Hear Rory Gallagher, Jerry Lee Lewis’ Unreleased Cover of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Satisfaction’

Rory Gallagher and Jerry Lee Lewis rip through a previously unreleased cover of the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” which will appear on the upcoming compilation, The Best of Rory Gallagher, out October 9th via UMe.

Gallagher and Lewis’ version of “Satisfaction” is an alternate outtake from their time together in London, working on Lewis’ 1973 album, The Session… Recorded in London With Greatest Artists (Gallagher was one of several ace collaborators along with Peter Frampton, Mick Jones, Kenny Jones, Alvin Lee and Gary Wright). The track finds Gallagher taking lead on both guitar and vocals, flipping “Satisfaction” into a breezy blues tune, with Lewis slipping in easily at the end to add a piano solo and sing a few bars.

Gallagher’s brother and long-time manager, Donal Gallagher, tells Rolling Stone in an email that it was The Session producer Steve Rowland who suggested Lewis try cutting a Stones tune for the record. Donal remembers Lewis telling Rowland that all he had to do was name the song and hum it, and Lewis would take care of the rest. But when Rowland suggested “Satisfaction,” Lewis didn’t seem to know the song at all.

“A bit bamboozled at the lyrics and a bit embarrassed at not really knowing of the song, Jerry’s paranoia kicked in and thought he was being ‘wound-up,’” Donal remembers. “Annoyance flashed on the Killer’s face, as his wild eyes scanned the studio, fixing on Rory. ‘I trust you boy. Without looking at anyone else but me, tell me truthfully, is there a song called “Satisfaction?” If so, you start teaching me.’”

Donal says Rory quickly tapped back into his “showband” days and started teaching Lewis the tune. “Lewis was confounded that anyone could get a U.S. Number One with such outrageous lyrics,” Donal recalls. “‘I’d have been locked-up if I’d had recorded anything like that man,’ the Killer pronounced, but he was now relishing the task of doing his unique version. To record the track, Jerry requested an electric piano. A new Fender Rhodes arrived in from the rental company, and once set up, the Killer sat down saying, ‘OK, OK, let’s go,’ promptly bringing up his long leg over the keyboard and striking the keyboard — bam! — with the back of his heel!”

Along with appearing on The Best of Rory Gallagher, Lewis and Gallagher’s version of “Satisfaction” will be released as a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl single with a B-side of Gallagher’s solo cut, “Cruise on Out.”

The Best of Rory Gallagher will primarily comprise Gallagher solo songs, although there will be a few tracks from his band Taste scattered throughout, along with the Lewis collaboration. The album will be released digitally, as a two-CD set and a double LP vinyl set (with one limited pressing on clear vinyl). All versions are available to preorder.

The Best of Rory Gallagher

CD 1
1. Taste — “What’s Going On”
2. Rory Gallagher – “Shadow Play”
3. Rory Gallagher – “Follow Me”
4. Rory Gallagher – “Tattoo’d Lady”
5. Rory Gallagher – “All Around Man”
6. Rory Gallagher – “I Fall Apart”
7. Rory Gallagher – “Daughter of the Everglades”
8. Rory Gallagher – “Calling Card”
9. Rory Gallagher – “I’m Not Awake Yet”
10. Rory Gallagher – “Just the Smile”
11. Rory Gallagher – “Out of My Mind”
12. Rory Gallagher – “Edged In Blue”
13. Rory Gallagher – “Philby”
14. Taste – “It’s Happened Before, It’ll Happen Again”
15. Rory Gallagher – “Crest of a Wave”

CD 2
1. Rory Gallagher – “Bad Penny”
2. Rory Gallagher – “Walk on Hot Coals”
3. Taste – “Blister on the Moon”
4. Rory Gallagher – “Loanshark Blues”
5. Rory Gallagher – “Bought & Sold”
6. Rory Gallagher – “A Million Miles Away”
7. Rory Gallagher – “Wheels Within Wheels”
8. Rory Gallagher – “Seven Days”
9. Rory Gallagher – “Ghost Blues”
10. Rory Gallagher – “Cruise on Out”
11. Jerry Lee Lewis ft. Rory Gallagher – “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
12. Rory Gallagher – “They Don’t Make Them Like You Anymore”
13. Rory Gallagher – “Moonchild”
14. Rory Gallagher – “Jinxed”
15. Taste – “Catfish”