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The Rolling Stones — Stray Cat Blues
Album: Beggar's Banquet
Avg rating:
7.5

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1449









Released: 1969
Length: 4:33
Plays (last 30 days): 1
I hear the click-clack of your feet on the stairs
I know you're no scare-eyed honey.
There'll be a feast if you just come upstairs
But it's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime

I can see that you're fifteen years old
No I don't want your I.D.
You look so rest-less and you're so far from home
But it's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime

Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
Oh yeah, don'tcha scratch like that
Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
Bet your mama don't know you scream like that
I bet your mother don't know you can spit like that.

You look so weird and you're so far from home
But you don't really miss your mother
Don't look so scared I'm no mad-brained bear
But it's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime
Oh, yeah
Woo!

I bet your mama don't know that you scatch like that
I bet she don't know you can bite like that.

You say you got a friend, that she's wilder than you
Why don't you bring her upstairs
If she's so wild then she can join in too
It's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime

Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
Oh yeah, don'tcha scratch like that
Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
I bet you mama don't know you can bite like that
I'll bet she never saw you scratch my back
Comments (175)add comment
When did the album cover change? My copy has a plain cover with Beggers Banquet in cursive. 
oh the rapey songs I grew up with. 🙄
Not for nothing, but I'd love to know when was the last time they played this song live.
Johnny Winter does an excellent version. Better than the original in my opinion. In fact, he does a lot of Stones covers well. 
 ToddyWoddy wrote:

Beggars came out 1968




Yes! Let it Bleed in 1969!
What sex, drugs...I'm mean sex, and sex and rock'n'roll....oops, I mean sex, sex and more sex are all about.

Why does 1968 seems so freakin' long ago?
Beggars came out 1968
not sure i want to hear mick and keith bragging about statutory rape.
 dubberdan wrote:
Sometimes Mick sounds too much like a parody of someone pretending to be Mick Jagger. This is one of those times for me
 

Leading to conjecture as to which singing Mick was the real singing Mick.  He is indeed much closer to the sound of a stray cat here than, say, Ruby Tuesday.  
 dubberdan wrote:
Sometimes Mick sounds too much like a parody of someone pretending to be Mick Jagger. This is one of those times for me
 


                                            Lol.



 
The first Stones album I ever bought on the way home from a Coventry City football match. Of course the record shop has long since gone - as has any semblance of a football team in Coventry.
it took me a long time the get this track. I now love it. Really strong album too. 
Sometimes Mick sounds too much like a parody of someone pretending to be Mick Jagger. This is one of those times for me
Sorry, just banter
Apprentice theme song?
one of my top five favorite stones songs!
Rock and roll's original bad boys.
Foot tappin'good!
 GTT wrote:
As the father of a 6 year old daughter I can no longer endorse this song, much as a loved it when I was younger.

 
Good point.  

 
It's no hanging matter...
 coloradojohn wrote:
Yeah, this baby gets down and dirty and these boys were having the time of their lives and loving it living it rocking it singing it — YEAH!

 
OH YEAH. This was my favourite song in high school and hearing it again reminds me why I loved it so much. 
as Truman Capote once said, "I prefer my Rolling Stones on records"
awesome album when released, still pretty good 
Full agreement. I once played in a band that covered this song, and it was one thing to sing the line "I can see you're just 15 years old but I don't want your ID" when we were 20. But at age 40, the thought of Mick and Keef anywhere near my teenage daughter is pretty disturbing.

GTT wrote:
As the father of a 6 year old daughter I can no longer endorse this song, much as a loved it when I was younger.

