A-side "Happy" Genre Rock Label Rolling Stones/Virgin | Released 15 July 1972 Length 3:49 | |
Recorded December 1971 - March 1972 | ||
"All Down the Line" is a song by rock band The Rolling Stones featured on their 1972 album Exile on Main St.. Although at one point slated to be the lead single from the album, it was ultimately released as a single as the b-side of "Happy."
Contents
Background
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "All Down the Line" is a straight-ahead electric rock song which opens side four of Exile on Main St.. An acoustic version of the song was recorded in 1969 during the early sessions of what would become Sticky Fingers. Recording took place at Olympic Sound Studios in London and Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles.
Featured on the recording are Jagger on lead vocals and backing vocals with Richards and Kathi McDonald. Bill Wyman performs electric bass while Bill Plummer performs acoustic standup bass. Mick Taylor performs the electric slide guitar while Richards performs electric rhythm guitar. With Charlie Watts on drums, producer Jimmy Miller performs maracas. Bobby Keys and Jim Price lend support on saxophone, and trumpet and trombone, respectively. Nicky Hopkins performs on piano.
The Rolling Stones famously gave a Los Angeles radio station a demo of "All Down the Line" to play while they drove around and listened to it on the radio, but "All Down the Line"'s biggest claim to fame may be its near constant appearance on the Rolling Stones' tours since the release of Exile.
After the release of Exile on Main St., Allen Klein sued the Rolling Stones for breach of settlement because "All Down the Line" and four other songs on the album were composed while Jagger and Richards were under contract with his company, ABKCO. ABKCO acquired publishing rights to the songs, giving it a share of the royalties from Exile on Main St., and was able to publish another album of previously released Rolling Stones songs, More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies).
Concert performances
The song has appeared on a number of tours throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, and every tour since the Voodoo Lounge Tour.
A 2006 performance of "All Down the Line" was captured on the concert film Shine a Light and the accompanying soundtrack album. Despite its popularity as a live song, this was its first appearance on an official live album. However, a live performance from 1972 had previously been included in the film Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones.
A live version of the song from 1995 appeared as a B-side of the "Like a Rolling Stone" (Live) single from the Stripped album.