"Ventilator Blues" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones that is included on their 1972 album Exile on Main St. “Ventilator Blues” marks one of only two times guitarist Mick Taylor was given credit alongside regular Stones songwriters Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the second time being the song "Criss Cross" which was not officially released until the 2020 Deluxe Edition of the album Goats Head Soup.
Janovitz concludes, “Jagger takes the Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf inspiration of the song's origins and does his best to betray the fact that he is a skinny middle-class English kid, convincingly delivering the time-bomb lyric with appropriate swagger.”[2] On pianist Nicky Hopkins notable contribution, Janovitz says, “[Hopkins plays] a rhythmically complex piano part on the verses, weaving in and out of the swooping guitar lick on the first verse and then building as the arrangement continues, playing nervous, jittery right-handed upper-register trills.
The pianist creates scary tension on an already claustrophobic and malevolent-sounding song.”[2] The song is noted for its rising and falling chord progression, punctuated by the saxophone of Bobby Keys and the trumpet and trombone of Jim Price.
Keeping beat is Charlie Watts on drums and Bill Wyman on bass who, although frequently absent during the recording sessions for Exile, made it on this occasion.
[4]The Rolling Stones have performed “Ventilator Blues” live only once, at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, on opening night of the 1972 North American Tour in support of Exile on Main Street.