Angie (Rolling Stones song)
Encyclopedia
"Angie" is a song by rock and roll
band The Rolling Stones
, featured on their 1973 album Goats Head Soup
.
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and recorded in November and December 1972, "Angie" is an acoustic guitar driven ballad which tells of the end of a romance. Rolling Stones-recording regular Nicky Hopkins
plays the song's distinctive piano accompaniment. The strings on the piece (as well as "Winter") were arranged by Nicky Harrison. One unusual feature of the original recording is that singer Mick Jagger
's vocal guide track (made before the final vocals were performed) is faintly audible throughout the song (an effect sometimes called a "ghost vocal").
Released as a single in August 1973, "Angie" went straight to the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
and reached number five on the UK singles chart
. The song was also a #1 hit in both Canada and Australia for five weeks each and topped the charts in many countries throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
Popular belief has it that the song was about David Bowie
's first wife Angela
or even about actress Angie Dickinson
; but Richards' daughter Dandelion Angela had just been born, and the name is now claimed to have been one of Richards' contributions to the lyrics. The song was indeed written almost entirely both lyrically and musically by Keith Richards but it has also been claimed, in Richards own biography, that the name Angie is a pseudonym for heroin and his attempt while detoxing in Switzerland to once and for all "say good-bye".
The Rolling Stones have frequently performed the song in concert; it was included in set lists on their 1973, 1975 and 1976 tours, and on every tour since their 1982 European tour
. Concert renditions have been released on the albums Stripped and Live Licks
. Two music videos were shot to promote the song.
In the documentary Protagonist
, the former German terrorist Hans-Joachim Klein
explains that he adopted the moniker "Angie" during his militant activities in the 1970s in reference to the song. In 2005 the German party CDU
used the song for its election campaign for Angela Merkel
; the Rolling Stones had not given Merkel permission to use the song.
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, featured on their 1973 album Goats Head Soup
Goats Head Soup
Goats Head Soup is the 11th British and 13th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1973. It featured the song "Angie", which went to #1 as a single in the US and UK.-Recording:...
.
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and recorded in November and December 1972, "Angie" is an acoustic guitar driven ballad which tells of the end of a romance. Rolling Stones-recording regular Nicky Hopkins
Nicky Hopkins
Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician....
plays the song's distinctive piano accompaniment. The strings on the piece (as well as "Winter") were arranged by Nicky Harrison. One unusual feature of the original recording is that singer Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
's vocal guide track (made before the final vocals were performed) is faintly audible throughout the song (an effect sometimes called a "ghost vocal").
Released as a single in August 1973, "Angie" went straight to the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and reached number five on the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The song was also a #1 hit in both Canada and Australia for five weeks each and topped the charts in many countries throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
Popular belief has it that the song was about David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's first wife Angela
Angela Bowie
Angela Bowie is an American cover girl, model, actress and musician. She is the former wife of English musician David Bowie and mother of film director Duncan Jones.-Early life:...
or even about actress Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson is an American actress. She has appeared in more than fifty films, including Rio Bravo, Ocean's Eleven, Dressed to Kill and Pay It Forward, and starred on television as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson on the 1970s crime series Police Woman.-Early life:Dickinson, the second of...
; but Richards' daughter Dandelion Angela had just been born, and the name is now claimed to have been one of Richards' contributions to the lyrics. The song was indeed written almost entirely both lyrically and musically by Keith Richards but it has also been claimed, in Richards own biography, that the name Angie is a pseudonym for heroin and his attempt while detoxing in Switzerland to once and for all "say good-bye".
The Rolling Stones have frequently performed the song in concert; it was included in set lists on their 1973, 1975 and 1976 tours, and on every tour since their 1982 European tour
Rolling Stones European Tour 1982
The Rolling Stones' European Tour 1982 was a concert tour of Europe to promote the album Tattoo You. It was in effect the European continuation of their long and successful 1981 US tour, and promoted by Bill Graham...
. Concert renditions have been released on the albums Stripped and Live Licks
Live Licks
Live Licks is a double live album by The Rolling Stones and was released in 2004. Coming six years after No Security, this seventh official Rolling Stones full-length live release captures performances from the band's year-long 2002–2003 Licks Tour in support of their career-spanning retrospective...
. Two music videos were shot to promote the song.
In the documentary Protagonist
Protagonist (film)
Protagonist is a 2007 documentary film about the parallels between human life and Euripidean dramatic structure. The film was written and directed by Jessica Yu. It featured extensive interviews with German terrorist Hans-Joachim Klein, ex-gay Christian evangelist Mark Pierpont, Mexican bank robber...
