"Can't You Hear Me Knocking" is a track by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 1971 album ''

Sticky Fingers ''Sticky Fingers'' is the 9th British and 11th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. The Stones released it on 23 April 1971 on their new, and own label Rolling Stones Records. They had been contracted by Decca ...

''. The track is over seven minutes long, and begins with a

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 ...

open-G tuned guitar intro. The main song lasts for two minutes and 43 seconds, after which it transforms into an extended improvisational

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...

. The entire track was captured in one take, with the jam being a happy accident; the band had assumed the tape machine had been stopped, and were surprised to find the entire session had been captured. Originally they were going to end the song before the jam started, but were so pleased with the jam that they decided to keep it in. Besides the regular Rolling Stones members

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 ...

(vocals),

(guitar),

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),

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 ...

(drum), 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), the track also features conga player

Rocky Dijon Kwasi Dzidzornu (1935 – March 13, 1993), also known as Rocky Dijon, was a Ghanaian percussionist known for his playing on recordings by The Rolling Stones, Nick Drake, Ginger Baker, Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston and Joe Walsh. During the 1970s h ...

, saxophonist

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 ...

, organist

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...

, pianist

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 ...

and additional percussion by producer

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 ...

Composition and recording

The track featured

on congas; tenor saxophonist

performs an extended saxophone solo over the guitar work of Richards and

, punctuated by the organ work of

. At 4:40 Taylor takes over from Richards and carries the song to its finish with a lengthy guitar solo. Richards described writing the guitar riff: In 2002, Richards commented on the recording: Taylor recalled in a 1979 interview: Taylor added, "I used a brown

Gibson ES-345 The Gibson ES-345 is a stereo guitar manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Company. The guitar was produced from 1959 to 1981. It was designed as a jazz guitar and an upscale version of the ES-335. History The 345 was developed in 1958 as an upscale ...

for 'Dead Flowers' and the solo on 'Can't You Hear Me Knocking'." Jagger noted in the Spotify Landmark interview on the album that the key was too high for his voice and that "I idlots of vocals, harmonies to sort of hide the fact that I didn't really hit the notes that great in the chorus bits." An early alternate take of the song (with dummy/placeholder lyrics) was released in June 2015 on the Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions of the reissued ''Sticky Fingers'' album.

Accolades

In 2004, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine listed it at number 25 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time."

The Rolling Stones live performances

The number was part of the Rolling Stones' concert repertoire during their

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 ...

in 2002–2003 and

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 ...

in 2005–2007. In these renditions, Jagger played a harmonica solo after Keys' sax solo, and

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 ...

performed the extended guitar solo. A live recording was released on the band's 2003 DVD set ''

Four Flicks ''Four Flicks'' is a concert DVD collection by British rock band the Rolling Stones, filmed during the band's Licks World Tour in 2002–2003. The collection was released exclusively through Best Buy on 11 November 2003, which caused other reta ...

'' and on the 2004 concert album ''

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– ...

''. It was also performed live during shows in 2013, with Mick Taylor appearing as a special guest with the band. Another live version was published on the release ''Sticky Fingers Live - From The Vault'', recorded on 20 May 2015 at the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, California, where the band played the entire ''

'' album.

Personnel

''Sticky Fingers''

The Rolling Stones *

lead vocals *

lead guitar, backing vocals *

rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals *

bass guitar *

drums Additional musicians *

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s *

saxophone *

organ *

piano *

percussion

''Live Licks''

The Rolling Stones * Mick Jaggervocals, harmonica * Keith Richardsguitar *

guitar * Charlie Wattsdrums Additional musicians *

Darryl Jones Darryl Jones (born December 11, 1961) is an American bass guitarist. He has been recording and touring with the Rolling Stones since 1993. He has also played in bands with Miles Davis and Sting, among others. Career Darryl Jones was born on ...

bass *

Chuck Leavell Charles Alfred Leavell (born April 28, 1952) is an American musician. A member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout their commercial zenith in the 1970s, he subsequently became a founding member of the band Sea Level. He has served as the pri ...

keyboards * Bobby Keyssaxophone

References

External links

Complete Official Lyrics
{{authority control 1971 songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards The Rolling Stones songs Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller Atlantic Records singles Songs about drugs