FIRST TIME HEARING The Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash REACTION 

Jack Flash was Keith's gardener at his home Redlands in the English countryside. Jack had had a rough childhood and so Keith penned a tune for him. Everyone gives credit for The Stones' to Mick but it's Keith who writes the songs.

You have no idea what an emotional reaction greeted this song when it was released in 1968. The Stones had been in what was regarded as a fallow period, with their most recent album, "Their Satanic Majesties' Request" viewed as a rather tepid and indecipherable response to the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." The country was also in the midst of a traumatic period, with the Tet Offensive shocking America into the realization that Vietnam was a true quagmire, President Johnson announcing he would not run again as a result, Martin Luther King Jr. being assassinated and cities erupting in race riots...and that was all before June 6, when Robert Kennedy was also assassinated. Then suddenly this song appeared on the radio, and it was like a breath of fresh air -- the Stones' return to form. Many people felt a grateful sense of relief to hear an uptempo, hopeful rocker from the Stones.

Stones and Beatles are the GOAT groups.

The Rolling Stones did start in the sixties, and they were most influential and popular during the sixties and the seventies, so much so that when I was in high school in the late seventies, if the Rolling Stones came to town, not only would lots of the students in school go to the show, but some of the teachers would, too. They were a big deal. When I was a kid in the sixties and seventies, there were two Rolling Stones songs that seemed like the band's signature songs, though they had lots of other hits. Those two songs were "Satisfaction" from 1965, which you've already done, and "It's Only Rock'n'Roll" from 1974, which you might do sometime in the future.

In those days to say something was a gas is today like saying “that was lit” one of my favorite rhythms of all time

I think the context is that no matter how crazy or tragic your life, it all contributes to who you are, so you might as well own it and be empowered by it. The lyrics reference being beaten down, cut down, having a spike driven through the head, left for dead but the character singing rises again and again, with a superpower/mythic sort of name. "it's a gas" is kind of like "it's a trip" or a "ride" or a "thrill" and can be good and bad but seems consistently to reference intensity of experience. Makes me think of that old saying, "If you can walk away from a (airplane) landing, it's a good landing." I love the great beat, guitar licks and Mick's voice...which he uses like an instrument... while I groove along, identifying and feeling empowered by it all.

The Stones truly define rock and roll. They have lasted 6 decades because of their ability to remain true to their roots while still experimenting from country to funk. They have never been as popular to the casual pop or heavy metal fan, but are an iconic band that almost everyone knows.

"Jumpin' Jack Flash" was the 21st single by The Rolling Stones to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking @ #3 for 3 weeks in the summer of 1968. 2 records kept "JJF" from reaching #1 or at least #2: 1) Burt Bacharach & Hal David's "This Guy's In Love With You" by Herb Alpert followed by 2) "Grazing in the Grass" by Hugh Masekela. In the Rolling Stones discography, "JJF" was preceded by "She's A Rainbow" (#25/ 1967-68) and followed by "Street Fighting Man" (#48/1968). "JJF" was another of the Stones' great dance records, later covered by Aretha Franklin in 1986 peaking @ #25 on the Pop chart, #20 on the R&B/Soul chart & #33 on the Dance chart. Aretha's cover was produced by none other than Keith Richards and was the title song for the movie starring Whoopi Goldberg.

Mick Jagger is 79 years old and STILL performing !!! This band is EPIC!

I’m so glad you did the lyric version. Whoopi Goldberg did a movie in the 80’s with the same title, and one of the funniest scenes is when she’s listening to the song and trying to figure out what he’s saying. It’s hilarious and a movie you should definitely check out.

This was the sound of a generation. Constant, constant radio play for decades. Young people have no idea how much people listened to some of these songs when they were the cutting edge. NOTHING is played like that to people anymore. Great, great Mick Jagger performance is "Brown Sugar" that they did live on The Top of the Pops. As legendary a live performance as you will see. Was done pretty soon after the release (I think ) and Mick is absolutely on top of his game.

AMBER AMBER AMBER... LOVE THE HAIR GIRL.. !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great reaction, as always kiddos.. !!! Never go wrong with the Stones.

“It’s a gas!” Is just 60’s slang for “it’s a good time!” Like: “How was the party?” “It was a gas, man!”

I was beaten down by so many things in life. But I now know my purpose. I'm Jumping Jack Flash!

Thee greatest Rock n Roll song in history... PERIOD!

One of my favourite Rolling Stones songs!!!!

