DESCRIPTION:
☆"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by English rock and roll band The Rolling Stones, released as a single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by Rolling Stone,[1] the song is seen as the band's return to their blues roots after the psychedelia of their preceding albums Between the Buttons and Their Satanic Majesties Request.[2] One of the group's most popular and recognizable songs, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" has been featured in many films and on the Rolling Stones compilation albums Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2), Hot Rocks, Singles Collection and Forty Licks .
☆Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, recording on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" began during the Beggars Banquet sessions of 1968 (although it was not released on that album). Regarding the song's distinctive sound, guitarist Richards has said:

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.[3]

Richards has stated that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards' country house, where they were awoken one morning by the sound of gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded: "Oh, that's Jack - that's jumpin' Jack."[4] The rest of the lyrics evolved from there.[3][5]

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."[6] In his autobiography, Stone Alone, Bill Wyman has claimed that he came up with the song's distinctive main guitar riff on an organ without being credited for it.[3]

On the studio version of the number, Richards played the bass and floor tom as well as acoustic and electric guitar. Jagger provided the lead vocals and maracas, Brian Jones played electric guitar, Charlie Watts was on drums and Bill Wyman was on organ. Nicky Hopkins contributed piano, and producer Jimmy Miller joined in on the backing vocals.