Like what you see? Help keep it going! This ad-free site runs on the support of readers like you. Your donation helps cover costs and keeps fresh content coming your way every day. Thank you!
For a band famous for rewriting the rules, The Rolling Stones got started with something that barely looked like a song at all. Stoned arrived before the group had fully figured out what being The Rolling Stones actually meant, sounding less like a carefully planned statement and more like a late-night experiment that somehow escaped the studio. Part riff workout, part inside joke, and part accidental milestone, it also sparked a surprising publishing saga involving managers, hidden business interests, and a roommate whose name ended up on the label. Not bad for a track thrown together in a hurry. Sometimes rock history begins with a masterpiece; sometimes it begins with a shrug.
Stoned/ Out of my mind/ Here I go/ Aah, yeah…
Written by: Nanker/Phelge Recorded: De Lane Lea Studios, Holborn, London, Oct. 7 1963
Mick Jagger: vocals Keith Richards: lead guitar Brian Jones: harmonica Bill Wyman: bass Charlie Watts: drums Guest musicians: Ian Stewart (piano)
More about Stoned by The Rolling Stones
*By Marcelo Sonaglioni
A curious beginning for Stoned
Long before The Rolling Stones became a global institution Stoned emerged as one of the most unusual recordings in their catalog. Released as the B-side of I Wanna Be Your Man, the track stood apart from the group’s early output because it was neither a traditional cover version nor a fully developed original song. Instead, it grew from a loose studio experiment inspired by Green Onions by Booker T. & The M.G.’s, transforming familiar ideas into something distinctly Stones-like. Credited to Nanker Phelge (the collective songwriting alias used between 1963 and 1965), the recording captured a band still discovering its identity. Even its title developed a life of its own, with some British pressings mistakenly listing it as “Stones” creating a rare collector’s item. What began as a quick improvisation ultimately became an important milestone, hinting at the creative path the group would follow for decades.
The story behind Nanker Phelge
The unusual credit attached to Stoned reflected the collaborative spirit that often defined the early Rolling Stones. Nanker Phelge was not a real person but a shared pseudonym used whenever several members contributed to a composition. The name combined one of Brian Jones and Keith Richards’s favorite comic facial expressions, known as a “Nanker” with the surname of their Edith Grove roommate, James Phelge.
When James first spotted his name on the label of the band’s second single, he was astonished. Surrounded by smiling Stones members, he learned that the mysterious credit referred to an instrumental they had assembled in the studio. The moment became part of Rolling Stones folklore, linking their earliest recordings to the chaotic atmosphere of their shared London home.
A recording made in minutes
The creation of Stoned was remarkably fast. The entire performance reportedly came together in about half an hour. Rather than delivering a traditional vocal, Mick Jagger occasionally drops in phrases such as “stoned” and “outta my mind” drenched in reverb. The harmonica, generally attributed to Brian Jones, receives similar treatment.
One of the recording’s most striking features is the presence of Ian Stewart. Making his debut on an official Rolling Stones release, Stewart dominates the arrangement with a forceful boogie-woogie piano performance. His energetic playing gives the track much of its character and momentum, helping transform a simple jam into a memorable recording.
Inspired by Green Onions
The connection to Green Onions is impossible to miss. The central riff echoes Booker T. & The M.G.’s hit, while Charlie Watts’s ride cymbal pattern and Keith Richards’s guitar work follow a comparable spirit. Even Mick Jagger’s brief vocal interjections recall elements of Booker T. Jones’s approach.
Andrew Loog Oldham later referred to the track as a form of “constructive plagiarism.” Yet despite the obvious influence, Stoned represented an important step forward. It marked the first time the Rolling Stones released a self-created composition, however informal the process may have been. Contemporary magazine Beat Monthly described it as a “groovy instrumental,” an encouraging assessment for a band taking its first songwriting steps.
Business lessons and lasting legacy
The recording also became linked to an important chapter in the group’s business history. During Andrew Loog Oldham’s absence in Paris Eric Easton advised the band about publishing arrangements and directed them toward Southern Music. What the musicians did not initially realize was that Easton had a financial connection through South-Eastern Music. When the situation eventually came to light in early 1964, tensions increased and contributed to the deterioration of their professional relationship. By 1965, Easton’s role would be taken over by Allen Klein.
Meanwhile Stoned continued to surface on later releases, including Singles Collection: The London Years, No Stone Unturned, and Singles 1963–1965. Although briefly issued in the United States by London Records in March 1964 before being withdrawn on moral grounds, the track survived as a fascinating artifact from the band’s formative years—a spontaneous studio experiment that unexpectedly became part of Rolling Stones history.
Keith Richards (1972): “Stoned was nothing more than just a nick-off Booker T’s Green Onions.”
Like what you see? Help keep it going! This site runs on the support of readers like you. Your donation helps cover costs and keeps fresh Rolling Stones content coming your way every day. Thank you!
Stones Data on Substack
