Rolling Stones - Not Fade Away & Little by Little

"Not Fade Away" is a song credited to Buddy Holly and Norman Petty and first recorded by Holly's band The Crickets in Clovis, New Mexico, on May 27, 1957. The song's rhythm pattern is one of the classic examples of the Bo Diddley beat, which itself was an update of the so-called "hambone" rhythm, or "patted juba" from Western Africa.

In 2004, this song was ranked number 107 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". However, The Crickets' recording never charted as a single.

In 1964, The Rolling Stones' cover of "Not Fade Away", with its strong emphasis on the Bo Diddley beat, became a major hit in Britain and served as the A-side of the band's first US single.

The Rolling Stones version of "Not Fade Away" was one of their first classic hits. Recorded in late January 1964 and released by Decca on February 21, 1964, with "Little by Little" as the B-side, it was their first Top 5 hit in Great Britain, reaching #3. In March 1964 it was also the Rolling Stones' first single release in the United States, on the London Records label, with "I Wanna Be Your Man" as the B-side (briefly preceded by "Stoned", which had immediately been withdrawn). The single reached #48 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

"Not Fade Away" was not on the UK version of their debut album, The Rolling Stones, but was the opening track of the US version released a month later as England's Newest Hitmakers. It was a mainstay at Rolling Stones concerts in their early years, usually opening the shows. It was revived in that capacity for their 1994-95 Voodoo Lounge Tour.

Ironically the Stones' version, unlike the original, chooses to fade-out on the "not fade away" lyric.



"Little by Little" was released by The Rolling Stones on the Decca label on February 21, 1964, as the B-side to their version of "Not Fade Away". Also included on their debut album The Rolling Stones in April 1964.

Recorded in late January 1964, it was their first Top 5 hit in Great Britain, reaching #3. Phil Spector was in the studio, and was given co-credit with "Nanker Phelge" for writing this typical up-tempo Stones blues, a pastiche of "Shame, Shame, Shame" by Jimmy Reed.