One of my fondest (and funniest) memories of my dad: the Rolling Stones were on some TV show in the early sixties, my sister and I watching intently, and Dad was in his La-Z-Boy with his face buried in the newspaper, ignoring the TV. Dad happened to peer over the top of his paper just as Jagger broke into a little dance during the instrumental break in the song. He laughed and said loudly, "Look at that sucker dance!"

The Rolling Stones have played this song at every concert while on tour. It was also used in Woopi Goldberg's movie by the same name. Also a 2nd version of the song done by Aretha Franklin singing and playing the piano, with Keith Richards and Ronnie Woods on guitar, is also featured in the movie Jumpin Jack Flash. Great rock and roll song. Good reaction. Buckets of Maple Syrup love from Canada ❤️❤️ 🇨🇦 🇨🇦

This means you've now hit DOUBLE DIGITS in Stones reactions! Looking over what you've reacted too, I don't think you've done "Sympathy For the Devil", which some people consider one of the best songs ever recorded. I'd also love it if you did "Undercover of the Night", one of their cooler 80s hits.

The song is about enduring and overcoming child abuse. It was inspired by a gardener in Keith Richards’ neighborhood named Jack Flash who allegedly had a tough upbringing, but was unfailingly friendly and pleasant.

This is one of the most iconic songs in rock and roll history, especially live!

We had a jukebox in our high school lunchroom. There were only four Rock songs in the box; Jumping Jack Flash, Honky Took Woman, Gimme Three Steps and Sweet Home Alabama. The rest of the box was filled with R & B, Funk and Soul.

The Stones, a British "pop" band took on a HUGE influence from old Black blues sounds, like deep Mississippi Delta-like sounds. They wrap a cool veneer of pop guitar and drums around a gritty, from-the-earth blues core.

The Stone started as a blues band. They went to pop after hearing the Beatles. They were part of the “British Invasion”

This is one of my absolute favorite songs by the Stones. THAT opening riff! So iconic!

THE classic Stones song from the late 60's. Every band had to play this song to be considered legit. Such a great driving beat. Charlie Watts is incredibly underrated.

"As Tears Go BY" is amazing...

Great classic song from a turbulent year (68)!

Stones suggestions: Heart of Stone, Time is on My Side, As Tears Go By, Ruby Tuesday (my personal favorite), Can't You Hear Me Knockin', and too many more to list. The Stones are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year.

J & Amber, you'll love their "Angie", "Wild Horses" and "Beast Of Burden" !!! edit- It's a gas - slang- A thoroughly entertaining, enjoyable, or amusing experience.

Remember when you did “American Pie” and the line was “Jack Flash sat on a candlestick… cause fire is the devils only friend”?

The coolest opening to any song, in my opinion, is The Rolling Stones’s “MONKEY MAN” 🔥Please consider that song when you revisit the Stones ❤️

"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by Rolling Stone magazine, the song was perceived by some as the band's return to their blues roots after the baroque pop and psychedelia heard on their preceding albums Aftermath (1966), Between the Buttons (1967) and especially Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967). One of the group's most popular and recognisable songs, it has featured in films and been covered by numerous performers, notably Thelma Houston, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Peter Frampton, Johnny Winter, Leon Russell and Alex Chilton. To date, it is the band's most-performed song: they have played it over 1,100 times in concert. It is one of their most popular songs, and it is on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. It is also, according to Acclaimed Music, the 77th-best-ranked song on critics' all-time lists. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, recording on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" began during the Beggars Banquet sessions of 1968. Regarding the song's distinctive sound, guitarist Richards has said: I used a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic tuned to open D, six string. Open D or open E, which is the same thing - same intervals - but it would be slackened down some for D. Then there was a capo on it, to get that really tight sound. And there was another guitar over the top of that, but tuned to Nashville tuning. I learned that from somebody in George Jones' band in San Antonio in 1964. The high-strung guitar was an acoustic, too. Both acoustics were put through a Philips cassette recorder. Just jam the mic right in the guitar and play it back through an extension speaker. Richards has stated that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards' country house, when they were awoken one morning by the clumping footsteps of his gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. Surprised, Jagger asked what it was, and Richards responded: "Oh, that's Jack - that's jumpin' Jack." The lyrics evolved from there. Humanities scholar Camille Paglia[10] speculated that the song's lyrics might have been partly inspired by William Blake's poem "The Mental Traveller": "She binds iron thorns around his head / And pierces both his hands and feet / And cuts his heart out of his side / To make it feel both cold & heat." Jagger said in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone that the song arose "out of all the acid of Satanic Majesties. It's about having a hard time and getting out. Just a metaphor for getting out of all the acid things."[11] And in a 1968 interview, Brian Jones described it as "getting back to ... the funky, essential essence" following the psychedelia of Their Satanic Majesties Request. In his autobiography Stone Alone, Bill Wyman has said that he came up with the song's distinctive main guitar riff, working on it with Brian Jones and Charlie Watts before it was ultimately credited to Jagger and Richards.[12] In Rolling with the Stones, Wyman credits Jagger with vocals, Richards with guitar and bass guitar, Jones with guitar, Watts with drums and himself with organ on the track with producer Jimmy Miller adding backing vocals. According to the book Keith Richards: The Biography by Victor Bockris, the line "I was born in a crossfire hurricane", was written by Richards, and refers to his being born amid the bombing and air raid sirens of Dartford, England, in 1943 during World War II.