 


BADA$$
  {#Cowboy}
As the father of a 6 year old daughter I can no longer endorse this song, much as I loved it when I was younger.
nice!
Here's another song that has me rethinking my aversion to the Stones.  
Dirty, just plain dirty. Love it.
Oh hell ya!
Yeah, this baby gets down and dirty and these boys were having the time of their lives and loving it living it rocking it singing it — YEAH!
 akdavey wrote:
Man, this is the sloppiest most awesomenous, badass, tune from them ever. You can tell they're just this side of destroying a hotel room in Paris under the electric haze of heroin and cocaine.

 
it's definitely in my top 5 fav stones. it's just so gritty. love it.
This is why I love the Rolling Stones.  Sometimes with a semi-guilty conscience.
Man, this is the sloppiest most awesomenous, badass, tune from them ever. You can tell they're just this side of destroying a hotel room in Paris under the electric haze of heroin and cocaine.
 unclehud wrote:
"Stones do Delta Blues."  Not badly, either.  I still prefer their Street Fightin Man style, as I think they were much better at urban blues.

 
this ain't Delta Blues. This is Rock and Roll
 horstman wrote:

Where, oh where, did you get sex with minors out of all this? 

 
Apparently from the lyrics, dude - of course here she is 15 but on the live Get Yer Ya Yas Out version she;s 13.
This song just rips it up. Would love Bill to play the Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out version too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvEAEDYO0FQ
 
"Stones do Delta Blues."  Not badly, either.  I still prefer their Street Fightin Man style, as I think they were much better at urban blues.
Did these lyrics inspire Bill Wyman's relationship?

"On 2 June 1989, aged 52, Wyman married 18-year-old Mandy Smith whom he had been dating since she was 13 and he was 47 years old.  

The most bad azz thing the Stones ever did.

 

 

and that's sayin somethin


 southcoastsounds wrote:
Bill Wyman went to my school:

 
WE'RE HAPPY FOR YA'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bill Wyman went to my school (had to get that in somewhere). 
Lots of tunes from The Holy Triumvirate of Rock today on RP; healthy doses of The Who, Led Zep, and The Stones; YaY, groove it, Bill!
Good call!!
MORE THAN 10

The version on my German album is slightly (!) different!

 

The toilet cover shot looks like my toilet - kinda!


 horstman wrote:

In America, they were doing something very LEFT! if compared to the Antichrist.

 

what the hell does W have to do with the stones?
ah, the real stones stand up.....{#Bananajam}{#Dancingbanana}{#Nyah}{#Drummer}{#Flamed}{#Yell} remember folks, they were a BLUES BAND............
I apologize.   My remark about the Antichrist was not intended to blow things off track. 
 
The Stones were bad boys, representing all that small-town USA thought was wrong about the 60s and the deep social changes going through the world.  To some people, that meant the Rolling Stones and their style of music were evil.  They were, in some people's opinion, an embodiment of the Antichrist.
 
Because of that bad reputation, the Stones were not played on the radio, and few of us South Carolina teens even knew they existed at the time.  I was not exposed to them until I went off to school.  To contrast, the Beatles were playing bright, sunny pop tunes at that time; they represented good things in the world.  Beatle tunes were all over the radio.
 
MY PERSONAL OPINION is that I like this song.  When the Stones decide to play straight-up blues -- without the rock-n-roll influence -- they do pretty well.  When they add the rock-n-roll influence they do spectacularly well.
I really am a sucker for bluesy Stones cuts! Most excellent.
 joelbb wrote:

Apparently you consider fucking 13-yearolds a leftist activity, Mr. h.  Me, I never endowed the act w/ any political significance, just legal implications.

 
Where, oh where, did you get sex with minors out of all this? Your comment is utterly stupid and out of context (as is most of the garbage you spew from your orifice).{#Naughty}
People, don't try to interpret or over-analyze the lyrics.....

JUST ENJOY THE F*#@^&G MUSIC@!!! {#Clap} 
 horstman wrote:

In America, they were doing something very LEFT! if compared to the Antichrist.
 
Apparently you consider fucking 13-yearolds a leftist activity, Mr. h.  Me, I never endowed the act w/ any political significance, just legal implications.
 neuticle wrote:

Antichrist? That means they were doing something very RIGHT !
 
