"Brown Sugar" is a song recorded by the English rock band

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 ...

. Written primarily by

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

, it is the opening track and lead single from their ninth studio album, '' Sticky Fingers'' (1971). It became a number one hit in both the United States and Canada. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it charted at number two. In the United States, ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number 16 song for 1971. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' ranked it number 495 on its list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

in 2010, number 490 in 2004, and at number five on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.

Inspiration and recording

Though credited to

Jagger–Richards Jagger–Richards (spelled Jagger–Richard from 1963 to 1978) is the songwriting partnership between English musicians Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (both born 1943), founder members of rock band the Rolling Stones. They are one of the most suc ...

, "Brown Sugar" was primarily the work of Jagger, who wrote it sometime during the filming of ''

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 185411 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader, bank robber and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing armour of the Kelly gang, a suit of bulletproof ...

'' in 1969. According to Marsha Hunt, Jagger's girlfriend and the mother of his first child Karis, he wrote the song with her in mind. Former Ikette Claudia Lennear disputes this claim, saying that it was written about her. In 2014, Lennear told ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' that she is the subject of the song because she was dating Jagger when it was written.

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

stated in his book ''Rolling with the Stones'' (2002) that the lyrics were partially inspired by Lennear. "Brown Sugar" was recorded over a three-day period at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama, from 2 to 4 December 1969. The song was not released until over a year later due to legal wranglings with the band's former label. At the request of guitarist

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 ...

(who had joined the band as

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

's replacement in July 1969), the Stones debuted the number live during the infamous concert at the Altamont Speedway on 6 December 1969. In the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

to the compilation album '' Jump Back'' (1993), Jagger says, "The lyric was all to do with the dual combination of drugs and girls. This song was a very instant thing, a definite high point". In a December 1995 ''Rolling Stone'' interview, Jagger spoke at length about the song, its inspiration, and its success, and credited himself with its lyrics. Keith Richards also credits Jagger with the song in his autobiography. Jagger attributed the success of the song to a "good groove". After noting that the lyrics could mean so many lewd subjects, he again noted that the combination of those subjects, the lyrical ambiguity was partially why the song was considered successful. He noted, "That makes it... the whole mess thrown in. God knows what I'm on about on that song. It's such a mishmash. All the nasty subjects in one go... I never would write that song now." When interviewer

Jann Wenner Jann Simon Wenner ( ; born January 7, 1946) is an American businessman who co-founded the popular culture magazine ''Rolling Stone'' with Ralph J. Gleason and is the former owner of '' Men's Journal'' magazine. He participated in the Free S ...

asked him why, Jagger replied, "I would probably censor myself. I'd think, 'Oh God, I can't. I've got to stop. I can't just write raw like that."Jagger Remembers"
. ''Rolling Stone''. 14 December 1995. An alternative version was recorded on 18 December 1970 at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...

in London during a birthday party for Richards and

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 ...

. It features appearances by

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. Throughout much of the 1960s and 1970s he was a prolific studio musician, including playing organ on the Bob Dylan song " Like ...

on piano, and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

on slide guitar. The alternative version, which had previously been available only on

bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...

s, was released in June 2015 on the Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions of the reissued ''Sticky Fingers'' album.

Release

"Brown Sugar" was released in April 1971 as the first single from the album, and the first single offered by the Rolling Stones Records label. While the US single featured only " Bitch" as the B-side, the British release also featured a live rendition of

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

's " Let It Rock", recorded at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

during the 1971 tour of the United Kingdom. It is one of two Rolling Stones songs (along with "Wild Horses") licensed to both the band and former manager

Allen Klein Allen Klein (December 18, 1931 – July 4, 2009) was an American businessman whose aggressive negotiation tactics affected industry standards for compensating recording artists. He founded ABKCO Music & Records Incorporated. Klein increased pr ...

