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Rolling Stones songs: Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
*Click for MORE ROLLING STONES SONGS 1962-PRESENT
A ten year old girl on a street corner/ Sticking needles in her arm…
Written by: Jagger/Richard
Recorded: Dynamic Sounds Studios, Kingston, Jamaica, Nov. 25-Dec. 21 1972; Villa Recorders, Los Angeles, USA, Jan. 13-15 1973; Island Recording Studios, London, England, June 1973
Guest musicians: Bobby Keys (sax), Billy Preston (backing vocals, piano, synthesizer, clavinet), Rebop (congas), Pascal (percussion), Jim Horn (sax), Chuck Findley (trumpet), Jim Price (horn arrangement)
*Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012
From Songfacts:
This tells two stories, a young man shot by police in a case of mistaken identity, and a 10-year girl who dies in an alley of a drug overdose. Neither is based on a true story, but is a commentary on urban America.
Mick Jagger recalled to Uncut magazine in 2020 that he can’t remember any specific inspiration. “It’s the timing,” he said. “New York as a violent place. America as a heavy-handed police state. We can go back 100 years and it’s probably even heavier. Obviously, all that time ago it was heavy in a lot of places, heavy now and heavy before.”
The horns were arranged by trumpet player Jim Price, who along with Bobby Keys on sax, provided the brass on records and tours for The Stones in the early ’70s. This was the last time Price recorded with The Stones. He went on to produce other artists, including Joe Cocker.
Keith Richards played bass and shared lead guitar duties with Mick Taylor. Billy Preston played the piano.
The Stones played this on their 1973 European tour, even though it describes events in America.
Chuck Findley played trumpet on this. Other artists he worked for include George Harrison, Quincy Jones, Diana Ross, the Carpenters, Julio Iglesias, Rod Stewart, Robert Palmer and Madonna. (Ref. doo doo doo doo doo heartbreaker)
The opening verse was quoted in The Flaming Lips song “Jesus Shootin’ Heroin.”
From the The Rolling Stones – All the Songs book:
There are two tragic deaths in “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)”: that of a young boy in New York as the result of a police error and that of a ten-year-old girl from an overdose at the corner of a dirty alleyway with no one to help her. It is likely that Mick Jagger found his inspiration for this song in real-life events.
In April 1973, while the Stones were recording Goats Head Soup, there was a report in the press about a ten-year-old boy shot dead in Queens by police officers who had mistaken him for a fleeing thief, even though he was with his father. Jagger clearly intended to reflect the climate of violence in the United States, and New York in particular. He unambiguously accuses the police officers of being trigger-happy, heartbreakers in the literal sense of the term.
“Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo” was released as a single in December 1973 (with “Dancing with Mr. D.” as the B-side). It peaked at number 15 in the United States on February 23, 1974, but did not chart anywhere else (either in Europe or the United Kingdom) (Ref. doo doo doo doo doo heartbreaker)
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