So smooth, so easy, Mick swaying over Nicky Hopkins’ piano, Mick Taylor’s long, looping guitar chords, and Sonny Rollins on the saxophone. They’re not those British Bad Boys here but grown men extolling the virtues of friendship. When all the drama falls away, when chasing women, breaking up, and all that stress goes flat, you can stand late at night watching your friend and feel alright.
They recorded the music in 1972 as part of the Goats Head Soup sessions in Kingston, Jamaica, and you can feel some of the reggae vibe in the tune. They didn’t add lyrics until much later, and the song found daylight in 1981 on the Tattoo You album. By then, Mick Taylor had left the band, but they kept his guitar work from 1972.
The video is a visual treat, too. Mick Jagger hangs on the steps of a brownstone on St. Mark’s Place in the Village. He’s waiting for Keith Richards, and when the two meet up, they wander down the street to Second Avenue and the long-gone St. Mark’s Bar and Grill. Who should they find inside but Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, and Ronnie Wood. The band gets up to play while the bar patrons don’t even bother to look—they’re there to drink.
#Songoftheday #spreadinghappiness #rollingstones #mickjagger #waitingonafriend
YouTube: https://youtu.be/MKLVmBOOqVU?si=Upsluz1eMiUsyTf-
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4Wd9pEtEnZNDjgiswGOpJb?si=b7ce98898c7d459f