Yesterday's Papers

"Yesterday's Papers"
Song by the Rolling Stones
from the album Between the Buttons
Released20 January 1967 (1967-01-20)
RecordedNovember 1966
GenrePsychedelic pop
Length
  • 2:04 (stereo version)
  • 2:28 (mono version)
Label
Songwriter(s)Mick Jagger/Keith Richards
Producer(s)Andrew Loog Oldham
Between the Buttons track listing
12 tracks
Side one
  1. "Yesterday's Papers"
  2. "My Obsession"
  3. "Back Street Girl"
  4. "Connection"
  5. "She Smiled Sweetly"
  6. "Cool, Calm & Collected"
Side two
  1. "All Sold Out"
  2. "Please Go Home"
  3. "Who's Been Sleeping Here?"
  4. "Complicated"
  5. "Miss Amanda Jones"
  6. "Something Happened to Me Yesterday"

Yesterday's Papers is a song by the Rolling Stones from their 1967 album, Between the Buttons. It was the first song that Mick Jagger wrote by himself for the group.[1] It appears as the opening track on the UK version of the album and on the US version as the second track.

Background

In the song, recorded in late 1966, Brian Jones's vibraphone and Jack Nitzsche's harpsichord are prominent: Keith Richards plays a distorted guitar with Charlie Watts on drums and Bill Wyman on bass. A bootleg recording exists of an alternate backing track that includes strings. There is also a stripped-down demo version with an early vocal track known.

Whereas the stereo mix fades after one chorus, the mono mix continues for one more full chorus. Additionally, the mono version is at one point near the end missing some of the backing vocals heard on the stereo version.

The song is supposedly directed at Jagger's ex-girlfriend Chrissie Shrimpton,[2][3] whose relationship with Jagger at the time turned sour. It is noted for suggesting a negative treatment of women, comparing "yesterday's girl" to "yesterday's papers", as something that can be just thrown out, in similar fashion to a track on their previous album Aftermath, "Under My Thumb".[4]

Chris Farlowe recorded the song, which was released as a single.[5]

Personnel

References

  1. ^ a b Margotin & Guesdon 2016, p. 192.
  2. ^ Unterberger, Richie. Yesterday's Papers at AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  3. ^ Heatley, Michael; Hopkinson, Frank (2010-10-01). The Girl in the Song: The Real Stories Behind 50 Rock Classics. Portico. ISBN 978-1907554032. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  4. ^ Malvinni, David (2016-02-25). Experiencing the Rolling Stones: A Listener's Companion. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8108-8920-0.
  5. ^ "Chris Farlowe's version" at Discogs
  6. ^ Babiuk & Prevost 2013, p. 242.

Sources