You Can't Always Get What You Want

There are two theories as to the identity of "Mr. Jimmy," who appears in the third verse: I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy And man, did he look pretty ill It could be a reference to Jimmy Miller, who was The Stones' producer at the time, but it might also refer to Jimmy Hutmaker, a local character who wandered the business district in Excelsior, Minnesota, a trendy artist community outside Minneapolis near Lake Minnetonka. Hutmaker, known as "Mr. Jimmy," had some disabilities but seemed mentally sharp most days, although he would talk to himself a lot. He walked miles every day and was cared for by the local shop owners until his death on October 3, 2007. The Stones performed in Excelsior on their first US tour in 1964, and were not well received. According to Excelsior lore, Mick Jagger went into a local drugstore to get a Cherry Coke. Back then a cherry coke was a coke with real cherries in it, and drug store soda fountains were the place you usually found them. The store didn't have cherry cokes and Mr. Jimmy, standing in line behind Jagger, commented, "Well, you can't always get what you want." Mr. Jimmy was at the Stones' next show in Minneapolis. Legend has it that Jagger sent a limo to pick him up, but it is more likely that a local businessman worked it out so he could go.

The chorus of children is the London Bach Choir. Their 60 voices were double-tracked to make it sound like there were even more of them.

The London Bach Choir tried to have their name removed from the album when they found out it was called Let It Bleed and contained "Midnight Rambler," a song about a serial killer.