The most well-known rivalry in rock ‘n’ roll history is that between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. But beneath the harsh criticism in the media, there was a fundamental respect for one another. But sometimes tensions would explode into jealousy, as when Mick Jagger heard one Beatles song for the first time.
Jagger was honoured to be the one to officially induct the Fab Four into the club following their election into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Rolling Stones frontman thanked the Liverpool crowd for lending his band their song “I Wanna Be Your Man” and mentioned how much he loved his former fierce rivals. He also joked that he was “almost sick” when he first discovered them.
Even though his joke caused the entire room to erupt in laughter, there was some truth to it. The Beatles consistently outperformed their contemporaries. And Jagger was frequently left in disbelief by the sheer genius of their output.
One song that sent Jagger into a different realm and made him jealous of their skill set is “Hey Jude”. The Beatles’ first author, Paul McCartney, revealed Mick Jagger’s ridiculous reaction to the song in his book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now.
“The final refrain was never a stand-alone melody. I recall bringing it down to the Vesuvio club, a late-night hashish-smoking hangout in a Tottenham Court Road basement. McCartney recalled, “We were just hanging out on bean bags as was the thing.”
“Here’s an acetate,” I told the DJ,” he went on. Would you like to sneak it in later in the evening? I recall Mick Jagger saying, “Fuking hell, fuking hell,” when he played it. Isn’t that something else? It resembles two songs. Even though I knew it shouldn’t last that long, I stayed on for a very long time because I was having so much fun improvising over the last song we played.
During the recording of Let It Bleed in 1969, Mick Jagger candidly disclosed that the Rolling Stones intended to incorporate elements of “Hey Jude” into the album. He said in an interview that he thought the Beatles did a good job with “Hey Jude.” The orchestra was something extra, not merely a means of masking everything. We might incorporate that into the upcoming record.
The Stones recorded “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” on Let It Bleed, staying true to Jagger’s promise to use a large orchestra. Despite having different structures, they both change throughout their respective running times thanks to deft orchestral arrangements. This might have been coincidence, but it could also have been Jagger effectively channelling his affection for “Hey Jude.”