"One of the group's most popular and recognizable songs, it has featured in films and been covered by numerous performers, notably Thelma Houston, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Peter Frampton, Johnny Winter, Leon Russell and Alex Chilton. To date, it is the band's most-performed song: they have played it over 1,100 times in concert." - Wikipedia

Keith Richards makes this song the opening RIFF is classic.

“Gas” was used in the sixties as meaning having a good time...like saying “I went to see the stones last night and it was a gas”...

To me, this song already has Rolling Stones' "new" unique vibe and sound. But the band had unique a bit different vibe in their early recordings, the old RS sound, which is really great. I love the songs like "The Last Time", "Hitch-hike", "Get Off Of My Cloud".

This is the Stones of 1968, right at the beginning of their imperial period. They had just finished with their brief foray into psychedelia and turned back to blues based rock and roll, but with a harder edge and more swagger. This was still the Stones' original line up. The '60's weren't the beginning of rock and roll. It was the beginning of rock, thanks to the Stones, Dylan and The Who, but rock 'n' roll was born in the 1950's with Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and others.

One of the best riffs I've heard hitting into a verse

Some of their songs are so old they aren't even in stereo. Great band.

Lovin' the hair Amber. Lovin' the song too. "Jumpin' Jack Flash' was also a cute movie with Whoopi Goldberg. I love "Time Is On My Side", "Angie", and I love seeing Mick and David Bowie singing "Dancing In The Street".

This song and Honky Tonk woman are my favorite of the Stones.

Perhaps the best dirty rock song of the 1960’s

"Can't You Hear Me Knocking" badest beginning guitar riff to start with then near the end one hell of a sax solo the a Psychedelic guitar solo to end with the sax. One of their best .

Amber - LOVING the hair. It looks fantastic. You guys should check out Mick's duet with David Bowie - Dancing in the Street. It's really fun - and I think you'd both like it.

In the 60’s, the Beatles were the “Good Boys” and the Rolling Stones were the “Bad Boys” of Rock-n-Roll. Similar to today, many fans were divided into camps. You were either a Beatles fan or a Stones fan. Few would admit to liking both. As a kid, I remember hippies arguing over which band was better. Whenever they would ask my opinion (at 5yrs old) of who I liked better, I would tell them THE MOODY BLUES and sit back and watch the fireworks. Yeah, even back then I might have been a bit of a little sh*t ! 😂

Saw hem live for my 50th birthday... They still perform great and Mick Matter didn't stop dancing for two hours+

This is such a banger ( especially when you think about the movie of the same name, hilarious 🤣 ) Amber rocking the hippie hair style

Yes, they started in the 60's and were rivals to the Beatles. A more gritty bluesy sound than the Fab Four. The "old rock sound" is mostly recording limitations back then. Some songs weren't even in stereo.

After hearing the Stones, you need to hear Leon Russell’s version he performed at The Concert fro Bangladesh. Most people in attendenceat the show said it was a show stopper. Leon in his prime could bring it.

Still remember hearing this for the first time as a kid listening to my transistor radio. I remember thinking, "This is rock n' roll."

Mick Jagger just turned 79 years old...and he's still rocking!!! The Stones tour even though Charlie Watt died last year, he told them to keep on going before he died.

Love the Stones! Check out 'Shattered', 'Gimme Shelter,' 'It's Only Rock n' Roll', 'Emotional Rescue', 'Start Me Up', and 'Miss You. :) I could suggest a few more but I'll save those for later.

"Can't You Hear Me Knocking" is such a great Stones song. It'd be a great one for you to do next. The outro jam will have you lost in the sauce...

Considered to be one of the top 5 Stones songs of all time. An early classic.

