Jumpin' Jack Flash

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards,{{sfn|Rice|1982|p=117}} recording on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" began during the Beggars Banquet sessions of 1968. Regarding the song's distinctive sound, guitarist Richards has said:

{{blockquote|I used a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic tuned to open D, six string. Open D or open E, which is the same thing – same intervals – but it would be slackened down some for D. Then there was a capo on it, to get that really tight sound. And there was another guitar over the top of that, but tuned to Nashville tuning. I learned that from somebody in George Jones' band in San Antonio in 1964. The high-strung guitar was an acoustic, too. Both acoustics were put through a Philips cassette recorder. Just jam the mic right in the guitar and play it back through an extension speaker.{{cite web |last=McPherson |first=Ian |title=Track Talk: Jumpin' Jack Flash |url=http://www.timeisonourside.com/SOJumpin.html |access-date=22 June 2007 |archive-date=2 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702220036/http://www.timeisonourside.com/SOJumpin.html |url-status=live }}}}

Richards has stated that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards' country house, when they were awoken one morning by the clumping footsteps of his gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. Surprised, Jagger asked what it was, and Richards responded: "Oh, that's Jack – that's jumpin' Jack." The lyrics evolved from there.{{cite video |people=The Rolling Stones |title=Four Flicks |medium=DVD |publisher=Warner Music Vision |date=2003}} Humanities scholar Camille Paglia{{cite book|last=Paglia|first=Camille|author-link=Camille Paglia|year=1991|title=Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson|location=New York|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=0-679-73579-8|page=281}} speculated that the song's lyrics might have been partly inspired by William Blake's poem "The Mental Traveller": "She binds iron thorns around his head / And pierces both his hands and feet / And cuts his heart out of his side / To make it feel both cold & heat." The main riff is similar to their song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction".

Jagger said in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone that the song arose "out of all the acid of Satanic Majesties. It's about having a hard time and getting out. Just a metaphor for getting out of all the acid things."{{cite magazine |last=Wenner |first=Jann S. |author-link=Jann Wenner |date=14 December 1995 |title=Jagger Remembers: Mick's most comprehensive interview ever |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/mick_jagger_remembers/page/2/ |access-date=26 October 2017 |archive-date=5 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091205203421/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/mick_jagger_remembers/page/2 |url-status=dead }} And in a 1968 interview, Brian Jones described it as "getting back to ... the funky, essential essence" following the psychedelia of Their Satanic Majesties Request.{{Pop Chronicles |54| 2|Mick Jagger & Brian Jones}}

In his autobiography Stone Alone, Bill Wyman has said that he came up with the song's distinctive main guitar riff, working on it with Brian Jones and Charlie Watts before it was ultimately credited to Jagger and Richards.{{sfn|Egan|2013|p=119}} In Rolling with the Stones, Wyman credits Jagger with vocals, Richards with guitar and bass guitar, Jones with guitar, Watts with drums and himself with organ on the track with producer Jimmy Miller adding backing vocals.

According to the book Keith Richards: The Biography by Victor Bockris, the line "I was born in a crossfire hurricane", was written by Richards, and refers to his being born amid the bombing and air raid sirens of Dartford, England, in 1943 during World War II.

Two promotional videos were made that May: one of a live performance and another of the band lip syncing in makeup.

Released on 24 May 1968 in the UK by Decca Records and on 31 May in the US by London Records,{{efn|UK: DECCA F 12782; US: LONDON 908{{sfn|Aeppli|1985|p=123}}}} "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (backed with "Child of the Moon") was the band's first UK release in five and a half months – this marked the group's longest gap between releases in the country up to that point.{{sfn|Aeppli|1985|p=123}}{{sfn|Egan|2013|p=118}} A major commercial success, it reached the top of the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number three in the United States.{{sfn|Rice|1982|p=117}}{{sfn|Egan|2013|p=118}} It topped the US Cashbox chart for one week{{cite book |last=Hoffmann |first=Frank |title=The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950–1981 |publisher=The Scarecrow Press, Inc |location=Metuchen, NJ / London |year=1983 |page=500}} and the WLS 890 Hit Parade for four weeks.{{cite web |title=WLS 890 Hit Parade |url=http://www.oldiesloon.com/il/wls070168.htm |date=1968-07-01 |access-date=2019-11-02 |archive-date=3 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103045750/http://www.oldiesloon.com/il/wls070168.htm |url-status=live }} Some early London Records US pressings and Decca single in the UK of the single had a technical flaw in them: at about 2:10 about halfway through the song's instrumental bridge, the speed of the master tape slows down for a moment, before coming back to speed. The first Rolling Stones album on which the song appeared was their 1969 compilation album, Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2), one year after the single was released. Since then, it has appeared on numerous other Stones compilations, including Hot Rocks 1964–1971 (1971), Rolled Gold: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones (1975), Singles Collection: The London Years (1989), Forty Licks (2002), GRRR! (2012), and Stray Cats, a collection of singles and rarities included as part of The Rolling Stones in Mono box set (2016).

