"Gimme Shelter" is a song by the rock and roll band The Rolling Stones. It first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1969 album Let It Bleed. Although the first word was spelt "Gimmie" on that album, subsequent recordings by the band and other musicians have made "Gimme" the customary spelling.
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Gimme Shelter" was created from the combined efforts of both the singer and the guitarist. Richards had been working on the song's signature opening in London while Jagger was working on the film Performance. The song takes the form of a churning mid-tempo rocker. It begins with a rhythm guitar intro by Richards, followed by Jagger's lead vocal. On the recording of the album, Jagger said in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, "Well, it's a very rough, very violent era. The Vietnam War. Violence on the screens, pillage and burning. And Vietnam was not war as we knew it in the conventional sense..." On the song itself, he concluded, "That's a kind of end-of-the-world song, really. It's apocalypse; the whole record's like that."[1]
The lyrics of the song speak of seeking shelter from a coming storm, painting a picture of devastation and social apocalypse while also talking of the power of love:
A much higher-pitched second vocal track is sung by guest vocalist Merry Clayton. On her inclusion, Jagger said in the 2003 book According to... The Rolling Stones, "The use of the female voice was the producer's idea. It would be one of those moments along the lines of "I hear a girl on this track - get one on the phone." Clayton gives her solo performance, and one of the song's most famous pieces, after a solo performed by Richards, repeatedly singing "Rape, murder; It's just a shot away, It's just a shot away," and finally screaming the final stanza. She and Jagger finish the song with the line, "Love, sister, it's just a kiss away." To date it remains one of the most prominent contributions to a Rolling Stones track by a female vocalist.[2]
Recording of the song took place at London's Olympic Sound Studios. in February and March 1969. Clayton's piece was recorded at Los Angeles' Sunset Sound & Elektra Studios in October and November of that same year. Nicky Hopkins performed pianos for the song while the Stones' producer Jimmy Miller provided percussion. Charlie Watts performed drums while Bill Wyman performed bass. Jagger performed harmonica for the piece and sang backup vocals with Richards and Clayton. Guitarist Brian Jones was absent from these sessions. An unreleased version features only Richards providing vocals.[3]
Although popular, "Gimme Shelter" was never released as a single. It quickly became a staple of their live show, first featuring throughout their 1969 American Tour. It has been included on many compilation releases, including both Hot Rocks 1964-1971 and Forty Licks, and concert versions appear on the Stones' albums No Security and Live Licks.
The Divine Horsemen, a Los Angeles post-punk band, included a note-perfect cover on their 1987 album "Middle of the Night," with co-lead singer Julie Christensen doing a spooky take on Merry Clayton's wailing.
John Mellencamp covered the song during his 2001 Cuttin' Heads tour.
Meat Loaf covered the song during live shows in the 1980s with vocalist Leslie Aday (aka 'Leslie Loaf') duetting Merry Clayton's parts opposite her husband
Sheryl Crow incorporated elements of "Gimme Shelter" into live performances of her song "Gasoline", which appeared in its original form on the album Detours.
In 1993 a Food Records project collected various versions of the track by the following bands and collaborations, the proceeds of which went to the Shelter charity's "Putting Our House in Order" homeless initiative. The versions were issued across various formats, and had a live version of the song by The Rolling Stones as a common lead track to ensure chart eligibility.
In Wild Palms (1993), the mini-series by Oliver Stone.
During Michelle's Landau's return to 'escorting' in "Dawn Budge", episode 5 of season 4 of Nip/Tuck, "Gimme Shelter" is played continuing into Sean and Julia's second wedding.
It was used in the "Goliath" episode of Knight Rider. Whenever KITT was seen to be cruising the streets of Las Vegas at night, the intro to "Gimme Shelter" was played.
It was used for promotional purposes for the FOX TV series Prison Break.
The intro was used in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode 314 One Hit Wonder which first aired on Thursday, 6th February 2003.
Meat Loaf performed the song on his 2007 "Seize the Night" tour, which was released on the 3 Bats Live DVD.
The Clark Brothers performed the song on The Next Great American Band during Rolling Stones' songs week and received rave reviews from all 3 judges, including a standing ovation.
In recent years, Comerica Park, the home stadium of baseball's Detroit Tigers, when a player comes up to bat for the Tigers, a play on the player's name is displayed on various scoreboards around the stadium. The song title was used when former Tiger's First Baseman Chris Shelton came up to bat.
Featured in "Dig a Hole and Fill It Up: Part 1", on the NBC series Life.
The song appears in the popular videogame Rock Band.
"Gimme Shelter" was used in the promotion of "When We Left Earth" for the Discovery Channel.
Miscellaneous
Merry Clayton's name is misspelled on the album, appearing as 'Mary.'
At about 2:59 into the song, Clayton's voice cracks twice from the strain of her powerful singing; once during the second refrain, on the word "shot" from the last line, and then again during the first line of the third and final refrain, on the word "murder", after which an unknown voice, most likely Jagger's, is faintly heard shouting "Whoo!" in approval.
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