May 24 – Mick’s Still Jumpin’, By The Way

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Back to the basics? The Rolling Stones looked backwards to bridge the gap going forward. They released one of their classics, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” on this day in 1968. At the time it was a standalone single to tide the fans over between the albums Their Satanic Majesties Request and Beggar’s Banquet.

Although Mick Jagger says some of the song came about from “all the acid” they’d done during the previous album’s recording, the sound was a definite return to basic bluesy rock and roll the band had put out in their early days after a string of more psychedelic records like “Ruby Tuesday.”. Brian Jones said it showed them “getting back to…the funky, essential essence.” While it’s credited to Jagger & Richards, as are most of their hits, and Mick and Keith wrote the lyrics, Bill Wyman isn’t exactly pleased. He’s said the rest of the band – himself, Brian Jones and Charlie Watts actually came up with the basic tune while playing around on piano and guitars in the studio before the “glimmer twins” arrived at the studio.

The song quickly became a favorite of the band and their fans. It became their seventh #1 hit in the UK and charted to #3 in the U.S. Oddly enough, it’s referenced in another #1 song – Don McLean’s “American Pie”, which of course is about the death of Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly years before the Stones’ put out this one. Keith Richards particularly likes “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and has said of it “it’s a weird mixture of actual rock and roll and…this weird echo of very, very ancient music.”

Who was Jumpin’ Jack? Apparently, although most of the song is made up, there was a “Jumpin’ Jack”- Jack Dyer, a gardener Richards hired at his home. Richards says “Mick and I had been up all night, it was raining outside and there was the sound of these boots near the window. It woke up Mick. He said ‘what’s that?’ and I said oh that’s just Jack – jumpin’ Jack’” Mick liked that name and added the “flash” and began writing. One of the rare incidents in rock where a groundskeeper kept his boss’ property looking pretty and also kept the boss pretty much on top of the charts.

If you like the song, you’re apparently not alone – seems Mick and Keith do too! It’s the song they’ve performed most times in concert – 1182 before the current tour, 45 times more than “Brown Sugar”  – and according to their website, and reviews from early shows, it will be on the bill again this year for those going to their ‘Hackney Diamonds’ shows. And if you don’t get there, no worries… it’s made its way onto at least six live albums by them so far!