Nanker Phelge (also known as Nanker-Phelge) was a collective pseudonym used between 1963 and 1965 for several Rolling Stones group compositions.[1] According to manager Andrew Loog Oldham the 'Nanker Phelge' credit was mostly used for tracks where the origin lay in blues standards from the 1950s they heard when visiting the Chess studios in Chicago. It also enabled Oldham to benefit from writing credits.[2]
Stones bassist Bill Wyman explained the origins of the name in his 2002 book, Rolling with the Stones:
When the Stones cut "Stoned" – or "Stones", according to early misprinted pressings – as the B-side to "I Wanna Be Your Man", Brian [Jones] suggested crediting it to Nanker Phelge. The entire band would share writing royalties. Phelge came from Edith Grove flatmate Jimmy Phelge, while a Nanker was a revolting face that band members, Brian in particular, would pull.[3]
The name resurfaced in the late 1960s on the labels of the original vinyl pressings of Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed. Manufacture of both albums was credited to Nanker Phelge, which was then acknowledged as an ABKCO company (ABKCO was manufacturing the records that still bore the London and Decca labels).
"Little by Little" (Feb. 1964) (credited as 'Phelge') (co-written with Phil Spector; ASCAP also credits Ian Stewart as co-writer)
"Andrew's Blues" (Feb. 1964) (unreleased)
"And Mr. Spector and Mr. Pitney Came Too" (Feb. 1964) (an instrumental blues-rock jam with prominent harmonica, unreleased, co-written with Phil Spector) Appears on the Black Box bootleg compilation.
"Now I've Got a Witness" (credited as 'Phelge') (Apr. 1964)
"We Want the Stones" (a recording of the audience cheering on the 1965 Got Live If You Want It! EP)
Bill Wyman claims in his books that "Paint It Black" was a collective effort of the group, and should have been credited to Nanker Phelge, but he didn't know why was credited to Jagger/Richards.[5]
^Goodman, Fred (2015). Allen Klein: The Man Who Bailed Out the Beatles, Made the Stones, and Transformed Rock & Roll. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-547-89686-1
