Keith Richards and Mick Jagger have been writing songs and playing in the same band together for over 60 years. While it took a few years for The Rolling Stones to become stars in the U.S., they were propelled to fame in the U.K. and were one of the biggest bands in the country, besides The Beatles. Richards and Jagger first showed their songwriting talents in 1965, and the single reached No. 1 on the U.K. charts.
‘The Last Time’ was the first Rolling Stones song written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger
When The Rolling Stones first formed in 1962, they were primarily a blues cover band. Their first single was a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On”, which was a top 30 hit in the U.K. In 1964, The Rolling Stones released their cover of The Valentinos’ “It’s All Over Now”, which became their first No. 1 hit in the U.K.
After building a sizeable following in the U.K., the band finally had the confidence to move forward with original music. The first single penned by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger was “The Last Time”. It was released as a single in 1965 and included in the U.S. version of Out of Our Heads. In Richards’ autobiography, Life, the guitarist said he knew he and Jagger needed to start writing songs, and “The Last Time” was the first one they felt confident enough to show the other band members.
“Mick and I knew by now that really our job was to write songs for the Stones. It took us eight, nine months before we came up with ‘The Last Time,’ which is the first one that we felt we could give to the rest of the guys without being sent out of the room,” Richards wrote. “Mick and I were trying to hone it down. We kept coming up with these ballads, nothing to do with what we were doing. And then finally we came up with ‘The Last Time’ and looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s try this with the boys.’”
‘The Last Time’ reached No. 1 in the U.K.
“The Last Time” was the band’s third single to reach No. 1 in the U.K. However, it proved that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards could write original songs that appealed to the masses. It was also a hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 9 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. While the song was a hit, the Stones dropped it from their concert setlist in 1967, didn’t bring it back until 1997, and brought it back again in 2012.
The track did crack the top 10 in the U.S., but it didn’t take long for The Rolling Stones to top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was released the same year and topped the charts worldwide. This gave the Stones their first No. 1 hit in the U.S.
Richards and Jagger have been friends since 1961
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger first met on Oct. 17, 1961. The pair met at a train station while going to different schools. They bonded over their love of blues music and planned to meet again in the future. In an interview with Rolling Stones, Jagger recalled their meeting at the train station.
“This is a true story – we met at the train station. And I had these rhythm & blues records, which were very prized possessions because they weren’t available in England then,” Jagger said. “And he said, ‘Oh, yeah, these are really interesting’. That kind of did it. That’s how it started, really.”
