Composers: Mick Jagger &
Keith Richards
First release:
single, August 1967
Recording
date: May & July
1967 Recording
location: Olympic Sound Studios, London,
England
Producers: The
Rolling Stones
Chief
engineer: Glyn
Johns
Never performed
onstage
Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman
Electric guitar: Keith Richards
Lead vocal: Mick Jagger
Background vocals: Mick Jagger, Keith
Richards, John
Lennon & Paul
McCartney
Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Mellotron (brass sounds): Brian Jones
TrackTalk
I sing the lead and some harmonies, Brian played the mellotron, Bill the bass and Charlie on the drums. Brian was away when we did the voice tracks. The music is kind of freer and the kind of thing we are aiming for on the next album.
The piano riff that starts the song was an idea I'd had in my head for about three weeks, and it fit beautifully.
We just had a very, very basic thing and Mick and I think we're going to jail, so our minds weren't totally concentrated; but yeah, that was Nicky's riff all the way through. Without that piano it wouldn't have happened.
(Brian plays) the brass on We Love You, all that Arabic riff.
The tape played backwards at the end of We Love You is the last few bars of Dandelion, and we took the warders' footsteps from an actual prison sound effects tape.
You know, that was quite a loose and funky session so whilst
I remember being on We Love You, I'm not sure about
Dandelion.
We Love You - well it's funny. It's last month's
message for this month! I had a piece off one of the Goons
LP I wanted them to use for the sound of the prison gates at
the beginning... We Love You was really a case of creating the music in the
studio. Although Mick and Keith had the basic idea for some
time.
We put the jail noises on while we were waiting for the appeal. I really like it - it's got a foreboding sound.