Live recordings are featured on the concert albums Flashpoint, Live Licks, and Shine a Light. 'Paint It, Black' has appeared on numerous Stones compilations, including Hot Rocks 1964-1971 (1971), 30 Greatest Hits (1977), Singles Collection: The London Years (1989), Forty Licks (2002), and GRRR! (2012). The bass was also overdubbed by Bill Wyman playing on the bass pedals of a Hammond B3 organ.

He says that 'Brian playing the sitar makes the whole thing'. They then played around with it to how it appears on the record. He said they started out playing it in a kind of 'funky rhythm' which didn't work. Keith Richards has also been quoted as saying 'we cut it as a comedy track'. Both electric and acoustic guitars and the background vocals are provided by Richards.

Brian Jones played the song's signature sitar riff, and Jagger contributed to the lyrics, which he has said are about a girl's funeral. Richards said Wyman was doing a take-off of their first manager who started out as an cinema organist. The song acquired its distinctive rhythm when Wyman, looking for a way to 'fatten up' the bass sound, began playing with his fists on the pedals of an organ during the recording session.

Paint it black bass tab