"Sittin' on a Fence" is a song written by

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 ...

of the 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 ...

. The song was given to the singing duo

Twice as Much Twice as Much was a British musical duo, composed of Dave Skinner (born David Ferguson Skinner, 4 July 1946, London) and Andrew Rose (born Andrew Colin Campbell Rose, 12 March 1946, Edgware, Middlesex), harmony singers who wrote much of their own ...

, who released it as their debut single in May 1966. This version became a Top 40 hit on the UK Singles Chart, and also received some attention in the United States, where it charted on the ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart.

Rolling Stones version

The Rolling Stones' version was recorded in December 1965 during the '' Aftermath'' sessions, and released first in the United States on the 1967 album ''

Flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

''. The song was released in Great Britain in 1969 on the greatest hits album '' Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)''. The group did not release it as a single. It is included on the 1972 compilation '' More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies)'', but as with so much Stones material from 1967, the band has never performed “Sittin' on a Fence” live. Towards the end of the acoustically driven song, a

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

can be heard.

Personnel

The Rolling Stones *

vocals *

backing vocals, acoustic guitar (lead and rhythm) *

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

bass *

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

Additional musician *

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spector, a ...

References

Notes

Additional Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sittin' on a Fence The Rolling Stones songs 1966 debut singles Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Andrew Loog Oldham 1966 songs Immediate Records singles