Gimme Shelter, My Favorite Rolling Stones Song
Gimme Shelter from 1969's "Let it Bleed" is my favorite Rolling Stones song. The story behind it is interesting too. Apparently, Keith Richards was staying at someone's apartment in London and there was a big rain storm. He looked out the window and saw all the people scrambling for cover to get out of the rain. His then girlfriend Anita Pallenberg (who was Brian Jones' girlfriend a year ealier) was doing a movie with Mick Jagger called "Performance." Keith was a bit insecure about the sex scenes Mick and Anita were doing in the movie. In fact, Mick and Anita did sleep together during this time. Anyway, the scene of the people running out of the rain and thoughts of Jagger and Anita together sparked the beginnning of the song for Richards. "Oh the storm is threatening, my very life today. If I don't get some shelter, ya I'm gonna fade away." There are two distinct parts of the song that blow me away. The first part is the opening guitar