20 of the Best Rolling Stones Deep Cuts

The Rolling Stones have recorded over 400 songs in their long and storied career – an absolute mountain of music.

Out of all of those, the Stones have secured an equal number of No. 1 single hits (eight of them) in America and their native U.K. Zooming out further, they've had nine No. 1 albums on the U.S. Billboard 200 and over a dozen in the U.K.

"When we first made a record and it got in the charts," Mick Jagger once said, "we thought well, it's good, we'll probably be around for a year, maybe a year and a half, then it's all going to be over." Clearly, that has not been the case.

Not every single song can be a chart success, but that doesn't mean their quality is any less. The Rolling Stones' catalog is riddled with lesser-known gems — deep cuts, as they say — that are just as impressive as the hits.

We're taking a look at 20 of those songs in the list below, organized in no particular order aside from chronological. To be clear, we recognize that the term "deep cut" has some flexibility in its interpretation, since many avid fans are sure to know these tracks. What they all have in common is that none of them were chart hits.

1. "Mercy Mercy"
From: Out of Our Heads (1965)

We realize we might be bending the rules here a little bit since "Mercy, Mercy" is a cover, not a Rolling Stones original, but it's an awfully good one as far as the band's earlier years go. This appeared on both the U.K. and U.S. versions of 1965's Out of Our Heads, and it's a great example of Jagger both honoring the original recording and taking his first steps into his own brand of rock 'n' roll singing.

2. "She Said Yeah"
From: December's Children (And Everybody's) (1965)

Another 1965 cover we feel worthy is "She Said Yeah" from December's Children (And Everybody's). Written by Sonny Bono and Roddy Jackson, the Stones recorded their version at RCA Studios in Hollywood.

3. "Connection"
From: Between the Buttons (1967)

With "Connection" we enter into the territory of Rolling Stones originals. It's a particularly unique track in the sense that it features both Jagger and Keith Richards sharing vocal duties — that's Richards singing the higher harmony. Though never released as a single, "Connection" made a fair amount of appearances at the Stones' live shows, even as recently as 2022.

4. "Stray Cat Blues"
From: Beggars Banquet (1968)

We've skipped ahead several years to 1968 when Beggars Banquet was released. By this point, the Stones had undergone a marked shift in toward something more...sinister, more provocative. "Stray Cat Blues" embodies this in every way — musically, lyrically and otherwise — and while we most definitely don't condone the idea of underage encounters, it really doesn't get more Rolling Stones than this.

5. "No Expectations"
From: Beggars Banquet (1968)

Another excellent cut from Beggars Banquet came in the form of "No Expectations." Yes, this was technically a single — it was the b-side to "Street Fighting Man" — but the Stones' have rarely played it live and it doesn't come up often on playlists. The steel guitar bit by Brian Jones is especially worth hearing.

"We were sitting around in a circle on the floor, singing and playing, recording with open mikes," Jagger recalled to Rolling Stone in 1995. "That was the last time I remember Brian really being totally involved in something that was really worth doing. He was there with everyone else. It's funny how you remember — but that was the last moment I remember him doing that, because he had just lost interest in everything."

6. "Monkey Man"
From: Let It Bleed (1969)

In 1969, the Rolling Stones delved even further into a blues-infused sound with Let It Bleed, an album that truly deserves to be played start to finish. We feel that "Monkey Man," the album's second to last track, is overlooked – the sly piano intro (played by Nicky Hopkins) over top a beguiling bass line that eventually gives way to a huge refrain — it's like if the Stones had made a James Bond theme.

7. "Sister Morphine"
From: Sticky Fingers (1971)

Sticky Fingers is chock full of great songs, most of which wouldn't be considered deep cuts to the most dedicated of Stones fans. Everybody knows "Wild Horses," "Brown Sugar" and maybe even "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," but we're highlighting "Sister Morphine" here, a slow burn of a song that Marianne Faithfull helped to write.

8. "Moonlight Mile"
From: Sticky Fingers (1971)

Frankly we couldn't pick just one track from Sticky Fingers, we had to get in two. "Moonlight Mile" serves as the last track on the album, but it's not to be overlooked. It's a calming conclusion to a fierce collection of songs. Interestingly, Richards doesn't play on this track at all — the lead guitar part is the work of Mick Taylor.

