Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Dear Doctor
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK, May 13 - 21, 1968 and
Sunset Sound Studios, Los Angeles, California, US, July 7 - 25, 1968

Mick Jagger - lead vocals
Keith Richards - acoustic guitar, harmony vocals
Charlie Watts - percussion
Bill Wyman - bass
Brian Jones - harmonica
Nicky Hopkins - tack piano

Oh help me, please doctor, I'm damaged, there's a pain where there once was a heart
It's sleepin’, it’s a beatin', can't ya please tear it out
And preserve it right there in that jar

Oh help me, please mama, I'm sickning, it’s today that's the day of the plunge
Oh, the gal I'm to marry is a bow-legged sow, I've been soakin’ up drink like a sponge

Don't ya worry, get dressed, cried my mother, as she plied me with bourbon so sour
Pull your socks up, put your suit on, comb your long hair down
For you will be wed in the hour

So help me, please doctor, I'm damaged, there's a pain where there once was a heart
It's sleepin’, it’s a beatin', can't ya please take it out
And preserve it right there in that jar, yep

Oh help me, please doctor, I'm damaged, there's a pain where there once was a heart
It's sleepin’, it’s a beatin', can't ya please tear it out
And preserve it right there in that jar

I was tremblin’, as I put on my jacket, it had creases as sharp as a knife
I put the ring in my pocket, but there was a note
And my heart, it jumped into my mouth

It read: Darlin', I'm sorry to hurt you, but I have no courage to speak to your face
But I'm down in Virginia with your cousin Lou, there’ll be no wedding today

So help me, please doctor, I'm damaged, you can put back my heart in it’s hole
Oh mamma, I'm cryin’ tears of relief and my pulse is now under control, yep

Produced by Jimmy Miller

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Beggars Banquet” LP
(Decca SKL 4955) UK, December 6, 1968



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-12-27 11:11 by René.

always reminds me of my first time being really lovesick...
great tune...

Excellent song on an excellent album. In the middle of all gloom and doom is this funny tune. Love it.

I thought it was the greatest track on Beggars when I was 14...

2 1 2 0

Great track as all the Beggars tracks are

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10+

I don't like it at all. It does not stand up well against the other Beggars' Banquet tracks or many other tracks for that matter. The fact that the lyrics are tongue in cheek does not make it a good song.

I think the Stones were hearing The Beatles were doing this kind of music on The White Album being recorded at the same time . But The Stones always seemed to pull off faux country better . It must be a Roy Rogers Keith thing !

"Dear Doctor Take 1" - before Mick unleashed that famous falsetto on an unsuspecting world:

[www.youtube.com]

DD works OK with Mick's ordinary singing voice, but I think that unlike Keith, he is rather uncomfortable with the heart-on-the-sleeve emotionalism of country music. Most of the early Stones country stuff has an element of pastiche, or even downright parody - but they have a lot of fun with this one, and the verse where Mick reads The Note still makes me laugh every time I hear it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-08-13 16:16 by Green Lady.

Great song, too funny, great feel.

any other Stones tunes in 3/4 besides this one?

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duke richardson
any other Stones tunes in 3/4 besides this one?

Here is a list I made up for another question similar than yours: songs not in 4/4 as far as I remember. Sorry, can't give you the link though some gave intersting answers.

Looking them up in my songbooks: Only band compositions considered; in order of release:
Heart Of Stone 12/8
Long Long While 12/8
Back Street Girl 3/4
She Smiled Sweetly 6/8
Dear Doctor 3/4
Midnight Rambler 12/8
You Got The Silver 12/8
I Got The Blues 12/8
Loving Cup (chorus in 5/4)
Wasting Time 12/8
Melody 12/8
No Use In Crying 12/8
Winning Ugly 12/8



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-11-10 00:10 by JJHMick.

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Meg's my Darlings
10+

amen

3/4 timing! always loved the pacing of this song, though I'm no expert on knowing in what time any song is in, just that it's a little different

thanks JJHMick!

