Rolling Stones songs: We’re Wastin’ Time
*Click for MORE ROLLING STONES SONGS 1962-PRESENT

Well nothing that we’re learning/ While the hands keep turning…

Written by: Jagger/Richard
Recorded: Regent, IBC and Decca Studios, London, England, July 1-10 1964
Guest musicians: Jimmy Page (guitar), John McLaughlin (guitar), Jim Sullivan (guitar), Joe Moretti (bass), Andy White (drums)
*Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012

From the The Rolling Stones – All the Songs book:
Listening to “We’re Wastin’ Time,” it is not easy to connect this song with
the five long-haired musicians who hollered out the words to Willie Dixon’s
“I Just Want to Make Love to You,” recorded by the band at more or less
the same time. Another early Jagger-Richards composition, this is the
lament, over a waltz rhythm, of a couple who now seem to be killing time.
It looks as if the song may have been recorded without any real ambition to
include it on a Rolling Stones album. A demo, nothing more… It was
Jimmy Tarbuck, under the aegis of Andrew Loog Oldham as producer, who
released it as a single, albeit without causing a ripple in the hit parades.

Once again, none of the Rolling Stones perform on this country-rock ballad
in triple time other than the indispensable Mick Jagger, who delivers a good
vocal line with ample reverb. He seems more motivated than on most of the
demos recorded during this period. Might this be due to the presence of
different guitarists, including one who plays an excellent solo almost thirty
seconds long? The touch and phrasing of this soloist are those of a great
instrumentalist. Given that Big Jim Sullivan is known to be playing pedal
steel guitar, who might it be—Jimmy Page, John McLaughlin, or Doug
Schlink? Unfortunately, it is impossible to say. A fiddle, an essential
element in reinforcing the country aspect of the track, can also be heard.
The rhythm section is very good, as is the piano accompaniment. With
hindsight, listening to “We’re Wastin’ Time” gives the impression that Mick
Jagger and Keith Richards were learning their craft as songwriters and that
the real masterpieces were not going to be long in coming. Just a little more
patience required…