Down Home Girl

The Rolling Stones No.2
Side 1, Track 2
"Down Home Girl" (Jerry Leiber/Arthur Butler) – 4:11



"Down Home Girl" has the same midtempo R&B groove that was featured on dozens of recordings from the era (eg. "Polk Salad Annie"). I haven't been able to track down who performed the original, but seeing the Jerry Leiber songwriting credit, I'm going to guess it was a novelty act like The Coasters. Check out the first couple of lines:

Lord I swear the perfume you wear was made out of turnip greens
And every time I kiss you, girl, it tastes like pork and beans

It's hard to tell just how seriously the band is taking this, but I'll be generous and believe they were in on the joke.

The band recorded this track at the RCA Studios in Los Angeles for reasons that remain unclear to me. There's a Bill Wyman quote on the TimeIsOnOurSide.com website where he explains that he used a six string bass on this recording, and you can hear his punchy lines throughout.


Image courtesy of satisfaction.dk. Not a six-string bass.