[Brickcity]

P.S. there's a great story about the recording of Gimme Shelter. I don't remember all the details but I believe the Stones called up the female singer in the middle of the night as they were set to record the tune in their studio (I think in L.A.?). She was in hair curlers, was awoken but...given that she was relatively undiscovered and she had the impromptu chance to appear on a Stones tune, she got up, rushed to the studio. Her voice cracking when hitting the high note on "murder!" apparently gave Mick Jagger chills...you can actually hear him yell "yeah!" right after her voice cracks... and the rest was history. It gives me chills too!

if you have not, you should check out the documentary "20 feet from stardom"

her name is Merry Clayton

Ah yes, I DID watch that doc. That's where I probably heard this story. Here's the Wikipedia entry:

Clayton is best known for her 1969 duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter", though on some releases her name is misspelled as "Mary". According to Jagger, this collaboration came about due partially to chance. Jagger states that they thought "it'd be great to have a woman come do the…chorus." They called Clayton "randomly" in the middle of the night, and she showed up to the studio "in curlers" and did the verse in a few takes, which Jagger remarked is "pretty amazing."[6] Clayton performed the duet while pregnant, and soon afterward suffered a miscarriage; some have attributed the miscarriage to the physical strain from her exertions during the recording.[7] The Stones had asked Bonnie Bramlett to sing on the song, but Bramlett's husband Delaney refused to let her perform with the Stones.[8] Along with her frequent partner Clydie King,[9] Clayton also sang backing vocals on Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama".[10]

[Brickcity]

P.S. there's a great story about the recording of Gimme Shelter. I don't remember all the details but I believe the Stones called up the female singer in the middle of the night as they were set to record the tune in their studio (I think in L.A.?). She was in hair curlers, was awoken but...given that she was relatively undiscovered and she had the impromptu chance to appear on a Stones tune, she got up, rushed to the studio. Her voice cracking when hitting the high note on "murder!" apparently gave Mick Jagger chills...you can actually hear him yell "yeah!" right after her voice cracks... and the rest was history. It gives me chills too!

if you have not, you should check out the documentary "20 feet from stardom"

her name is Merry Clayton

Ah yes, I DID watch that doc. That's where I probably heard this story. Here's the Wikipedia entry:

Clayton is best known for her 1969 duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter", though on some releases her name is misspelled as "Mary". According to Jagger, this collaboration came about due partially to chance. Jagger states that they thought "it'd be great to have a woman come do the…chorus." They called Clayton "randomly" in the middle of the night, and she showed up to the studio "in curlers" and did the verse in a few takes, which Jagger remarked is "pretty amazing."[6] Clayton performed the duet while pregnant, and soon afterward suffered a miscarriage; some have attributed the miscarriage to the physical strain from her exertions during the recording.[7] The Stones had asked Bonnie Bramlett to sing on the song, but Bramlett's husband Delaney refused to let her perform with the Stones.[8] Along with her frequent partner Clydie King,[9] Clayton also sang backing vocals on Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama".[10]