Album:
The song is on Let It Bleed which entered the Kent album chart on 9 February 1970 and peaked at #2.
Songwriters:
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
Producer:
Jimmy Miller
Record label of Australian release:
Decca
BONUS VIDEO BELOW – The Gimme Shelter 1970 documentary
Wikipedia:
American author, music journalist and cultural critic Greil Marcus, writing for Rolling Stone magazine at the time of its release, praised Gimme Shelter, stating that the band has “never done anything better”.
Gimme Shelter has been featured in a variety of films, television shows, and commercials. The 1970 documentary film Gimme Shelter, chronicling the last weeks of the Stones’ 1969 US tour and culminating in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert, took its name from the song (video below).
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimme_Shelter
Songfacts:
This is about the political and social unrest at the time. There was the war in Vietnam, race riots, and Charles Manson. Mick Jagger sings of needing shelter from this “storm”.
Merry Clayton is the female vocalist. She is a gospel singer who did backup vocals for a number of artists, including Ray Charles.
The Rolling Stones didn’t release this song as a single, so it never charted.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/the-rolling-stones/gimme-shelter
Lyrics:
Oh, a storm is threat’ning
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter
Oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away
War, children, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – rockin’ the 60s & 70s
Find more songs to enjoy: Bang a Gong song finder
BONUS VIDEO
Gimme Shelter 1970 documentary film
Gimme Shelter is an American counterculture era documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, chronicling the last weeks of the Rolling Stones’ 1969 US tour which culminated in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert and the killing of Meredith Hunter. The film is named after Gimme Shelter, the lead track from the group’s 1969 album Let It Bleed.
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