"Dancing with Mr. D." is the opening track of the English

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

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 ...

' 1973 album ''

Goats Head Soup ''Goats Head Soup'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 31 August 1973 by Rolling Stones Records. Like its predecessor '' Exile on Main St.'', the band composed and recorded much of it out ...

''.

Background

Written 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 ...

and

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 ...

, "Dancing with Mr. D." is a brooding rocker in line with much of the Stones'

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

inspired recordings from the ''Goats Head Soup'' era. The song opens with a

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

by Richards prominently repeated throughout the song. Jagger's lyrics allude to either dalliance with a

succubus A succubus () is a female demon who is described in various folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them. Repeated interactions between a succubus and a man will lead to sexual activity, a bond forming between them, ...

Death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

; Jagger's lyrics are somewhat more self reflective than the devil imagery he adopted since "

Sympathy for the Devil "Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. The song was written by Mick Jagger and credited to the Jagger–Richards partnership. It is the opening track on the band's 1968 Studio album, album ''Beggars Banquet ...

". The chorus contrasts with the lyrics with backing vocals by the group and its steady rhythm. The song would best serve as an introduction to the Stones' studio-based sound of the mid-1970s after the sprawling epic '' Exile on Main St.'' Recording began at

Dynamic Sounds West Indies Records Limited (WIRL) was a recording studio in Kingston, Jamaica, established by future Prime Minister Edward Seaga in 1958. As he increasingly focused on his political career he sold the studio to Byron Lee in 1964, who renamed it Dyn ...

studio in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, and would continue at

Village Recorders The Village (also known as Village Recorders, or the Village Recorder) is a recording studio located at 1616 Butler Avenue in West Los Angeles, California. History The building was built by the Freemasons in 1922 and was originally a Masonic t ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and Island Recording Studios in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...

, who had contributed on a few songs with the Stones in the past, would become a heavy collaborator over the next few albums and here performs

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

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 ...

highlights with pianos throughout while

Rebop Kwaku Baah Anthony "Rebop" Kwaku Baah (13 February 1944 – 12 January 1983) was a Ghanaian percussionist who worked with the 1970s rock groups Traffic and Can. Biography Baah was born in 1944 in Konongo, Gold Coast. In the Akan culture of Ghana, Kwa ...

and Pascal perform percussion.

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 ...

performs electric

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

as well as bass while

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 ...

performs drums.

Critical reception

Tom Maginnis of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said of the song that it "can only be viewed as mediocre by the Stones' impossibly high standards by this point." Bud Scoppa of ''

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 ...

'' was more critical, calling the song "hopelessly silly" as well as "the weakest opener ever so positioned on one of their albums, and they’ve never performed with less conviction."

Live performances

"Dancing with Mr. D." has been performed by the Stones on their 1973 tour of Europe and on five shows of their 2017

No Filter Tour The No Filter Tour was a European/North American concert tour by the Rolling Stones which began on 9 September 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. The tour was scheduled to conclude in 2020 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour ...

. It served as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to album mate "

Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" is the fourth track on the Rolling Stones' 1973 album ''Goats Head Soup''. Background Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the song's lyrics relate two stories: one is a story of New York City police s ...

". A live version is available on the bonus disc of the "HONK" album. This version was recorded at the GelreDome in Arnhem on October 15, 2017.

Personnel

The Rolling Stones *

– lead and backing vocals *

– backing vocals, electric guitar *

– backing vocals, electric guitar, bass guitar *

– drums Additional personnel *

– piano * Anthony Kwaku Baah – percussion *Nicholas Pascal Raicevic – percussion

References

External links

Complete Official Lyrics
{{authority control 1973 songs The Rolling Stones songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller Music videos directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg