Wild Horses (Rolling Stones song)
"Wild Horses" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Sway" | ||||
Released | 12 June 1971 (US) | |||
Recorded | December 1969 – February 1970 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 5:38 | |||
Jimmy Miller | ||||
Rolling Stones US singles chronology | ||||
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"Wild Horses" is a song written by the British rock band
Rolling Stone ranked the song number 334 in its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2004 and number 193 in its 2021 update.[4]
Inspiration and recording
In the liner notes to the 1993 Rolling Stones compilation album
The song "Wild Horses" appears in Gram Parsons' lyric journal. This was proven by Jeff Nolan in November 2017. The Hard Rock Cafe had purchased the journal at a Christie’s auction in the 1990s; it had previously belonged to Ric Grech, a former member of Blind Faith.[6]
Originally recorded over a three-day period at
Music video
A music video, filmed in black and white, was produced to promote an acoustic version in 1995.[8]
Release and legacy
Released as the second US-only single in June 1971, "Wild Horses" reached number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
An early, acoustic take of "Wild Horses" was released on the Deluxe and Super Deluxe versions of the reissued Sticky Fingers album on 8 June 2015.
A reworked studio version recorded in 1995 appeared on the album Stripped. This version was released as a single in early 1996.
The song appears on a handful of the Rolling Stones' concert DVDs: Bridges to Babylon Tour '97–98 (1998), Rolling Stones - Four Flicks (2003), and The Biggest Bang (2007).
Upon its single release, Record World said that this "beautiful stylistic shift of gears will go directly to top."[9] Billboard said that the Stones have "a potent followup to their 'Brown Sugar' smash in this change-of-pace rock ballad material."[10]
Jagger's ex-wife, Jerry Hall, has named "Wild Horses" as her favourite Rolling Stones song.[11]
"Wild Horses" figures prominently in the films Adaptation (2002) and Camp (2003). On television, the song was played during Parks and Recreation in the episode "Li'l Sebastian" (S3: E16) as background music to Li'l Sebastian's memorial service, during the Season 1 finale of BoJack Horseman in the episode "Later", and in Episode 11, Season 5 of Billions, "Victory Smoke".[citation needed]
An instrumental version of the song is featured during the end credits of Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary film Shine a Light (2008).[citation needed]
Personnel
The Rolling Stones
- Mick Jagger – vocals
- Keith Richards – twelve string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, backing vocals
- Mick Taylor – Nashville-strung acoustic guitar
- Bill Wyman – bass guitar
- Charlie Watts – drums
Additional personnel
Charts
Chart (1971) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[12] | 11 |
US Billboard Hot 100[13] | 28 |
Chart (1996) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[14] | 59 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[15] | 4 |
Netherlands ( Dutch Single Tip)[16]
|
2 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[17] | 53 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[18] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[19] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Other versions
The first issued version of "Wild Horses" was released by the Flying Burrito Brothers on their 1970 album, Burrito Deluxe, almost a year before it appeared on the Rolling Stones release of Sticky Fingers. Keith Richards had given Burrito Bros. member Gram Parsons a demo tape of "Wild Horses" on 7 December 1969, the day after the Altamont Free Concert.[20][page needed]
The band Old & In the Way did a bluegrass version on their debut album.
The Sundays' version
"Wild Horses (LP Version)" | |
---|---|
Jagger/Richards | |
Producer(s) | Gavurin/Wheeler Dave Anderson |
The Sundays recorded the song in 1992. It was released as the B-side to the UK single version of "Goodbye" on Parlophone and on the American release of their second album, Blind. It was later released as a promotional single on DGC Records in the United States.
This version of the song was memorably used in the thriller Fear with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Wahlberg during a scene in which Wahlberg's character is digitally penetrating Witherspoon's character on a roller coaster and later in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "The Prom", in which Buffy dances with Angel.
References
- ^ "Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones - Track Info | AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ISBN 978-0-85936-234-4.
'Dead Flowers' and 'Wild Horses' have them playing a kind of country rock.
- ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
- ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ "Wild Horses". Time Is On Our Side. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
- ^ Nolan, Jeff (28 November 2017). "Memorabilia Monday: Gram Parsons' lyric journal with "Wild Horses"!". Hard Rock. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
- ^ Wyman 2002. p. 482.
- ^ "Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones 1995". YouTube. 6 January 2014. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ "Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 12 June 1971. p. 1. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
- ^ "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. 12 June 1971. p. 55. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
- ^ Odell, Michael (29 April 2007). "This much I know: Jerry Hall, actor and model, 50, London". The Observer. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5351." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- ^ "The Rolling Stones Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2933." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- ^ "The Rolling Stones – Wild Horses" (in Dutch). top40.nl. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "The Rolling Stones – Wild Horses [Stripped]" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
- ^ "The Rolling Stones – Wild Horses". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2023 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
- ^ "British single certifications – Rolling Stones – Wild Horses". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
- ^ Davis, Stephen. Old Gods Almost Dead. Broadway Books, New York, 2001,