"Rip This Joint" is the second song on

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' classic 1972 album '' Exile on Main St.'' Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Rip This Joint" is one of the fastest songs in the Stones' catalogue, with a pronounced

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

feel. Jagger's breakneck delivery of the song's lines spells out a rambling tale set across America from the perspective of a foreigner.

Background

Richards notes the tempo of the song: "It's one of the fastest ones of the lot and it really keeps you on your toes".

Reception

In his review of the song,

Bill Janovitz Bill Janovitz (born June 3, 1966) is an American musician and writer. He is the singer, guitarist, and songwriter of alternative rock band Buffalo Tom, and has also released three solo albums. Janovitz has written extensively for Allmusic, author ...

comments:

Recording

Recording began in late 1971 at Richards' rented home in France,

Villa Nellcôte A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fal ...

, using the

Rolling Stones Mobile Studio The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio (also known as the RSM) is a mobile recording studio inside a DAF F1600 Turbo truck, once owned by the English rock band The Rolling Stones. Numerous bands and artists have recorded music using the RSM, including ...

. With Jagger on lead vocals, Richards sings back-up and plays electric guitar, along with

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...

, and

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

plays drums. Bill Plummer provides

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

for the recording while

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. He performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, including on songs recorde ...

performs Johnnie Johnson-like piano.

Bobby Keys Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Nilsson, Delaney ...

plays two

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

solos, Jim Price performs trumpet and trombone.

Live performances

"Rip This Joint" was played frequently by the Stones throughout the early to mid-1970s, and appeared in the concert film '' Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones'', before disappearing completely from their setlists. The song was reintroduced to the band's setlists at various club dates in Europe on the 1995

Voodoo Lounge Tour The Voodoo Lounge Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Rolling Stones to promote their 1994 album '' Voodoo Lounge''. This was their first tour without bassist Bill Wyman, and their first with touring bassist Darryl Jones, as an additional ...

(as released in 2016 on '' Totally Stripped'') and was also performed on the

Licks Tour The Licks Tour was a worldwide concert tour undertaken by the Rolling Stones during 2002 and 2003, in support of their 40th anniversary compilation album '' Forty Licks''. The tour grossed over $300 million, becoming the second-highest-grossi ...

in 2002 and 2003. The song was included as the closing track to the Stones' 1975 compilation album, ''

Made in the Shade ''Made in the Shade'', released in 1975, is the fourth official compilation album by the Rolling Stones, and the first under their Atlantic Records contract. It covers material from ''Sticky Fingers'' (1971), '' Exile on Main St.'' (1972), ''Go ...

''. The song was played in the opening scene of the film, '' Way of the Gun''. American pop punk band

Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...

has performed the song on ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,

''.

References

{{Authority control The Rolling Stones songs Rockabilly songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards 1972 songs Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller