Come On
The Rolling Stones were three months into their existence as a performing band when they walked into Olympic Sound Studios on the evening of May 10, 1963. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts had been playing London's R&B circuit since January. Their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, was 19 years old and had never produced a record. He said so, directly, to the room: "I'm the producer, and this is the first session I've ever handled. I don't know a damned thing about recording, or music for that matter." Mick's response, recalled by Oldham, was immediate: "A bunch of bloody amateurs going to make a hit single."
Come On was Chuck Berry's song, a Chess Records single from 1961, chosen because the band already played it live and because it was short. The recording runs 1 minute and 45 seconds. Mick Jagger sang double-tracked lead vocals. Brian Jones played harmonica and added backing vocals. Keith Richards stayed on rhythm guitar. Bill Wyman anchored the low end with backing vocals. Charlie Watts held the kit together. Three weeks after recording it, the band stopped playing it at gigs. They had moved on before Decca had even pressed the reissue run.
"A bunch of bloody amateurs going to make a hit single."
Come On reached number 21 on the UK Singles Chart and number 20 on the NME chart. A strong result for a debut, even if the band was embarrassed by it. Decca pressed so few promotional copies that Oldham received just four for his office. The band had to go out and buy their own. It was not released in the United States and did not chart there. But it gave Decca a reason to commission a second single. The second single led to a third. Within months, Jagger and Richards were writing original material under Oldham's insistence, and the band they became had nothing in common with the cover act that walked into Olympic Studios that evening. Today is the 63rd anniversary of its release.