December's Children (And Everybody's)

December's Children
(And Everybody's)
Studio album by
the Rolling Stones
Released3 December 1965 (1965-12-03)[1]
Recorded8 August 1963 – 26 October 1965
Studio
GenreRock
Length29:04
LabelLondon
ProducerAndrew Loog Oldham
The Rolling Stones US album chronology
Out of Our Heads
(1965) 		December's Children
(And Everybody's)
(1965) 		Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)
(1966)
Singles from December's Children
(And Everybody's)
  1. "Get Off of My Cloud"
    Released: 24 September 1965[2]
  2. "As Tears Go By"
    Released: 18 December 1965

December's Children (And Everybody's) is the fifth American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in December 1965. It is primarily compiled from different released tracks from across the band's recording career up to that point, including the UK version of Out of Our Heads. Bassist Bill Wyman quotes Jagger in 1968 calling the record "[not] an album, it's just a collection of songs." Accordingly, it is only briefly detailed in Wyman's otherwise exhaustive book Rolling with the Stones. It features their then-recent transatlantic hit single "Get Off of My Cloud", as well as their own remake of Marianne Faithfull's Jagger/Richards-penned hit "As Tears Go By", which was released as the album's second single in the US.

Recording and music

It is the last of the group's early releases to feature numerous cover songs; writers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote only half of the songs themselves. There had been no sessions to record the LP; many of the songs were from the UK edition of Out of Our Heads recorded in September 1965 in Los Angeles. Many of the tracks had appeared earlier in the UK versions of Rolling Stones albums or had been released on singles or EPs, but had not been heard in the American market; other tracks were unreleased tracks that had been recorded during other recording sessions.

Title and packaging

The title of the album came from the band's manager, Andrew Loog Oldham (who facetiously credits it to "Lou Folk-Rock Adler" in his liner notes on the back cover). According to Jagger, it was Oldham's idea of hip, Beat poetry.[3] The front cover photo of the band, by Gered Mankowitz, had previously been used for the UK edition of Out of Our Heads.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]
MusicHound Rock[6]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[7]
Tom HullA−[8]

December's Children (And Everybody's) reached No. 4 in the US, where it was certified gold.[9] The group's second US No. 1, Get Off of My Cloud, was the highest-charting single on the album, also a major chart topper in the band's native UK and several other markets.

In August 2002, the album was reissued in a new remastered CD and SACD digipak by ABKCO Records. "Look What You've Done" remains the album's only cut issued in true stereo.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Original releaseLength
1."She Said Yeah"Sonny Bono, Roddy JacksonOut of Our Heads (UK)1:30
2."Talkin' About You"Chuck BerryOut of Our Heads (UK)2:30
3."You Better Move On"Arthur AlexanderThe Rolling Stones EP (UK)2:37
4."Look What You've Done"Muddy WatersDecember's Children2:33
5."The Singer Not the Song" B-side of "Get Off of My Cloud" (UK)2:22
6."Route 66"Bobby TroupGot Live If You Want It! (UK live EP)2:29
Total length:14:01
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Original releaseLength
7."Get Off of My Cloud" single (US)2:52
8."I'm Free" Out of Our Heads (UK)2:17
9."As Tears Go By"
December's Children2:45
10."Gotta Get Away" Out of Our Heads (UK)2:03
11."Blue Turns to Grey" December's Children2:27
12."I'm Moving On"Hank SnowGot Live If You Want It! (UK live EP)2:12
Total length:14:36

Recording sessions

Most of the songs were recorded 5–6 September 1965 at the RCA Records studio in Hollywood, California, except:

Personnel

The Rolling Stones

  • Mick Jagger – lead vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 11), tambourine (10)
  • Keith Richards – electric guitar (all but 9), acoustic guitar (5, 9), backing vocals (1, 2, 5–8, 10–12), co-lead vocals (5)
  • Brian Jones – electric guitar (1, 2, 5–8, 11), acoustic guitar (3, 10), slide guitar (12), harmonica (4, 12), organ (8), backing vocals (3)
  • Bill Wyman – bass guitar (all but 9), backing vocals (3)
  • Charlie Watts – drums (all but 9)

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart performance for December's Children (And Everybody's)
Chart (1966) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[10] 4

Certifications

Certifications for December's Children (And Everybody's)
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[11] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Rolling Stones LPs".
  2. ^ "Rolling Stones singles".
  3. ^ Wenner, Jann S. "Archives | The Rolling Stone Interview: Jagger Remembers". Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  4. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "December's Children (And Everybody's) – The Rolling Stones". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  5. ^ "The Rolling Stones: Album Guide – Rolling Stone Music". 12 April 2011. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ Kot, Greg (1999). "The Rolling Stones". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (second ed.). Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 952. ISBN 1578590612.
  7. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2007). "Rolling Stones". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 1197. ISBN 9781846098567.
  8. ^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Grade List: The Rolling Stones". Tomhull.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Gold & Platinum – RIAA". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  10. ^ "The Rolling Stones Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  11. ^ "American album certifications – The Rolling Stones – December's Children". Recording Industry Association of America.