Writers: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Producer: Jimmy Miller
Recorded: 1968 in Olympic Studios, London
Released: May 24, 1968 (UK); June 1, 1968 (US)
| Players: | Mick Jagger — vocals Keith Richards — guitar Bill Wyman — bass Charlie Watts — drums Nicky Hopkins — piano |
| Album: | Through The Past, Darkly (London) |
“Jumpin' Jack Flash” was never included on any Rolling Stones studio album, though it was recorded for 1969's Beggars Banquet.
In his memoir Stone Alone, former bassist Bill Wyman claims credit for the song's signature riff, coming up with it while fooling around on an electronic keyboard before a band rehearsal. He writes: “(Drummer) Charlie(Watts) and (guitarist) Brian (Jones) began jamming with me and it sounded really good and tough. When (singer) Mick (Jagger) and (guitarist) Keith (Richards) walked in, they said, 'Keep playing that, and don't forget it. It sounds great.'” Wyman did not receive a songwriting credit, however.
Jagger said, “We did some of the single on a cassette tape recorder, which is a pretty mad way of making a record. We were all 'round at my house, and we were recording everything. We got such weird sounds on drums and guitar with the cassette that we decided to use it. Charlie was just playing toy drums but we liked it…we recorded again over the top of it.”
Coming after the bizarre experimentation of the album Their Satanic Majesties Request, the song was widely viewed as the Stones' return to straightforward rock 'n' roll.
“Jumpin' Jack Flash” hit Number One on both the U.S. and U.K. pop charts.
On June 27, 1968, a music video of the song was broadcast on BBC-TV's Top Of The Pops. Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, it featured the Stones miming the song, their faces decorated with what looked like war paint.
The Stones also did the song three times for the cameras at their Rock And Roll Circus, a lavish pair of shows taped for BBC Television that also featured performances by the Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, Yoko Ono, and the Dirty Mac, an all-star band featuring Richards, guitarists John Lennon and Eric Clapton, and drummer Mitch Mitchell from the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Unhappy with the performance, the Stones did not release a video and album of the event until 1996.
“Jumpin' Jack Flash” opened most of the shows on the band's 1969 tour. In many of the band's recent tours, the song has been an encore, sometimes stretched out into seven- to 10-minute jams.
