New Oldies – Sittin’ On A Fence by The Rolling Stones

Andrew Loog Oldham

Here’s another deep track from a group you all know very well, The Rolling Stones. They wrote this song for a British singing duo called Twice As Much who recorded it first in 1966. Their version went to #25 on the charts in England, but only made it to #122 on the Billboard Bubbling Under chart. It did slightly better on Cashbox, reaching #98. Still, you can hardly call that “hit” status. Now, 45 years later, I think either of these tunes could be a “New Oldies Hit” today!

The Rolling Stones

 

Here’s the Rolling Stones version, which they recorded in 1965 while making their Aftermath album, but  it wasn’t released here until the Flowers album came out in 1967. They released it in England in 1969 on Through The Past Darkly (Big Hits Volume 2). But this song never appeared on a single. It’s one of their rare acoustic-driven songs that are usually quite special. At the end, you’ll hear Brian Jones playing the harpsichord! Give ‘er a listen and tell me what you think…

 

 

And now here’s the version by Twice As Much that became a hit in England in 1966 on MGM 13530. It’s the harmony of David Skinner and Andrew Rose from Middlesex who shared a manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, with the Stones. They were clearly influenced by other pop Brits like Chad and Jeremy or Peter and Gordon.

This song is also a nice example of what’s come to be known as Baroque Rock, which I guess you could combine into a single word as Barack. Maybe not 😉