October; 11 November - 16 December 1982; April; May - July 1983: Place: Unknown studio, Paris, France; EMI Pathé Marconi Studios, Paris, France; Compass Point, Nassau, Bahamas; The Hit Factory, New York, USA.
Played Live: 1997, 1998, 2007
Producer: The Glimmer Twins, Chris Kimsey.
Engineer: Brian McGee, Rod Thear, Steve Lipson, Bobby Cohen, Benji Armbrister.
UK LP UNDERCOVER: 7 November 1983: No. 3 - 18 weeks
USA LP UNDERCOVER: 7 November 1983: No. 4 - 12 weeks

In anticipation of the sessions to be held for the next album, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards worked in a small basement studio in Paris, with eight-track recording facilities. They shared recent ideas and wrote and performed in the old style. One of the first recordings was written by Keith Richards and performed almost exclusively by him. I Wanna Hold You is a warm, uplifting number reminiscent of the optimistic Happy, also sung by Keith.
The released cassette track and subsequent CBS CD re-releases, include an additional 35 seconds of the song with an extra verse. The lyrics are about love and friendship and were inspired by Keith's love for Patti Hansen, although working with Mick at close hand could have helped. Several worthwhile tracks originated out of the early basement recordings, of which this is one. The original demo has Mick on drums, Ron Wood on bass, while Keith bashes out the lead guitar and adds his rough-textured vocals. Keith has been heard to say that the song is akin to the spirit of a pop song such as the Beatles' I Wanna Hold Your Hand. In other words, it could have been a classic! An early out-take has a country- sounding lead guitar from Ronnie with early lyrics (* a - 6.28), another with completed lyrics sounds close to the finished take (* b - 3.22), but the preferred out-take is a seven-minute rough cut with Keith singing early lyrics and playing an extended lead solo (* c - 6.57). An edit was made on earlier copies of the album (* d - 3.15).