The Stones recorded this during a three day session at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama December 2-4, 1969. It was the last of three songs done at these sessions, after "
Brown Sugar" and "You Gotta Move."
Muscle Shoals Sound Studios (actually located in Sheffield, Alabama) opened in May, 1969 when Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records (The Stones' label) loaned money to four of the musicians at nearby FAME studios so they could start their own company and install 8-track recording equipment (FAME was on 4-track). Wexler sent many of Atlantic's acts to Muscle Shoals, since the musicians were fantastic and it was a dry county with nothing to do, which meant the artists were more likely to stay focused. The studio also had a distinctive sound that can be heard on this track, especially on Jagger's vocals - you can hear a slight distortion that was caused by the console.
When The Stones left The Shoals, they headed for Altamont, California, where they gave a free concert on December 6, 1969 - a disastrous show where a fan was stabbed to death by a Hell's Angels security guard. In the documentary
Gimme Shelter, which chronicles the concert, there is a scene where the band is listening to playback on "Wild Horses" Muscle Shoals Sound.
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Jagger's vocal is clearly audible for the first time on the album and I don't care for it. It is mannered, striving for intensity without being wholly convincing. Musically, the more complex the Stones get the m ore inadequate he sometimes sounds. The man is a stylist as opposed to a singer. He has always lacked power and range: on 15 albums he has never really grabbed hold of a note and let it ring. At his best, he sings around the notes — plays with them — dancing in and out with precision.
Or, he can let himself go entirely, with no attempt at stylistic posturing and thereby achieving an almost incredibly naturalism. But, on "Wild Horses," there is a pint in which the only thing that will work is a good note, well sung, sustained and sufficient to stand on its own. It is not to be found. A musical attitude is not a replacement for a musical style and style is not a replacement for essential technique, which is what is missing here.
The longing of the song's lyrics coupled with its ultimate hope constitute as much of a theme a there is on this record. Typically (since "Between the Buttons") the Stones' statement alternates between aggressive sexuality and warmer, more subtly erotic statements of emotional dependence and openness. The flirtation with social significance of the last two albums has been almost wholly abandoned in what appears to be something of a recommitment to more personal subject matter."
"Nashville tuning" doesn't make a 6-string guitar sound like a 12-string, it makes two 6-strings sound like a 12-string. It is a recording trick used in Nashville, either when a 12-string guitar isn't available or when the available personnel cannot produce a clean enough articulation as desired for the 12-string. One guitar is given the special tuning with the bottom four strings [E-A-D-G in standard tuning] tuned one octave higher than normal. If you plan on doing this a lot, you invest in a pack of 12-string strings and use the lighter gauge, upper octave strings. The other guitar is left in the normal tuning. With two guitarists playing together, this simulates the sound of a 12-string guitar. Alternately, a single guitarist will record two tracks, one Nashville tuning, one "normal" tuning. Played back together they sound like a single 12-string guitar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH9hFJ4UXaM
Who is Bianca??
Simple and oh so beautiful
Episode: "Joan Rivers" (season 2, episode 29)
I watched you suffer, a dull, aching pain
Now you've decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind
For years I had no clue as to what that line meant. Then recently I made a music video for this song and by accident I discovered exactly what that line is all about. I cant explain it though. You have to see it. If your curious go to www.Veoh.com and search for Wild Horses. My screen name is "lessgov9". I think you enjoy the whole video.
i totally agree on every thing you said/feel about this song. to me most remakes are not exceptable. they will live on forever.
-Jenna, NC
People don't know what they're missing, and this is a prime example of that.
Brittany
What a powerful song of Love and loss. Personally, I LOVE the version that "The Sundays" did, and I almost NEVER appreciate remakes....But the bottom line is that the writers deserved the credit and Mick Jagger and the crew will live for years to come as some of the best song writers/performers to ever live.
w h o a
all in all, sweet sweet song
Gram did not write Wild Horses although he was the inspiration for the song. Wild Horses was actually written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger (it is widely held that the song was originally written for Gram to sing, an idea that was refused by the record label). The Rolling Stones did allow Gram to record the song before the Stones themselves had recorded it (a first for the Rolling Stones). Gram did however arrange the version of Honky Tonk Woman that the Stones later called Country Honk and was also the key inspiration for The Stones' "Country-ish" movement following Exile On Main Street.
since he died so young.