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For a band famous for writing some of rock’s greatest songs, borrowing one from Bob Dylan wasn’t exactly the obvious move. Yet The Rolling Stones eventually embraced Like a Rolling Stone in a way that felt completely natural, proving they could step into someone else’s masterpiece without sounding like a tribute act. It took decades, a few lineup changes, and plenty of miles on the road before the song found its place in their repertoire. Sometimes the best cover isn’t the one you record first—it’s the one you wait years to truly understand. That’s very Stones, isn’t it?
You used to ride on chrome horse with your diplomat/ Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat…
Written by: Bob Dylan Recorded: Live at Brixton Academy, London, July 19 1995
Mick Jagger: vocals, harmonica Keith Richards: guitar, backing vocals Ronnie Wood: guitar Charlie Watts: drums Guest musicians: Darryl Jones (bass and backing vocals), Chuck Leavell (organ and backing vocals), Lisa Fischer and Bernard Fowler (backing vocals)
More about The Rolling Stones‘ take on Like a Rolling Stone
*By Marcelo Sonaglioni
Like a Rolling Stone: A song worth waiting thirty years to play
Some songs are so influential that even the biggest bands think twice before touching them. Bob Dylan’sLike a Rolling Stone was one of those rare compositions. By the time The Rolling Stones finally performed it publicly in 1995, the song had already spent three decades shaping rock music and inspiring countless artists. Although the band admired it for years and often played it backstage before concerts, they deliberately kept it out of their live shows. Part of that hesitation came from the title itself, which many mistakenly linked to the band’s name, even though The Rolling Stones had actually taken their name from Rollin’ Stone by Muddy Waters. When they eventually unveiled it at Brixton Academy on July 19, 1995,the wait proved worthwhile, producing one of the standout performances of the Stripped era.
Dylan rewrites the rules
When Bob Dylan recorded Like a Rolling Stone in June 1965 he wasn’t simply making another single—he was quietly changing the expectations of popular music. Built from lyrics he developed after returning exhausted from a demanding tour of England, the song evolved from a much longer draft into four verses and a chorus that carried an unusual emotional intensity. Even in the studio, however, it refused to reveal its full potential. Early attempts in 3/4 time sounded unsatisfying, leaving Dylan searching for the right direction.
Everything changed when the arrangement shifted into a more energetic rock style. During the session, newcomer Al Kooper improvised the unforgettable Hammond organ melody that opens the recording, giving the song a dramatic identity from its very first notes. Combined with Dylan’s sharp lyrics and the now-famous refrain, “How does it feel?”, the performance became unlike anything audiences had heard before. Released by Columbia Records on July 20, 1965, as the opening track of Highway 61 Revisited, it stretched beyond six minutes at a time when radio singles were expected to be less than half that length.
The record company had serious reservations. Executives questioned both its running time and its electric sound, worrying that radio stations would reject it. Before those concerns could delay its future, though, an advance copy found its way into a popular music club, where influential DJs immediately recognized its impact. Listener enthusiasm quickly erased any doubts, and the song was officially issued as a single. It soon became one of the defining recordings of rock history, inspiring musicians including Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Green Day, each discovering something different within Dylan’s groundbreaking composition.
Keith Richards (1995): “We got over the built-in reticence. If he had written ‘Like a Beatles’, we probably would have done it straight away. We’ve been playing that song ever since Bob brought it out; it was like a dressing room favourite, a tuning room favourite. We know it really well. It was just a matter of screwing up the courage, really, to get over the feeling like we were riding on its back. We also realized that, hey, we took our name from a Muddy Waters album, a Muddy Waters song. Suddenly it didn’t feel awkward to pay it.”
Why the Stones waited
Despite their long-standing admiration for the song, The Rolling Stones avoided performing it in public for many years. Friends and crew members occasionally heard the band play it informally during rehearsals or while warming up backstage, but it never reached the concert stage. The direct mention of “rolling stone” in the title reportedly made the group reluctant to invite comparisons or confusion about the origin of their own name.
That finally changed on July 19, 1995, when the band introduced the song during their performance at Brixton Academy in London. Looking back on the decision during an interview with Jann Wenner for Rolling Stone magazine on December 14, 1995, Mick Jagger reflected, “And we got a few unusual tracks going on, which is always good for a live record—not original songs but reworked. I think ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ was unusual to do. We’ve never done a Dylan song.” After decades of waiting, the timing suddenly felt right.
Mick Jagger (1995): “It’s a fantastic song. I did it once at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Bob Dylan was being inducted, and Paul Shaffer, during the jam, struck up the intro. But nobody was singing it. Bob never came up to the microphone. Finally me and Bruce Springsteen did it. Keith and I used to do it years ago. I said to him, ‘You used to play it in such-and-such tuning’. I always boss him around (grins), tell him what to do.”
A fresh interpretation
Rather than treating the performance as a faithful recreation The Rolling Stones reshaped the song with their own blues-rock character. Keith Richards, playing his “Sonny” Fender Telecaster, and Ronnie Wood, using a Gibson Reverse Firebird V, split the guitar work into complementary parts that emphasized groove over imitation. Chuck Leavell recreated Al Kooper’s signature organ line while naturally blending it into the band’s live sound.
At the center stood Mick Jagger, whose energetic vocal transformed the famous chorus into a singalong shared by the audience. He also added a blues-inspired harmonica solo that further separated the performance from Dylan’s original recording. Instead of trying to outperform a classic, the Stones approached it from a different angle, making the song feel completely at home within their own repertoire.
From concert highlight to hit single
The success of the live performance ensured that it would not remain a one-night curiosity. The recording appeared on Stripped in 1995, showcasing one of the album’s most memorable reinterpretations. It was later released as a single in October 1995, backed by Black Limousineand All Down the Line.
Audiences responded enthusiastically. By November 11, 1995, the single had reached No. 12 on the UK charts, confirming that The Rolling Stones had achieved something many thought impossible. Instead of competing with one of rock’s greatest recordings, they had found a way to honor Dylan’s masterpiece while givingLike a Rolling Stonean unmistakably Stones identity.
Miuck Jagger (1995): “I think Like a Rolling Stone was unusual to do. We’ve never done a Dylan song before…Melodically I quite like it. It’s very well put together; it’s got a proper three sections to it, real good choruses and a good middle bit, and great lyrics. It’s a really well-constructed pop song, in my opinion… It’s very much to the point, it doesn’t waffle too much. I sang it a lot of times on the European tour – maybe fifty times. So I really got inside it, and I enjoyed it. I love playing the harmonica on it.”
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