On Sale Today: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by Rolling Stones

June 4, 1965 - On sale today is “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” a single by the Rolling Stones. The B-side is “The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man.”

The Stones first recorded the track on May 10 at Chess Studios in Chicago. This recording included Brian Jones on harmonica. The group re-recorded it two days later at RCA Studios in Hollywood with a different beat and a Maestro Fuzz-Tone distortion effect adding to the sound of the primary guitar riff.

Keith Richard composed the music and Mick Jagger wrote the lyrics.

The lyrics outline the singer’s irritation and confusion with the increasing commercialism of the modern world, where the radio broadcasts “useless information” and a man on television tells him “how white my shirts can be – but he can't be a man ‘cause he doesn’t smoke the same cigarettes as me” — a reference to Marlboro Cowboy-style advertisements. The lyrics also describe the stress of being a celebrity and the tensions of touring. 

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