The Rolling Stones: Keith Richards Explained Why ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ Was Such a Success
The Rolling Stones have several hit songs, but the one that skyrocketed their fame was “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and lead singer Mick Jagger wrote the 1965 track. While Richards initially disliked the song, he realized later on what made the song so successful.
Keith Richards credits the ‘fuzz tone’ for ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’s success
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was one of the first songs to use what Richards called a “fuzz tone.” The effect was utilized using a Maestro fuzzbox, which added a distorted sound to the guitar and bass. Sales of the Maestro fuzzbox shot up after this song was released because other artists wanted to recreate this sound. In his memoir, Life, Richards said the “fuzz tone” made “Satisfaction” such a hit.
“The fuzz tone had never been heard before anywhere,” Richards wrote, “and that’s the sound that caught everybody’s imagination. As far as I was concerned, that was just the dub. [But] ten days on the road and it’s number one nationally! The record of the summer of ’65… I learned that lesson – sometimes you can overwork things. Not everything’s designed for your taste and your taste alone.”
Keith Richards initially didn’t like The Rolling Stones hit
In the four-part BBC documentary series My Life as a Rolling Stone, Mick Jagger recalled writing “Satisfaction” with Keith Richards. Jagger said the pair wrote it one night at a motel in Florida. While Jagger believed they had written a hit, Richards didn’t have the same positive reaction.
“There’s this motel in Clearwater, Florida, and I remember sitting with Keith and writing the song ‘Satisfaction’,” Jagger said. “[Then manager] Andrew Oldham said, ‘This is like a No. 1 single — this is great!’ Keith was like, ‘I don’t really like it. It can’t come out as a single.’ And it went to No. 1, like, instantly.”
In his memoir, Richards admitted he didn’t remember writing the song. Fortunately, he woke up the following day, and the track had been recorded.
“I wrote ‘Satisfaction’ in my sleep. I had no idea I’d written it, it’s only thank God for the little Philips cassette player,” he shared. “The miracle being that I looked at the cassette player that morning, and I knew I’d put a brand-new tape in the previous night, and I saw it was the end. It was just a rough idea.”
How did ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ perform on the charts?
Upon its release in 1965, “Satisfaction” reached No. 1 in the U.S. and the U.K. It became the band’s first No. 1 single in the U.S., remaining at the top for four weeks and on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks.
It took some time for the track to become a hit in the U.K. as it was initially only being played on pirate radio stations because it was considered too “sexually aggressive.” Additionally, the track was No. 1 in Germany, Finland, Australia, and Sweden.
