"Gimme Shelter" is a song by the rock and roll band The Rolling Stones. It first appeared as the lead-off track on the band's 1969 album Let It Bleed. Although the first word was spelled "Gimmie" on that album, subsequent recordings by the band and other musicians have made "Gimme" the customary spelling.

Inspiration and recording

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Gimme Shelter" was created from the combined efforts of both the singer and the guitarist. Richards had been working on the song's signature opening in London while Jagger was working on the film Performance. The song takes the form of a churning mid-tempo rocker. It begins with a rhythm guitar intro by Richards, followed by Jagger's lead vocal. On the recording of the album, Jagger said in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, "Well, it's a very rough, very violent era. The Vietnam War. Violence on the screens, pillage and burning. And Vietnam was not war as we knew it in the conventional sense..." On the song itself, he concluded, "That's a kind of end-of-the-world song, really. It's apocalypse; the whole record's like that."^[1]

The lyrics of the song speak of seeking shelter from a coming storm, painting a picture of devastation and social apocalypse while also talking of the power of love:

Oh, a storm is threat'ning, My very life today; If I don't get some shelter, Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away

War, children, it's just a shot away, It's just a shot away; War, children, it's just a shot away, It's just a shot away

A high second vocal track is sung by guest vocalist Merry Clayton. On her inclusion, Jagger said in the 2003 book According to... The Rolling Stones, "The use of the female voice was the producer's idea. It would be one of those moments along the lines of "I hear a girl on this track - get one on the phone." Clayton gives her solo performance, and one of the song's most famous pieces, after a solo performed by Richards, repeatedly singing "Rape, murder; It's just a shot away, It's just a shot away," and finally screaming the final stanza. She and Jagger finish the song with the line, "Love, sister, it's just a kiss away." To date it remains one of the most prominent contributions to a Rolling Stones track by a female vocalist.^[2]

Recording of the song took place and London's Olympic Sound Studios. in February and March 1969. Clayton's piece was recorded at Los Angeles' Sunset Sound & Elektra Studios in October and November of that same year. Nicky Hopkins performed pianos for the song while the Stones' producer Jimmy Miller provided percussion. Charlie Watts performed drums while Bill Wyman performed bass. Jagger performed harmonica for the piece and sang backup vocals with Richards and Clayton. Guitarist Brian Jones was absent from these sessions. An unreleased version features only Richards providing vocals.^[3]

Although popular, "Gimme Shelter" was never released as a single. It quickly became a staple of their live show, first featuring throughout their 1969 American Tour. It has been included on many compilation releases, including both Hot Rocks and Forty Licks, and concert versions appear on the Stones' albums No Security and Live Licks.

"Gimme Shelter" was placed #38 on the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.

Cover versions

• Ruth Copeland on her debut album Self Portrait, performed with George Clinton's Parliament, in 1969 (reissued on The Invictus Sessions in 2002)
• Original backing singer Merry Clayton in 1970
• Grand Funk Railroad on the album Survival in 1971; a #61 U.S. hit as a single
• The Sisters of Mercy in 1983, on the B-side of their single "Temple of Love" (released on the album Some Girls Wander by Mistake in 1992)
• The Goo Goo Dolls on their 1989 album Jed
• The Inspiral Carpets in 1990
• John Mellencamp has covered the song in concert
• Meat Loaf covered the song during live shows in the 1980s with vocalist Leslie Aday (aka 'Leslie Loaf') duetting Merry Clayton's parts opposite her husband
• Holy Soldier, a 1980s Christian metal band from Los Angeles, California, on the album Last Train in 1992
• The Hellacopters released a cover in 1997 on their 7" "Like No Other Man", featured in Cream of the Crap, Vol. I.
• Rock band The Accident Experiment on the maxi-single "Mind Death Machine"
• The late Renato Russo, leader of Brazilian rock band Legião Urbana, was known to cover this song during his performances. For example, in a Rio de Janeiro concert in early October of 1994, he sang some verses of "Gimme Shelter" during the (usually) instrumental interlude in "Ainda é Cedo". At least two concert recordings have surfaced of him performing "Gimme Shelter". In both, he mumbles the first lines of the second stanza - which was not unusual, as he often forgot lines to his own songs during live performances.
• The London Symphony Orchestra on the album Symphonic Music of The Rolling Stones. This version of the song is heard in the Children of Men (2006) trailer.
• Patti Smith on her April 2007 cover album Twelve. Also released as a single. ^[4]
• Ann Wilson of Heart on her first solo album Hope and Glory
• Michael Hedges, a slow version, unplugged with guitar, live
• Ashley Cleveland on her album You Are There
• Streetlab, techno remix, released January 30, 2007
• Keith Urban and Alicia Keys at Live Earth at Giants Stadium on July 7, 2007
• Angélique Kidjo and Joss Stone covered the song for Kidjo's album Djin Djin and performed it live at the Live Earth concert in Jonnesburg, South Africa on July 7, 2007
• Stereophonics released a cover version as the B-side to "My Friends" in December 2007

