A relatively minor hit for The Rolling Stones despite its reputation and popularity, “Wild Horses” is a tender, almost entirely acoustic ballad of the kind they usually reserved as album tracks. (“Tears Go By” would be another exception to the rule.) It only made the Top 30 in the US and doesn’t seem to have initially charted in the UK, despite eventually going Gold. Of course now it is one of their most popular songs—and one of their most popular songs to cover. First covered, fittingly, by American country rock band The Flying Burrito Brothers in a similar arrangement to The Stones’, most covers stick to the arrangement of the original. (Funnily enough, due to contractual problems, The Stones’ version actually came out after The Burritos’ version.) Continue reading »