(a result of various business disagreements), resulting in its inclusion on the compilation albums '' Hot Rocks 1964–1971'', '' Singles Collection: The London Years'', '' Singles 1968–1971'', and the 2007 edition of '' Rolled Gold: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones''. The song was also included on a number of the band's non-Klein compilations, including '' Made in the Shade'', ''

Rewind (1971–1984) ''Rewind (1971–1984)'' is a compilation album by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1984. Coming only three years after ''Sucking in the Seventies'', the album was primarily compiled to mark the end of the band's alliance with ...

'', '' Jump Back'', '' Forty Licks'', '' GRRR!'', and '' The Singles 1971–2006''. To promote the song, the Rolling Stones performed on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' with the performance taped sometime around late March 1971 and broadcast on 15 April and 6 May. They performed "Brown Sugar", " Wild Horses" and " Bitch" for the show's segment dedicated to albums, which was shown on 22 April 1971; due to BBC practices at the time, the other performances were erased and all that remains is "Brown Sugar". Saxophone player

Trevor Lawrence William Trevor Lawrence (born October 6, 1999) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Considered among the highest-touted college football prospect ...

mimes to

's actual solo. In the United Kingdom, the single was originally issued in mono using a now-rarely heard bespoke mono mix. This mono mix has not been released on any compilation. The song was first performed live during the free concert at Altamont, and was performed routinely during the Rolling Stones' 1970 European tour, occupying a prominent spot near the end of the set list even though audiences were unfamiliar with it. The band opened the shows of their infamous 1972 American tour with "Brown Sugar", and it has since become a Stones concert staple. However, Jagger has changed some of the more controversial lyrics when performing the song live. For example, the first verse line "I hear him whip the women just around midnight" has been replaced with "you should have heard him just around midnight."

Critical reception

Writing for '' Sounds'' in 1971, Penny Valentine praised "Brown Sugar", stating that it was her "choice as the best track". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described the song as returning to "the fresh blues sound of the team's pre-Satanic days" with a "sax break, gritty wailing and the unique stones rhythm work." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that it "is firmly in he Rolling Stones'hallowed tradition of gritty, groovy music." Writing for ''

The Rag ''The Rag'' was an underground press, underground newspaper published in Austin, Texas from 1966–1977. The weekly paper covered political and cultural topics that the conventional press ignored, such as the growing antiwar movement, the sexu ...

'', rock critic Mike Saunders found the single to be the "only especially noteworthy" track of '' Sticky Fingers'' (1971). The lyrical subject matter has been a point of interest and controversy. Described by rock critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

as "a rocker so compelling that it discourages exegesis", the song's popularity has often overshadowed its provocative lyrics, which explore a number of controversial subjects, including

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, interracial sex,

cunnilingus Cunnilingus is an oral sex act consisting of the stimulation of a vulva by using the tongue and lips. The clitoris is the most sexually sensitive part of the vulva, and its stimulation may result in a woman becoming sexually aroused or achievi ...

, and drug use. In 2021, the band announced that the song would be removed from the setlist of their US tour.

Cover versions

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

recorded a rendition of "Brown Sugar" for his album ''

The King of Rock and Roll ''The King of Rock and Roll'' is an album by Little Richard, released in 1971. It was his second album for Reprise Records. It was rereleased as part of the ''King of Rock and Roll: The Complete Reprise Recordings'' set. Production ''The King o ...

'', released in 1971.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

The Rolling Stones *

– vocals, castanets,

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s *

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

– rhythm and lead guitar, acoustic guitar *

– lead and rhythm guitar *

– bass guitar *

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 ...

– drums Additional personnel * Ian Stewart – piano *

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* from 1975 compilation album '' Made in the Shade''. * from 1974 concert movie, '' Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones'', filmed during the Stones' American Tour 1972. {{Authority control 1971 singles The Rolling Stones songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Number-one singles in the Netherlands Number-one singles in Switzerland Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller Songs about heroin Songs about New Orleans British hard rock songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Race-related controversies in music Songs about American slavery British rock-and-roll songs