50 years of 'Satisfaction': How the Rolling Stones classic has evolved

Fifty years ago, on March 6, 1965, Keith Richards started the song that would become the Rolling Stones' breakthrough song, (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.

Richards was in a hotel in Clearwater, Fla., on the band's third American tour at the time. "I'd woken up in the middle of the night, thought of the riff, ad put it straight down on a cassette," the guitarist recalled in Philip Norman's 1984 biography Symphony for the Devil: The Rolling Stones Story. "In the morning, I still thought it sounded pretty good. I played it to Mick and said, 'The words that go with this are: 'I can't get no satisfaction.'

"That was just a working title. … I never thought it was anything like commercial enough to be a single."

Richards, of course, was wrong. Not only did Satisfaction become the Rolling Stones' first No. 1 single in the U.S., it became a staple of the group's live set for the next half-century.

It's undergone some changes over the years, though. Here's a look at how Satisfaction has evolved since its earliest days.

1965, Charlie Is My Darling, Ireland

This September 1965 performance, captured for the documentary Charlie Is My Darling, shows a tendency the Stones have had to speed up the song over the tempo of its original studio recording. This performance came at the height of the song's popularity, after it had spent four weeks at No. 1 in the U.S. and topped the British charts, too.

1965, Ready Steady Go!

The Stones' performance on this British TV show has a very different feel from the Charlie Is My Darling version, even though it came just a few days later.

1966, The Ed Sullivan Show

Richards' distinctive fuzztone riff is all but absent in this Feb. 1966 performance, the group's third appearance on Sullivan's show. Maybe it's because the song's popularity was so great that Gibson had sold out of its fuzztone effects box by the end of 1965.

1969, Madison Square Garden, New York City

On the 1969 tour, the Stones billed themselves for the first time as "the greatest rock and roll band in the world." At a New York press conference, a reporter asked Jagger if he felt more satisfied now, eliciting the famous response, "Financially dissatisfied, sexually satisfied, philosophically trying."

1972, with Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder opened for the Stones' 1972 American tour. Sometimes, his band would join the Stones for a mind-blowing encore mash-up of Uptight (Everything's Alright) and Satisfaction, two songs that had been on the radio at the same time in 1965. This performance comes from the documentary C********* Blues.

1981, Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Va.

The Stones' 1981 U.S. tour grossed $50 million, making it the year's biggest. Satisfaction was the first encore song at most shows, including this Dec. 18, 1981 tour closer in Virginia, which was shown as a pay-per-view telecast.

1982, Wembley Stadium, London, England

By the time the Stones made it to Wembley Stadium for their summer 1982 European tour, Satisfaction was closing the group's shows and stretching to 10 minutes in length. This tour, in support of Tattoo You, would be the group's last for seven years.

1987, Osakajo Castle Hall, Osaka, Japan

The Stones may not have been touring, but that didn't mean Jagger couldn't go out on the road as a solo act.

1988, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City

Jagger performs the song with an all-star crew that includes Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, George Harrison, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen.

1989, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City

The Stones went into the Hall of Fame in 1989. In this clip, Jagger, Richards and Ronnie Wood are joined by Wonder, Springsteen, Little Richard, Pete Townshend, Tina Turner and others.

1990, Wembley Stadium, London, England

The Stones returned to the road in 1989 and 1990 for the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle world tour. Note the horn section in this performance, a touch borrowed from soul great Otis Redding's cover of the song.

1994, Oakland Stadium, Oakland, Calif., 10/31/94

For years, Satisfaction had been a show-closer or encore number for the Stones, but they moved it up to mid-set for the Voodoo Lounge Tour. This performance comes from Halloween night, the last of a four-show stand in Oakland.

1997, TWA Dome, St. Louis

Satisfaction opened shows on the Bridges to Babylon Tour. The group filmed the St. Louis concert and released a DVD of it, perhaps because Richards is wearing his very best outfit ever.

2003, Toronto, Ontario

The Stones had begun the 2002-2003 Licks Tour by

. The group returned in July 2003 to headline a benefit concert designed to revive the city's economy after an outbreak of SARS.

2006, Copacabana Beach, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

This Brazilian concert, part of the Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour, was the largest ever, attended by 1.5 million people.

2013, Glastonbury Festival, England

On June 29, 2013, the Stones headlined the Glastonbury Festival for the first time, as part of the group's 50 & Counting Tour.

If all those Rolling Stones performances aren't enough to satisfy you, the group begins its Zip Code Tour May 24 in San Diego.

Also, here's a playlist of more than two dozen covers of Satisfaction, including versions by Britney Spears, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and Devo.
https://open.spotify.com/user/brian_mansfield/playlist/7g5qmPs1gMLlfQDHRRvsyO