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TL;DR:

  • The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” and The Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” both came out in May 1966.
  • Keith Richards explained why these songs came out in the order that they did.
  • One of the songs appeared on an album that spent over 500 weeks on the Billboard 200.
Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger on a train during The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" era
Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger | Victor Blackman / Stringer

The Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” came out days after The Rolling Stones‘ “Paint It Black.” Subsequently, Keith Richards said this was intentional. Notably, one of these tracks was ever so slightly more popular in the United States.

The Beatles’ ‘Paperback Writer’ came out the year the band started smoking pot instead of drinking

According to the 2015 book Conversations with McCartney, Paul was asked what made 1966 a special year for The Beatles, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan. “The main thing is, people were getting high,” he said.

“It was the shift from drink to pot,” he said. “It wasn’t much more serious than that. There’d always been pills on the fringe of it all. So it became more of a beatnik scene, like jazz. But Dylan really was the big influence on that.” Notably, “Paperback Writer” came out in 1966.

Keith Richards explained the releases of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It Black’ and The Beatles’ ‘Paperback Writer’

According to the 2013 book 50 Licks: Myths and Stories from Half a Century of The Rolling Stones, Keith Richards discussed “Paperback Writer” and “Paint It Black.” “Everybody was talking about The Beatles versus the Stones and all that crap, and yet between us, it would be, ‘You come out first and we’ll wait two weeks,'” he recalled. “We would try never to clash; there was plenty of room for both of us. 

“There was a time when “Paperback Writer’ came out, and one of ours — ‘Paint It Black’ or something like that — came out before or after; we had stitched it up with them,” he added. “There would be surreptitious phone calls. It was, ‘OK, ours is ready, yours ain’t.’ ‘All right, you go first.'” For context, “Paint It Black” came out on May 7, 1966, in the United States and May 13, 1966, in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, The Beatles released “Paperback Writer” worldwide on May 30, 1966.

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The Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It Black’ reigned supreme over the Fab Four’s song

“Paint It Black” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a pair of weeks, staying on the chart for 11 weeks in total. The tune appeared on the American edition of the album Aftermath, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 50 weeks.

“Paperback Writer” was slightly less successful in the United States. There, “Paperback Writer” peaked at No. 1 for two of its 10 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune appeared on the compilation album 1. That album was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for eight weeks, remaining on the chart for a total of 530 weeks.

The Rolling Stones and The Beatles worried about meddling with each others’ success but “Paint It Black” and “Paperback Writer” both became hits.

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