It’s easy to look at the Glimmer Twins now—multimillionaires playing stadiums into their 80s—and forget that they used to be terrified of the blank page. In early 1965, the Rolling Stones were basically a world-class covers band. They were brilliant at it, sure. They could rip through Chuck Berry or Muddy Waters with more snarl than any of their peers, but they weren't "songwriters" in the way we think of them today. Then came The Rolling Stones The Last Time.
It changed the trajectory of the band forever.
Before this track, Andrew Loog Oldham, their manager, basically had to lock Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in a kitchen to force them to write. He knew the real money—and the real longevity—was in publishing. You can't live off Muddy Waters covers forever if you want to beat the Beatles. They’d dabbled with stuff like "Tell Me," but those felt like experiments. "The Last Time" was the moment they finally figured out who the Rolling Stones were supposed to be.
The Riff That Started an Empire
If you listen to the opening of The Rolling Stones The Last Time, you're hearing the birth of the guitar riff as a structural foundation for rock and roll. It’s not just a chord progression. It’s a repetitive, hypnotic hook played by Brian Jones that anchors the entire song.
Keith Richards has been pretty open about where he got the inspiration. He didn't just pull it out of thin air. The song is heavily, heavily indebted to a traditional gospel song called "This May Be the Last Time," which had been recorded by the Staple Singers in 1954. If you play them back-to-back, the DNA is undeniable. The Stones took that spiritual urgency, stripped away the church pews, and replaced them with a sneering, youthful arrogance.
It was their first A-side single written by Jagger/Richards to hit number one in the UK. Think about that for a second. It wasn't "Satisfaction." It wasn't "Paint It Black." It was this gritty, somewhat repetitive track about a guy telling a girl he’s had enough. It proved to the band—and to the world—that they didn't need to rely on American R&B imports anymore. They could manufacture their own lightning.
Why the Credits Still Spark Debates
The thing about The Rolling Stones The Last Time that gets music historians fired up is the credit line. On the label, it says "Jagger/Richards." But as I mentioned, the melody and the refrain are straight out of the gospel tradition. In the 1960s, the lines between "arranging a traditional song" and "writing a new song" were incredibly blurry.
The Staple Singers didn't get a dime.
📖 Related: Why American Beauty by the Grateful Dead is Still the Gold Standard of Americana
This happens a lot in blues and rock history, but "The Last Time" is a particularly sticky example because the song eventually came back to haunt them in a weird, legal full-circle moment decades later. You probably know the story of The Verve and "Bitter Sweet Symphony." That song sampled an orchestral version of The Rolling Stones The Last Time (arranged by David Whitaker for the Andrew Oldham Orchestra). Because the Stones’ manager had been so aggressive about securing the rights back in the day, Allen Klein’s company ABKCO was able to sue Richard Ashcroft and take 100% of the royalties for "Bitter Sweet Symphony."
Mick and Keith weren't even the ones suing, but they became the faces of a massive copyright battle over a song that they themselves had "borrowed" from a gospel group. Music history is weird like that. It’s messy.
The Brian Jones Factor
We can't talk about this era of the Stones without talking about Brian Jones. While Mick and Keith were becoming the "writers," Brian was the one providing the "sound."
In The Rolling Stones The Last Time, that signature, driving guitar figure is all Brian. He had this incredible ability to pick up an instrument and find the exact texture a song needed. While Keith handled the rhythm and the "chunk," Brian provided the atmosphere.
- He used a Vox Teardrop guitar.
- The sound was thin, piercing, and almost "Eastern" in its repetition.
- It gave the track a nervous energy that "Heart of Stone" or their earlier ballads lacked.
It’s often argued that this song marked the beginning of Brian’s slow decline in influence. Once Mick and Keith realized they could write hits, the power dynamic shifted. Brian went from being the leader of the band to being the "colorist" who decorated Jagger and Richards' ideas.
Recorded in Hollywood, Not London
You can hear the difference in the production. They didn't record this at a stuffy studio in London with an engineer wearing a lab coat. They went to RCA Studios in Hollywood in January 1965.
The air was different. The equipment was better.
👉 See also: Why October London Make Me Wanna Is the Soul Revival We Actually Needed
Dave Hassinger, the engineer at RCA, helped them capture a louder, more "American" drum sound. Charlie Watts sounds like he’s actually hitting the kit, rather than just tapping on it. Bill Wyman’s bass is fuzzy and prominent. If you listen to the mono mix, it’s a wall of sound that just hits you in the chest. Honestly, the stereo mixes of this era are kinda trash—everything is panned weirdly—so if you want to experience The Rolling Stones The Last Time properly, find the original mono version. It’s much more aggressive.
The Lyrics: More Than Just a Breakup
Mick’s delivery here is interesting. He’s not pleading. He’s not the "sensitive" guy the Beatles were often portraying in '65. He’s cold.
"Well I told you once and I told you twice, but you never listen to my advice."
It’s patronizing. It’s dismissive. It’s exactly the "bad boy" image that Oldham wanted to cultivate. While the Beatles were singing "Eight Days a Week," the Stones were telling someone they were done with them. This attitude—this specific brand of Jagger swagger—became the blueprint for every rock frontman for the next fifty years.
What Most People Get Wrong
People often lump "The Last Time" in with the "British Invasion" pop sound. But if you really listen, it’s closer to garage rock. It’s the bridge between the R&B they loved and the psychedelic experimentation they’d dive into a year later. It’s also one of the few songs from that early era that they still play live occasionally, though it usually takes a backseat to the monsters like "Jumpin' Jack Flash."
Legacy and Impact
Without The Rolling Stones The Last Time, there is no "Satisfaction." Keith Richards has noted that writing this song gave them the confidence to keep pushing. It was the proof of concept.
The song peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the States, which was a big deal at the time. It proved they weren't a fluke. They weren't just a group of kids playing dress-up in their parents' record collections. They were a hit machine.
✨ Don't miss: How to Watch The Wolf and the Lion Without Getting Lost in the Wild
How to Appreciate This Track Today
If you want to really understand the impact of this song, don't just stream it on crappy phone speakers.
- Find the 1965 Top of the Pops performance if you can. Look at the way they move. They look bored and dangerous at the same time.
- Listen to the Staple Singers' version immediately after. It puts the "thievery" or "inspiration" into perspective.
- Pay attention to the backing vocals. Keith’s harmonies are already starting to define that "Stones" vocal stack that would become legendary on Exile on Main St.
The Rolling Stones were always at their best when they were on the edge of falling apart or stealing something great. "The Last Time" is the perfect snapshot of that moment in 1965 when they realized they could be the greatest rock and roll band in the world—and they didn't care who they stepped on to get there.
Step-by-Step Discovery
If you're looking to dive deeper into this specific era of the band, your next move should be checking out the Out of Our Heads album (the US version). It captures the transition from their blues roots to their mid-60s peak. Also, look for the documentary Crossfire Hurricane, which gives a lot of great context on the RCA recording sessions and how the Jagger/Richards writing partnership actually functioned under pressure.
Stop thinking of the Stones as just the "old guys" on tour. Listen to the 1965 recordings. They were loud, they were derivative, and they were absolutely vital. That's the only way to understand why "The Last Time" still sounds like a threat sixty years later.
Check the "Bitter Sweet Symphony" credits on Spotify today. You'll see Jagger and Richards are back on there after a long legal battle that finally ended with them handing the rights back to Ashcroft a few years ago. It’s a rare happy ending in the music business.
Go put on the mono version of the single. Turn it up until the speakers rattle. That’s how it was meant to be heard.