Edwin Starr's 1969 funk rework of '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' and its live legacy

The most interesting thing about Edwin Starr’s cover of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” is that he completely stripped the song of its claustrophobic rock angst and turned it into a wide-open, ecstatic soul chant. Where Mick Jagger sounded trapped and snarling, Starr sounds like a man preaching liberation. The arrangement replaced Keith Richards’ fuzzed-out riff with punchy brass stabs, a driving funk beat, and a choir of backing vocalists shouting the hook like a gospel call. He recorded it in 1969 for his album 25 Miles, and it instantly became a different kind of anthem—one built for sweaty clubs rather than arena rock.

Starr made the song a staple of his live