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Most people don’t expect the Rolling Stones to wander into the territory of timeless pop standards. After all, this is the band that built its reputation on blues riffs, swagger, and volume—not delicate ballads written decades before rock even existed. Yet that’s exactly what makes their version of The Nearness of You so fascinating. Instead of treating the Hoagy Carmichael classic like a museum piece, Keith Richards reshaped it with his own rough-edged charm, creating a performance that feels both unexpected and strangely natural. Sometimes the biggest surprise in a Rolling Stones concert isn’t the song you hear—it’s the one you never saw coming.
It isn’t your sweet conversation/ That brings this sensation, oh no…
Written by: Carmichael/Washington Recorded: Olympia Theatre, Paris, France, July 11 2003
Keith Richards: lead vocals, lead guitar Ron Wood: rhythm guitar Darryl Jones: bass Charlie Watts: drums With: Chuck Leavell (keyboards), Bobby Keys (sax), Tim Ries (sax), Michael Davis (trombone), Ken Smith (trumpet), Lisa Fischer, Blondie Chaplin and Bernard Fowler (backing vocals)
More about the Rolling Stones’ live take on The Nearness of You
*By Marcelo Sonaglioni
A surprising choice for the Licks Tour
When the Rolling Stones included The Nearness of You in their performances during the Licks Tour, it stood out as one of the most unexpected selections in their vast catalog of live material. Known primarily for their deep connection to blues, rock and rhythm and blues traditions, the band rarely ventured into the world of classic American standards. Yet this song held special meaning for Keith Richards. In his autobiography Life Richards recalled developing a growing admiration for the craftsmanship of composers from Broadway and the Great American Songbook as he matured as a songwriter.
Among those figures Hoagy Carmichaeloccupied a special place. Richards never forgot receiving a phone call from Carmichael, who personally congratulated him on a demo version of The Nearness of You that featured Keith on piano. Years after Carmichael’s death in 1981, that memory helped inspire the Rolling Stones to bring the song back to audiences in a live setting.
From Hollywood to a standard
The Nearness of You originated in 1937 through the collaboration of Hoagy Carmichael and lyricist Ned Washington. The song was initially intended for a Paramount Pictures production called Romance In The Rough, a film that ultimately never reached the screen. Despite that setback, the composition survived. Famous Music later registered and published the song in 1940, allowing it to begin a life far beyond its original purpose.
Its first recording came from Chick Bullock and his Orchestra on VocalionRecords. Around the same period the melody found additional exposure through Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, whose enormously successful recordings helped introduce the tune to a broad audience. The popularity of the song grew rapidly, transforming it from a film-related composition into one of the most beloved standards of the twentieth century.
Another cinematic connection emerged when the song appeared in H. C. Potter’s Romance in the Dark (1938). By then The Nearness of You was already establishing itself as a piece capable of crossing musical boundaries and appealing to listeners from different generations.
A song embraced by generations
The strength of Carmichael’s melody and Washington’s lyrics encouraged countless musicians to reinterpret the song over the decades. During the 1940s and 1950s alone, artists such as Dinah Shore, Nat King Cole, George Shearing, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Gerry Mulligan and Bob Manning all left their mark on the composition.
Among the most celebrated renditions was the collaboration between Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald on the 1957 album Ella and Louis. Their version became a benchmark against which many later interpretations would be measured.
The song’s appeal did not fade with time. In 2000, James Taylor joined Michael Brecker for a pop-jazz reading featured on Nearness of You: The Ballad Book. Two years later Norah Jones selected the song as the closing track on her Grammy Award-winning album Come Away with Me. These recordings demonstrated how a composition born in the late 1930s could continue to resonate with new audiences well into the twenty-first century.
Keith Richards takes a different path
Rather than imitate the famous recordings that preceded him, Keith Richards approached the song from a completely different angle. His goal was not simply to pay tribute to a classic but also to challenge expectations within the Rolling Stones camp. Richards later admitted that he enjoyed surprising Mick Jagger and occasionally introducing unexpected material that could push the band’s performances into unfamiliar territory.
As a result, the Stones’ version moved away from the sophisticated jazz atmosphere associated with Armstrong and Fitzgerald. Instead, Richards leaned toward a relaxed country-flavored arrangement. The performance retained the song’s emotional core while allowing his own musical personality to shine through.
His vocal delivery emphasized feeling over technical perfection. Richards reshaped parts of the melody and interpreted certain passages freely, giving the song a distinctive character that reflected decades of experience as a performer rather than strict adherence to tradition.
Keith Richards (2003): “Well, I wanted to do something that wasn’t… The Stones have never done it, at the same time there’s been a lot of bootlegs of me doing this song and I wanted to give the band another chance… And also it’s a different kind, a slightly different kind of music than what the Stones are used to and what people expect from the Stones. And, after all, I always look upon it as I have two songs in a show. Sometimes I like to do something that will actually provoke Mick to be a little bit more adventurous sometimes…
…If I can go out there and do a song that nobody knows (laughs), it makes him a little bit more confident to go out and do some other stuff ’cause Mick can be a little more conservative at times… And also I have the band to be able to play that stuff. You know, I’ve got a great horn section… I’m glad I’ve been throwing that in.”
The Live Licks performance
Released on Live Licks (2004) and recorded during the 2003 tour, the Rolling Stones’ interpretation showcased the chemistry of the entire band. Richards accompanied himself on a black Gibson ES-355, while Ronnie Wood added tasteful support with his 1955 Strat. Charlie Watts settled naturally into the song’s country-folk pulse, demonstrating once again the versatility that made him one of rock’s most respected drummers.
Additional backing vocals and brass arrangements expanded the texture of the performance without overwhelming its intimate mood. The result was neither a conventional jazz standard nor a typical Rolling Stones track. Instead, it became a unique meeting point between American songwriting tradition and the band’s own musical identity.
More than six decades after its creation The Nearness of You proved capable of finding yet another voice. Through Keith Richards and the Rolling Stones, the song gained a fresh interpretation that honored Hoagy Carmichael’s legacy while adding a memorable chapter in music.
Keith Richards (from his book Life, 2010): “It took me years to fully appreciate the talent of Broadway composers and musicians… And then when I started to write songs myself, I was able to measure the art of musical construction and the craftsmanship of these guys. I have the same esteem for Hoagy Carmichael, whose phone call I will never forget six months before his death.”
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