Sway (The Rolling Stones song)
Encyclopedia
"Sway" is a song by the English rock 'n roll band The Rolling Stones
from their 1971
album Sticky Fingers
. It was also released as the b-side of the "Wild Horses" single in June 1971. This single was released in the US only. Initial pressings of the single contain an alternate take; later pressings include the album version instead.
Credited to Mick Jagger
and Keith Richards
, "Sway" is a slower blues song and was the first song recorded by the band at Stargroves
. Although the song is credited to Jagger/Richards, Mick Taylor
has always stated that he wrote this song with Jagger, as well as "Moonlight Mile" from the same album, when Richards was not even present.
The song features a bottleneck slide guitar
solo towards the middle of the song and a dramatic outro solo performed by Taylor. The strings on the piece were arranged by Paul Buckmaster
, who also worked on other songs from Sticky Fingers. Keith Richards,added his backing vocals but had provided no guitar to the track.
It was performed live for the first time in Columbus, Ohio, and then at many of the shows on the band's A Bigger Bang Tour
in 2006.
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
from their 1971
1971 in music
-Events:*February 1 – after months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum.*February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music...
album Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers
-Personnel:The Rolling Stones*Mick Jagger – lead vocals, acoustic guitar on "Dead Flowers", electric guitar on "Sway", percussion*Keith Richards – electric guitar, six & twelve string acoustic guitar, backing vocals...
. It was also released as the b-side of the "Wild Horses" single in June 1971. This single was released in the US only. Initial pressings of the single contain an alternate take; later pressings include the album version instead.
Credited to Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
and Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
, "Sway" is a slower blues song and was the first song recorded by the band at Stargroves
Stargroves
Stargroves is a manor house and associated estate at East Woodhay in the English county of Hampshire. It best known for being the home of Mick Jagger during the 1970s and a recording venue for The Rolling Stones and various other rock bands.-History:...
. Although the song is credited to Jagger/Richards, Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones...
has always stated that he wrote this song with Jagger, as well as "Moonlight Mile" from the same album, when Richards was not even present.
The song features a bottleneck slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
solo towards the middle of the song and a dramatic outro solo performed by Taylor. The strings on the piece were arranged by Paul Buckmaster
Paul Buckmaster
Paul John Buckmaster is a Grammy Award-winning English artist, arranger and composer.He began learning the cello at the age of 4 and graduated from the Royal College of Music at age 16....
, who also worked on other songs from Sticky Fingers. Keith Richards,added his backing vocals but had provided no guitar to the track.
It was performed live for the first time in Columbus, Ohio, and then at many of the shows on the band's A Bigger Bang Tour
A Bigger Bang Tour
A Bigger Bang Tour was a worldwide concert tour by The Rolling Stones which took place between August 2005 and August 2007, in support of their album A Bigger Bang...
in 2006.