"Putting Our House in Order" project

In 1993 a Food Records project collected various versions of the track by the following bands and collaborations, the proceeds of which went to the Shelter charity's "Putting Our House in Order" homeless initiative. The versions were issued across various formats, and had a live version of the song by The Rolling Stones as a common lead track to ensure chart eligibility.

"Gimme Shelter" (Pop version - Cassette single)

• Voice of the Beehive and Jimmy Somerville
• Heaven 17 and Hannah Jones

"Gimme Shelter" (Alternative version - CD single)

• New Model Army and Tom Jones
• Cud and Sandie Shaw
• Kingmaker

"Gimme Shelter" (Rock version - CD single)

• Thunder
• Little Angels
• Hawkwind and Samantha Fox

"Gimme Shelter" (Dance version - 12" single)

• 808 State and Robert Owens
• Pop Will Eat Itself vs Gary Clail vs Ranking Roger vs The Mighty Diamonds vs The On U Sound System
• Blue Pearl (produced and mixed by Utah Saints)

Appearances in popular culture

• The song is featured in the films Adventures in Babysitting (1987), Air America (1990), Goodfellas (1990), The War (1994), Casino (1995), The Fan (1996), Spy Game (2001), Layer Cake (film) (2004), and The Departed (2006), three of which (Goodfellas, Casino, and The Departed) were directed by Martin Scorsese. A string version of the intro can be heard in the Children of Men (2006) trailer.
• In Dexter episode 2.05 when Dexter is about to confront his mother's killer, jukebox plays "Gimme Shelter". Knowing that Dexter is a serial killer who kills only killers that escaped justice, and knowing the lyrics of the song, one can only expect, what's going to happen.
• "Gimme Shelter" is also played in the show Entourage during the closing credits of season 2 as Vincent Chase agrees to do Aquaman.
• "Gimme Shelter" featured in the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival play Die On Your Feet (directed by and starring Australian comedian Greg Fleet) as both the opening and closing title.
• In Wild Palms (1993), the mini-series by Oliver Stone.
• During Michelle's Landau's return to 'escorting' in "Dawn Budge", episode 5 of season 4 of Nip/Tuck, "Gimme Shelter" is played continuing into Sean and Julia's second wedding.
• Gimme Shelter is the name of Dr. Eggman's hideout in the Sonic Battle video game.
• The intro was once used in a television advert for the RAC.
• In The Simpsons episode "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays" the intro to "Gimme Shelter" is used for the beginning of the 'Roofi' concert.
• It was used in the "Goliath" episode of Knight Rider. Whenever KITT was seen to be cruising the streets of Las Vegas at night, the intro to "Gimme Shelter" was played.
• It was used for promotional purposes for the FOX TV series Prison Break.
• The intro was used in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode 314 One Hit Wonder which first aired on Thursday, 6th February 2003.
• The documentary film Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987) directed by Bill Couturié also features the song.
• Vol. 3 Issue #5 of DC Comic's Wonder Woman was titled "Gimme Shelter"
• It was used as the entrance music for UFC fighter Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 73.
• It is a song on the newly released video game "Rock Band"
• Meat Loaf performed the song on his 2007 "Seize the Night" tour, which was released on the 3 Bats Live DVD.
• The Clark Brothers performed the song on The Next Great American Band during Rolling Stones' songs week and received rave reviews from all 3 judges, including a standing ovation.
• In recent years, Comerica Park, the home stadium of baseball's Detroit Tigers, when a player comes up to bat for the Tigers, a play on the player's name is displayed on various scoreboards around the stadium. The song title was used when former Tiger's First Baseman Chris Shelton came up to bat.
• Featured in "Dig a Hole and Fill It Up: Part 1", on the NBC series Life.
• The song appears in the game Rock Band.

Miscellaneous

• Merry Clayton's name is misspelled on the album, appearing as 'Mary.'
• At 3:04 into the song Clayton's voice cracks on the word "murder" from the strain of her powerful singing. A second afterward an unknown voice, most likely Jagger's, is faintly heard shouting "Whoo!" in approval.

Notes

External links

• Complete Official Lyrics