"Under My Thumb" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Under My Thumb" features a marimba played by Brian Jones.[3] Although it was never released as a single in English-speaking countries, it is one of the band's more popular songs from the mid-1960s and appears on several best-of compilations, such as Hot Rocks 1964–1971. It was included as the fourth track on both the American and United Kingdom versions of the band's 1966 studio album Aftermath.
The group frequently performed "Under My Thumb" on their 1981 US Tour and 1982 European tour as the opening number at each concert. It was the song being performed by the group at the Altamont Free Concert in December 1969 during which the killing of Meredith Hunter took place.
Lyrics and music
Like many of the songs from the Aftermath period, "Under My Thumb" uses more novel instrumentation than that featured on previous Stones records. Fuzz bass lines were added by Bill Wyman. Marimba riffs, played by Brian Jones, provide the song's most prominent hook.[4]
The song is said to be an examination of a sexual power struggle, in which Jagger's lyrics celebrate the success of finally having controlled and gained leverage over a previously pushy, dominating woman. Savouring the successful "taming of the shrew" and comparing the woman in question to a "pet", a "Siamese cat" and a "squirming dog", the lyrics provoked some negative reactions, especially amongst feminists, who objected to what they took as the suppressive sexual politics of the male narrator. American humanities professor Camille Paglia, for example, reported that her admiration and defence of "Under My Thumb" marked the beginning of a rift between her and the radical feminists of the late 1960s.[5][6] Jagger later reflected on the track in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone: "It's a bit of a jokey number, really. It's not really an anti-feminist song any more than any of the others... Yes, it's a caricature, and it's in reply to a girl who was a very pushy woman".[7] Starting with the 1969 tour, Jagger changed the references of "girl" in the lyric to "woman".
In 2021, Like a Rolling Stone Revisited: Une relecture de Dylan [A Re-reading of Dylan] by Jean-Michel Buizard—a book devoted to Bob Dylan—takes a diversion through "Under My Thumb" and offers a new interpretation of the song, departing from a first-degree reading of it. Buizard describes that in the blues tradition, of which the Stones are the heirs, the guitar is the eternal companion of the bluesman, sometimes even personified, such as Lucille, B. B. King's guitar, to which he dedicated a song (Lucille, 1968). He argues that "Under My Thumb" extends this tradition: "It's never about a real woman, but simply about this instrument that the guitarist has to tame, which probably gets him into trouble at first, but which he finally manages to dominate with his fingertips—under his thumb!"[8]
The Boomtown Rats released a version of this Jagger/Richards song with new lyrics by Bob Geldof, mildly retitled "Under Their Thumb".
Writing for the Port Angeles Evening News in 1971, critic Randy Peters considered "Under My Thumb" to be a "Stone's classic".[11] In a 1978 retrospective review, music critic John Andrew Prime noted "Under My Thumb" for having "certain twists and turns" which rescued it from "the doldrums".[12] That same year, staff writer Terry Orme wrote for The Salt Lake Tribune that the song reflected the Stones "at their offensive best", stating that the Stones had made important commentary "on the mentality of a culture".[13] Writing for The Boston Globe in 1969, contributing critic William Alford referred to the song as being about "joyously insecure revenge".[14]
An article in the Courier-Journal in 1971 considered the song among the "worst picture[s] of women...where sexual exploitation reaches unique heights."[15] Writing for the Lincoln Gazette in 1972, musician Dave Downing noted the concerns raised but considered stereotyping and oversimplification to be "very difficult to avoid" in rock music, calling "Under My Thumb" a "piece of art, not a political doctrine".[16]
Personnel
According to authors Philippe Margotin & Jean-Michel Guesdon:[17]
The song was being played during the killing of Meredith Hunter at the infamous Altamont Free Concert in 1969. Visibly rattled by the violence in front of the stage, Jagger can be heard to sing, "I pray that it's all right," instead of the usual "It feels all right." The Stones were just finishing up the song when a fight broke out between Hells Angels on the security detail and concert-goers, ultimately culminating in the stabbing of Hunter by Hells Angel[18] Alan Passaro after Hunter pulled out a revolver.[19]
It is a common misconception that Hunter was stabbed while the band was playing "Sympathy for the Devil", which was actually performed earlier in the set.[20] The events appear in the documentary film Gimme Shelter (1970).[21][22]
Cover versions
"Under My Thumb" has been the subject of multiple cover versions, some of which have charted in the US and UK. The song was subject to covers by Del Shannon and Wayne Gibson in 1966. Shannon's version reached number 129 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.[23] Gibson's version failed to chart in 1966, but later charted at number 17 in the UK in 1974 after gaining popularity in the Northern Soul scene.[24] In response to the Rolling Stones' Redlands bust in 1967, The Who recorded a cover version of "Under My Thumb".[25] American singer and actress Tina Turner covered "Under My Thumb" for her album Acid Queen (1975).[26] It was released on United Artists Records as the fourth and last single in Australia to promote her Australian tour in 1977. Produced by Danny Diante and Spencer Proffer, the single reached No. 80 on the Kent Music Report.[27][28]
^Alford, William (28 November 1969). "Records". The Boston Globe. p. 43. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
^Meade, Marion (18 April 1971). "Rock Vs. Women". The Courier-Journal. p. 233. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
^Downing, Dave (26 September 1972). "A Reply to Cock Rock". Lincoln Gazette. p. 11. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
Perone, James E. (2012). The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential and Important Creations. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger. ISBN978-0-313-37906-2.
