At the time, “Gimme Shelter” was the biggest hit out there, and it featured Merry Clayton just wailing away about God knows what. What was that chorus… About murder, about rape? Who ever heard of such a thing in a song? But she was raw, and she had grit, and she was a real soul sister with lots of attitude—you know what I’m saying. Her whole vibe just married with that guitar, and she’s going back and forth with Mick in a way that knocked everybody out. And as a business guy, if I see something working very well, of course I want to imitate it! Why wouldn’t I? It sounds good, it makes money,
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