Vol. 30: The Rolling Stones Song That Was Too Dangerous to Release
🎧 Prefer to listen?
Listen to the audio edition of this week’s Dad’s Music Muse.
I love a great story behind a song. I’ve talked before about how knowing the story can influence the way I connect to the music, both positively and negatively. So believe me when I say that receiving a text from a friend that reads, “Have you heard about this? Crazy story!” is exactly how I want to start my day.
And that’s exactly what happened a few months ago with this song by the Rolling Stones. Now, before I start getting Instagram messages and emails saying, “I can’t believe you didn’t know this story,” listen, I’m discovering fascinating music stories all the time. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy writing Dad’s Music Muse. I’m already looking into these stories anyway. I just don’t call it research. I call it fun.
This particular text led me to “Claudine,” a Rolling Stones song recorded during the sessions for their 1978 album Some Girls. It also led me to a fatal shooting, a controversial trial and the story of a song that remained officially unreleased for more than 30 years.
The Song That Didn’t Make Some Girls
By 1978, the Rolling Stones had been together for more than 15 years. Punk and disco were changing popular music, but the Stones weren’t going anywhere.
Some Girls became one of the band’s biggest albums. It included “Miss You,” “Beast of Burden,” “Shattered” and “Respectable.” It also became the band’s best-selling studio album in the United States.
During the same recording sessions, the Stones worked on another song called “Claudine.” It was catchy and upbeat, which feels strange once you know what Mick Jagger is singing about. The song tells the story of a real woman, a dead Olympic skier and a criminal case that had fascinated (and divided) America.
Who Was Claudine Longet?
Before her name became connected to one of the most talked-about celebrity trials of the 1970s, Claudine Longet was a singer, actress and television personality. Born in France, she moved to the United States and met singer Andy Williams while working as a dancer in Las Vegas. They married in 1961, had three children and became a well-known entertainment couple.
Longet appeared regularly on Williams’ television shows and also developed a recording career of her own. Her soft, breathy singing voice suited the pop and bossa nova songs she recorded during the 1960s and early 1970s. Longet and Williams separated in 1970 and divorced in 1975, but they remained close.
After the separation, Longet moved to Aspen, Colorado, and began a relationship with Vladimir “Spider” Sabich. Sabich was a successful American ski racer. He represented the United States at the 1968 Winter Olympics and later became a star on the professional skiing circuit.
By the mid-1970s, Longet and her children were living with him in his Aspen home. Then, on March 21, 1976, Sabich was shot.
The Death of Spider Sabich
Sabich had returned home from a day of skiing and was preparing to shower when he was shot in the abdomen with a pistol.
Longet was holding the gun.
She accompanied him in the ambulance, but Sabich died at the hospital. He was 31 years old.
Longet maintained that the shooting was an accident. She said Sabich had been showing her how the gun worked when it suddenly fired. Prosecutors questioned whether the physical evidence supported her account. However, mistakes made during the investigation seriously weakened their case.
Authorities took a blood sample from Longet and seized her diary without first obtaining warrants. Both were ruled inadmissible. There were also questions about the way the firearm had been handled after the shooting.
Longet was charged with reckless manslaughter but was eventually convicted of the lesser offence of misdemeanor negligent homicide. Her sentence was two years’ probation, a $250 fine and 30 days in jail. The judge allowed her to serve the jail time on dates of her choosing so that she could continue caring for her children.
The sentence angered a lot of people. A 31-year-old man was dead, and Longet would spend only 30 days in jail.
Andy Williams stood by his former wife throughout the trial. He paid her legal expenses, testified on her behalf and accompanied her to court. Years later, Williams said that he believed Longet was innocent and that the shooting had been an accident.
Longet later married one of her defence attorneys, Ron Austin. Sabich’s family also filed a civil lawsuit against her. The case was settled privately, and the terms reportedly prevented Longet from publicly discussing the shooting or the settlement.
The Rolling Stones Write “Claudine”
Celebrity scandals have always found their way into songs, but the Rolling Stones didn’t approach this story with much sympathy or uncertainty. “Claudine” is sarcastic, direct and clearly sceptical of Longet’s version of events.
That was what surprised me most when I first heard it. The music is upbeat and catchy, while the lyrics deal with a man being shot and the woman convicted in connection with his death. The tone of the song almost makes you forget how serious the story really is.
The lyrics mention the shooting, the evidence and Longet’s short jail sentence. The song also uses her real name throughout, leaving no question about who or what inspired it.
The Stones recorded “Claudine” in Paris during the sessions for Some Girls. That album was no stranger to controversy, but this situation involved a living person, a recent criminal trial and a civil lawsuit that had already been filed.
The song was left off the album.
There are plenty of claims that lawyers or the band’s record company prevented its release because they feared a lawsuit. I haven’t found a definitive account proving exactly who made the final decision or precisely why. Still, it’s not difficult to understand why releasing it in 1978 would have created a serious legal problem. The lyrics directly challenged the explanation Longet had given in court while the case was still fresh.
The Song Gets Out Anyway
Leaving a song off an album doesn’t always keep people from hearing it, especially when the song was recorded by one of the biggest bands in the world. “Claudine” began circulating on bootlegs and became familiar to serious Rolling Stones collectors. Different recordings appeared over the years, sometimes under the title Accidents Will Happen.
For everyone else, it remained a largely unknown song with no place in the Stones’ official catalogue. That finally changed in 2011.
The Rolling Stones released an expanded edition of Some Girls with a second disc containing 12 songs from the original recording sessions. Track one on that bonus disc was “Claudine.” The song had finally received an official release, 33 years after it was recorded.
The timing was obviously much different by then. The criminal and civil cases had ended decades earlier, and “Claudine” had already circulated among collectors for years. Most listeners discovering it in 2011 were hearing about a piece of music history rather than a current celebrity scandal.
A Different Song Once You Know the Story
Claudine Longet stayed almost entirely out of public view after the trial. She died in May 2026 at the age of 84. Her death brought renewed attention to the shooting, the trial and the many ways the story had been turned into popular entertainment. That included an infamous Saturday Night Live sketch and, of course, the Rolling Stones song.
There are still questions surrounding the death of Spider Sabich that “Claudine” can’t answer. Longet always maintained that the shooting was accidental. Investigators made mistakes that prevented the jury from hearing potentially important evidence. Many people believed her sentence was far too lenient, while those closest to her, including Andy Williams, continued to support her.
The Rolling Stones had already reached their own conclusion. They put it into a catchy song and recorded it while the trial was still recent enough that releasing it apparently felt like a risk they weren’t prepared to take.
That’s why “Claudine” is so fascinating. It’s a good song with a troubling story behind it, and knowing that story completely changed the way I heard it.
So, to the friend who sent me that text a few months ago: no, I hadn’t heard about it. But I’m glad I have now.
🎵 This Week’s Playlist
Listen to the companion playlist for DMM Vol. 30.