I have been fortunate to go to a few Stones concerts in my life! My first Stones concert was in a football stadium packed to gills, and boy it was hot! I remember Mick coming out and spraying us all with a firehose! Just awesome!

Add it to the movie reaction channel JUMPIN JACK FLASH with Whoopi Goldberg

Ok, there is a totally awesome movie from the 80's starring Whoopi Goldberg that you have to see. It's called Jumping Jack Flash and this song features in one of the best scenes of the movie. Something for movie reaction night!?!? I know you both will love it!!!

Started in 1962, still on tour, celebrating 60 years........played a couple nights ago to 100,000 people. Lots of live video performances,

Tulsa's own legendary Leon Russell (RIP) did a great cover of this.

AMBER! Diggin the dreads.

Amber I love your new hair style

Their live versions from Get yer ya ya’s out 1969 tour and Rock n Roll circus 1968 are ultra cool as well

Micks howling on this is terrific

You need to watch the movie “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” with Whoopi ! You’ll never hear this song the same way after that! 💖😉

Check out their movie, "Gimme Shelter" a documentary film in 1969. Great footage of their Madison Square Garden concerts, ending in their performance and free concert at Altamont Speedway, outside of San Francisco.... Rock History...

The guitar riff was written by bassist Bill Wyman. The main song was written by Keith Richards & Mick Jagger. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was supposedly about a gardener that had size 14 feet !!

“Start me up “ or “ under my thumb” giggs it in those jams

Jagger gets older, but he refuses to grow up. Son Deveraux, born when Jagger was 73, is younger than at least one of Dad''s great grandchildren. On the other hand, Mick had the last laugh on anyone who gave him grief as a child. He long since made his fortune, and has also been knighted.

I grew up with their early stuff. My favorite era of The Rolling Stones is from the 60's British Invasion. I loved the "Flowers" album. They had a lot of great early hits such as "My Girl", "Lady Jane", "Out Of Time", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", "Get Off of My Cloud", "Paint It Black", "Ruby Tuesday", "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Gimme Shelter", "Tumbling Dice", "Brown Sugar" etc.

Whenever this song plays, I honestly can't help but remember Whoopi Goldberg in "Jumping Jack Flash" smacking her stereo yelling, "English! SPEAK ENGLISH!!"

You Can’t Always Get What You Want - a masterpiece. A very poignant scene in The Big Chill. That’s a movie you have to watch! ❤️😁

Thanks for that great reaction and all of your reactions. You are a beautiful couple with a lot of enthusiasm and add so much to these songs. I’m sure many people have already written this, but “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” is kind of a “love song” to nitrous oxide, aka “laughing gas” (used by dentists a lot, or at least it used to be), and became a recreational drug. But you are also correct: lots of times, including here, the “original” meaning of the lyrics is not as important as what you get out of it as part of the entire experience of the song. Many times, what the songwriter intended is not what many, sometimes even most people, get out of it. For example, the classic song by The Police, “Every Breath You Take”, has come to be embraced by so many people as a romantic love song. People have it played at their weddings and receptions as “our song”. But Sting, who wrote it, said it’s about a stalker! Doesn’t matter. It’s art. Art is not science. Science is either true or not. Art is what it means to the person who experiences it. Thanks again. Keep up the good work. Oh, and PS, if you want to react to an interesting, if dark (spoiler: a man got knifed to death by The Hells Angels, who were serving as concert security, being paid in beer! Seriously!), Rolling Stones documentary of a concert performance, check out “Gimme Shelter”, which was a filming of a free concert at the Altamont Speedway. But there are better Rolling Stones concerts to watch just for fun (although there are some good performances in Gimme Shelter). And that song on the original studio recording, “Gimme Shelter”, might be my favorite Rolling Stones song. If you want to check out another country rock song they did, check out “Wild Horses”, and/or “Dead Flowers”. Both ballads and another side of the Stones.

Hi Guys, I am new to your channel and I absolutely adore you both! You have made my day. I love your sincere reactions and joy of music. Not sure if you have heard of Ray LaMontagne but he is an amazing artist. I think you will love him. “You can bring me flowers” , “ Henry nearly killed me”, “ Winter Birds”. Are three suggestions of songs. Every song of his is completely different. Also a great band called Living Color “ Cult of Personality “ is really cool. I will keep watching your channel and enjoying amazing music with you guys💜

Oh, I remember dancing around my front room to this - I must have been four years old but I loved it 😍

When Paul called the Stones a blues cover band that wasn't an insult it was fact, the Rollin Stones played American Southern Blues in the start, Paul and John actually wrote songs for them, alot of Rock folks forget these cats are famous for Rock and Roll but if you know Muddy Waters you'll know one of his albums was called Rollin Stone which is where the group got its name from, there was no G just like Muddy had it.

This is a great song but you’ve also got to see and react to the movie “Jumpin Jack flash” with Whoopi Goldberg unbelievably hilarious and very interesting

You should add “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” the movie to your watch list. It has Whoopi Goldberg, Jim Belushi, Carol Kane, Jon Lovitz, Phil Hartman, and Garry Marshall in it. Does have some foul language but it’s a great comedy!

I think it's common that groups come up with music they like, then put lyrics on it. With rock music especially, lyrics are sometimes chosen as a sound element rather than for meaning, and we go crazy trying to figure out what the song is about. This song seems to me to be a long list of the things the singer went through, and he keeps outdoing the horrors he went through before. But it always comes down to the sound. I mean, what is a 'crossfire hurricane?' I especially liked the bass in this song, and how it became a voice of harmony in 'but it's all right now.'

Just caught this one this morning. Happy Birthday Mick !! What an iconic part of RNR history.

If you'd like a completely different sound from the Stones, check out 2000 Light Years From Home. It's great!

Enunciate Mick!!! (who will get what this is reference to?)

Mick and Keith Richards were at Keith’s house Redlands when a noise startled Mick. When he asked what the noise was he was told that it was Keith’s gardener who he called ‘Jumping Jack’, real name Jack Dyer. They then started to make up the lyrics around the name when Mick added the word Flash, the song became a metaphor for acid, the rest is history. Aretha Franklin also sang a version with Keith Richards. Tina Turner also sings a great version.

The greatest opening line ever. This song epitomizes rock and roll more than any other song. The band was reaching its peak which came with the addition of Mick Taylor. Their influence on other artists cannot be overstated.

Watch the movie (same name)! Starring Whoopie Goldberg, funny as hell!

How about some Black Crows Sometimes Salvation VEVO video or Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye 🤬🔥🔥🔥🤓

It is one of a long line of Rolling Stones songs that has a classic Keith Richard’s riff. In the 60’s, The Beatles influenced musical artists to write deep introspective lyrics. The Stones, being the antithesis of the Beatles, wrote about hapless souls and the darker side of life.

'Midnight Rambler' Live at the Marquee Club...Jagger playing harmonica...intimate club setting. Awesome. And Mick Taylor shining on guitar.

Classic stones is the best - nothing after 75” - Rob Squad rocks - now we need Neneh Cherry Buffalo Stance !! Please !! 🙏🙏🙏

You guys would get a kick out of "Threw It On The Ground" by The Lonely Island. It's hilarious and if you can listen to it without the music video, that would be ideal. The video is great but it's exactly like how you would imagine it. I heard it without the vid and I couldn't stop laughing for like 20 minutes.

All these years, never knew what the lyrics meant, just loved the tune, great to drink beer by...

Amber The Rolling Stones first appearance in America was June 1964, four months after The Beatles. Rock and Roll had been around since the late 40s, early 50s. The Rolling Stones were part of the British Invasion of the early 60s. The Beatles lead the way For The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Animals, The Hollies, and many more.

If you haven't seen it, you should add the movie to your Watch List. It was our first Whoopi Goldberg movie and my friends recently did a multi-state watch part for it. Good times ❤😄

I love ❤️ this song so much. If your day is dragging or you need a jump start to your mood play this song.

I've always taken this song to be about releasing life's hardships with whatever it is one likes to do. The character was born in hurricane, raised by not that a great person, schooled harshly, drowned, not given much to eat, and then (quite dramatically) crowned with a spike, but it's all right! In fact, it's a gas! It's probably what some people do, they dance their problems away on the weekends.

I saw the Rolling Stones live in 1963 in my home town of Cheltenham (also home town of Brian Jones). They were a support act then only having had one hit in the UK. I paid £2 for a ticket. You can't get a cup of coffee for that now. At the end of the set the audience sat in their seats and clapped. No screaming or shouting.Fame for them was to come later. Peace.

Check out Jagger singing "You Can't Always Get What You Want" during Rock n Roll Circus, a one off event filmed in 1968. You get prime time Jagger there.

She’s like a rainbow, by The Rolling Stones… perfect for amber.. lovelovelove ❤️🌸✌🏻

My favorite song by The Rolling Stones. 💙

Tumblin' Dice is another great Stones classic.