"It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" is the lead single from English rock band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' 1974 album ''

It's Only Rock 'n Roll ''It's Only Rock 'n Roll'' is the twelfth studio album by English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 18 October 1974 by Rolling Stones Records. It was the last album to feature guitarist Mick Taylor; the songwriting and recording of th ...

''. Writing is credited to

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

and the single reached the top ten in the UK

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

and top 20 in the United States.

Inspiration and recording

Recorded in late 1973 and completed in the spring of 1974, "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" is credited to the Rolling Stones songwriting team

and

, although future Rolling Stones guitarist

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

collaborated with Jagger on it. The song was originally recorded one night in a studio at Wood's house, "

The Wick The Wick is a Grade I listed Georgian house in Richmond, Greater London, located at the corner of Nightingale Lane and Richmond Hill. The house, designed in 1775 by architect Robert Mylne for Lady St. Aubyn, was for many years the family h ...

" in

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

was backing singer to Jagger's lead, and

Willie Weeks Willie Weeks (born August 5, 1947) is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also ga ...

played bass with

Kenney Jones Kenneth Thomas Jones (born 16 September 1948) is an English drummer best known for his work in the groups Small Faces, Faces and the Who. Jones was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Small Faces/Faces. Biograp ...

on drums. The song on the album is similar to that original recording, with the Stones keeping the original rhythm track. The meaning of the lyrics was summed up by Jagger in the liner notes to the 1993 compilation ''

Jump Back ''Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones'' is the sixth official compilation album by the Rolling Stones. It was initially released worldwide, except in the US, in 1993. The American release came on 24 August 2004. It was the first Rolling St ...

''; "The idea of the song has to do with our public persona at the time. I was getting a bit tired of people having a go, all that, 'oh, it's not as good as their last one' business. The single sleeve had a picture of me with a pen digging into me as if it were a sword. It was a lighthearted, anti-journalistic sort of thing." Jagger also has said that as soon as he wrote it, he knew it was going to be a single. He said it was his answer to everyone who took seriously what he or the band did. According to Richards there was opposition to it being a single but they persisted, saying it ''had'' to be the next single. He said that to him "that song is a classic. The title alone is a classic and that's the whole thing about it."

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it a "hard rocker with the traditional Stones power that displays a really great hook" with "driving instrumentation and Jagger's inimitable vocal style." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it "an r&r anthem of the most footstompin' fantastic proportions." Reviewers of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' took this song as "a little put-on on the current glitter rock scene". They wrote: "Title repetition is instantly catching, and this may be the most powerful uptempo thing they’ve done since "

Brown Sugar Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...

" some three years ago."

Music video

The song was promoted by a

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

directed by

Michael Lindsay-Hogg Sir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet (born 5 May 1940), is a British American television, film, music video, and theatre director. Beginning his career in British television, Lindsay-Hogg became a pioneer in music film production, direct ...

, showing the band dressed in

sailor suit A sailor suit is a uniform that originated in the United Kingdom, traditionally worn by enlisted seamen in a navy or other governmental sea services. It later developed into a popular clothing style for children, especially as dress clothes a ...

s and playing in a tent which eventually fills with bubbles. This video was one of

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 ...

's last appearances as a member of the band as he decided to leave in December 1974 (though he did not play on this song).

, who does not appear in the video, played acoustic guitar on the recording, alongside

on electric guitar. The froth was detergent and, according to Richards, the idea for the sailor suits came about at the last minute because none of the members wanted to get their own wardrobe ruined. Jagger said the entire filming process was "most unpleasant" and was also extremely lengthy. The cameras and lights could not be inside the tent for fear of electrocution. Because of this risk, in order for the video to be filmed at all, the band had to be insured for quite a reasonable sum. Richards is quoted as saying: "Poor old Charlie attsnearly drowned... because we forgot he was sitting down."

Live performances

The song is performed live by the Rolling Stones in a 1950s rock 'n roll style, with Keith Richards also employing a

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

-inspired guitar intro to the song.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: *

vocals *

electric guitar, backing vocals *

twelve-string acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

bass *

drums *

backing vocals * Ian Stewart piano

Charts

Release

Released in July 1974, "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" reached number sixteen in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and number ten on the UK Singles Chart. The B-side was the ballad "Through the Lonely Nights", which was not featured on any album until the 2005 compilation '' Rarities 1971-2003''. The Rolling Stones regularly perform the song in concert, although in a different key from the studio recording: on their concert albums '' Love You Live'' (1977) and '' Live Licks'' (2004), the song is in B, whereas the studio track is in E. According to Richards, the song was recorded in the wrong key, but they did not realise this until they played it live.

Cover versions and references

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...

also did a polka cover of the song as the first and longest of his "Hot Rocks Polka", which consists entirely of The Stones' songs. It was used in the soundtrack for his movie ''

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

''. *

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

performed the song as a duet with Mick Jagger during the

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

concert in 1985. Turner also included the song (as well as "

Jumpin' Jack Flash "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was seen as the band's retu ...

") on her 1982 tour and her 2008–2009 50th Anniversary Tour, where she was joined by

Lisa Fischer Lisa Melonie Fischer (born December 1, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She found success with her 1991 debut album '' So Intense'', which produced the Grammy Award–winning hit single " How Can I Ease the Pain". She has been a back ...

. *At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert, U2 singer

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

ended the performance of "

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

" with the chorus of "It's Only Rock 'n Roll". Later in the same concert U2 and Mick Jagger performed "

Gimme Shelter "Gimme Shelter" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Jagger–Richards, it is the opening track of the band's 1969 album '' Let It Bleed''. The song covers the brutal realities of war, including murder, rape and f ...

" and " Stuck in a Moment". *

Brothers Osborne Brothers Osborne is an American country music duo from Deale, Maryland. The duo consists of brothers TJ Osborne (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and John Osborne (lead guitar, background vocals). They signed a recording contract with EMI Records ...

and

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teamed up to cover the song for the 2023 Stones tribute album '' Stoned Cold Country'' and performed the song live at the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards. The chorus was parodied as "it's only knock and knowall, but I like it" in "''it.''", the final song on

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

' album ''

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway ''The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway'' is a studio double album and sixth overall by the English progressive rock band Genesis (band), Genesis. It was released on 22 November 1974 by Charisma Records, and is their last to feature original lead voc ...

'', released in late 1974.

Artists for Children's Promise version

In 1999, a cover of "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" was record by the supergroup Artists for Children's Promise, featuring an international ensemble of artists. The single was released to raise money for Children's Promise. It was released on 9 December 1999 and peaked at number 19 in United Kingdom.

Artists for Children's Promise

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* Dolores O’Riordan of

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Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It) 1974 singles The Rolling Stones songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jagger–Richards Music videos directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg 1974 songs EMI Records singles Songs about rock music