Jumpin' Jack Flash
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the song. For the movie, see Jumpin' Jack Flash (film).
| “Jumpin' Jack Flash” | |||||
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| Single by The Rolling Stones | |||||
| Released | 24 May 1968 | ||||
| Format | 7" | ||||
| Recorded | March 1968 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 3 min 43 s | ||||
| Label | Decca/ABKCO | ||||
| Writer(s) | Jagger/Richards | ||||
| Producer | Jimmy Miller | ||||
| The Rolling Stones singles chronology | |||||
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"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by English rock and roll band The Rolling Stones, released as a single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by Rolling Stone,[1] the song is seen as the band's return to their blues roots after the psychedelia of their preceding albums Between the Buttons and Their Satanic Majesties Request.[2] One of the group's most popular and recognizable songs, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" has been featured in many films and on the Rolling Stones compilation albums Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2), Hot Rocks, Singles Collection and Forty Licks .
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[edit] Inspiration and recording
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, recording on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" began during the Beggars Banquet sessions of 1968 (although it would not be released on that album.) On the song's trademark opening, guitarist Richards has said:
| “ | I used a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic tuned to open D, six string. Open D or open E, which is the same thing - same intervals - but it would be slackened down some for D. Then there was a capo on it, to get that really tight sound. And there was another guitar over the top of that, but tuned to Nashville tuning. I learned that from somebody in George Jones' band in San Antonio in 1964. The high-strung guitar was an acoustic, too. Both acoustics were put through a Philips cassette recorder. Just jam the mic right in the guitar and play it back through an extension speaker.[3] | ” |
Richards has stated that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards' country house, where they were awoken one morning by the sound of the gardener - Jack Dyer - walking past the window. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded: "Oh, that's Jack - that's jumpin' Jack."[4] The rest of the lyrics evolved from there.[3][5]
Jagger said in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone that the song arose "...out of all the acid of Satanic Majesties... It's about having a hard time and getting out. Just a metaphor for getting out of all the acid things."[6]
Richards plays the bass as well as guitar on the studio version of the song.[3] In his 1990 autobiography, Stone Alone, Bill Wyman claimed to have come up with the song's distinctive main guitar riff on an organ without being credited for it.
Brian Jones and Bill Wyman do not appear on the studio recording of this track.
In the performance filmed for The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus, Richards played the riff in standard tuning, and ever since the band's 1969 American Tour he played the riff in open G tuning with a capo on the fourth fret. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" has since appeared on the concert albums Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!, Love You Live, Flashpoint, and Shine a Light. The intro is not usually played live, the song begins immediately with the main riff. On the 2005-2007 A Bigger Bang Tour, it was frequently the opening song.
[edit] Release and aftermath
Released on May 24, 1968, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" flew to the top of the UK charts and to number three in the United States. The B-side to both the US and UK single was "Child of the Moon (rmk)." The first Rolling Stones album on which the song appeared was their 1969 best of album, Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2), one year after the single was released.
Some early London Records USA pressings of the single had a technical flaw in them. About halfway through the song's instrumental bridge, the speed of the master tape slows down for a moment, then comes back to speed.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Jumpin' Jack Flash" at number 2 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In 2004, Rolling Stone rated the song 124th on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs Of All Time". VH1 placed it at 65 on its show 100 Greatest Rock Songs.[7]
[edit] Legacy
The song's popularity has led it to be used in many films and television shows. In 1986, the song's title was used for the Whoopi Goldberg film Jumpin' Jack Flash. In the film the song is said to be in the key of B-flat, but in reality it is recorded in the key of B. For unknown reasons, the officially released version plays somewhat lower, thus changing the key from B to in between B-flat and B. Aretha Franklin recorded a cover version of the song, which was produced by Keith Richards, who also played the lead guitar. The recording also featured Ronnie Wood.
In the Hunter S. Thompson book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thompson alludes to the live version that appears on Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert with the line "I think I busted a button on my trousers". "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is the last song played in the film version of the book, as the main character, Raoul Duke (played by Johnny Depp), drives out of Las Vegas and into the sunset. (The song is not included in the official motion picture soundtrack.)
At the end of the Judging Amy episode Human Touch, Amy and Peter sing the song with Peter playing acoustic guitar. In Night Shift, Michael Keaton repeatedly sings snatches of the song and imitates the opening riffs. In Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, the song is used to introduce the Robert De Niro character of Johnny Boy.
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is one of the alternate identities of Captain Trips, a character in the Wild Cards series of novels. Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson, uses the song as his walk-up music as it is his nickname as well because of his speed and his name.
In Jojo´s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, the character Mohammed Avdol´s most powerful attack is called the Crossfire Hurricane Special, a reference to a lyric in the song.
[edit] Covers
Versions of the song were released by many other groups. Some better-known versions are by Greg Kihn, Leon Russell (from The Concert for Bangladesh), Peter Frampton (from Frampton Comes Alive!), Johnny Winter and Boyce & Hart; there are lesser-known versions by Aretha Franklin, The Four Tops, Bon Jovi, The Moog Machine, Ananda Shankar, Motörhead, Alex Chilton, Guns N' Roses, Rodney Crowell and The Vibrators. Sleaze Rock band Vains Of Jenna released a cover of the song in 2005.
Mott the Hoople incorporated the refrain into their 1970 song "Walkin' With a Mountain" from their Mad Shadows album. Mick Jagger is featured on the song. [1]
The Stone Temple Pilots song "Big Bang Baby" has lyrical references to the song.
The band Chicago left a reference to this song in their single Feelin' Stronger Every Day, where the band members can be heard saying during the uptempo ending of the song, "Jumpin' Jack Flash it's a gas, gas, gas."
Billy Fogarty's cover of the song is featured in the Nintendo DS rhythm-based video game Elite Beat Agents, released in November 2006.
Parodist Weird Al Yankovic put a portion of this song in his 1st polka medley, Polkas On 45.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ "Jumpin' Jack Flash". Rolling Stone. 4 December 2007 (accessed 22 June 2007).
- ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Jumpin' Jack Flash". allmusic. allmusic. Retrieved on 2006-06-16.
- ^ a b c McPherson, Ian. Track Talk: Jumpin' Jack Flash. Retrieved on 2007-06-22.
- ^ A jumping jack is an old-fashioned toy - see Jumping jack (toy).
- ^ The Rolling Stones. (2003). Four Flicks [DVD]. Warner Music Vision.
- ^ "Jagger Remembers". Rolling Stone. Dec 14, 1995 (accessed 22 June 2007).
- ^ 100 Greatest Songs of Rock & Roll (80-61). VH1. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