In America, they were doing something very LEFT! if compared to the Antichrist.
 unclehud wrote:
 jr2571 wrote:
It's strange— grew up a classic rock fan, but never appreciated the Stones- perhaps too much exposure to Hot Rocks, but as I get older (40 and counting) I love them more and more and I understand why they are called the best rock and roll band of all time.  

To steal someone else's line from a few comments below, when I was growing up you were either a fan of the Beatles or Stones.  In my very small Southern US town, the Stones were the Antichrist, so we didn't hear much of them.  Became a big fan in the late 70's, during/after college.
 
Antichrist? That means they were doing something very RIGHT !
I think the internet is good.....................................................My cat 'Comet' likes this tune, too.......whatever
 jr2571 wrote:
It's strange— grew up a classic rock fan, but never appreciated the Stones- perhaps too much exposure to Hot Rocks, but as I get older (40 and counting) I love them more and more and I understand why they are called the best rock and roll band of all time.  

To steal someone else's line from a few comments below, when I was growing up you were either a fan of the Beatles or Stones.  In my very small Southern US town, the Stones were the Antichrist, so we didn't hear much of them.  Became a big fan in the late 70's, during/after college.
 lemmoth wrote:


Oh ye clueless one.  They got famous because they were "The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band."
 
Are the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band.

It's strange— grew up a classic rock fan, but never appreciated the Stones- perhaps too much exposure to Hot Rocks, but as I get older (40 and counting) I love them more and more and I understand why they are called the best rock and roll band of all time.  If you have any doubt see the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus movie- unreal- true young rock and roll power!!

 finoufk wrote:

obvious...so easy to do better than the stones. Never understood how they got famous !

 

Oh ye clueless one.  They got famous because they were "The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band."
 bigbudd1 wrote:
The Johnny Winter version is so much better... although this will do for the moment.
 
obvious...so easy to do better than the stones. Never understood how they got famous !

Just made my morning! Thanks, Bill!
 Randomax wrote:
How times have changed....if a group put this out today they'd be on some pedifile watch list or there'd be a movement afloat to ban it from record stores....and Amazon sure wouldn't carry it...what with the trouble they've been in lately....personally, when I was 15 I LOVED this song (and still do!!!)....he was SINGING TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!  {#Heartkiss}
 

R. Kelly could tell you a different story, only he's too busy counting his money. Or maybe he's still making "Trapped in the Closet" videos

Still prefer the live version from "Get Yer Ya Yas Out."  
 Tim42 wrote:

Actually, in England the age of consent is 16, so to say 15 is barely pushing the boundaries of what's legal. I'm not saying having a lower age of consent works, just pointing out what the law is to put some perspective on it.

If the Stones were a US band, they would have said 17, just like several US bands have done.

 
Whatever. Get off your PC soapboxes fools it's just a rock and roll lyric.

, Stingray wrote:
Just heard Winter´s version again and,....truely...., GORGEOUS!
What´s our Albino doing anyway?
Visiting "Keef" talking "Brown Sugar" maybe?

The last time I saw Johnny was four years ago in a tiny bar in Lafayette, LA. He was so debilitated he had to have help to change guitars. Still some of the thunder and lightning there, but I would not have bet he would live another year. My brother idolized him, so I got a table next to the stage. A month later, my brother was dead and Johnny's still kicking. Saw Edgar Winter last year, and he dedicated a song to Johnny "where ever you are, I love you brother". So he may well be back into the bad end of the pool.

His website says he's working on a new recording, and he's supposed to perform three sold out nights in Tokyo starting TONIGHT (4/14/2011). Coming to your neck of the woods in May.

Would there have been a Stevie Ray without Johnny taking the Texas Blues torch from Gatemouth Brown? He's one of the founders, that's beyond question.


How times have changed....if a group put this out today they'd be on some pedifile watch list or there'd be a movement afloat to ban it from record stores....and Amazon sure wouldn't carry it...what with the trouble they've been in lately....personally, when I was 15 I LOVED this song (and still do!!!)....he was SINGING TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!  {#Heartkiss}

The Johnny Winter version is so much better... although this will do for the moment.
 ThePoose wrote:
Well, Mick, it is a capital crime in some jurisdictions.
 
