If you like this, you can make a donation through PayPal. Starting at just $5, your support helps cover the costs of maintaining the site. All donations are voluntary, you can still access all content. Thank you! *Donate here

To Down Home Girls by The Rolling Stones

And every time you move like that, I have to go to Sunday mass…

Written by: Leiber/Butler
Recorded: RCA Studios, Hollywood, USA, November 2-3, 1964
Guest musician: Jack Nitzsche (piano)
*Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012

*Click here for MORE ROLLING STONES SONGS FROM 1962 TO TODAY

More about Down Home Girls by The Rolling Stones

After their successful appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the band moved to the RCA studios in Hollywood. Down Home Girls is a country blues track that reflects their laid-back recording style. Mick Jagger’s vocals underline the lyrics about a stroll through cotton fields. By this time, the Stones had become experienced musicians, helped by Andrew Oldham’s promotional efforts and their own confidence. Although the song doesn’t break new ground, it reinforces their reputation as blues and soul singers. The track was originally released in 1964 by Alvin Robinson with a soulful twist similar to that of Otis Redding, and features piano interludes by the late Jack Nitzsche, who was known for his collaborations with Phil Spector and later contributed to the Stones’ success.

Down Home Girls was written by Jerry Leiber and Arthur Butler, influential figures of the musical upheaval of the 1950s and 1960s. Leiber, in collaboration with Mike Stoller, created numerous hits for artists such as Elvis Presley, the Drifters and the Coasters. Butler was by then known both as the singer of the Impressions (alongside Curtis Mayfield) and as an outstanding songwriter. The term “down home” refers to someone with characteristics typically associated with the rural southern states of the USA. In the song, the female protagonist is portrayed as a “natural girl” who comes from the Deep South, more specifically from New Orleans.

Although she smells of beet greens, she is an attractive woman whose sensual movements inspire men “go down and pray” and participate “Sunday Mass”Alvin Robinson was the first to Down Home Girlsa few months before the Stones. Keith Richards remembers the process of choosing songs: “Andrew (Oldham) and I went to the Brill Building, the center of US songwriting, hoping to meet the famous Jerry Leiber, but he didn’t want to see us. Someone recognized us, brought us in and played us various songs. We finally decided on Down Home Girls just like that.”

copyright
copyright
Copyright © Rolling Stones data
All information about this Website is copyright of Rolling Stones Data. All content from Marcelo Sonaglioni. When using information from this website (online or printed), please refer to the source with the exact Website address (also don’t forget to cite authors and sources, as is done on this site.) Thanks.

Related