George Harrison Said He Inspired The Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It Black’

TL;DR:

• George Harrison said he inspired The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black.”
• The tune appeared in Full Metal Jacket and Stir of Echoes.
• “Paint It Black” became a No. 1 single in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Keith Richards said Brian Jones did a fantastic job playing the sitar on The Rolling Stones‘ “Paint It Black.” George Harrison said he helped inspire Jones’ work on the song. In addition, he revealed what he thought about Jones as a person.

Keith Richards discussed what he thought of Brian Jones playing sitar on The Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It Black’

The book Keith Richards on Keith Richards: Interviews and Encounters features an interview from 1988. In it, Richards discussed Jones’ talent. 

“Some of the things he did with marimbas in ‘Under My Thumb’ and sitar in ‘Paint It Black’ were fantastic, amazing touches [that] gave the band a whole different area of color,” he said. “When he started to play around with the bells and marimbas, it was great but I couldn’t get him back into the guitar.”

George Harrison discussed The Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones as a friend and as a musician

According to the 2013 book 50 Licks: Myths and Stories from Half a Century of The Rolling Stones, George discussed why Jones played the sitar on “Paint It Black.” “I always used to see Brian in the clubs and hang out with him,” he said. 

“In the mid-’60s, he used to come out to my house — particularly when he’d got ‘the fear,’ when he’d mixed too many weird things together,” he added. “I’d hear his voice shouting to me from out in the garden: ‘George, George,'” he said. “I’d let him in — he was a good mate. 

“He would always come round to my house in the sitar period,” he added. “We talked about ‘Paint It Black’ and he picked up my sitar and tried to play it — and the next thing was he did that track.” The song became a pop culture staple, appearing in films like Full Metal Jacket, The Devil’s Advocate, and Stir of Echoes, as well as the Vietnam War television show Tour of Duty.

How ‘Paint It Black’ performed on the pop charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“Paint It Black” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, staying on the chart for 11 weeks. The tune appeared on the American version of the album Aftermath. Aftermath reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 50 weeks.

According to The Official Charts Company, “Paint It Black” reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom for a single week, remaining on the chart for 10 weeks in total. The tune appeared on the U.K. edition of the compilation album Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass). The compilation reached No. 4 in the U.K. and lasted on the chart for 45 weeks.

“Paint It Black” was a huge hit and it wouldn’t be the same without George.