A Producers Epiphany: Jim Dickinson on Working with the Rolling Stones, Part 2 of 2

Legendary record producer Jim Dickinson continues his tale of working with the Rolling Stones during a secret recording session in Muscle Shoals in 1969 in particular how he came to play keyboards on their single, Wild Horses. Segment found on www.artistshousemusic.org

[@stormbringercoming8105]

This is one guy that I would have loved to gone on a road trip with through the south. Endlessly entertaining and interesting.

[@melodymakermark]

Yep. RIP Jim. He passed away in 2009. Check out his two sons, Luther and Cody of the North Mississippi Allstars.

[@dougiemcclure]

What an insightful and relaxed humor recollection! R.I.P. Jim!! thank you

[@NolalanD]

Love Jim talking about music...could listen all day

[@roberthamrick9711]

NolalanD , same here. He was a very interesting guy.

[@Nightdog1978]

He would talk to you all day about it. Worked with him quite a bit at a studio that was on Beale St. 315 Beale. Great studio that I hung in for a couple years and even got paid to help some songwriters get their songs to a place where we could record them. You would not believe what some people would bring in for us to record. I remember one girl got all uppity about it cause her friend had helped her write them and she had to call her with every change I made. OMG, some people just don't get it. The recording studio is Not a Club where you can just sing and play. Maybe you can but the band needs some kind of chart.

Great storyteller.

[@theHAL9000]

Great! Hearing the details, backstory and nitty-gritty of this eventful recording session is a treat.

[@guruofendtimes819]

RIP Jim..

[@nickreeves1942]

Great story. Great storyteller. What a lovely man.

[@dubdub4862]

I'm all about this kinda thing!! Love the history!

[@stevefaure415]

I love how it wasn't even a question of asking Keith to tune his guitar.

[@joegarrison5911]

Jimmy Johnson in the other interview says he couldnt ask him to turn down his amp either, it's a really amusing pattern that emerges once you've heard a few different people tell the story of the stones time at muscle shoals

[@billpholde4816]

I hate it. I love their music but I hate to know that Keith couldn't be bothered just to tune up.

[@memphisstrolls2717]

Same thing held true for Chuck Berry

[@pauldebacker9022]

Great stories, great storyteller.

[@joeroganjosh9333]

Where’s another 40 hours of this ?

[@mikedr1549]

How does this not have a million views??? Great stuff!!

[@karlopalenzuela7915]

What a funny yet real life story in a recording event with the young stones! Great character!

[@thomasminarchickjr.7355]

“I’m a boogie woogie piano player...when I play with the lads and a minor chord comes up, I lift me hands in protest!”

[@eg4449]

This is totally engrossing, and fascinating. Thanks for posting.

[@lawrencefeldman7744]

Dickinson's stories are the best in all of rock. John Cale too!

[@pledgestone]

Keith and Bill did not like being in the same room together... I'd like to hear more about this. I did not know they were like this.

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

I knew about Jim Dickinson overseeing the Byrds’ sessions at the beginning and the end of their timeline. Wasn’t aware he was involved with the Stones. And, “Wild Horses” is probably my favorite song of theirs.

[@christophergerety1263]

Two guys, both gone.

[@andrewridge4978]

Was not the Byrds' manager/ producer called Jim Dickson?

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

Yes @@andrewridge4978, Jim Dickson did oversee the Byrds’ career at a couple of different times.

[@ChristopherSkinner]

What a great story.

[@jernigansaintthomasphiland1240]

Cool stories...probably even a third of them are true.

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

Of course, I wasn’t even born yet in 1969, let alone being a musician. In 1997 as I was shopping around for my first synthesizer, I went into my local retailer and tested them out by just playing route position chords with my right hand. Playing a C chord that sounded like a D chord meant something was poorly aligned. The employee thought I was out of my mind, but it was eventually ascertained that I was right. This guy was kind of embarrassed, since he was a Juilliard student. It’s always interesting to hear stories like this one, where individuals with a sizable amount of skill like Mr. Dickinson ended up struggling with the actual output of the band.