Heart Of Stone 12/8
Long Long While 12/8
Back Street Girl 3/4
She Smiled Sweetly 6/8
Dear Doctor 3/4
Midnight Rambler 12/8
You Got The Silver 12/8
I Got The Blues 12/8
Loving Cup (chorus in 5/4)
Wasting Time 12/8
Melody 12/8
No Use In Crying 12/8
Winning Ugly 12/8

Along with Prodigal Son and Back Of My Hand....Dear Doctor harks back
into the blues about as far as the Stones have ever gone and picks up
on the comedy style of the 20's and such guys as Daddy Stovepipe...William Moore....Gus Cannon....



ROCKMAN

Think Factory Girls fit in as well, don't know if it's in 3/4

__________________________

Dear Doctor
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK, May 13 - 21, 1968 and
Sunset Sound Studios, Los Angeles, California, US, July 7 - 25, 1968

Mick Jagger - lead vocals
Keith Richards - acoustic guitar, harmony vocals
Charlie Watts - percussion
Bill Wyman - bass
Brian Jones - harmonica
Nicky Hopkins - tack piano

[/quote]

It has always been stated that Dave Mason plays guitar on Dear Doctor, but now no one seems to know for sure anymore.

Mathijs

Great song! I love the acoustics and harp weaving in and out in the mix. A great heartland story, like a lot of the album. It would have sit well with Exile's collection of misfits and miscreants.

Quote
Mathijs
Dear Doctor
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK, May 13 - 21, 1968 and
Sunset Sound Studios, Los Angeles, California, US, July 7 - 25, 1968

Mick Jagger - lead vocals
Keith Richards - acoustic guitar, harmony vocals
Charlie Watts - percussion
Bill Wyman - bass
Brian Jones - harmonica
Nicky Hopkins - tack piano

It has always been stated that Dave Mason plays guitar on Dear Doctor, but now no one seems to know for sure anymore.

Mathijs[/quote]

There is only one acoustic guitar, so if that's Dave Mason, Keith only does harmony vocals on this track. But the acoustic guitar parts sound like it could be played by Keith, doesn't it?

René

Are you sure there's only one acoustic guitar on Dear Doctor? I could swear I hear two.

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From4tilLate
Are you sure there's only one acoustic guitar on Dear Doctor? I could swear I hear two.

It's definitely Keith on acoustic guitar.

If there is a 2nd acoustic, it's mixed very quietly in with the main one. But, it plays easily on one guitar and to me it sounds like there is only one. The outtake shows more clearly that there is only one guitar too imo.

The tack piano kinda gives the impression that there is more than one guitar when you listen to the track as a whole.

Dear Doctor, yes, this one's a gem, especially coming after the scathing, desolate heartbreak of No Expectations. It brings you back to earth and reminds you that there is a funny side to romantic break-ups as well. Mick's falsetto puts a grin on my face every time. Great harmony vocals from Keith, too.

Thanks to those who pointed out the 3/4 time... does that mean Dear Doctor is actually a waltz?!

Drew

Quote
Rockman
Along with Prodigal Son and Back Of My Hand....Dear Doctor harks back
into the blues about as far as the Stones have ever gone and picks up
on the comedy style of the 20's and such guys as Daddy Stovepipe...William Moore....Gus Cannon....

i've never heard of any of those guys... i will have to investigate.

this song is perfect for Beggar's Banquet because SFTD and SFM are so serious, topical, and angry.

Quote
whitem8
Great song! I love the acoustics and harp weaving in and out in the mix. A great heartland story, like a lot of the album. It would have sit well with Exile's collection of misfits and miscreants.

Excellent observations.

Back then they chose to play Prodigal Son live rather than this one but these days Dear Doctor would seem a more fitting duet for Mick & Keith.

This terrible song pulls down the whole otherwise excellent album. I always thought to myself "Oh my God, what is this, what are they doing????"
It takes a lot of courage to put a thing like that on an album.This courage is certainly admirable but makes the listening not less painful.

its a great song, listened to it the other night for the first time in ages. really funny as well.

i love this song!
and Prodigal Son!

i'd go into the why's and wherefore's, but I'm off with cousin lou right now