The Rolling Stones were one of the biggest bands in the world by the end of the 1960s. They had several No. 1 hits in that decade and added a few more in the 1970s. Musicians looking to find an audience with a solid tune could do a lot worse than play their songs. That was probably Johnny Winter’s mindset when he more or less stole The Rolling Stones’ song “Silver Train” in 1973.
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger wrote “Silver Train” years before they recorded it. They brought it to the Sticky Fingers sessions, produced a demo with the band, and then put it back in the vault.
Winter somehow heard that demo. Instead of waiting for the originators to record it, he took it and put it on his Still Alive and Well album, which hit stores in March 1973. Years after they first worked on it, the Stones finally recorded it for their August 1973 album Goats Head Soup.
If music has any unwritten rules like baseball, then Winter probably broke one of the big ones. Doing cover songs is par for the course in the industry. Artists recording songs given away by other songwriters is standard, such as when Marianne Faithfull made two Jagger and Richard songs the Stones “covered” later. Winter stole the Stones’ thunder by recording it first.
The version of “Silver Train” Winter made and the one they recorded aren’t too far apart, but there were some differences.
Winter (older brother of “Frankenstein” and “Free Ride” singer Edgar Winter) got to the hard rocking right away; the Stones’ version built up to it. The English band’s rendition lasted nearly a minute longer. Jagger’s singing was much stronger than Winter’s, but the guitarist’s take prominently featured pounding piano throughout. Winter’s guitar tone was a bit dirtier than Richards’ sound, but he didn’t have any harmonica on his version.
Winter covered another Rolling Stones song on the same album
The Stones probably weren’t too upset that Winter took their song. After all, Mick and Keith earned royalties on sales and airplay since they wrote the song. Plus, their band’s version became the definitive one and a highlight on one of their most successful No. 1 albums.
Plus, Winter did right by the Stones when he covered “Let It Bleed” on the same album. He gave the original song time to breathe and ensured Jagger and Richards received a few more royalty checks.
The Rolling Stones had their song stolen by Johnny Winter, but if we had to guess, the band probably thought he was an OK guy. He played guitar alongside legendary blues man and Stones hero Muddy Waters on the 1973 song “Can’t Get No Grindin,’” and played on and produced four Waters albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s, per AllMusic.
Winter’s move to record “Silver Train” first might have broken some unwritten rules among rock stars, but Mick Jagger and Keith Richards received money regardless. Plus, The Rolling Stones’ version of the song became the definitive version of the song.
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