53. Tumbling Dice
Year: 1972
US Album: Exile on Main St.
Songwriter: Jagger/Richards
“Always in a hurry, I never stop to worry,
Don't you see the time flashin' by.
Honey, got no money,
I'm all sixes and sevens and nines.
Say now baby, I'm the rank outsider,
You can be my partner in crime.”
This song, like most of Exile, was recorded in a basement in Keith’s French chateau. The band would sleep all day and record all night with whoever was around. Bill Wyman showed up a little late to this session to find Mick Taylor playing bass. He hung around until 3:00 am and then left and does not appear on the song.
It’s a boogie based number with a non-traditional lyrical structure. Most songs have the same number of lines for the verse and for the chorus. The first verse of this song has eight lines, the second verse has six lines, and the last verse has two lines.
This is also the only song where Charlie overdubbed a second drum part to create a bigger drum sound. It was also later revealed that Jimmy Miller stepped in on drums to complete the song’s coda because Charlie left in frustration that he could not get it right.
As with most of the record it’s Bobby Keys (saxophone) and Jim Price (trumpet and trombone) on the horns.