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Rolling Stones songs: I’ve Been Loving You Too Long
There were times and your love is growing cold/ My love is growing stronger as our affair grows old…
Written by: Redding/Butler Recorded: RCA Studios, Hollywood, USA, May 11-12 1965
Mick Jagger: vocals Keith Richards: guitar Brian Jones: guitar Bill Wyman: bass Charlie Watts: drums Guest musicians: Ian Stewart (organ)
More about The Rolling Stones’ version of I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)
*By Marcelo Sonaglioni
A song that reshaped soul and inspired rock
Before it became a touchstone for soul devotees and an object of fascination for rock musicians across the Atlantic, I’ve Been Loving You Too Longwas simply a moment of inspiration in a Buffalo hotel room. Otis Redding and Jerry Butler shaped it quickly, almost instinctively, yet what emerged was a ballad destined to transcend eras. Its slow, aching plea—wrapped in Steve Cropper’s delicate guitar arpeggios and lifted by bursts of brass—became a definitive statement of emotional vulnerability. Released as a single in April 1965, the song climbed into Redding’s upper tier of commercial successes, ultimately securing a place on Otis Blue, his masterful third album. But its influence didn’t end with the charts; the song would ripple outward for decades, reinterpreted by artists who admired its raw honesty, and immortalized by Redding himself in a legendary, almost cathartic 1967 live performance.
The enduring power of Otis Redding’s masterpiece
Though rooted in a specific moment of mid-’60s soul, Redding’s creation refused to age. Critics immediately hailed its depth, praising the way Redding’s gruff, pleading delivery turned a simple message—of a lover desperately holding on—into something nearly operatic. The studio version was unforgettable, but Redding himself would later elevate it even further. His Monterey Pop Festival performance in 1967, nearly twice as long as the original recording, is still regarded by many as the definitive interpretation. At Monterey, he commanded the stage, urging his band to take the chorus “one more time”—each repetition answered by explosive horn accents and surges of vocal power. It wasn’t just a performance; it was a declaration of what soul music could be. Though countless artists revisited the song, including Ike & Tina Turner with a Top 25 R&B hit in 1969, none ever displaced Redding’s ownership of it.
Versions, sessions, and the making of a classic
The path from hotel-room idea to cultural landmark was surprisingly quick. The first version of I’ve Been Loving You Too Long, recorded in mono and released as a single in April 1965, reached No. 21 on the Billboard pop chart by mid-June. The stereo version followed shortly afterward, tracked at Stax Studios during Redding’s July 9–10 sessions with Booker T. & The M.G.’s, the Mar-Keys, and the Memphis Horns. These sessions contributed heavily to Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul, an album now considered one of the cornerstones of modern soul. Redding’s ability to capture the exhaustion, devotion, and near-spiritual yearning of a love slipping away made the song a standout even among the album’s all-star lineup. In just a few months, the track had become one of Redding’s biggest hits and one of the clearest examples of how his music reshaped Black American sound while influencing a generation of rock singers hungry for authenticity.
The Rolling Stones’ hurried but heartfelt attempt
Barely a month after Redding released his single, The Rolling Stones, already captivated by his performance, attempted their own version. Recorded at RCA Studios in Los Angeles on May 11–12, 1965, the track suggests a band rushing to capture lightning without quite knowing how to hold it. Mick Jagger reached for notes that stretched his comfort zone, resulting in moments that feel strained rather than soulful, while the rhythm section lacked the depth and assurance of the Stax originals. Instead of horns, Keith Richards deployed a fuzz-tone guitar—ironically, the same session that produced his iconic Satisfaction riff—yet here the effect feels oddly thin. Brian Jones added Firebird arpeggios, Keith layered three separate guitar parts, and Jack Nitzsche likely slipped behind the piano keys. By late 1966, producers even inserted crowd noise and an organ part from Ian Stewart, attempting to present it as a live performance. Andrew Oldham’s determination bordered on audacious; the track ultimately contained too many overdubs to have ever been performed onstage. Unless, of course, Keith Richards really was some sort of many-armed musical deity.
Why the song still resonates
Despite the uneven Stones cover, their fascination reveals the song’s magnetism. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long continues to resonate because its core emotion is universal: the aching, stubborn refusal to let someone go. Redding delivered that message with such purity and force that his version remains the yardstick by which all others are measured. Even today, the song stands not only as one of Otis Redding’s finest moments but also as a work that bridged musical worlds—soul and rock, Black and white audiences, studio precision and live electricity. It endures because it speaks to the very thing music expresses best: the human heart refusing to surrender.
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