Recording
"Good Time Woman", an early version of "Tumbling Dice", was recorded during the sessions for Sticky Fingers. The song is a bluesy boogie-woogie, heavy on Ian Stewart's piano work. The two songs are similar in structure in that they have the same chord progression and a similar melody. Also, Jagger sings the hook to the accompaniment of Richards' lone lead guitar. However, "Good Time Woman" lacked an opening riff, a background choir and the beat which propels "Tumbling Dice"'s groove.
"Tumbling Dice" was recorded in the basement of the chateau Villa Nellcôte, near Villefranche-sur-Mer, France. The recording schedule for Exile on Main St. had the band sleeping all day and recording with whoever was around at night. The basic track of the song was recorded on 3 August 1971. Mick Taylor, the Rolling Stones' second guitarist, played bass on the track, due to bassist Bill Wyman's absence that night, and Mick Jagger plays guitar.
In Rolling With the Stones, Bill Wyman said: "On 3 August we worked on 'Good Time Woman' and when I arrived the following day I found Mick Taylor playing bass. I hung around until 3am then left." In the liner notes to Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones, Richards said, "I remember writing the riff upstairs in the very elegant front room, and we took it downstairs the same evening and we cut it." Jagger said of the lyrics, "It's weird where your lyric things come from. On Tumbling Dice, I sat down with the house keeper and talked to her about gambling. She liked to play dice and I really didn't know much about it, but I got it off her and managed to make the song out of that." " He concluded, "Tumbling Dice" was written to fit Keith's riff. It's about gambling and love, an old blues trick."
Recording engineer Andy Johns said, "I know we had a hundred reels of tape on the basic track. That was a good song, but it was really like pulling teeth. It just went on and on and on." Some have said that it may have taken as many as 150 takes to get the basic track of the song. The mixing of the album was also difficult. Jagger has never liked the final mix of the song. In an interview with Melody Maker, Jagger said, "I think they used the wrong mix for that one. I know they did."
The single was released on 14 April 1972. It was the Rolling Stones' 23rd single in the United States and their 17th in the United Kingdom. The single's B-side was "Sweet Black Angel", a song written by Jagger about Black Panther activist Angela Davis.
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“I didn’t have to think up so much as a comma or a semicolon; it was all given, straight from the celestial recording room. Weary, I would beg for a break, an intermission, time enough, let’s say, to go to the toilet or take a breath of fresh air on the balcony. Nothing doing!”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
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—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)