Bite My Head Off by The Rolling Stones

Album: Hackney Diamonds (2023)

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Imagine the Rolling Stones, those lovable old chaps we all know, cranking out a song so raw, so downright rude, it could curdle milk at a punk rock concert. That is "Bite My Head Off."

This isn't your grandpa's "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." This is Jagger and Richards in full-on "get off my lawn" mode, spitting venom at someone who is hostile, short-tempered, and confrontational. Jagger practically snarls, "Why you gotta mouth off? I got the world to worry about!" Can you picture Mick, face contorted, veins popping out of his forehead?
So who helmed this little gem of aggression? None other than Andrew Watt, the producer who's tamed the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and Iggy Pop. He produced the entire Hackney Diamonds album ("Bite My Head Off" is track 4).
Guess who shows up to lay down some bass? Sir Paul McCartney himself! Apparently, Watt had a week booked with Macca smack dab in the middle of the Stones' recording sessions. Can you imagine? Cancel a Beatle? Perish the thought!

According to an interview Jagger gave to Apple Music, when Watt broke the news, the Stones frontman responded: "It's all right. We will take a few days off. It's all right. We've got time. And we've got a lot of great stuff."

But Watt had a better idea. "Well, yeah, but why don't we invite Paul for one of the days and get him to play?"

So, Macca wanders into the studio, picks up this souped-up Höfner bass guitar, and throws down some fuzz-drenched goodness that would make Sid Vicious proud.
Uncut magazine asked Mick Jagger if it was McCartney's idea for his solo on "Bite My Head Off" to be in a fuzz-bass style.

"I don't know whose idea that was, but it really works well," he said. "It is sort of post- punk, and that's the intention. I was worried that Paul wasn't going to fall into that, but he did, and he seemed to really enjoy it. I didn't know which track to suggest, and when Andy said, 'do bite my head off,' I thought that was maybe not Paul's cup of tea. But it turned out he played brilliantly on it."
McCartney laid down his bass at Henson Recording Studios, in Hollywood, which is the old Charlie Chaplin Studios.
The Stones gave "Bite My Head" its debut live performance during the Hackney Diamonds launch event on October 19, 2023, at the Racket in New York.

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