Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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From '' Shady Groove ''
Label: Tombstone Records – TOMB-CD 2056
Format: CD, Album
Country: Germany
Released: 2004

Tracklist
01. Ya So Bad
02. Move
03. As Tears Go By
04. Little Girl
05. Sherry-Lee
06. Boppin' The Blues
07. Devil In Disguise
08. Jenseits des Tales
09. Country Boogie
10. My Only One
11. Blue Moon
12. Shady Groove
13. I'll Never Find Another You
14. Jitterbop Baby
15 . Travellin' Lights
16. Just That Song

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"As Tears Go By" is a song written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham.
Marianne Faithfull recorded and released it as a single in the United Kingdom in 1964. Her song peaked at number nine on both the UK and Irish singles charts. Later, the Rolling Stones recorded their own version, which was included on the American album December's Children (And Everybody's).

History

"As Tears Go By" was one of the early compositions by Jagger and Richards; previously the Rolling Stones had chiefly been performing American blues and R&B tunes.
By one account, Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham locked Jagger and Richards in a kitchen in order to force them to write a song together, even suggesting what type of song he wanted: "I want a song with brick walls all around it, high windows and no sex." The result initially was named "As Time Goes By", the title of the song Dooley Wilson sings in the film Casablanca. It was Oldham who replaced "Time" with "Tears".

According to Jagger biographer Philip Norman, the song was mainly created by Jagger, in co-operation with session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan, although Jagger claims he was responsible for the lyrics while Richards wrote the melody.
Oldham subsequently gave the ballad (a format that the Stones were not yet known for) to Faithfull, then 17, for her to record as a B-side. Oldham played a demo for her with Jagger singing and Big Jim Sullivan on acoustic guitar. "He handed me a scrawled lyric sheet and I went back into the studio and did it. As soon as I heard the cor anglais playing the opening bars I knew it was going to work. After a couple of takes it was done. Andrew came and gave me a big hug. 'Congratulations darling. You've got yourself a number six,' he said."

The success of the recording caused Decca Records to switch the song to an A-side, where it became a popular single.
The melody features a distinctive english horn line. It reached number nine in the UK Singles Chart and launched Faithfull's career as a major singer.
The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 the week ending 28 November 1964, where it stayed for nine weeks peaking at number 22.
In Canada, it peaked at number two on the RPM chart.
Faithfull performed the song on the television show Hullabaloo, in the segment presented by Beatles manager Brian Epstein from London.

The Rolling Stones recorded their own version of "As Tears Go By" in 1965, changing the arrangement from Faithful's 1964 version: her 1964 version features percussion and strings throughout; the Rolling Stones' version completely lacks percussion and opens with acoustic guitar followed by strings entering in the second verse. The string arrangement on the Stones' version was done by Mike Leander.

"As Tears Go By" was one of the three songs, including "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "19th Nervous Breakdown", that the band performed live during their third appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. It was released as a single in December 1965 by their North American record label, London Records. DJs across the country made "As Tears Go By" an in-demand hit when they started playing it from the band's recently released album December's Children (And Everybody's).
It peaked at number six on the American Billboard Hot 100, echoing the success the Beatles had attained the same year with McCartney's plaintive ballad “Yesterday.” The song was later released in the UK in 1966 as the B-side to the single, "19th Nervous Breakdown".
The Stones released a version with Italian lyrics as a single in Italy, under the title "Con Le Mie Lacrime" with the lyrics written by Danpa.

The song was performed live on tour for the first time in November 2005 on the Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour.
Also as a duet between Jagger and Taylor Swift on 3 June 2013 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, for the band's 50 & Counting tour.

Charts

Marianne Faithfull version
1964–65 weekly chart performance

Chart (1964–65) / Peak position
Canada Top Singles (RPM) / 2
UK Singles (OCC) / 9
US Billboard Hot 100 / 22
US Cash Box Top 100 / 30

Rolling Stones version
1966 weekly chart performance

Chart (1966) / Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) / 16
Canada Top Singles (RPM) / 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) / 5
Rhodesia (Lyons Maid) / 7
Sweden (Kvällstoppen) / 5
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening / 10
US Billboard Hot 100 / 6
US Cash Box Top 100 / 3

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