# 2 music questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2001, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457 "2001-03-18T07:06:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nightbird99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f6c823/32.png) [@nightbird99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightbird99)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/1 "2001-03-18T07:06:37Z")
I have 2 music questions. First- did the woman who provided background vocals on the Rolling Stone’s “Gimme Shelter” actually have a miscarriage because of the effort she put into that vocal performance? I have heard that as a rumor (urban legend?), but is it verified anywhere, perhaps through an interview? Second- what is it that Stephen Stills is singing (in Spanish?) in the last part of Suite: Judy Blue Eyes? All of the sheet music and lyric sites I have found only list the “doo doo doo” lyrics. Does anyone out there know? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![BigStar303](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@BigStar303](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigStar303)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/2 "2001-03-18T07:57:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nightbird99 \* > \*\*I have 2 music questions. > > First- did the woman who provided background vocals on the Rolling Stone’s “Gimme Shelter” actually have a miscarriage because of the effort she put into that vocal performance? I have heard that as a rumor (urban legend?), but is it verified anywhere, perhaps through an interview?\*\* The woman in question is Merry Clayton, an American who forged a successful career as a session singer in the UK. I’ve never heard this story told of her. Sure sounds like a rock urban legend to me, but who knows? > [@](#): > > Second- what is it that Stephen Stills is singing (in Spanish?) in the last part of Suite: Judy Blue Eyes? All of the sheet music and lyric sites I have found only list the “doo doo doo” lyrics. Does anyone out there know? > > Thanks! \*\* I found this… Spanish lyrics: Que linda me la traiga Cuba, la reina de la Mar Caribe. Cielo sol no tiene sangreahi, y que triste que no puedo vaya, Oh va, oh va, va. Loose translation of the spanish lyrics: ``` How happy it makes me to think of Cuba, the smiles of the Caribbean Sea, Sunny sky has no blood, and how sad that I'm not able to go Oh go, oh go go ``` This makes sense, as Stills was a military brat and definitely did spend time living with his parents in pre-Castro Cuba. A lot of his music had a strong Caribbean influence to it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/3 "2019-01-22T14:26:30Z")
Bumped. What time signature is George Thorogood and the Destroyers’ performance of “Who Do You Love?” in? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/49oSrJvZhRI/maxresdefault.jpg "Who Do You Love") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49oSrJvZhRI) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/4 "2019-01-22T14:39:45Z")
[quote=“Elendil\_s\_Heir, post:3, topic:58457”] Bumped. What time signature is George Thorogood and the Destroyers’ performance of “Who Do You Love?” in? [/QUOTE] The time signature is 4/4. The rhythm laid down by the guitar is based on [Bo Diddley's clave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo\_Diddley\_beat), but it's still 4/4. You could make an argument that it's in 2/2 but that is kind of academic. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/5 "2019-01-22T15:13:03Z")
Since this has been bumped… > [@nightbird99](#): > > First- did the woman who provided background vocals on the Rolling Stone’s “Gimme Shelter” actually have a miscarriage because of the effort she put into that vocal performance? Merry Clayton was pregnant while singing Gimme Shelter, and did have a miscarriage. Some have blamed the miscarriage on the performance, but there is no conclusive proof that the performance caused the miscarriage. It’s possible that she would have miscarried anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/6 "2019-01-22T15:14:35Z")
Was there a now-disappeared post from a spammer, or did **Elendil’s Heir** revive an eighteen-year-old thread to ask an unrelated question? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/7 "2019-01-22T15:49:02Z")
Elendil’s Heir revived an eighteen-year-old thread to ask an unrelated question. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/8 "2019-01-22T16:14:34Z")
…An unrelated question which should have been in CS to begin with. As the original question would have been, except that I don’t think that CS existed at that time. Well, we can fix that now. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/9 "2019-01-22T16:23:18Z")
Well, it _was_ a music question, after all. Didn’t seem any point in starting a whole new thread. And thanks, **CWG**. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/10 "2019-01-22T16:43:51Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Well, it _was_ a music question, after all. The thread was “2 music questions.” You can’t have three questions in a two question thread. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/11 "2019-01-22T17:34:21Z")
I’d say more like “didn’t seem any point in bumping an unrelated thread”. It’s not like this was an omnibus “all music questions here” thread, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/12 "2019-01-22T17:36:32Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Well, it _was_ a music question, after all. Didn’t seem any point in starting a whole new thread. How much time did it take you to find an old thread (eighteen years old!) that asked music questions? How does that compare to the amount of time it would have taken just to _simply open a new thread_? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/13 "2019-01-22T17:59:51Z")
Maybe it’s a 50-year anniversary thing. The original two questions were about music that happened in 1969. (The third question, alas, was not). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/14 "2019-01-22T18:18:01Z")
The score is now: 4 posts: Music questions and answers 9 posts: discussion about whether it should have been a new thread after the answer was already posted ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/15 "2019-01-22T18:37:52Z")
While we are all here, give the original isolated Merry Clayton recording a listen… [Gimme Shelter Merry Clayton’s solo performance](https://youtu.be/jqXyjbgs5rU) What an amazing performance. [Here’s an article](http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/mick_jagger_tells_the_story_behind_gimme_shelter.html) about the performance and subsequent miscarriage. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-music-questions/58457/16 "2019-01-22T21:51:15Z")
Y’know, at this point, I think it’s best just to close this. If there are any lingering questions about music, open a new thread about those questions.