Rolling Stones – Shine A Light

This song was on the Exile On Main Street album. The original lyrics were started in 1968 about Brian Jones while he was still a member. It was about his drug habits and decline as a musician and human.  After Brian died, Mick rewrote some of the lyrics and we got this gospel-sounding song with the help of Billy Preston and Leon Russell. Leon and Mick Jagger recorded an early version of this song called “(Can’t Seem To) Get a Line on You.”

Keith Richards and Charlie Watts are not on this song. Mick Taylor has claimed to play guitar and bass. Bill Wyman later said that he played bass on the song, not Taylor but Taylor did play guitar. The producer Jimmy Miller played drums on this track with Billy Preston on piano and organ. Clydie King, Joe Greene, Venetta Fields, and Jesse Kirkland sang back up.

Allen Klein owned all of the rights to Stones’ songs written before 1970. Somehow he fooled Mick and Keith into signing all of their rights away to their sixties catalog. Klein got wind of five songs on this album that were written in the 60s and yes…he sued them and got a share of the profits on this album. The songs were Sweet Virginia, Loving Cup, All Down the Line, Shine a Light, and Stop Breaking Down. Although this song is credited to Jagger-Richards…Leon Russell is said to have co-written it with Mick.

The song gave its name to a 2008 Martin Scorsese film chronicling the Stones’ Beacon Theatre performances on the latter tour, and the 2006 performance is included on the soundtrack album. Mick Jagger has named this his favorite song on Exile on Main Street.

Mick Jagger:  “When I was very friendly with Billy
Preston in the ’70s I sometimes used to go to church with him in Los
Angeles, it was an interesting experience because we
don’t have a lot of churches like that in England. I hadn’t had a lot of firsthand experience of it.”

Mick Jagger:  “It was quite an early one from Olympic Studios London, with Billy Preston. Once it was finished, we never played it on stage for years and years. Then it became this favorite after we recorded it for the Stripped album. So ‘Shine A Light’ was this funny thing that started off as something you did once at that time and never went back to.”

 (Can’t Seem To) Get a Line on You with Jagger and Russell in 1969. 

Shine A Light

Saw you stretched out in Room ten oh nine
With a smile on your face and a tear right in your eye
Whoa, come see to get a line on you, my sweet honey love
Berber jewelry jangling down the street
Making bloodshot eyes at every woman that you meet
Could not seem to get high on you, my sweet honey love

May the good Lord shine a light on you
Make every song (you sing) your favorite tune
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Warm like the evening sun

When you’re drunk in the elevator, with your clothes all torn
When your late night friends leave you in the cold gray dawn
Just seen too many flies on you, I just can’t brush them off

Angels beating all their wings in time
With smiles on their faces and a gleam right in their eyes
Whoa, thought I heard one sigh for you
Come on up, come on up, now, come on up now

May the good Lord shine a light on you, yeah
Make every song you sing your favorite tune
May the good Lord shine a light on you, yeah
Warm like the evening sun

Come on up now, come on up now, come on up now, come on up, come on

May the good Lord shine a light on you
Make every song you sing your favorite tune
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Warm like the evening sun, yeah, yeah

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

23 thoughts on “Rolling Stones – Shine A Light”

  2. When this album came out, I went right out and bought it on the strength of the three that preceded it: Beggars Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers. I listened to it all the way through and remembered being disappointed because it all sounded the same to me…this song being an exception (and I’m a sucker for Hammond B-3). I still have it, so either it grew on me or I never bothered to sell it.;)

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  5. Quite a good one! Then again, you’re always starting with a winning hand if you have Billy Preston playing on it and Leon Russell helping write. J&R seemed to get away with a heckuva lot in taking credit for writing where it wasn’t due… in a perverse kind of way, it’s almost fitting Klein ripped them off for some coin.

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    1. I never understood that about them as much. They did it to Wyman, Mick Taylor, Jones, and Ron Wood.
      It’s Only Rock and Roll was partly written by Ron Wood and I believe Bowie.

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  6. Exile was a real mixture, influences everywhere. Prescient lyrics about Brian Jones too, those lines about the elevator/cold grey dawn/ flies on you. That is nicely written but nasty, or nicely nastily written- aw, you get my drift!?!

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  9. Keith talked a lot about “Exile…” in his book and mentioned a piano player that was spending a lot of time at chateau. I’m surprised he didn’t do keyboards on the song. It’s funny he isn’t even on this song. Maybe he and Gram were passed out somewhere when they recorded it?

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    1. Klein sucks… I did read something good in Pete Townshends book…Klein of course wanted the Who…and Pete told him…you had the Beatles and Stones…you will NOT add The Who.

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