Too Rude

Album: Dirty Work (1986)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The song was originally recorded by the Jamaican reggae star Half Pint with the title of "Winsome." It was a big hit and his first #1 in his home country. Half Pint heard about the Stones covering his song from percussionist Sydney Wolfe who was at a studio in Holland when Keith Richards chose it. Wolfe relayed the news to Half Pint about the re-titled rock version.

    The Jamaican reggae star surmised in The Sunday Gleaner: "He (Richards) used to spend a lot of time in Jamaica. He probably was around when it was popular on the charts."

    Half Pint added: "They did it in a slow tempo way. That tempo was more like a ballad tempo, but you can hear the rock attitude. They had rock with a pop feel."

    He concluded that the song's reggae origins were not forgotten and the Stones also "did it in a way that you can realize it was a reggae song. It was not far from reggae, but you could hear the difference."
  • Keith Richards sang on this with the reggae star Jimmy Cliff, who had a hit years later with "I Can See Clearly Now." Stones lead singer Mick Jagger wasn't very involved with the Dirty Work album because he was focused on his solo career.
  • "Too Rude" was considered for the album title.

Comments: 1

  • Patrick from Greenville, ScThis was a standard for Keith's tours with "The X-Pensive Winos." Speaking of Jimmy Cliff, I love "Vietnam."
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star RidersSongwriter Interviews

Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"They're Playing My Song

The Nails lead singer Marc Campbell talks about those 44 women he sings about over a stock Casio keyboard track. He's married to one of them now - you might be surprised which.

Andrew Farriss of INXS

Andrew Farriss of INXSSongwriter Interviews

Andrew Farriss on writing with Michael Hutchence, the stories behind "Mystify" and other INXS hits, and his country-flavored debut solo album.

Chris Fehn of Slipknot

Chris Fehn of SlipknotSongwriter Interviews

A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.

Thomas Dolby

Thomas DolbySongwriter Interviews

He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.

Superman in Song

Superman in SongSong Writing

Not everyone can be a superhero, but that hasn't stopped generations of musicians from trying to be Superman.