The 30 best Rolling Stones songs that weren't No. 1 hits

Thanks to Martin Scorsese, and directors of his ilk, the opening strains of “Gimme Shelter” are now iconic. It is one of the most-recognizable Stones songs out there. However, it wasn’t actually a single, not until a live version was released a little while later.

Evidently, “Sympathy for the Devil” was inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and the Margarita,” which had just been translated into English. To think had the Russian author’s work not gotten a translation in time, we may never have gotten the catchy tones of this song.

The first single from the first Rolling Stones album. Like the Beatles, back in the day the Stones would do a lot of covers of the blues songs they loved. “Tell Me,” though, is an original from Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, a pop ballad that eked into the top 25 on the charts.

Speaking of covers, “Time is on My Side” is not an original Stones song, and it was actually first done as a jazz tune in 1963. These days, though, we only think of Jagger’s swaying vocals of this pseudo-torch song. It’s one of those covers that becomes forever associated with the covering artist. You know, like “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia.

“Heart of Stone” seems quite influenced by the American blues that the Rolling Stones loved, but is an original composition. For a band that was often rollicking and rocking, they could occasionally hit us with a ballad that really worked as well.

This was the first original the Stones released as a single in their native Britain, and it reached number-one there. However, we’re talking the Billboard Hot 100 for this list. It was no slouch in America, as it hit ninth on the charts, and it has been an indelible Stones song.

In the wake of their first two number-one hits in America (“Satisfaction” and “Get Off of My Cloud”) this tune couldn’t quite keep the run going. That being said, “19th Nervous Breakdown” hit second on the charts. It’s definitely more indicative of the Rolling Stones’ definitive sound than some of the early singles.

“Let’s Spend the Night Together” was a double A-side release with “Ruby Tuesday.” The latter was a number-one hit, but it overshadowed this song on the charts. In terms of quality, though, this song is no slouch. Evidently, this song got the Stones banned from Ed Sullivan over disagreements over the titular lyric, which was considered too risqué.

This is an awfully peppy, poppy song to come off of an album called “Their Satanic Majesties Request.” Perhaps the breeziest Rolling Stones song, it’s a real earworm that is a good choice for situations like, “OK, you don’t like the Stones, but maybe this song is for you.”

As far as we know, the only Stones song to inspire the title of a Whoopi Goldberg vehicle. Ultimately, the song is better than the movie of the same name. Probably the best rock song to refer to something as being “a gas.”

With seeming allusions to revolution, “Street Fighting Man” was controversial, and was even boycotted by some radio stations. These days, though, the controversy has waned, and people can just enjoy the song. This was also one of the last singles for the Stones featuring founding member Brian Jones before his untimely death.

Jagger and Richards wrote this song, but originally let The Flying Burrito Brothers record it, not thinking it was right for their band. Eventually, the Stones would do their own version, which proved popular, even if it topped out at 28th on the Billboard charts. It’s more country than a lot of the band’s work, but it does fit for them.

The first single off of the Rolling Stones’ seminal “Exile on Main St.,” was an odd choice. The song is practically a boogie-woogie song noted for its unusual tempo. Linda Rondstadt did a cover that was also a hit as well.

The fourth of five singles from “Exile on Main St.,” – hey, it’s a double album – “Happy” is unusual for a Stones song, let alone a single. Why? Richards, not Jagger, provides the lead vocals. That left Jagger to just provide backing vocals, and perhaps to smack a tambourine.

Before the spooky children’s choir was a music staple (usually covers for movie trailers), we had “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” It’s practically symphonic at first, which definitely grabs you, and then it becomes a classic Stones rock song.

This song is a little silly. It feels almost like a legacy act work already, even though the band would release another dozen or so albums after this one. The song works better being done by the “veteran” version of the Stones, so it is almost like the Stones of 1974 gave their future selves a gift.

The Rolling Stones were in a weird place around the time of recording “Fool to Cry.” Not only was Jones no longer around, but Mick Taylor had left the band as well, meaning they lacked a lead guitarist. Tooling around and figuring things out, Jagger and Richards put out a lush ballad that is the only song from “Black and Blue” to have remained in the band’s repertoire.

