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So love me, hold me, love me, hold me/ Cause I’m free any old time to get what I want…
Written by: Jagger/Richard Recorded: RCA Studios, Hollywood, USA, July 2-12, Sept. 6-7 1965 Guest musicians: James W. Alexander (tambourine) *Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012
This manifesto for freedom tells of the countercultural by ways that the Rolling Stones liked to take. Whereas the civil rights movement and intellectuals in the United States were advocating an end to discrimination —in other words, freedom for all, regardless of skin color or social status— the London six were extolling individual liberty. So love me, hold me, love me, hold me/I’m free to get what I want any old time, sings Jagger. “I’m Free” may well have been triggered by the exhausting tours, long, restrictive recording sessions, and groupies determined to pursue the members of the band right up to their hotel rooms. However, what Jim Morrison of the Doors was saying in “When the Music’s Over” was not so very different: We want the world and we want it now.
This Jagger-Richards song recorded on September 6, 1965, is in the same vein as “Gotta Get Away”. It reveals a threefold influence: the Don Covay– style folk ballad, the folk rock of the Byrds, and the Beatles, particularly in the writing and harmonization of the refrains (the words hold me, love me recall “Eight Days a Week.” As far as the verses are concerned, the song is structured around alternating C and F chords with a bass in the key of C, a formula used in numerous songs, particularly of the country-folk type. The Stones differ by intelligently weaving three guitars, one strummed (Brian’s Rickenbacker 12-string?), another played with emphatic vibrato, and a third that delivers a distinctly Byrds-like riff. In the refrains, Charlie adopts a style similar to Ringo Starr, supported by, once again, a contribution from James W. Alexander on tambourine. Brian also plays the organ (efficiently, though not very audibly), while Mick sings and double-tracks a falsetto over his vocal line. Finally, Keith overdubs a clear-sounding solo (on his Epiphone Casino?) that cannot exactly be described as inspired. Released as the B-side of the US single “Get Off of My Cloud” on September 25, 1965, the Stones performed “I’m Free” live until the end of the sixties. They later recorded an acoustic version for the album Stripped (1995) and later still performed the number in front of Martin Scorsese’s cameras at the Beacon Theater in New York (for the film Shine a Light, 2008)
