Stray Cat Blues
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| "Stray Cat Blues" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the Rolling Stones | |
| from the album Beggars Banquet | |
| Released | 6 December 1968 |
| Recorded | 1968 |
| Genre | Proto-metal, hard rock, blues rock |
| Length | 4:40 |
| Label | ABKCO |
| Songwriter | Jagger/Richards |
| Producer | Jimmy Miller |
"Stray Cat Blues" is the eighth song on the Rolling Stones' album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Jimmy Miller. Miller's production of the song is very representative of his style, featuring a very prominent hi hat beat, droning piano performed by Nicky Hopkins, a mellotron performed by Brian Jones, all electric guitars performed by Richards and vocals from Jagger kept even in the mix. According to Mick Jagger,[1] the song was inspired by "Heroin" by the Velvet Underground, with the intros of both songs being particularly similar.[2]
The song is told from the perspective of a man lusting for illegal sex with a 15-year-old groupie, reasoning that "it's no hanging matter, it's no capital crime". During the performance of the song from the Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! 1970 live album, Jagger changed the lyric to "thirteen years old".[3]