The Rolling Stones have played "Jumpin' Jack Flash" during every tour since its release. It is the song the band have played in concert most frequently,{{cite web |last=Galbraith |first=Gary |title=The Rocks Off Rolling Stones Setlists Page |url=http://rocksoff.org/gazzassetlists.htm |access-date=8 August 2008 |archive-date=29 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080729060957/http://rocksoff.org/gazzassetlists.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Zentgraf |first=Nico |title=The Complete Works of the Rolling Stones 1962–2008 |url=http://www.nzentgraf.de/books/tcw/works1.htm |access-date=7 August 2008 |archive-date=20 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320065519/http://www.nzentgraf.de/books/tcw/works1.htm |url-status=live }} and has appeared on the concert albums Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (recorded 1969, released 1970), Love You Live (recorded 1976, released 1977), Flashpoint (recorded 1990, released 1991), Shine a Light (recorded 2006, released 2008), Hyde Park Live (2013), Totally Stripped (recorded 1995, released 2016), and Havana Moon (2016), as well as, notably, The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (recorded 1968, released 1996), featuring the only released live performance of the song with Brian Jones. Unlike most of that show, Jones is heard clearly, mixing with Richards's lead throughout the song. The intro is not usually played in concert and instead the song begins with the main riff. The open E or open D tuning of the rhythm guitar on the studio recording has also not been replicated in concert (with the possible exception of the 1968 NME awards show, no recording of which has ever surfaced). In the performance filmed for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in December 1968, Richards used standard tuning; and ever since the band's appearance at Hyde Park on 5 July 1969, he has played it in open G tuning with a capo on the fourth fret. Richards is particularly fond of the song's main riff, often crediting it as his favorite among all of his most revered guitar riffs.

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Jumpin' Jack Flash" at number 2 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. VH1 placed it at number 65 in its show 100 Greatest Rock Songs.{{cite web |title=100 Greatest Songs of Rock & Roll (80–61) |publisher=VH1 |url=http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/62158/episode_about.jhtml |access-date=9 March 2008 |archive-date=21 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021033016/http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/62158/episode_about.jhtml |url-status=dead }}

It has placed at 144 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time",{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/rolling-stones-jumping-jack-flash-1225194/|title=Jumpin' Jack Flash ranked #144 on Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs List |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=23 September 2021 }} and 7th on their list of the band's best songs.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-rolling-stones-songs-40475/jumpin-jack-flash-1968-98436/ |title=Jumpin' Jack Flash ranked #7 on 100 Best Rolling Stones Songs List |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=15 October 2013 |access-date=13 May 2020 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803054824/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-rolling-stones-songs-40475/jumpin-jack-flash-1968-98436/ |url-status=live }}

A cover version of the song, performed by Billy Fogarty, was composed to serve as the final mission of the Nintendo DS rhythm game Elite Beat Agents, in which the titular protagonists use their dancing skills to rally humanity against alien invaders who plan to outlaw all forms of music.{{cite web |last1=Middleton |first1=Brent |title=Music Lives! Revisiting the Final Moments of 'Elite Beat Agents' |url=https://goombastomp.com/revisiting-the-elite-beat-agents-final-moments/ |website=GoombaStomp |access-date=21 November 2021 |date=23 March 2017}}

The opening line "I was born in a crossfire hurricane" contributed the name of the FBI's 2016 Crossfire Hurricane investigation into links between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.{{Cite web |last=Wurzer |first=Cathy |date=2018-06-19 |title=Keith Richards was born in crossfire hurricane |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/06/19/keith-richards-was-born-in-crossfire-hurricane |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=MPR News}}

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon,{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2016|pp=274–277}} except where noted:

