"Lady Jane" 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 by the group's songwriting duo of

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 ...

, the song was initially included on the band's 1966 album '' Aftermath''. The song showcases

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 ...

' instrumental incorporation of baroque rock as it was beginning to be introduced. In the US and Germany, the song was released as the B-side of the " Mother's Little Helper" single on 2 July 1966, and peaked at number 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.

Background and composition

The song was written at a milestone in the Rolling Stones' recording career that saw Jagger and Richards emerge as the group's chief songwriters. On the band's previous album, '' Out of Our Heads'', the duo shared writing credits on just three tracks. On '' Aftermath'', however, the two were credited together on every track, making it the first album to be composed solely of original band material. It was also during this period that

, despite losing control of the band's output, was integrating different instruments into the group's repertoire. Joe S. Harrington has noted that

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

-like sound on the song "

In My Life "In My Life" is a song by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles, released on their 1965 studio album, ''Rubber Soul''. Credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, the song is one of only a few in which there is dispute ...

", in 1965, opened considerations for Jones to include baroque rock instrumentals. The Rolling Stones had already used a harpsichord in the song "Play With Fire" from early 1965 as the B-side to "The Last Time". This was recorded months before The Beatles recorded "In My Life". Apparently, the Stones were already considering baroque rock instruments. "Lady Jane" was written and composed by Jagger in early 1966 after reading the then controversial 1928 book ''

Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the final novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Florence, Italy, and in 1929, in Paris, France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Ki ...

'', which uses the term "Lady Jane" to mean female genitalia. According to Jagger, "the names n the songare historical, but it was really unconscious that they should fit together from the same period." At the time, it was widely thought that an inspiration for the song was Jane Ormsby-Gore, daughter of David Ormsby-Gore, the former British ambassador in Washington, who later married Michael Rainey, founder of the Hung on You boutique in Chelsea that was frequented by the Stones. Its most influential development was by Jones, no longer the principal musical force for the band, searching for methods to improve upon their musical textures. He expressed intrigue in incorporating culturally diverse instruments into the band's music, investigating the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

, koto,

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

, and testing electronics. In the press Jones talked about applying the

Appalachian dulcimer The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of t ...

into compositions, although he seemed uncertain of the instrument, saying "It's an old English instrument used at the beginning of the century". According to Keith Richards, the dulcimer was brought to his attention when Jones began listening to recordings of folk musician

Richard Fariña Richard George Fariña (; March 8, 1937 – April 30, 1966) was an American Folk music, folksinger, songwriter, poet and novelist. Early years and education Fariña was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of an Irish mother, Ther ...

. Exactly when Jones discovered Fariña and his use of the dulcimer is open to speculation. The influence of these recordings would manifest itself in ''Aftermath'', where Jones performed with the dulcimer on two tracks, "I Am Waiting" and, more distinctively, "Lady Jane". This later contributed to Jones's status as a pioneer in

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

, and effectively shifted the band from

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

to a versatile pop group.

Recording

The master recording of "Lady Jane" was recorded from 6 to 9 March 1966, at RCA Studios in Los Angeles, with

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

Dave Hassinger guiding the band through the process (despite Andrew Loog Oldham being credited as producer). Mark Brend has indicated that the influence of Fariña's dulcimer playing can be clearly heard in Jones's recurring counter-melody to a call and response with Jagger's vocals. Jones plays the instrument in the traditional style, placed on his knees, fretted with a biter and plucked with a quill. In addition to the striking dulcimer motif, "Lady Jane" is also highlighted by

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spector, a ...

's harpsichord accompaniment halfway through the song. "Lady Jane" also exhibits influences of author

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

, particularly in Jagger's vocal delivery and diction. To Richards, "Lady Jane is very

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

. There are a few places in England where people still speak that way, Chaucer English ic. The vocal melody is set in the

subtonic In music, the subtonic is the degree of a musical scale which is a major second, whole step below the tonic (music), tonic note. In a major key, it is a lowered, or flattened, seventh Degree (music), scale degree (). It appears as the seventh scal ...

range, rather than the conventional major seventh scale degree, which presents a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

-style modal. Although stylistically the two songs have little in common, the modality connects the Eastern melody and harmonies of "Lady Jane" to " Paint It Black".

Release

In the US, and in Germany, "Lady Jane" was released as the B-side of " Mother's Little Helper." "Lady Jane" reached number 24 on ''Billboard''s Hot 100 singles chart, while "Mother's Little Helper" reached number eight, making the release one of the few singles with both songs becoming hits in the US.

Critical reception

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 a "tender, inventively melodic pledge of devotion." ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...

'' music critic Ralph Gleason called "Lady Jane" a "remarkable switch, a take-off on a 17th century formal dance...with imaginative musical effects."

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: The Rolling Stones *

vocals *

acoustic guitar *

dulcimer *

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 ...

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 ...

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African ...

Additional musicians *

Charts

Covers

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

released a version in 1966, which reached No. 28 in the UK, and No. 6 in the Netherlands. * Rotary Connection's 1968 album '' Rotary Connection'' includes a cover featuring

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1974 single " Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register. Born in 1947, Riperton grew ...

's vocals. *A cover by Norwegian band the Mojo Blues reached No. 7 in Norway during the summer of 1966. *Tony Merrick released a version that charted at #49 in Britain in June 1966, according to ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles''. *

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

's 1975 album '' Tonight's the Night'' includes the song "Borrowed Tune", with new lyrics set to the melody of "Lady Jane". Both the title and lyrics ("I'm singing this borrowed tune / I took from the Rolling Stones") note the song's origin.

References

Sources

* {{authority control 1966 songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards The Rolling Stones songs Baroque pop songs 1966 singles London Records singles Song recordings produced by Andrew Loog Oldham Pop ballads Rock ballads 1960s ballads