The Sundays: Wild Horses

It is said that Gram Parsons helped write the Rolling Stone’s song “Wild Horses”; however, it is only credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It was Parsons band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, that released the song first – nearly a year before the Stones’ version debuted on “Sticky Fingers.”

A couple of weeks ago, an old episode of the TV show Psych utilized The Sundays’ recording of the tune for a very poignant scene regarding the near hit and miss relationship between Shawn and Juliet. The song also appeared in the movie “Fear” and the TV shows “CSI” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” If that wasn’t enough, it was used in a Budweiser commercial in the 1990s. Its exposure garnered a great deal of synchronization royalties for The Sundays as well as for Mick and Keith.

Formed in the late 80s, The Sundays released three albums with “Wild Horses” coming from their US version of their second LP: “Blind.” They chose their unusual moniker as it was the only name the four members of the band could agree. If you’ve ever had to think up a band name (and I have), it can be a difficult prospect.

This is probably one of my favorite Stones’ songs and one of the few I ever learned to play on guitar. I know the purists out there will hate this version, but I like it a lot. If there would be one thing I would change it would be to bring out Harriet Wheeler’s vocals in the mix. They are a little too buried for my taste.

Having not played this song in about eight years caused me to get out my guitar to play it again. I actually found it better suited for the octave mandolin that I got for last Christmas. I love it.

This is post 875 - only 125 before the end of Reading Between the Grooves.