[@The98Dude]

Muscle Shoal should be a holy ground for being the birth place of Brown Sugar. THE QUINTESSENTIAL STONES SONG

[@vibes..585]

What a beaut.. God bless ya Jim..

[@rs4425]

Outstanding .

[@machinehead6564]

Great Stuff

[@KTMBB71]

This is fascinating ! Thanks for posting

[@textucker1158]

Brilliant!

[@Catmom3]

“.....the only thing left in the studio that MIGHT be in tune with Keith Richards.” Lol🤦‍♀️

[@PecktheTownCrierVideos]

Legend.

[@nomorebushz]

Great story telling!

[@scottmclaughlin5221]

According to Dickinson all the Stones have the same accent.

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

yes just like all Mexican Americans from East LA sound like Cheech

[@EastmanD]

Jagger : "....who's that ? Booth ?" Stanley : " no it's Dickinson ! " Jagger : "same thing". so it kinda goes both ways, huh ?

[@deancarsononmusic2792]

#stinesasspinaltap moment stated with all affection but comical at parts

[@supergong2241]

That was hilarious!

[@tattyshoesshigure5731]

I always thought ‘skydog’ was “scarred old slaver’!

[@michaelorr9253]

Me too

[@lewstone5430]

Because it is.

[@Nazzz65]

Rock and roll alchemy

[@carterjayhovland9575]

The part that doesn't make sense is when he says that Keith did not tune his guitar. How could he get his guitar into open G if he was not turning it? If they recorded Wild Horses out of tune, how is it that I play with the studio version in standard and it matches just fine? He says it is an octave and a half off, but that is not audible on the record. That means it would not be in G, but in E.

[@joegarrison5911]

Its actually played on a Acoustic 12 string if I remember someone describing it correctly, with Mick Taylor on the opening "nashville" guitar. I've heard other people say (Mick Taylor among them) that certain members of the band _cough_ keith _cough_ used to always play way to loud and out of tune. So what Jim here is describing isnt too far fetched but it seems he may have stretched the truth a little bit here and there

[@carterjayhovland9575]

@@joegarrison5911 Thanks for the reply. Yes there is a 12-string in open G, and I believe the Nashville-strung guitar is a separate instrument in the mix (since it only uses 6 of the 12 strings). I respect Mick Taylor a lot, so that is interesting. Dickinson had to have stretched the truth, because what he said does not make sense musically. Thanks again Joe. Cheers for the old stories of the Stones at Muscle Shoals.

[@stevehelton997]

Only rock and roll

[@dondamon4669]

Charlie probably couldn’t believe that they were so scared of Mick and Keith. This story doesn’t make these dudes look good but funny though.

[@milliewray]

I don't play minor chords

[@arlingtonhynes]

There’s a lot of bullshit here. B is a major third above G, by the way.

[@bigbrownsound]

14:09

[@andzwe]

"When they got through a cut without a major mistake, Charlie Watts got up from the drums and by god, it was over.”

[@Da_Mick]

It's stories like Jim's that add fuel to the suspicions I've always had that the Stones didn't play on most of their own, records up until the era that they started producing themselves, in the mid to later 70s. Aside from stories like these, the sounds and preciseness of the instruments from the Andrew Oldman period, and the Jimmy Miller period don't match what the Stones themselves seem able to play, nor are they really able to talk about how they created many of the sounds and styles of some of their most iconic songs. It's only from "Black and Blue" and "Some Girls" that the sloshy sound of the records actually sounds like the Stones -- and they had begun producing their own records at that period. Me thinks their producers produced a little studio "magic." And the Stones were so wasted, they seemingly wouldn't have known the difference.

