The Story Behind 'Let's Spend the Night Together': Olympic Studios 1967 and the Ed Sullivan Show Lyric Swap

The most famous moment from “Let’s Spend the Night Together” isn’t on the record — it’s Mick Jagger rolling his eyes on The Ed Sullivan Show while singing “let’s spend some time together.” Sullivan had demanded the lyric change because “night” was too risqué for 1967 network TV. Jagger complied, but made sure the camera caught his theatrical disdain, turning a censorship compromise into an iconic act of rebellion.

The song itself was cut at Olympic Studios in London in early 1967, during a period when the Stones were pushing their sound beyond basic R&B. Producer Andrew Loog Oldham and engineer Glyn Johns captured a dense, layered arrangement: Charlie Watts’ thumping tom-tom intro, Brian Jones’ marimba-like chording, and the crucial piano part played by session ace Nicky Hopkins. The band overdubbed multiple vocal takes, with Jagger and Keith Richards double-tracking the chorus to give it that frantic, breathless push.

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