A capital crime is a crime punishable by execution (e.g. murder or high treason)  Just sayin'...
Great song, by the way.
Great song from a great album.  Also probably their greatest period.
DIRTY STONES ARE GOOD STONES!

PS
THE GERMAN BEGGAR'S BANQUET COVER IS QUITE DIFFERENT
as much as is the EURO-VERSION of this song!

Oh yeah....that's where I know this from — Soundgarden's version is on SOMMS (limited edition disc that came with Badmotorfinger)
Just remember, Mick — 15 will get you 20.
When Mick and The Rolling Stones were 41 years younger and surrounded by groupies.  Hell, maybe they're still surrounded, I don't know.
 h8rhater wrote:

Whatever.  Get off your PC soapboxes fools it's just a rock and roll lyric.

 
Actually, in England the age of consent is 16, so to say 15 is barely pushing the boundaries of what's legal. I'm not saying having a lower age of consent works, just pointing out what the law is to put some perspective on it.

If the Stones were a US band, they would have said 17, just like several US bands have done.

 rickhoran wrote:
I agree, especially when you have a teenager daughter. "its no capital crime"? maybe not, but you are going to serve serious time in most states.

 
Whatever.  Get off your PC soapboxes fools it's just a rock and roll lyric.

Well, Mick, it is a capital crime in some jurisdictions.
Damn strayt!
 denmom wrote:
When I was a kid, you were either a Beatles kid, or a Stones kid; a Superman kid, or a Batman kid...

...I always went for the Stones & Batman, myself.  This song reminds me why.

 
same!

This song is so un PC. Got to love it!
When I was a kid, you were either a Beatles kid, or a Stones kid; a Superman kid, or a Batman kid...

...I always went for the Stones & Batman, myself.  This song reminds me why.

This has my 9 thumbs up stamp of approval


Hard to believe Mick would be jailed today for what is in these lyrics!   G R E A T  S O N G!!!
Johnny Winter did a good version with Rick Derringer.
One of my favorite Stones songs
 lily34 wrote:


also, what's a "zimmer frame" exactly? never heard of that and i'd like to know.

 

It's British for a "walker," i.e. a thing that elderly people use to help them get around.


 sutcliff wrote:
Soundgarden did a decent cover of this song.
 

WOW. i've never heard that! and i'd like to. got a link?


also, what's a "zimmer frame" exactly? never heard of that and i'd like to know.
 drife wrote:
C'Mon! This song is a strain at best. Really poor, even for the Stones.
 

okay - so we have a different opion - don't understand it, but you are entitled.

 Dave_Mack wrote:
Never looked at the lyrics before. That's some serious rock-and-roll raunch! You can't really be too comfortable with the story of fooling around with a 15-year-old. Conflicted.
  On Get Your Ya Ya's Out, the live version changes 15 to 13 - Mick was truly a provacateur.


it DOES kick ass.
in my top fav stones songs. wow. love it.


This just kicks ASS.
I recall that we were all blown away by Beggars Banquet and wondered how the Stones could top it—and they went ahead and did Let It Bleed. I think this was the same year that Traffic, Green River, Abbey Road, and Led Zepplin II were issued. An onslaught.
I agree - - I actually think it is a "capital crime"   Dave_Mack wrote:
Never looked at the lyrics before. That's some serious rock-and-roll raunch! You can't really be too comfortable with the story of fooling around with a 15-year-old. Conflicted.
 


Nasty and Nice!
Just heard Winter´s version again and,....truely...., GORGEOUS!
What´s our Albino doing anyway?
Visiting "Keef" talking "Brown Sugar" maybe?

