The Recording Evolution of 'Sympathy for the Devil' at Olympic Studios

When Mick Jagger first brought “Sympathy for the Devil” to the studio, it was a slow, acoustic folk song—think Bob Dylan at his most dour. The band tried it that way, but it didn’t click. Then Keith Richards suggested a samba groove, and everything changed.

Conga player Rocky Dijon was brought in to lay down the syncopated pulse that drives the track. He was a session veteran from Jamaica, and