"Dance Little Sister" is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards that was first released on the Rolling Stones 1974 album '' It's Only Rock 'n Roll''. It was also released as the B-side of the Rolling Stones single "

Ain't Too Proud to Beg "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" is a 1966 song and hit single by The Temptations for Motown Records' Gordy label, produced by Norman Whitfield and written by Whitfield and Edward Holland Jr. The song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Pop Chart, a ...

" and on several of their

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

Lyrics and music

The lyrics to "Dance Little Sister" have lead singer Jagger asking women in high heels and tight skirts to dance for him all night. Some of the lyrics refer to Mick and Bianca Jagger spending days in Trinidad watching

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and spending the nights partying. These include: "Dance Little Sister" is driven by the guitars, and according to author Steve Appleford, Richards' "savage"

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

in particular. Appleford also credits some "excitable" lead guitar passages from Mick Taylor, "fierce" drumming from

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 ...

and a "rolling bar room piano" part by Ian Stewart. Music critic Bill Janovitz describes it as "a nihilistic dance number," comparing its "world-negating ass-shaking, insistent rock 'n' roll beat" to the disco music which would emerge shortly after its release. According to music journalist James Hector, "Dance Little Sister" is a return to the type of "bar-room crowd pleasers" that the group used to record in the mid-1960s.

Reception

AllMusic critic

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 ...

called it a "sharp, hard-driving album track" and "agreeable filler." But Appleford notes that while the song has "all the elements needed for the best kind of devil's music," the song "never fully erupts" or "clicks into a perfect groove." Hector describes the song's beginning, where "the guitar and drums struggle to find the exact groove" as precious, but feels the song goes "downhill" afterwards. Sean Egan finds the "industrial strength riff" to be "unattractive" and the rhythm to be "leaden." Subsequent to its initial release on ''It's Only Rock 'n Roll'', "Dance Little Sister" was released as the B-side of the "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" single in October 1974. Rolling Stones biographer Martin Elliott has stated that this deserved to be a double A-side release, as both songs are "foot-tapping dance-oriented numbers." It has also been released on several of the Rolling Stones compilation albums, including ''

Made in the Shade ''Made in the Shade'', released in 1975, is the third official compilation album by the Rolling Stones, and the first under their Atlantic Records contract. It covers material from ''Sticky Fingers'' (1971), '' Exile on Main St.'' (1972), ''Goa ...

'' in 1975, ''

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'' in 2011 and the Super Deluxe (80 track) version of '' GRRR!'' in 2012. "Dance Little Sister" was occasionally included in the Rolling Stones' live sets during 1975 and 1977.

References

{{Authority control 1974 songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jagger–Richards The Rolling Stones songs 1974 singles Songs about dancing