The Rolling Stones

• Mick Jagger{{snd}} lead vocals, backing vocals
• Keith Richards{{snd}} backing vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, bass tom, lead guitar
• Brian Jones{{snd}} electric rhythm guitar
• Bill Wyman{{snd}} organ{{sfn|Babiuk|Prevost|2013|p=282}}{{efn|Margotin and Guesdon suggest another Wyman keyboard contribution can be heard from 2:51 on, but are uncertain whether it is a Mellotron or Hammond organ.{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2016|p=277}}}}
• Charlie Watts{{snd}} drums

Additional musicians

• Ian Stewart{{snd}} piano
• Jimmy Miller{{snd}} backing vocals
• Rocky Dijon{{snd}} maracas{{sfn|Babiuk|Prevost|2013|p=282}}

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|artist=The Rolling Stones|title=Jumpin' Jack Flash|award=Platinum|relyear=1968|certyear=2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Rolling Stones|title=Jumpin' Jack Flash|award=Silver|relyear=1968|certyear=2020|id=16325-44-1|access-date=10 April 2020}}

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{{Infobox song

| name = Jumpin' Jack Flash

| cover = Aretha Franklin - Jumpin' Jack Flash.jpg

| caption = Cover art, featuring Richards on the right

| type = single

| artist = Aretha Franklin

| album = Aretha

| B-side = Integrity

| released = {{Start date|1986|9|9|df=y}} (US)

| recorded = 1985

| genre = *Rock

• R&B
• soul

| length = {{Duration|m=4|s=26}}

| label = Arista

| writer = Jagger/Richards

| producer = Keith Richards

| prev_title = Ain't Nobody Ever Loved You

| prev_year = 1986

| next_title = Jimmy Lee

| next_year = 1986

}}

In 1986, the song's title was used in the end credits for the Whoopi Goldberg film Jumpin' Jack Flash. In addition to the Rolling Stones' version of the song, the film features Aretha Franklin's cover version in which Ronnie Wood and Richards play guitar, and Franklin plays piano. This version is characterised by influences from the popular black music scene. Only the Rolling Stones' version is on the film's original soundtrack recording.

• Aretha Franklin – lead vocals, acoustic piano
• Steve Jordan – drums
• Alan Rogan – guitar
• Ortheia Barnes – backing vocals
• Margaret Branch – backing vocals
• Brenda Corbett – backing vocals
• Keith Richards – lead guitar
• Ronnie Wood – guitar
• Randy Jackson – bass guitar
• Chuck Leavell – keyboards
• Steve Lillywhite - engineer
• Michael Frondelli - mixing engineer

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last1=Aeppli|first1=Felix|title=Heart of Stone: The Definitive Rolling Stones Discography, 1962-1983|year=1985|publisher=Pierian Press|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|isbn=0876501927}}
• {{cite book|last1=Babiuk|first1=Andy|last2=Prevost|first2=Greg|author1-link=Andy Babiuk|title=Rolling Stones Gear: All the Stones Instruments from Stage to Studio|date=2013|publisher=Backbeat Books|location=Milwaukee|isbn=9781617130922}}
• {{cite book|last=Brackett|first=David|title=The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader: Histories and Debates|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2008|isbn=9780195365931}}
• {{Cite book|last=Egan|first=Sean|title=The Mammoth Book of The Rolling Stones|publisher=Constable & Robinson Ltd.|year=2013|isbn=9781780336466|location=London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XnOqMQEACAAJ}}
• {{cite book|last1=Margotin|first1=Philippe|last2=Guesdon|first2=Jean-Michel|title=The Rolling Stones All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track|date=2016|publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers|location=New York|isbn=9780316317740|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g5eTCwAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite book|last=Milward|first=John|title=Crossroads: How the Blues Shaped Rock 'n' Roll (and Rock Saved the Blues)|publisher=Northeastern|date=2013|isbn=9781555537449}}
• {{cite book|last=Rice|first=Jo|title=The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits|publisher=Guinness Superlatives Ltd|location=Enfield, Middlesex|year=1982|edition=1st|isbn=0851122507}}

{{Refend}}

• [https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/rolling-stones-jumpin-jack-flash-story-behind-the-song/ (2020 article) "The Story Behind the Song..."]

{{The Rolling Stones singles}}

{{Aretha Franklin}}

{{Marcia Hines}}

{{Authority control}}

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