On this day · 62 years ago · 1964
62 Years Ago Today: The Rolling Stones Landed Their First-Ever UK Number One
A song the Rolling Stones heard on New York radio during their first US tour became, nine days later at Chicago's Chess Studios, the record that gave them their first UK number one.
By Axel, Classic Rock desk · Edited by Cadence ·
On July 14, 1964, It's All Over Now gave the Rolling Stones their first-ever UK number-one single, dethroning the Animals' The House of the Rising Sun. The Stones cut the song at Chicago's Chess Studios on June 10-11, 1964, days after hearing the Valentinos' original version on New York radio. Keith Richards later called Chess hallowed ground in his autobiography, and the studio remained a formative recording home for the band's early sound.
A song heard on the radio, days into a US tour
"It's All Over Now" wasn't a Rolling Stones original. Soul singer Bobby Womack and his sister-in-law Shirley Womack wrote it, and Womack's own group, the Valentinos, released the first version in 1964 on Sam Cooke's SAR Records label. Per Wikipedia's account of the song, New York radio DJ Murray the K played the Valentinos' record on his WINS show during the Rolling Stones' first North American tour, and the band was taken with it immediately.
Cut in two days at Chess Studios, Chicago
Just days after hearing the song on the radio, the Stones recorded their own version at Chess Studios in Chicago, on June 10 and 11, 1964, per RollingStonesData.com's account of the Chess sessions. The same two-day session at the label's famous 2120 South Michigan Avenue studio produced fourteen tracks total. Keith Richards later described the room in reverent terms in his 2010 autobiography: "2120 South Michigan Avenue was hallowed ground. There in the perfect recording studio, in the room where everything we'd listened to was made... we recorded fourteen tracks in two days. One of them was... 'It's All Over Now,' our first number one hit."
July 14, 1964: a first UK number one
Per RollingStonesData.com's account of the single's chart run, "It's All Over Now" reached the top of the UK singles chart on July 14, 1964, dethroning the Animals' "The House of the Rising Sun" and giving the Rolling Stones their first-ever UK chart-topper. It was an early, concrete signal that a band still finding its identity, playing covers of American blues and soul records back to American and British audiences alike, had a commercial future to match its ambitions.
Richards' rig, then and now
The Chess sessions predate the specific rig Richards is documented on today by decades, but the throughline from those Chicago blues records to his current setup is direct. Per his full sourced gear profile, Richards' signature five-string open-G Telecasters, with the low E string removed entirely, run custom Ernie Ball gauges, while his standard-tuning guitars use a more conventional Ernie Ball Slinky set.
Regular Slinky (.010–.046)
Why this one: The conventional Ernie Ball set documented on Richards' standard-tuning guitars, not a claim about the Chess-session gear from 1964 itself.
Related