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The Rolling Stones are regarded as one of the most legendary rocks bands in music history and released countless hits.
But the band wasn't perfect.
While recording one of the band's No. 1 hits, Honky Tonk Women, drummer Charlies Watts revealed the band made a mistake when recording one of its signature hits.
“We’ve never played an intro to ‘Honky Tonk Women’ live the way it is on the record,” Watts explained in the bookThe Rolling Stones: All the Songs. “That’s Jimmy playing the cowbell and either he comes in wrong or I come in wrong – but Keith comes in right, which makes the whole thing right… It’s actually a mistake, but from my point of view, it works.”
Iconic guitarist Keith Richards revealed the song was originally recorded "as a real Hank Williams/Jimmie Rodgers/1930s country song” before "it got turned around to this other thing by Mick Taylor, who got into a completely different feel, throwing it off the wall another way.”
'Honky Tonk Women' Named Among Greatest Songs of All Time
Rolling Stone listed Honky Tonk Women at No. 116 in its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
"Mick Jagger and Keith Richards came up with "Honky Tonk Women" on a South American vacation, using their girlfriends at the time, Marianne Faithfull and Anita Pallenberg, as sounding boards. Returning to the recording studio in May 1969 with pure-rock lyrics such as 'I met a gin-soaked barroom queen in Memphis,' the Rolling Stones recorded the song in five hours," Rolling Stone wrote.
"Honky Tonk Women marked the debut of guitarist Mick Taylor, who overdubbed in his part; producer Jimmy Miller added some crucial cowbell, which pounded home "Honky Tonk's" strip-club bump and grind."
The song reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom on July 23, 1969 and was the last No. 1 hit in the band's home country.
Related: One of the Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time Belongs to 1971 Hit - And It Still Rocks
