| "Honky Tonk Women" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single bythe Rolling Stones | ||||
| B-side | "You Can't Always Get What You Want" | |||
| Released | July 1969 | |||
| Recorded | June 1969 | |||
| Studio | Olympic, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:03 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Jagger–Richards | |||
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Miller | |||
| Rolling Stones UK singles chronology | ||||
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| Rolling Stones US singles chronology | ||||
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| Official audio | ||||
| "Honky Tonk Women" onYouTube | ||||
"Honky Tonk Women" is a song by the English rock bandthe Rolling Stones. It was released as a non-album single in July 1969 in the United Kingdom, and a week later in the United States (a country version called "Country Honk" was later included on the albumLet It Bleed). It topped the charts in both nations.[3] The song was onRolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, and was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame.
The song was written byMick Jagger andKeith Richards while on holiday in Brazil from late December 1968 to early January 1969, inspired by Brazilian "caipiras" (inhabitants of rural, remote areas of parts of Brazil) at the ranch where Jagger and Richards were staying inMatão,São Paulo.[4] Two versions of the song were recorded by the band: the familiar hit which appeared on the 45 single and their collection of late 1960s singles,Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2), and a honky-tonk version entitled "Country Honk" with slightly different lyrics, which appeared onLet It Bleed (1969).
Thematically, a "honky tonk woman" refers to a dancing girl in awestern bar; the setting for the narrative in the first verse of the rock-and-roll version isMemphis, Tennessee: "I met a gin soaked bar-room queen in Memphis", while "Country Honk" sets the first verse inJackson, Mississippi: "I'm sittin' in a bar, tipplin' a jar in Jackson".[5]
The band initially recorded the track called "Country Honk" in London in early March 1969.Brian Jones was present during these sessions and may have played on the first handful of takes and demos. It was his last recording session with the band.[6][7] The song was transformed into the familiar electric, riff-based hit single "Honky Tonk Women" sometime in the spring of 1969, prior toMick Taylor joining the group.[2] In an interview in the magazineCrawdaddy!, Richards credits Taylor for influencing the track: "... the song was originally written as a realHank Williams/Jimmie Rodgers/1930s country song. And it got turned around to thisother thing by Mick Taylor, who got into a completely different feel, throwing it off the wall another way."[8] However, in 1979 Taylor recalled it this way: "I definitely added something to Honky Tonk Women, but it was more or less complete by the time I arrived and did my overdubs."[9]
"Honky Tonk Women" is distinctive as it opens not with a guitar riff but with a beat played on acowbell by producerJimmy Miller.
The concert rendition of "Honky Tonk Women" onGet Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (1970) differs significantly from the studio hit, with a markedly dissimilar guitar introduction and the first appearance on vinyl of an entirely different second verse.
The single was released in the UK the day after the death of founding memberBrian Jones, with "You Can't Always Get What You Want" as the single'sB-side. The picture sleeve was designed byJohn Kosh and photographed byEthan Russell.
In the UK, the song remained on the charts for seventeen weeks, peaking at number one for five weeks. It remains the band's last single to reach number one in their home country. The song also topped the USBillboard Hot 100 for four weeks from 23 August 1969. It was later released on the compilation albumThrough the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) in September.Billboard ranked it as theNo. 4 song overall for 1969.
At the time of its release,Rolling Stone magazine hailed "Honky Tonk Women" as "likely the strongest three minutes of rock and roll yet released in 1969".[10]Record World said it was "the Rolling Stones at their funky best."[11] It was ranked number 116 on the list ofRolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in April 2010.[12] The song was later put into the track listing for the video gameBand Hero. In 2014, the song was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame.
The single version of "Honky Tonk Women" appears on the following Rolling Stones compilation albums:
Concert versions of "Honky Tonk Women" are included on the albumsLive'r Than You'll Ever Be (1969),'Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!' (recorded 1969, released 1970),Love You Live (recorded 1976, released 1977),Live Licks (recorded 2003, released 2004),Brussels Affair (Live 1973) (recorded 1973, released 2011),Hampton Coliseum (Live 1981) (recorded 1981, released 2012),L.A. Friday (Live 1975) (recorded 1975, released 2012),Live at the Tokyo Dome (recorded 1990, released 2012),Live at Leeds (recorded 1982, released 2012),Hyde Park Live (2013),Sticky Fingers (Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions) (recorded 1971, released 2015),Totally Stripped (recorded 1995, released 2016), andHavana Moon (2016). The song has appeared in numerous Stones concert films and boxed sets, includingStones in the Park,Some Girls: Live in Texas '78,Let's Spend the Night Together,Stones at the Max,Voodoo Lounge Live,Bridges to Babylon Tour '97–98,Four Flicks,The Biggest Bang,Sweet Summer Sun: Hyde Park Live, andHavana Moon. Some of the live versions include a Paris verse not included on the original single.
 | This sectionrelies largely or entirely on asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Honky Tonk Women" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2016) |
| "Country Honk" | |
|---|---|
| Song bythe Rolling Stones | |
| from the albumLet It Bleed | |
| Released | 5 December 1969 (1969-12-05) |
| Recorded | June and October 1969 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:10 |
| Label |
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| Songwriter(s) | Jagger/Richards |
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Miller |
"Country Honk" is a country version of "Honky Tonk Women", recorded before it but released five months later on the albumLet It Bleed (1969). As noted above, the country arrangement was the original concept of "Honky Tonk Women". Richards has maintained that "Country Honk" is how "Honky Tonk Women" was originally written.
"Country Honk" was recorded atOlympic Studios.Byron Berline played the fiddle on the track, and has said thatGram Parsons was responsible for him being chosen for the job (Berline had previously recorded with Parsons' bandthe Flying Burrito Brothers). ProducerGlyn Johns suggested that Berline should record his part on the pavement outside the studio to add ambiance to the number.Sam Cutler, the Rolling Stones' tour manager, performed the car horn at the beginning of the track.[15]Nanette Workman performs backing vocals on this version (although the album sleeve credits actressNanette Newman). Berline's fiddle and all vocals were recorded atElektra. There is abootleg recording in existence that contains neither the fiddle nor Mick Taylor's slide guitar.
According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon,[16] except where noted:
The Rolling Stones
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The Rolling Stones
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