"Winter" is a song by 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 ...

featured on their 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 ...

''. Credited to singer

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 guitarist

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 actually composed by Jagger with the band's lead guitarist at the time,

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 ...

. It was the first track recorded for the album and does not feature Richards.

Background

About 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 ...

says in his review, "Here they were in sunny

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, and the Stones were writing and recording an entirely convincing and evocative picture of a Northern Hemisphere winter. Perhaps they were so happy to be escaping the season they felt that starting the sessions with 'Winter' could transition them out of the old and into the new climate. Though it bemoans many of the negatives of the season

n the N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

lyrics ... tseems to simultaneously celebrate the season as something inherently beautiful, with other evocations of holiday scenes and wanting to wrap a coat and keep a lover warm." Recording began at

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

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 November and continued into December 1972. Jagger opens the song with the rhythm guitar piece and is accompanied by Taylor's "country-like licks" on lead. Taylor also plays slide guitar.

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 the song's accompanying piano while

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 ...

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 ...

perform bass and drums, respectively. The strings were arranged by Nicky Harrison. Despite his considerable contribution to the song, Taylor never received official credit from Jagger or Richards.

Reception

In 2004, British actor

Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Known for his work in numerous stage, television and film productions, he has received several awards including a British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe Award, and ...

picked "Winter" as his favourite track on the BBC's radio show, ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

''.

In popular culture

The song was featured in the series finale of the CBS drama ''

Cold Case ''Cold Case'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series. It ran on CBS from September 28, 2003, to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in invest ...

'' on 2 May 2010.

Personnel

The Rolling Stones *

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

– lead guitar,

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 ...

– bass guitar *

– drums Additional personnel *

– piano *Nicky Harrison –

string arrangement The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

Other recordings

Carla Olson Carla Olson (born July 3, 1952) is an American, Los Angeles-based songwriter, performer and record producer. Biography Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Olson moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1978 where she formed the Textones, whose deb ...

and Mick Taylor recorded two versions of "Winter". One is on Olson's ''The Ring of Truth'' album and the other appears on ''Too Hot For Snakes Plus''. (One disc was a re-release of the Olson/Taylor ''Too Hot for Snakes'' live album and the second was thirteen studio tracks featuring the two from Olson's various solo albums plus one song from the Barry Goldberg album ''Stoned Again'' which she produced).

References

External links

Complete Official Lyrics
{{Authority control The Rolling Stones songs 1973 songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller