Dear Doctor (song)
| "Dear Doctor" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Rolling Stones from the album Beggars Banquet | ||||
| Released | 6 December 1968 | |||
| Recorded | 13–21 May 1968 | |||
| Genre | Country blues | |||
| Length | 3:26 | |||
| Label | ABKCO | |||
| Writer(s) | Mick Jagger/Keith Richards | |||
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Miller | |||
| Beggars Banquet track listing | ||||
| ||||
"Dear Doctor" is a song by English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones featured on their 1968 album Beggars Banquet.
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Dear Doctor" is a country song with blues inflections. It is a good example of the acoustic guitar-based compositions that has earned Beggars Banquet its reputation as the Rolling Stones' "return to form". Bill Janovitz says in his review of the song, "With all acoustic instruments — guitar, tack piano, 12-string, harmonica, tambourine, and upright bass — ...the band manages to sound authentically old-time and primitive, with Mick Jagger employing the fake-American hick accent that he would continue to mine in future blues and country numbers throughout the Stones' career."[1]
On the Rolling Stones' experiments with country, Jagger said in 2003, "The country songs, like 'Factory Girl' or 'Dear Doctor', on Beggars Banquet were really pastiche. There's a sense of humour in country music anyway, a way of looking at life in a humorous kind of way - and I think we were just acknowledging that element of the music."
The song tells the story of a young man discovering his fiancee has abandoned him on the day they are to be wed, to his relief;
| “ | I was tremblin, as I put on my jacket, It had creases as sharp as a knife; I put the ring in my pocket, But there was a note, And my heart it jumped into my mouth | ” |
| “ | It read, 'Darlin', I'm sorry to hurt you. But I have no courage to speak to your face. But I'm down in Virginia with your cousin Lou, There be no wedding today' | ” |
Janovitz concludes, "Jagger may be poking fun a little, but he could not nail the parlance of the characters so precisely if he had not studied it closely as a fan of the music... In a sense, they have been musicologists, interpreting musical forms that were in danger of dying out. The raw quality of 'Dear Doctor' and the rest of the album was a welcoming sound to the ears of most Stones fans losing patience with their experimentation on Their Satanic Majesties Request."[1]
"Dear Doctor" was recorded at London's Olympic Sound Studios between 13 and 21 May 1968. Despite its appearance on one of the Rolling Stones' more well-known albums, "Dear Doctor" has never been performed live by the band. It appears on the compilation album Slow Rollers.[2]
Personnel
- Mick Jagger — vocals
- Keith Richards — acoustic guitar, backing vocals
- Brian Jones — harmonica
- Bill Wyman — bass guitar
- Charlie Watts — percussion
- Nicky Hopkins — tack piano
- Dave Mason - acoustic guitar
Notes
- 1 2 Janovitz, Bill. "Dear Doctor". allmusic. Retrieved 2006-10-17.
- ↑ "Slow Rollers by The Rolling Stones | MTV". Vh1.com. 1981-01-01. Retrieved 2012-12-16.