WCSX Classic Cuts
The Rolling Stones: “Paint It Black”
The Hook: A happy time when Brian Jones was still creatively contributing to the band.
Album: Aftermath
Year: 1966
Writers: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Stats: Topped the charts in both the U.S. and U.K.
Background: Drugs would eventually limit Rolling Stones founding member Brian Jones’s contribution to the band — and eventually lead to his firing. But former manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham recalls the time around the recording of “Paint It Black” — on which Brian plays sitar — as one where Jones was on a creative roll.
Former Rolling Stones producer and manager Andrew Loog Oldham on the period in which Brian Jones played sitar on “Paint It Black.” OC:…perfect track. :19
“It was a very pleasant period, because Brian, as much as he was going away from the guitar and the ramifications of what that meant in his life, would do incredible things. Like he’d say, ‘Oh, I want this,’ and he’d disappear for 18 or 24 hours having mastered on the instrument for that song the perfect track.”
