Edit for headphones. "Sister Morphine" is a song written by Marianne Faithfull, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Faithfull released the original version of the song as the B-side to her Decca Records single "Something Better" on 21 February 1969. A different version was released two years later by the Rolling Stones for their 1971 album "Sticky Fingers".
The personnel for the Faithfull version are Marianne on vocals, Jagger on acoustic guitar, Ry Cooder on slide guitar and bass guitar, Jack Nitzsche on piano and organ, and Charlie Watts on drums.
The original UK Decca single credited Faithfull as a co-writer, but when London Records issued the single in the United States, her name was omitted, as it was from the credit on "Sticky Fingers". After a legal battle Faithfull retained her rights as a co-author, acknowledged by the 1994 Virgin Records reissue of the Stones' album catalogue from "Sticky Fingers" through "Steel Wheels".
In the United Kingdom, Faithfull's single was withdrawn by Decca due to the drug reference in the title, after an estimated 500 copies had been issued, but in other countries the single remained in release. In some territories such as the Netherlands, Italy and Japan, "Sister Morphine" appeared on the A-side. In addition, the French, US and Netherlands editions of the single actually featured alternate versions of both sides to the UK release.
In New Zealand the single with "Broken English" as b-side charted #37 in 1982.
Here are some facts about the song:
Marianne Faithfull recorded this during The Stones' "Let It Bleed session"s (she was Mick Jagger's girlfriend at the time). Her version was released in 1969 and tanked. Decca Records pulled it after two weeks.
The song is about a man who gets in a car accident and dies in the hospital while asking for morphine.
Mick Jagger wrote the music in Rome in 1968. Marianne Faithfull wrote the lyrics, but The Stones did not give her an official songwriting credit until they released it on their 1998 live album "No Security". The Stones were very protective about songwriting credits - they made sure most of their songs were credited to Jagger/Richards.
Faithfull was not a heavy drug user when she wrote the lyrics, but became an addict in 1971, at the same time The Stones' version was released. She called this her "Frankenstein," consuming her and leading her into an abyss of drugs. In later years, she was able to break the habit resume a successful career as both a singer and an actress.
Some of the lyrics were inspired by the time Anita Pallenberg, Keith's girlfriend, was hospitalized and given morphine.
Ry Cooder played the bottleneck guitar on this track. He was filling in for the drug-addled Brian Jones, who died before this song was released, but after it was written. This was the only song on "Sticky Fingers" that Mick Taylor, who replaced Jones, didn't play on.
