At a first "view', The Verve's version of "Bittersweet symphony" doesn't seem to be very similar to the 1965 Rolling Stones' hit.

In fact, "Bittersweet symphony" is the cover of the orchestral version of "The last time", composed by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra. This band is a side project fronted by Andrew Loog Oldham, the original manager of the Rolling Stones. Their fourth and last album - "Rolling Stones Songbook" features the orchestrated version of the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards song "The Last Time", which was sampled by The Verve for their track "Bitter Sweet Symphony".

This song did have some clear antecedents in black American music, in particular the 1964 James Brown single "Maybe the Last Time," which was itself based on ideas found in a traditional gospel song that had been recorded, but not written, by the Staple Singers. Some have accused the Stones of literally stealing from their black heroes, but "The Last Time" is clearly different from and more rock-oriented than the tracks recorded by James Brown and the Staple Singers, although there are some similarities in approach and the use of the title lyric.

The Stones recorded this in Los Angeles on a one day tour stopover on their way to Australia. The Stones were on a grueling American tour, but in order to capitalize on their success they wanted to keep cranking out singles, especially in England because they were not there. As a result, they frequently recorded in between American shows.

The opening guitar riff repeats throughout the song. This was an innovative device for a pop song at the time.

This was the first song Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote that was an A-side single. The Stones played a lot of covers before they learned to write songs.

The Who recorded this in 1967 as a show of support when The Stones were being held in England on drug charges.

Keith Richards: "When you start writing, the first batch of songs is almost always puerile ballads, for some reason - I think they're easier to write. To write a good rock and roll song is one of the hardest things because it has to be stripped down so simple, to that same basic format shared by rock and roll and rhythm and blues and Irish folk songs from thousands of years ago. It's a very simple form, and yet you have to find a certain element in there that still lives, that isn't just a rehash. It can REMIND you - and probably will - of something else, but it should still add something new, have a freshness and individuality about it. The rules on it are very strict, you see (laughs). I think The Last Time was the first one we actually managed to write with a BEAT, the first non-puerile song. It had a strong Staple Singers influence in that it came out of an old gospel song that we revamped and reworked. And I didn't actually realize until after we'd written it because we'd been listening to this Staple Singers album for 10 months or so. You don't go out of your way to LIFT songs, but what you play is eventually the product of what you've heard before."

Rolling Stones version:




Andrew Oldham Orchestra version: