"You Got the Silver" is a song by the English

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

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 ...

from 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. ...

''. It was also released as the B-side to the "

" single in Japan.

Recording

Recorded on 18 February 1969, "You Got the Silver" is the first Stones song to feature guitarist

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 ...

on solo lead vocal throughout. Richards previously sang separate lead vocals on parts of " Something Happened to Me Yesterday" from ''

Between the Buttons ''Between the Buttons'' is the fifth British and seventh American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 20 January 1967 in the UK and on 11 February in the US as the follow-up to ''Aftermath''. It reflected the St ...

'' and on " Salt of the Earth" from ''

Beggars Banquet ''Beggars Banquet'' is the 7th British and 9th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 6 December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It was the first Ro ...

''. One of Richards' own compositions, "You Got the Silver" is said to have been written about his then-girlfriend

Anita Pallenberg Anita Pallenberg (6 April 1942 – 13 June 2017) was a German-Italian actress, artist, and model. A style icon and "It Girl" of the 1960s and 1970s, Pallenberg was credited as the muse of the Rolling Stones: she was the romantic partner of the ...

. The band recorded a version of the song 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 ...

on lead but opted to use Richards' version for the official release. The Jagger version has since become a well-known

bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...

. "You Got the Silver" was the last Stones recording released with

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 ...

participation, one of his two appearances on the album. He plays

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

. Jones' autoharp contribution can only be heard clearly on the alternate mix with Jagger on vocals, and it is played only during the section of the verses where the drums join in. Bill Wyman's bass playing also stands out more in the unreleased alternate mix. The official/album mix has the autoharp mixed very low, though it can be heard in the right-hand channel between 1:04 and 1:25. The bootleg mix with Jagger on vocals places Jones's autoharp much more prominently in the mix. Nicky Hopkins' overdubbed organ and piano to the track and a backwards echo effect is applied to Richards'

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

track. The story that the Jagger vocal was accidentally erased has been repeated by many since 1969, including engineer Glyn Johns in his book ''Sound Man''. The legend is that Richards recorded the vocal because Jagger was in Australia filming ''

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

''. However, the high quality bootleg recordings of the Jagger vocal indicate that the Richards vocal was a deliberate choice. Jagger finished filming ''Ned Kelly'' in September. Final work on ''Let It Bleed'' continued into October and Jagger could have re-recorded the lost vocal at that time. The song was played live for the first time during the

No Security Tour The No Security Tour was a Rolling Stones concert tour to promote the concert album ''No Security''. The tour spanned over 40 shows in North America and Europe in 1999 and grossed $88.5 million from over a million tickets sold. History They d ...

in 1999. It was brought out again by Richards for the 2005-2007

A Bigger Bang Tour A Bigger Bang was a worldwide concert tour by the Rolling Stones which took place between August 2005 and August 2007, in support of their album '' A Bigger Bang''. At the time, it was the highest grossing tour of all time, earning $558,255,52 ...

. A November 1, 2006 live performance captured on the 2008 concert film '' Shine a Light'' is featured on the album of the same name. The song was also played during the Rolling Stones' 50 and Counting tour, and a July 2013 performance appears on ''

Hyde Park Live ''Hyde Park Live'' is a live album by the Rolling Stones, released in 2013. It was recorded at Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London on 6 and 13 July 2013 during the band's 50 and Counting Tour. The album was released exclusively as a Online d ...

'', featuring

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 ...

playing slide guitar. Richards played it during the

No Filter Tour The No Filter Tour was a European/North American concert tour by the Rolling Stones which began on 9 September 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. The tour was scheduled to conclude in 2020 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour ...

on 2 June 2018 at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, and also on November 21, 2021 at Super Stage, Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas. During live performances, the song is notable for being sung by Richards without playing guitar or any other instrument. "You Got the Silver" was featured in the

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni (, ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian filmmaker. He is best known for directing his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents"—''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and ''L'Eclisse'' (1962 ...

film ''

Zabriskie Point Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 mil ...

''.

Personnel

vocals, acoustic and electric guitars *

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 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 *

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 ...

piano, organ

Cover versions

The song was covered by blues singer

Susan Tedeschi Susan Tedeschi (; born November 9, 1970) is an American singer and guitarist. A multiple Grammy Award nominee, she is a member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a conglomeration of her band, her husband Derek Trucks’ and other musicians. Early li ...

on her 2005 album, '' Hope and Desire'' and by neo-bluegrass group

Crooked Still Crooked Still is an American band consisting of vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, banjo player Gregory Liszt, bassist Corey DiMario, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas. They are known for their high energy, technical skill, unusual i ...

on its 2010 album, ''Some Strange Country''.

References

{{Authority control The Rolling Stones songs 1969 songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller