15 APRIL 1966
The Rolling Stones' album ‘Aftermath’ was released in the UK. It was their first album to feature entirely Jagger-Richards compositions. One of the tracks - ‘Under My Thumb’ - was never released as a single in English-speaking countries, but was a hit in Japan in 1968.
Musically, this was pretty gorgeous stuff, with the xylophone (or is it a glockenspiel?) marking it as more pop than the Stones' other singles to date, but the lyrics are spiteful. The group had an image to maintain by not singing too many love songs, but there was a bit of misogyny in many of their songs from this time. Decades later, Jagger claimed that 'It's a bit of a jokey number, really. It's not really an anti-feminist song any more than any of the others... Yes, it's a caricature, and it's in reply to a girl who was a very pushy woman'. However, its hard to pick up that intent in any straight listening.
Released: 15 April 1966
Recorded: 6–9 March 1966
Length: 3:41
Label: Decca
Writers: Jagger/Richards
Producer: Andrew Loog Oldham
