Saturday, July 2, 2016

Today in Music (1966): The Rolling Stones “Mother’s Little Helper” charted

Mother’s Little Helper

The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Mick Jagger, Keith Richards (see lyrics here)

First Charted: July 2, 1966

Peak: 8 BB, 4 CB, 4 GR, 4 HR, 4 CL, 14 CN, 10 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): --

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.9 video, -- streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

“Mother’s Little Helper” was the lead track on the UK version of their 1966 album Aftermath. However, the U.S. edition of the album replaced it with “Paint It Black,” #1 hit in the U.S. and UK. “Helper” was also a top-10 hit in the U.S. but wasn’t released as a single in the UK. In fact, it was banned from radio play by the BBC because of its explicit drug references. ^WK It wouldn’t be until 1967’s Their Satanic Majesties Request that the track listing would be the same for the U.S. and UK albums.

“Helper” was “the first pop song to address middle-class drug dependency.” ^WK Lead singer Mick Jagger explained that “It’s about drug dependence, but in a sort of like spoofy way.” ^SF The Stones turned the image of the model suburban housewife on its head by telling a story of one dependent on prescription drugs in the 1960s when, as author Dave Thompson said, “a housewife only needed look depressed for her doctor to fill her up with tablets.” ^DT

He also called it “a surprisingly mature slide of social commentary from the last people a lot of folk would have looked for such a thing.” ^DT It’s an ironic condemnation of drug abuse considering the Rolling Stones were havey drug users themselves. It also has been interpreted as a commentary on the older generation’s hypocrisy in critiquing recreational drug use while turning a blind eye to the abuse of prescription drugs by middle-aged women. ^WK The band wanted to make the point that “housewives popping pills…[wasn’t] that different than rock stars taking smack.” ^SF

Regarding his guitar work, Keith Richards said, “The strange guitar sound is a 12-string with a slide on it…The track just needed something to make it twang. Otherwise, the song was quite vaudeville in a way.” ^SF The “folk rock song with Eastern influences” ^WK also features Brian Jones on sitar. It was one of the earliest songs to feature the instrument. The Beatles were first with “Norwegian Wood” the year before. ^SF