"In Another Land" is a song by

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 ...

, released in December 1967 as the first single from the album ''

Their Satanic Majesties Request ''Their Satanic Majesties Request'' is the 6th British and 8th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in December 1967 by Decca Records in the UK and by London Records in the US. It is their first to be relea ...

'', and credited solely to Bill Wyman. In America, London Records released it as a single a week before the album. Written by bassist Bill Wyman, "In Another Land" is the only Rolling Stones song to feature Wyman on lead vocals, and one of only three Rolling Stones songs he wrote (the others being "Downtown Suzie" and the unreleased "Goodbye Girl"). The single was released on 2 December 1967, credited to Bill Wyman, with the Stones' "

The Lantern ''The Lantern'' is an independent daily newspaper in Columbus, Ohio, by students at Ohio State University. It is one of the largest campus newspapers in the United States, reaching a circulation of 15,000. Copies of the paper are free and avail ...

" as the B-side. It peaked at number 87 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart and at number 62 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 singles chart, on which it was credited to Bill Wyman.

Background

The song was recorded on a night when Wyman had shown up at the studio and found that the session had been cancelled. Feeling frustrated that he had potentially wasted time in driving there, engineer

Glyn Johns Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an English musician, recording engineer and record producer. Biography Early history Johns was born in Epsom, Surrey, England. He had three siblings, two older sisters and a younger brother, Andy ...

asked him if he had anything that he'd like to record. "I'd been messing with this song. It was a bit... what I thought was kind of spacy, you know... a bit kind of ''Satanic Majesties''-like. And psychedelic in a way." Lyrically, Wyman stated that "The idea for the song is about this guy who wakes up from a dream and finds himself in another dream." The song describes events that transpire in a dreamlike state: Johns showed the song to

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

, who all liked it and decided to include it on the record. The musicians on the song are Wyman on lead vocals, with both

Ronnie Lane Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of Small Faces (1965–69) and subsequently Faces (1969–73). Lane formed Small Faces ...

and

Steve Marriott Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded and played in the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie, in a career spanning over two decades. Marriott was inducted pos ...

of the

Small Faces Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...

on guitar and backing vocals,

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 keyboards, Charlie Watts on drums, and Jagger adding backing vocals. At the conclusion of the track as heard on the album, Wyman himself can be heard snoring. He was unaware this had been tagged onto his song until he first played the completed album. He learned later that one night when he had fallen asleep in the studio, Jagger and Richards miked him up and recorded him snoring, and stuck it onto his track as a joke. This does not appear on the single.

Reception

'' Billboard'' described the single as an "off-beat piece of

rock ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

material that should prove a monster" and as "a weirdy that can't miss." '' Cash Box'' said that the song enters the "electrical-kaleidoscopic realm" and incorporates "vocal reverb, use of thudding rhythmics and a good melody."

Personnel

The Rolling Stones * Bill Wyman – lead vocals, bass,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, Hammond organ *

–

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

– acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

– Mellotron,

sound effect A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...

s * Charlie Watts – drums Additional musicians *

– harpsichord *

– backing vocals *

– backing vocals

Citations

References

* {{authority control 1967 songs 1967 debut singles 1960s ballads Bill Wyman songs The Rolling Stones songs London Records singles Songs written by Bill Wyman Rock ballads