The Rolling Stones Hit Keith Richards Called Their Producer’s “Worst Production” Yet

Pressure can sometimes bring about a performance, but Keith Richards might argue that the pressure The Rolling Stones were feeling when recording the follow-up to “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” led to their producer’s “worst production” yet. Chart performance might suggest otherwise, but Richards’ views aren’t necessarily surprising.

Videos by American Songwriter

The band was, after all, in the middle of an important career lesson. No matter how successful you become, there will always be a market demanding that you give even more. No satisfaction, if you will.

Keith Richards Had Mixed Feelings About This Rolling Stones Hit

The Rolling Stones released “Get Off of My Cloud” in late September 1965, just a few months after they released “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” The latter track was rapidly becoming one of the most popular rock songs of all time, a distinction it still carries today. Unsurprisingly, the band was feeling immense pressure to not only replicate this success but to top it, too. As much as they would have liked to rest on their laurels, neither their record label nor their audience was interested in them taking a break.

So, The Rolling Stones rushed back to the studio to cut another hit. “Get Off of My Cloud” was the winning track, but Keith Richards wasn’t so sure. “I never dug it as a record,” he admitted in a 1971 Rolling Stone interview. “The chorus was a nice idea. But we rushed it as the follow-up. We were in L.A., and it was time for another single. But how do you follow ‘Satisfaction’? Actually, what I wanted was to do it slow like a Lee Dorsey thing. We rocked it up. I thought it was one of Andrew’s worse productions.”

We can see the merit in Richards’ thinking. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was inarguably a driving rock ‘n’ roller. Following up with a bluesy, soul-centric version of “Get Off of My Cloud” might have been a nice change of pace. Nevertheless, the public didn’t seem to mind the uptempo feel. The song topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the U.K. Singles chart. It also placed in the top two positions in Canada, Germany, Ireland, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Australia, Finland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

The Song Wasn’t Just a Follow-Up, It Was a Response

The Rolling Stones’ 1965 smash hit, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” was all about commercial and sexual frustration. It was an angsty, feverish rock track buoyed by Keith Richards’ iconic guitar part (the same one he wrote in the middle of the night, freshly awake from a deep sleep). In a way, “Get Off of My Cloud” had a similar feeling behind it. But instead of being frustrated at the world for not satisfying one’s needs, “Get Off of My Cloud” is about being frustrated at the world for not letting someone satisfy their own needs. To enjoy themselves, to relax, to take a breather—all things that a band that just hit their first No. 1 single in the U.S. might expect to enjoy.

In the 2003 book According to the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards recalled that period of time after “Satisfaction” as a “great triumph.” “Mick and I were sitting back in some motel room, in San Diego, if I remember rightly. We gave this big sigh of relief, and it was exactly at that moment that there was a knock at the door, and the phone started ringing, and people wanted the next hit. It was a hard training ground. But if we had been allowed total artistic freedom, we probably wouldn’t have written half of those songs.”

Photo by Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns