86 Tumbling Dice

THE ROLLING STONES 1972

In one of its first incarnations, then called “Good Time Women,” this Exile on Main St. gem was faster and bawdier. By the time it became “Tumbling Dice” during the infamous Exile sessions in the South of France, the song had been slowed down. “I remember writing the riff upstairs in the very elegant front room,” said Keith Richards, “and we took it downstairs the same evening, and we cut it.” Mick Jagger’s lyrics fit the slowed-down groove, revealing a gritty weariness. Since Bill Wyman wasn’t around, Mick Taylor played bass, as well as those slinky slide-guitar parts.