Stray Cat Blues

"Stray Cat Blues" is the eighth song on the Rolling Stones' album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Jimmy Miller. Miller's production of the song is very representative of his style, featuring a very prominent hi hat beat, droning piano performed by Nicky Hopkins, a mellotron and a slide guitar are performed by Brian Jones, the rhythm guitar is performed by Richards and vocals from Jagger kept even in the mix. According to Mick Jagger ^[1] the song was inspired by 'Heroin' by the Velvet Underground. The intro of Stray Cat and Heroin are similar.

The song is told from the perspective of a man lusting after and having sex with a 15 year old groupie, reasoning that "it's no hanging matter, it's no capital crime."

A live performance was captured during the Rolling Stones' American Tour 1969 and released on the 1970 live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! but, unlike the studio version, it is very slow and mellow sounding. Additionally, the lyrics are more provocative as the girl's age was changed to 13.^{[citation needed]}

Nitzer Ebb covered this song on the "I Give To You" single in 1991. Johnny Winter covered this song in 1974. A version of the song also appeared on Soundgarden's 1992 EP Satanoscillatemymetallicsonatas and as a B-side on the single for their song "Jesus Christ Pose".^[2][3]

The song is a playable track in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

Personnel

• Mick Jagger — vocal
• Keith Richards — guitar
• Brian Jones — mellotron
• Bill Wyman — bass guitar
• Charlie Watts — drums
• Nicky Hopkins — piano
• Rocky Dijon — congas

References

1. ↑ Stray Cat Blues
2. ↑ SOMMS (Satanoscillatemymetallicsonatas) - Soundgarden | AllMusic
3. ↑ Unofficial SG Homepage: Jesus Christ Pose

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics