I was listening to Fingerprint File today, and it was the type situation where it was playing on a good system. I think Jagger's lead vocal is double tracked. In many places, in unison. Not one vocal thrown into two tracks, but two separate vocals. they're real close though. Amazed me.
Also there are two hi-hats.
I like what Jagger's guitar does from 4:55 to 5:35. He sort of has stopped playing after the "ultraviolet light" phrase, but then for about 40 seconds chops at that root chord.
Billy Preston and Keith have quite a soup bubbling underneath it all.

MOST of the vocal is doubled. In the beginning of the song "got me runnin'" is doubled, most of the next verse up to "satellite". In other places there are a couple more vocals - "it gets me down".

Not all of it though - "you better watch out, on your telephone - wrong number" isn't but the "some little jerk" bit is. It's a great effect, having the vocals doubled in a somewhat quiet song like this. Works great.

During the break down there is an overdubbed hi-hat going.

I've always been surprised that this song wasn't a hit.

Is it a double tracked hi-hat, or a delay? Without listening back I'd go for the latter.

Mathijs

Exactly Skip. That is where I was hearing the double tracks going too. Just sporadically. I should have clarified that. It kind of surprised me. What I like is that he is not doing it in the obvious places. E.g. when it goes down to the "you know my moves.." lines.
Mathijs, I really think it is a different hi-hat. The second one is doing straight 16th notes, but Charlie on his main one is opening and shutting the hi-hat, doing a few patterns etc.

I heard another thing: (and again, I only hear it on this very good system) on the F# chord, which is the one where Keith solos and Jagger sings: "keeping papers on me six feet high", there is like a big subsonic bass that drops in. Wonder if that is Bill Wyman on the synth. Did he play that in the studio too?

2:47: A second hi-hat playing demi-quaver notes coming in.

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Palace Revolution 2000
I heard another thing: (and again, I only hear it on this very good system) on the F# chord, which is the one where Keith solos and Jagger sings: "keeping papers on me six feet high", there is like a big subsonic bass that drops in. Wonder if that is Bill Wyman on the synth. Did he play that in the studio too?

I think so, as taylor plays the bass on the track, and the synth is in addition to Preston's keyboard.

could say more about why you like and are surprised by the double-tracking of the vocals? Don't they do that often?

What surprises me is that is done in perfect unison, and synced up very close too. IMO this is a very different effect than to just doubling it with an effect, or taking the one vox and putting them on 2 tracks.
Normally if Jagger doubles the lead vocal it is very obvious.
But another reason all thew discoveries I made today (the hihats, lead vocal, the subsonic bass, Jagger's chopping) is just another note in the endless revelations that Stones music brings. How many times have I heard Fingerprint File ? Countless.

There is a lot of vocal doubling on Undercover but the way he did it on Fingerprint File works fantastic - it's a bit off being right on.

The hi-hat is an overdub.

There is very little on this album that comes together for me, but I think FPF is played with some conviction. That makes it stand out on this album.

I thought always that the central riff were Keith's one. In fact MJ is an exquisite rhythm guitar player as you could see on the live version of "Sister Morphine" during 10th Spot (on Youtube), too.

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pmk251
There is very little on this album that comes together for me, but I think FPF is played with some conviction. That makes it stand out on this album.

I agree. I wish the rest of the album weren't so flat, or I'd be more familiar with this great track! Have to find a digital copy, I guess...

thanks RobertJohnson for the YT tip.

Yes, they are actually all three pretty good on that "Sister Morphine" clip. I see that towrds the end Jagger is wearing his typical guitar player face again. Whenever Jagger's guitar playing gets good he makes this ugly face where he turns his mouth down, LOL.

Possibly Mick's greatest non-"imitation" riff ever.

Funny that Keith calls Mick's guitar playing Stones riffs "imitation riffs". What a mo - to make fun of the person that came up with the riff to Brown Sugar...yes, Mick, keep imitating Keith...so we can at least have some good riffing Rolling Stones songs...since Keith is too busy writing slow songs and not rock'n'roll songs...

Yes Skip. I could see it early on in 76 that Keith would cut down Jagger's playing. Until then he had been such an obvious singer and frontman only. And Keith was doing the jabs with a bit of humor too. Plus, in those days Keith still was very much the epicenter of Stones' live sound.
But then he won't let up, as Jagger gets better and better. I read this whole quote by him where he talks about lecturing Jagger on sequencing songs back to back that are in the same key. How Jagger would not know about these things.
But what made me think about it was hearing Side 2 of "Main Offender", and we get "Running to Deep" and "Will But You Won't" back to back, and I am thinking that the only excuse for that sequencing is that someone did it as an inside joke.

MJs GETS BETTER WHILE kr GEST WORSE

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skipstone
Possibly Mick's greatest non-"imitation" riff ever.

Funny that Keith calls Mick's guitar playing Stones riffs "imitation riffs". What a mo - to make fun of the person that came up with the riff to Brown Sugar...yes, Mick, keep imitating Keith...so we can at least have some good riffing Rolling Stones songs...since Keith is too busy writing slow songs and not rock'n'roll songs...

his offbeat chopped chords in the intro are amazing ( also charlie).and played to great effect.
before the introduction of mp3 players with earphones , for me his guitar didnt sync until after the first verse and charlies fill ,now its much clearer when you're marching along and can find the beat earlier , (and you can hear the count in)
great , great song and he is a great guitar player

Is there anything about Ronnie being on the the first preversions of Fingerprint File just like he was on IORR?

Stones, maybe specially Keith, worked closely with Ronnie at his house at the Wick and for some time Keith lived in his house! Probably at that time the friendship grew and resulted in Ronnie becoming a Stones member.