, the former German terrorist Hans-Joachim Klein
Hans-Joachim Klein
Hans-Joachim Klein is a former member of the German left-wing militant group Revolutionary Cells . In 1975 Klein participated in an attack on OPEC headquarters in Vienna organized by Carlos the Jackal, in which he was seriously injured. He publicly renounced political violence two years later...
explains that he adopted the moniker "Angie" during his militant activities in the 1970s in reference to the song. In 2005 the German party CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
used the song for its election campaign for Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
; the Rolling Stones had not given Merkel permission to use the song.
Covers
- Womack & Womack covered the song on their 1983 debut album Love WarsLove WarsLove Wars is the 1983 debut album by musical duo Womack & Womack. The album, described by Chris Rizik of Soul Tracks as "a critical favorite", charted at #34 on the Billboard "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" chart...
. - Chilean rock-band La LeyLa Ley (band)La Ley was a Grammy Award and two-time Latin Grammy Award-winning Chilean pop rock band formed by Andrés Bobe and Rodrigo Aboitiz with Mauricio Claveria, Beto Cuevas and Luciano Rojas. After a failed first album, Desiertos , they released Doble Opuesto , which appears as the official first album...
covered this song on their debut album Doble OpuestoDoble OpuestoDoble Opuesto was the first successful album of the Chilean rock/pop group La Ley . The album was released in 1990 under the production of Jorge Melibosky. Band members for this record were Andrés Bobe , Mauricio Clavería , Alberto Cuevas and Luciano Rojas...
(1990). - Tori AmosTori AmosTori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
covered the song on her 1992 EP CrucifyCrucify (song)"Crucify" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos. It was released as the fifth single from her debut studio album Little Earthquakes. It was released on May 12, 1992 by Atlantic Records in North America and on June 8 by EastWest Records in the UK.-Background:The song served...
, and it appeared on various other releases and compilations. - Jamaican roots reggae singer Horace AndyHorace AndyHorace Andy is a roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", "Angel", "Five Man Army" and a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine"....
covered the song along with Ashley BeedleAshley BeedleAshley Beedle is a British music DJ, producer and remixer. People often confuse him for being of Asian origin, but his ethnicity is partly Barbadian....
in the Inspiration Information series - StereophonicsStereophonicsThe Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band now living in turners x that formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in Cynon Valley, Wales. The band currently comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist and backing vocalist Richard Jones, drummer Javier Weyler, guitarist and backing...
covered this song and released it as a b-side of their 1999 single "Hurry Up and WaitHurry Up and Wait (song)"Hurry Up and Wait" is the fifth single from rock band the Stereophonics and the final single taken from the their second album Performance and Cocktails. It was released in November 1999. It reached #11 in the UK charts as did previous single I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio.The song is track 3 on...
". - Uwe SchmidtUwe SchmidtUwe Schmidt , is a German composer, musician and producer of electronic music. He is often regarded as the father of electrolatino, electrogospel and acitón music.- Career :...
covered Angie under his moniker lb on Pop ArtificiellePop ArtificiellePop Artificielle is a 1999 album by "lb" . All of the songs are covers of pop songs from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s...
1998, sung by a vocal synthesizer software. - Irish rock band AslanAslan (rock band)Aslan are an Irish rock band from Dublin who formed in 1982. Comprising Christy Dignam, Joe Jewell, Billy McGuinness, Alan Downey and Rodney O'Brien, the band has released five studio albums - Feel No Shame , Goodbye Charlie Moonhead , Here Comes Lucy Jones , Waiting For This Madness To End and...
closed their 1999 concert album Made in Dublin: Live from Vicar Street with a rendition of this song. - Sammy KershawSammy KershawSamuel Paul "Sammy" Kershaw is an American country music artist. A third cousin of Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw and ex-husband of Lorrie Morgan, he has been active in country music since 1991. He has released ten studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications...
covered the song on Stone Country: Country Artists Perform the Songs of the Rolling Stones (2001). - Guns N' RosesGuns N' RosesGuns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
performed an instrumental piano version of the song as an intro to "The Blues/Street of Dreams" during their Chinese Democracy Tour (2006/2007). - Aaron KellyAaron Kelly (singer)Aaron Wayne Kelly is an American singer from Sonestown, Pennsylvania who finished fifth on the ninth season of American Idol. Prior to Idol, Kelly was a finalist on America's Most Talented Kid at age 11.-Early life:...
sang this song during the Top 12 week on Season 9 of American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
. - Guitarist Laurence JuberLaurence JuberLaurence Juber is an English-born guitarist who currently lives in California. Born 12 November 1952 in Stepney, East London, he was raised and went to school in North London...
recorded a solo acoustic guitar instrumental version dedicated to Nicky Hopkins on his 2008 album "Pop Goes Guitar".