...

on the recording. However, Gary Jucha writes that Jones was also responsible for the harpsichord part and also played

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

on the song. This is most likely attributed to the Stones increased experimenting in the studio; alternatively, it can also be attributed to Jones' habit of seeking out "exotic" instruments to play during for the group's recordings. According to Margotin and Guesdon, "Take It or Leave It" is an example of a song written "at the orders of Andrew Loog Oldham." They also draw parallels to the pairs earlier compositions, which also had a similar principle. Though they call it an "unpretentious song", they also praise it for "Mick's feel for telling a phrase" and the fact that Richards was able to write a memorable song on demand. Lyrically, "Take It or Leave It" is about the "difficult relations between men and women."

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

find the lyrics

, something he states for most songs that appeared on ''Aftermath''. He also adds that it has several characteristics of

, which he doesn't feel is "necessarily in the Stones style." "Take It or Leave It" was initially released on the Rolling Stones album ''Aftermath'' in the UK on 15 April 1966. On the album, the song is sequenced as track six in the middle of side two, between the songs " I Am Waiting" and "

Think In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, an ...

". It was however cut from the US release of the album which came out on 2 July, together with Mother's Little Helper", " Out of Time" and "What to Do". This tied in with the practice of British LP's getting different track listings in the US. In the US, the song did not get a release for over a year, until it was released on ''Flowers'' on 25 June 1967, a compilation album which featured several unissued songs by the band. On that album, "Take It or Leave It" is sequenced as the fourth track on side two, between "Mother's Little Helper" and " Ride On, Baby".

References

{{The Rolling Stones The Searchers (band) songs 1966 singles Song recordings produced by Tony Hatch Songs written by Jagger–Richards Pye Records singles 1966 songs The Rolling Stones songs Song recordings produced by Andrew Loog Oldham