“You Can't Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones

"You Can't Always Get What You Want" is the Rolling Stones reaching for something enormous on their 1969 album Let It Bleed, a Mick Jagger and Keith Richards song that calls in a small army of helpers. The credits tell the story: The Bach Choir, a guesting Al Kooper on French horn, organ and piano, and Madeline Bell, Doris Troy and Nanette Workman lifting the backing vocals toward the rafters.

Jagger sings it, Richards plays guitar, Bill Wyman holds down the bass and Rocki Dzidzornu adds percussion, while producer Jimmy Miller does double duty behind the drum kit. Glyn Johns engineered. The result is a slow-burning hymn that builds from a hush into a full revival-tent roar, choir and band swelling together until the whole thing feels like a congregation on its feet. It's rock and roll dressed in Sunday clothes, weary and wise and still rocking by the end.

Rolling Stone later counted it among the greatest songs ever recorded, placing it 100th on its 2004 list of the 500 best.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.