Most People Forget That Otis Redding Covered This Big Hit by The Rolling Stones in 1965

In 1965, The Rolling Stones released “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. At the time, the group had already released more than a dozen singles. But it wasn’t until “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” that The Rolling Stones finally had a No. 1 hit in the United States. On Out Of Our Heads, the group’s third studio album, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” is written by band members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

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More than 60 years later, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” remains among The Rolling Stones’ biggest hits and one of their most revered classics. But what most people don’t remember is that one year after The Rolling Stones released the uptempo tune, singer Otis Redding also released his own version. Redding includes “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” on his Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul record.

Redding’s version became a Top 5 R&B hit, although it did not hit the Top 30 on the rock chart.  The song is the same as The Rolling Stones’ version—sort of. In Redding’s version, the lyrics are not as distinct as the band’s, an intentional decision by Redding.

“If you ever listened to the record, you can hardly understand the lyrics, right?” producer and songwriter Steve Cropper says. “I set down to a record player and copied down what I thought the lyrics were and I handed Otis a piece of paper, and before we got through with the cut, he threw the paper on the floor, and that was it.”

The Story Behind “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” says, ”I can’t get no satisfaction / I can’t get no satisfaction / ‘Cause I tried and I tried and I tried and I tried / I can’t get no, I can’t get no / When I’m driving in my car / And a man talks on the radio / He’s telling me more and more / About some useless information / Supposed to fire my imagination.”

The song was reportedly written almost entirely by Jagger, who says he wrote every line except the hook. It’s Richards who woke up in his hotel room with the remainder of the song. It came to him after a concert that ended early due to 200 fans fighting the police. He woke up with both the guitar riff and the line, “I can’t get no satisfaction,” running through his mind.

Years later, Jagger said he understands why “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” became such a big hit.

“It had all the ingredients,” Jagger says. “It has a very catchy title; it has a very catchy guitar riff, and a great guitar sound, which was original at that time. And it encapsulated the feeling of the times, which was alienation. A sexual kind of alienation. Alienation’s not quite the right word, but it’s one word that will do.”

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