Thursday, March 19, 2026

Gimme Shelter - Merry Clayton

Gimme Shelter - Merry Clayton
3:31
Gimme Shelter, 1970
Written by Mick Jagger and Kieth Richards, 1969

Clayton did the powerhouse background vocals on the Stones' recording to great acclaim (fun fact: she was four months pregnant at the time), so the next year she went out and did her own version.  With some thick, fuzzy guitar lines, blaring soul horns, and her own female choir behind her, Clayton shouts new life into this song.  In fact, I think I like her blazing, funky rendition better than the Stones'.  It flips the emotional center of the song completely.  She doesn't lean on her experience singing on the original, but expands it.  Where the original simmers with dread and distance, hers is immediate, embodied, and ferocious.

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