These days, Mick Jagger seems less like a real rock star and more like a frontman with superpowers. No one can claim to have spent hours in front of the microphone and still sing as well as Jagger does after more than 50 years in the same group. Despite this, most performers have made every effort to rule the stage whenever they perform. Not that Jagger is without his faults; in fact, he acknowledged that it would never be easy for him to perform the song “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin.”
But as soon as The Stones began penning their own songs, Jagger seemed to be able to sing anything. In addition to his early reputation for his blues growl, he was also known for his crooner voice. That he frequently employed when crafting songs like “As Tears Go By.”
The Beatles’ constant innovation actually meant that The Stones were always right behind them. Even though Jagger wasn’t always able to perform vocal acrobatics, he still managed to bring on the fruitiness when performing songs like “Between the Buttons“. He also bent his bluesy tone until it sounded like a hallucination on “Their Satanic Majesties Request“.
Jagger discovered a valuable vocal lesson after creating Beggars Banquet: it’s best to be true to yourself. Hearing him return to the rough and tumble blues voice he had begun with was exactly the kind of tone that suited him best. Those experiments, however, were still amazing for what they were.
Sticky Fingers was going to be tough for Keith Richards to sing when it came time to write the riff, “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin.” Richards admitted as much to Spotify, saying, “I [did] lots of vocals, harmonies to sort of hide the fact that I didn’t really hit the notes that great in the chorus bits.”
Every time the song’s title appears, you can usually hear those vocals much more clearly. It almost sounds like a group of different Jaggers have just burst into the room. Does that imply, however, that Jagger’s vocals weren’t all good enough to be sung?
Not at all. In fact, his somewhat rough vocal arrangement much better suits the character behind the song. His screams are like Jagger waiting outside for some kind of romantic relief. The song centers around a man knocking on his old lady’s door, supposed to be a loose blues jam.
The highlight of the song, despite Jagger’s vocal modifications, is the outro. This has some of the best guitar fills that Keith and Mick have ever recorded together. It just adds to the song’s mystery that the band was unaware that the tape was still rolling towards the end of that lengthy instrumental. This is a bluesy dirge of desperation. Even if Jagger’s voice was incapable of hitting those high notes, the song would still be moving forward. This is thanks to the guitar duel that awaits at the end.
