How 'Time Is on My Side' broke through in America — and why the organ intro won

The Stones originally cut “Time Is on My Side” in June 1964 with a clean guitar intro and no organ. But producer Andrew Loog Oldham wasn’t happy — he wanted a bigger, more dramatic opening. So in September they re-recorded it with Ian Stewart hammering out that rolling organ figure, and that’s the version that became the single.

It hit No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1964, their first top-ten in the States. The earlier guitar-intro take sat on the shelf until it showed up as a b-side in the UK and later on compilation albums. The organ intro version is the one everyone knows — it’s on 12 x 5 and every classic-rock playlist since. The decision to re-cut the track with that keyboard hook gave them a signature sound on a song that finally broke them in America.