Gimme Shelter
The opener of Let It Bleed: a storm of a riff and Merry Clayton's shattering vocal.
The Rolling Stones, from Let It Bleed (1969)
- Written by
- Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
- Released
- 28 November 1969
- Length
- 4:31
- Album
- Let It Bleed
Richards began the riff while Jagger was filming Performance. The band cut backing tracks at Olympic in February and March 1969, and vocals followed at Sunset Sound and Elektra in Los Angeles in the autumn. Jones was absent. Jagger and Richards played guitars, with Wyman, Watts and Nicky Hopkins on piano, Jimmy Miller on guiro and maracas, and Merry Clayton on vocals. Clayton was credited as Mary on the original pressings.
Jagger told NPR it was a very moody piece about the world closing in, and Richards said it began with people running from a storm. It was never a single.
Live
It became a regular in the set from the 1972 tour, with solos from Taylor, and setlist.fm counted 643 performances in May 2019. Lisa Fischer sang the vocal part from 1989 to 2015, and Lady Gaga took it on in 2012 and on GRRR Live! in 2023.
Covers and versions
- Merry Clayton (1970)
- Grand Funk Railroad (1971) US Hot 100 number 61.
- The Sisters of Mercy (1983)
- Puddle of Mudd (2011)
More songs by The Rolling Stones
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Paint It Black, Sympathy for the Devil, Brown Sugar
Sources
- Gimme Shelter, Wikipedia
- Let It Bleed, Wikipedia
- The Rolling Stones' setlist by the numbers, Consequence (2019-05-22)