5 STORIES
1965 · 60S
A fuzzed-out guitar riff that allegedly came to Keith Richards in a Florida motel half-asleep became the sound of postwar consumer disillusi…
1966 · 60S
A funeral march disguised as a pop single, "Paint It Black" arrived in 1966 as a sitar-laced howl from inside a grieving mind. Written large…
1968 · 60S
A swaggering samba-rock confession from the perspective of Satan himself, "Sympathy for the Devil" opened The Rolling Stones' 1968 album Beg…
1969 · 60S
A storm-warning of a song that opens The Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed with one of the most ominous guitar figures in rock history. Released …
1971 · 70S
MUSCLE SHOALS, ALABAMA, USA
Beneath one of the most joyous riffs in rock history sits one of its darkest lyrics — a song about slavery, sexual exploitation, and forbidd…