[@dondamon4669]

To wasted to know they weren’t playing on there own records and paying people 😂! And so secret it hasn’t come out yet! Sounds like someone’s a little suspicious about things that aren’t real 😂

[@Da_Mick]

@@dondamon4669 Well, Ry Cooder is one of the players who is acknowledged to have played on some of their records, but even he is extremely vague about what he played or where. I suspect they have iron clad contracts about ever revealing what you recorded on a Stones record. But use your ears. Those early stones record -- "Confessin the Blues," etc., were undoubtedly the Stones, as that's the level of musicianship they had - then and now. But if you listen to some later hits from the Oldham era -- 19th Nervous Breakdown, etc., that musicianship, is way too clean, precise, and advanced to be those guys. For goodness sake, Richards has never played even played his iconic riff, or come close to copping the sound on "Satisfaction," live correctly. How does someone do that? All those early British Invasion bands had studio help, because being a band, and making successful, polished, radio-ready records requires a whole different level of professionalism. And if you listen to the Stones music in those early days, it's clear that didn't have that. For Christ sake, they still can't play their own songs correctly live. Listen to what Jim Dickinson is saying here, and draw your own conclusions.

[@landlinesandpercolators8822]

Get his book.

[@josefk5659]

Ross T does he go over his production techniques in the book? His work with Alex Chilton has blown my mind. The production of Flies on Sherbert is THE BEST

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

proud papa too he really supported Cody and Luther and the All-Stars until unsuccessful bypass surgery.

[@EastmanD]

the book is one of the better ones that came out of that "time" (what 3 years ago ?). Robbie Robertson's bio, Bruce Springsteen's and I think, Neil Young had one right around that time but Jim's is the best of the bunch. Another one (a little later perhaps) to read for sure, is Jimmy Webb's...damn it's good. Also if you missed Keith's "Life" bio (but I bet you read it)...it is really really good. I picked it up in a bookstore off the shelf and read the first chapter about the Stones in Fordyce, Arkansas and was laughing out loud so hard I was crying...immeadiately bought it.

[@EastmanD]

@@josefk5659 I don't know much Alex Chilton other than Big Star...i'm a southern boy...gots tons of music and love all kinds but Alex is just one that got by me. Tell me some stuff to get.

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

@@EastmanD anything from the box tops.. big radio hits the famous letter later covered by Joe cocker.. cry like a baby.. albums really you don't need just pick up the box tops greatest hits. they weren't really an album driven band they were more of a singles driven band

[@mv7853]

B minor wow...

[@seanhennessey9869]

Not sure why Dickinson didn't feel compelled to tell Keith he was out of tune and that the chart was wrong

[@michaelclark9762]

Maybe because Keef always had a big knife in his boot and sometimes a gun?

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

nod to Long John baldry what is that budgie wugie music? don't try to lay no Boogie woogie on the king of rock and roll

[@storm2601]

yes milord, I was proceeding down Wardour Street when I 'erd the sound...

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

@@storm2601 😃✌️

[@kevinmalone8903]

Seems a little bitter towards the stones but you don't have to be able to read music, write charts to make some of the best records ever

[@michaelclark9762]

Seems pretty grateful to them for giving him a career he would not otherwise have been able to have.

[@guruofendtimes819]

So they were playing and writing in a dropped tuning 3 semitones down to be playing the minor 3rds? Most of those guys know nothing about music but it didn't matter. They had sympathy for the devil......

[@andrewsandoz8005]

Great story! Always thought the Stones were way over rated...basically ripped off American music.

[@christophergerety1263]

Hmmm. Errrr. I don’t know what to say...

[@andzwe]

If it wasn't for bands like the Stones the artists they covered would never have gotten the credits they deserved. Besides that, all worthwhile artists are influenced by what came before them and did their own thing with it.

[@dondamon4669]

Racist! Music is music it’s the worlds!

[@melodymakermark]

Over rated?!? They (Keith) created the greatest riffs in all of rock and roll. They’re the greatest rock n roll band in the world.

[@andrewsandoz8005]

@@melodymakermark I agree to a point. All musicians are influenced and take from others. I think Keef has created some unique and signature riffs. That being said. He has admitted that some of his riffs especially the early ones are totally Chuck Berry copys. He's definitely a musical icon but he's not the greatest R&R guitarist.