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"We Love You" is a rock song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, first released as a single in the United Kingdom by The Rolling Stones on 18 August 1967, with "Dandelion" as the B-side. It reached the top ten in Britain, peaking at #8, but only made it to #50 in the United States, where "Dandelion" (which reached #14) was promoted as the A-side. The song features uncredited backing vocals by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.^[1]

This single's two tracks would be the final Stones recordings receiving a production credit for band manager Andrew Loog Oldham.

Recording [link]

Recorded on 12 June, during the sessions for Their Satanic Majesties Request, the song is a droning Moroccan influenced anthem of defiance. Outwardly, it was a message from the band to its fans, expressing appreciation for support in the wake of their recent drug busts. It was also an ironic, tongue in cheek slap in the faces of the police harassing them and the Stones' true feelings about it, putting on a cooperative and friendly face while inside they were seething with anger and indignation (as is represented by Brian Jones' surreal Mellotron in the background)^[2]. "We Love You" is a psychedelic collage of jail sounds, Nicky Hopkins' foreboding piano riff, and otherworldly tape-delayed vocal effects, featuring a visiting Lennon and McCartney on high harmonies.

The Mellotron used by Brian Jones, according to a studio engineer George Chkiantz, actually belonged to Keith. He went on to say that even though you have the delay between hitting the note and the sound coming out, Brian managed to get "a tight rhythmic punch" for that record.^[2]

Mick was quoted at the time saying the song was "just a bit of fun". ^[2]

History [link]

Allen Ginsberg was in London for a pro-marijuana rally in Hyde Park. He met Jagger at McCartney's house, and Jagger invited the Beat poet to that night's session with Paul and John to record uncredited backing vocals for "We Love You". Ginsberg, waving his Shiva beads and a Tibetan oracle ring, conducted the singers from the other side of the studio glass to the tempo of the stuttering Mellotron track. "They looked like little angels," he wrote later of the Stones and the Beatles, "like Botticelli Graces singing together for the first time."

Written in the aftermath of the drugs arrests faced by Jagger and Richards at the Redlands country home of the latter in Sussex that year, the single opens with the sounds of entry into jail, and a cell door clanging shut. The draconian nature of the sentences handed down to the two Stones relative to the charges prompted a stern editorial by The Times in protest. The song's lyric, seemingly "a spoof"^[3] or echo of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" (which Lennon, in his famous 1970 Rolling Stone interview, insisted it was) broadcast from earlier in the summer, on closer examination espouses a strong anti-establishment posture, proclaiming "we don't care if you hound we and lock the doors around we" and "you will never win we, your uniforms don't fit we."^{[citation needed]}

Promotional film [link]

The promotional film for the single was directed by Peter Whitehead. It included footage from recording sessions along with segments that re-enacted the 1895 trial of Oscar Wilde, with Jagger, Richards and Marianne Faithfull respectively portraying Wilde, a judge and Lord Alfred Douglas. Footage of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, with his eyes drooping and unfocused, also appears.

The producer of Top of the Pops refused to show the film on that programme. A BBC spokesman stated the producer didn't think it was suitable for the type of audience who watches Top of the Pops. He went on to say there wasn't a ban on it by the BBC, it was simply this producers' decision.^[2]

Versions [link]

The single was included on the UK version of Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) but was not on the US version (B-side "Dandelion" is present on both versions), and so is not on the version currently available on CD. It is however available on three other compilations: More Hot Rocks, the Singles Collection: The London Years and Rolled Gold+: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones. The remastered version of this track released on the More Hot Rocks collection omits the snippet of "Dandelion" included at the end of the original single version; instead the voice of Lennon saying "Your health!" ends the song.

Cover versions of "We Love You" were recorded by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Gregorian and Cock Sparrer.

As well, a cover with quite the nod to the Rolling Stones would be added by Furthur Phil Lesh Grateful Dead, Warlocks, Phil Lesh and Friends, The Other Ones, The Dead, Furthur, and God Knows How Many and Bob Weir Grateful Dead, Warlocks, Bobby and the Midnights, Ratdog, The Dead, Furthur, and God Knows How Many More... later on in time by November 11, 2011 at the OnCenter War Memorial in Syracuse, NY.

Personnel [link]

• Mick Jagger – lead vocals
• Keith Richards – electric guitars, backing vocals
• Brian Jones – Mellotron, backing vocals
• Bill Wyman – bass guitar
• Charlie Watts – drums, percussion
• Nicky Hopkins – piano
• John Lennon – backing vocals
• Paul McCartney – backing vocals

References [link]