Happy (The Rolling Stones song) hours, cut and done. At noon it had never existed. At four o'clock it was on tape." The basic tracks were recorded in the Nellcôte basement, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, with Richards on bass, guitar and vocals, producer Jimmy Miller on drums, and saxophonist Bobby Keys on maracas. Piano by Nicky Hopkins was added later, as were Jim Price's trumpet, Keys' saxophone, Mick Taylor's guitar and the final vocal tracks, including Mick Jagger's backing vocals. "Happy" was the only single by the band to chart on the Hot 100 on which Richards sang lead. Since 1972, Richards has
The Rolling Stones ten minutes. I think we thought it was a bit of a laugh, and it turned out to be something of an apprenticeship for us. The writing of "The Last Time", the Rolling Stones' first major single, proved a turning point. Richards called it "a bridge into thinking about writing for the Stones. It gave us a level of confidence; a pathway of how to do it." The song was based on a traditional gospel song popularised by the Staple Singers, but the Rolling Stones' number features a distinctive guitar riff, played by Brian Jones. Prior to the emergence of