To hear retellings of the creation of “Beast of Burden,” Richards and Jagger didn’t really have their heart in it. They were just riffing, making stuff up, and Jagger purportedly improvised some of the lyrics. And yet, it turned into a top-10 hit in the United States. Maybe that’s what you can do when you have been making music for effectively 15 years together.

In 1978, the Stones couldn’t avoid the allure of punk music. “Shattered” is considered inspired by the sounds of ‘70s punk, specifically the New York punk scene. It actually fit reasonably well for the band, and Jagger’s vocals are often highlighted here.

We move into the 1980s here with the band’s first single of their “third decade” as a band. People were apparently not tired of the Stones as an ongoing concern by this point. “Emotional Rescue,” the titular song from the band’s 17th American album release (15th British, we won’t get into the minutiae) hit third on the charts in the United States.

Apparently, a version of “Waiting on a Friend” was being put together in the early 1970s, but it didn’t get released until it was on “Tattoo You” in 1981. This is sort of the last Stones album held in any real regard, and “Waiting on a Friend” is the second-biggest hit from the album. The biggest, well, let’s get to that.

The last significant Rolling Stones hit, one that rode the wave of early MTV with its music video. “Start Me Up” came almost 20 years into the band’s history, but Jagger was still swaggering and the band could still create a catchy hit. For many, this may have been the first Stones song they heard. “Start Me Up” was huge, but it only finished second on the charts. It wasn’t the band’s last top-five hit, but as far as we are concerned, it was the end of the Stones’ significant run.

“Out of Time” is on the Stones’ album “Metamorphosis,” but the biggest version of the song is actually a cover. Chris Farlowe’s version was actually produced by Jagger, and it was a number-one hit in the United Kingdom. Perhaps owing to that, the Stones never played “Out of Time” live until 2022.

This is a strange Stones song. Bassist Bill Wyman wrote the song, and it is one of only three Stones songs he wrote. Also, he provided lead vocals for the one and only time. Yes, “In Another Land” is a Bill Wyman song, a true rarity for the band. And yet, they thought enough of it to make it the first single off “Their Satanic Majesties Request.”

While the phrase “mother’s little helper” is no longer in the general vernacular, it is a phrase that used to be bandied about to refer to tranquilizers, like Valium, that were commonly misused by housewives of a bygone era. Riffing on that, the Rolling Stones wrote a folk song that they compared to the Kinks’ “Well Respected Man.”

Written by Jagger, Richards, and their manager Andrew Loog Oldham, originally “As Tears Go By” was released as a single by Marianne Faithfull. This was her first hit song. However, Jagger and Richards then decided the Stones should do their own version. Their version ended up more popular in the United States, which may have been awkward for Marianne.

We’re going back to the early days of the Stones, when they would record covers and release them as singles. “Carol” is a Chuck Berry song, and Berry is one of the many Chess Records musicians the Rolling Stones grew up loving. Doing “Carol” was an homage to that, and their take is quite catchy.

Right before “Carol,” the Stones released “Not Fade Away” as a single. The song was written by Buddy Holly, and was originally recorded by him and his band the Crickets. “Not Fade Away” is more famously a Buddy Holly song, but the Stones’ version was a top-50 hit in the U.S., and hit third in the U.K.

Here’s a fascinating one. Who wrote “I Wanna Be Your Man,” the second song the Rolling Stones ever released? That would be the songwriting duo of…Lennon and McCartney. Yes, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The guys from the Beatles. The two bands were hanging out, McCartney thought “I Wanna Be Your Man” fit the Stones’ sound, so he offered them the song. Eventually, the Beatles would include their own version on their second album “With the Beatles.”

Do you like a jam? “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” is a jam. It’s two minutes and 43 seconds of the song that was written…and then over four minutes of jamming. The song you hear was actually recorded in one take. The jam was just a happy accident that was recorded, and they figured they’d keep it in. “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” then became an example of the band’s musicianship and one of their most popular songs. Of course, you can’t really release a seven-minute song as a single.