WCSX Classic Cuts
The Rolling Stones: “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”
The Hook: A memorable studio jam that they decided to keep as a song.
Album: Sticky Fingers
Year: 1971
Writers: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Stats: Never released as a single.
The Background: Former Rolling Stones’ guitarist Mick Taylor explains that “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” is an unusual entry in the band’s catalog, because the long instrumental jam wasn’t really meant to be part of the song.
Ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor on “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.” OC:…the studio. :29
It was a purely spontaneous jam session type thing, the kind of thing that happens in the studio sometimes when the whole band is really into a groove and things are happening. We got to the end of the song and it was either me or Keith that started this little guitar riff. Everybody else joined in and the tape was rolling, so it went down on tape. When we listened back to it, everybody thought it sounded so good that we decided to keep it. But it wasn’t planned or rehearsed that way, it just happened. Totally off-the-wall thing that happens on stage, but not usually in the studio.”