9. "Loving Cup"
From: Exile on Main St. (1972)

Moving on to another iconic Stones record, 1972's Exile on Main St., we must first present "Loving Cup," which ends side two of the double album. Hopkins' piano work here sells it, coupled with Bobby Keys on saxophone and Jim Price on the other horn parts. Unfortunately, the Stones haven't played this one live since 2014.

10. "Ventilator Blues"
From: Exile on Main St. (1972)

But if you're looking for something a little dirtier, look no further than "Ventilator Blues," which features a rare Taylor co-writing credit. Once again, there's Hopkins, Keys and Price, and yet it's an entirely different vibe.

11. "Winter"
From: Goats Head Soup (1973)

You'd never know it from the title of the song or from the general feeling of lonesomeness it gives off, but the Stones wrote "Winter" while on holiday in Jamaica, a decidedly non-wintry place. Weirdly enough, Richards doesn't play on this track either and it's Taylor who gets the main guitar part.

12. "If You Really Want to Be My Friend"
From: It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974)

Moving along to 1974's It's Only Rock 'n Roll, a tremendously successful album in both the U.K. and U.S., we must turn your attention to "If You Really Want to Be My Friend" from side two. This track is notable for its inclusion of Blue Magic, a popular '70s soul group from Philadelphia, whose smooth backing vocals juxtapose nicely against Jagger's rougher tone. We're not sure how the two bands got connected with one another, we're just glad they did.

13. "Fingerprint File"
From: It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974)

Don't skip the last song on It's Only Rock 'n Roll. "Fingerprint File" is funky, jazzy and disco-y, somehow all at the same time, plus it's got Billy Preston on the clavinet.

14. "Memory Motel"
From: Black and Blue (1976)

The mid '70s saw the Stones in a period of transition – Taylor quit and the band needed a new guitarist. Enter Ronnie Wood, who made his first appearance on a Rolling Stones album with 1976's Black and Blue. We're not fully sure who plays electric guitar on "Memory Motel," but we do know that Jagger and Richards share lead vocal duties — a rarity in the Stones catalog! — and Wood provides extra backing vocals.

15. "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)"
From: Some Girls (1978)

As the Stones progressed in their career, they didn't lean as much on covers, but when they did include one on an album, they really put their own spin on it. Take, for example, "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" from 1978's Some Girls, made famous initially by the Temptations. Jagger changes a few things lyrically – "out of all the girls in New York" – and the arrangement couldn't be more different than the original. That's precisely why we love it.

16. "Down in the Hole"
From: Emotional Rescue (`1980)

Here's the thing: not everyone loves the music the Stones put out in the '80s, and that's understandable. Like many other rock bands of their era, the Stones experimented with synthesizers and other such tools of the decade, not always in ways that aged well. But there were still some gems from this period, like the deeply bluesy "Down in the Hole" from 1980's Emotional Rescue.

17. "Tops"
From: Tattoo You (1981)

Tattoo You was released in 1981, but it was made up of a lot of music from previous years. "Tops" has Taylor on it, even though he'd left the band in '74. This is just the right mixture of funk and rock, complete with some falsetto vocals from Jagger.

18. "Slipping Away"
From: Steel Wheels (1989)

Lots of people called Steel Wheels a comeback album of sorts for the Stones, musically and personally in terms of the working relationship between Jagger and Richards. "Slipping Away," a lovely ballad and the closing track on the album, features Richards as the lead singer, with Jagger, Sarah Dash, Lisa Fischer and Bernard Fowler as backing vocalists.

19. "Thief in the Night"
From: Bridges to Babylon (1997)

Here's another Richards-sung song. "Thief in the Night" from 1997's Bridges to Babylon is smoky, loose and smooth. It almost feels you're like sitting in the studio with the Stones themselves.

20. "I Can't Quit You Baby"
From: Blue & Lonesome (2016)

It really made all the sense in the world when the Stones released an album full of blues covers called Blue & Lonesome in 2016. It doesn't get much rotation these days, but we'd argue their cover of "I Can't Quit You Baby" is a great deep cut from their older, presumably wiser years.