Pumpkins and Soundgarden also made great version of this rather early Stones tune!
Rolling Stones - Stray Cat Blues
Muddy Waters - Rock Me
Django Reinhardt - Minor Swing

Is Bill's pick algo this easy or is this pattern a coincedence ? 

these are the STONES we wanna hear!
Wonderful "rotzig"...!!!

Nice to see that cover (as with the Blind Faith one a little earlier). I remember when I sent away for it from the UK and pasted it on the US version.
Oh come on, law-abiding citizens. It's a SONG. How many people did you ice in GTA?
Dave_Mack wrote:
Never looked at the lyrics before. That's some serious rock-and-roll raunch! You can't really be too comfortable with the story of fooling around with a 15-year-old. Conflicted.
I agree, especially when you have a teenager daughter. "its no capital crime"? maybe not, but you are going to serve serious time in most states.
Never looked at the lyrics before. That's some serious rock-and-roll raunch! You can't really be too comfortable with the story of fooling around with a 15-year-old. Conflicted.
C'Mon! This song is a strain at best. Really poor, even for the Stones.
Django Reinhardt - Minor Swing Muddy Waters - Rock Me Rolling Stones - Stray Cat Blues Will you sTOp it, Bill? I have to work now..
prickelpit96 wrote:
Thinking of some songs I'd like to agree, but for THIS song definitely not...
Agreed. This one rocks.
Johnny Winter does an amazing version of this song. He also did an incredible, incredible version of 'Let it Bleed' with a really cool rocking style, just amazing. His style was ballsy, rowdy, ass-kicking, authentic. There aren't too many guitarist/singers that could measure up to Johnny in his prime. I tried to share these cuts with y'all. Uploads by healyf52 Sorry: Johnny Winter - Let It Bleed Sorry: Johnny Winter - Stray Cat Blues Also, the fact that RP doesn't play any of his tunes completely blows my mind, considering how good he's been, pretty much paving the way for other 'white boys' to stand in front of an audience and proclaim themselves 'bad to the bone'. Damn!
pallasathene82 wrote:
The Rolling Stones annoy me. They are so...overrated.
Thinking of some songs I'd like to agree, but for THIS song definitely not...
The Rolling Stones annoy me. They are so...overrated.
Keef's thinline Tele cuts like a knife.
fredriley wrote:
Nope. Mark E Smith is positively tuneful compared to Mick "Zimmer frame" Jagger ;-)
Zimmer frame! Heh! That is sooo accurate.
10 for the music minus 9 for the sentiment!
boober wrote:
Let it Bleed!
It is like trying to decide between cherries, strawberries and oranges. They are all so good. I like Let It Bleed myself. But my friends so much prefer Exile on Main Street. It is all so subjective. And then, how can you not think of the Vietnam war without thinking of Satisfaction? It is all good. David
I practically wore a hole in my dad's copy of Get Yer Ya-Ya's listening to the live version of this song.
Ichthyologist wrote:
I'm inclined to agree, but I would give the 'dark horse' vote to Black and Blue.
Here's a vote for Black and Blue too...
horstman wrote:
EXILE ON MAIN STREET
Let it Bleed!
FilmSurgeon wrote:
Anyone else thinking The Fall as the singing (caterwauling) begins?
Nope. Mark E Smith is positively tuneful compared to Mick "Zimmer frame" Jagger ;-)
Yea Stones anytime !! Thanks RP ... How about something from Sticky Fingers next time?
I got something to tell ya.....Just glad Mick is into 20somethings today. He's grown up.
Scratch my back, baby. nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnasty. yeah. a bit lower. She can join in, too.
kaviksdad wrote:
Yes, I think the live version is a little better as well. But either way, this is one of the Stone's best
No way, this is so much machoer.
one of my favorite songs from my favorite stones cd. damn. still so good each time i hear it.
Anyone else thinking The Fall as the singing (caterwauling) begins?
One of the 4 essential Stones albums. They're still producing passable "product" these days, but it ain't "Begger's Banquet"! The Top 3 IMO: 1) Let It Bleed 2) Exile on Main Street 3) Sticky Fingers