Slave (song)
For the 1991 James Reyne song of the same title, see "Slave (James Reyne song)"
| "Slave" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Rolling Stones from the album Tattoo You | ||||
| Released | 24 August 1981 | |||
| Recorded | January–February 1975, June 1981 | |||
| Genre | Blues rock | |||
| Length | 6:33 | |||
| Label | Rolling Stones/Virgin | |||
| Writer(s) | Jagger/Richards | |||
| Producer(s) | The Glimmer Twins | |||
| Tattoo You track listing | ||||
| ||||
"Slave" is a song by The Rolling Stones on their 1981 album Tattoo You.
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Slave" was originally recorded in Rotterdam, Netherlands, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio in late January or early February 1975. During that time, the Rolling Stones were faced with the unexpected challenge of filling the recently vacated position of second guitarist, after the abrupt departure of Mick Taylor. The track features Billy Preston on electric piano and organ (although the organ could also have been played by Ian Stewart). The Who's Pete Townshend provided backing vocals for the recording and one of saxophonist Sonny Rollins' three performances on tracks for the album appeared as well. Percussion by Ollie E. Brown was recorded in 1975, with Mike Carabello adding conga during the 1981 overdub sessions. [1]
Called "...a standard Stones blues jam" in the album review by Rolling Stone, "Slave" was the result of the Stones' experiments with funk and dance music during the Black and Blue recording sessions of 1974/75. The lyrics are sparse outside of a brief spoken verse by Jagger and the refrain of "Don't want to be your slave". Keith Richards provide the electric guitar part for the song, with Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman supporting on drums and bass, respectively.
The Virgin Records reissue of "Slave" contains an additional 90 seconds of the song. It was never performed by the Stones on stage and appears on no compilation albums.