It's common knowledge Mick was asked to change the lyrics for LSTNT but my question is were the instruments actually being played live on Ed Sullivan's Sunday night show?

I guess I would ask the same question for all the musical acts on The Ed Sullivan Show (Temptations, Supremes, Beatles, Doors, Lovin' Spoonful).

not in this case, no. sometimes yes, sometimes no with the others....

Starting with the 1966 Paint It Black appearance The Stones were singing live to a pre-recorded track. As far as the other acts I really dont know if its a "case by case" situation. Thats why I like the earlier Sullivan shows tho cause the performances were live!

Aside from Mick they are miming, but interestingly if you listen closely it appears that you can hear some of Brians piano creeping in, probably via the mic which was used by Keith for Ruby Tuesday.

Keith clearly had no clue about the Ruby Tuesday piano part, where as Brian is clearly playing pretty much what is heard on the record. This suggests that Brian played the main piano on the studio version o the song.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-07-04 23:38 by His Majesty.

Thanks all I appreciate the feedback

Bill Wyman tells in his book exactly what tracks were played live on Ed Sullivan (for instance, the first appearance in 1964) and which were sung to a backing track. LSTNS is one of the latter.