Daylight Savings: Time Waits For No One

Day six of our tribute to Daylight Savings Times comes from The Rolling Stones’ 1974 album “It’s Only Rock and Roll.” “Time Waits for No One” was the first track recorded for the album and the credits for the writing caused a rift with lead guitarist Mick Taylor. Taylor was to promised that he’d receive songwriting credits along with Jagger and Richards, but that failed to happen and is cited as one of several reasons Taylor would leave the band following the album’s release. His departure ended a 5 ½ year tenure with the band.

While I am uncertain whether Taylor contributed to the song’s structure that would constitute typical authoring credit or if he felt that his extended solo was to be credited as part of the song’s composition. In any case, the solo contributes to overall greatness of this track. “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It),” which was inspired by Taylor’s eventual replacement – Ron Wood, was the album’s logical single; however, “Time Waits For No One” is a better overall song.

As The Stones took their typical roles on this song, some augmentation occurred. Longtime sideman Nicky Hopkins is featured on piano and provides nice octave runs throughout and swirling arpeggios during the guitar solo at the end of the song. Percussionist Ray Cooper is featured on tambourine, maracas, and congas. The conga beats are reminiscent of the ticking clock that waits for no one. Finally, Mick Taylor adds a monophonic synthesizer (was there any other kind in 1973?) with portamento arpeggios. These can be heard in the main portion of the song prior to the guitar solo – nice touch.