Underwhelming on first release, the repackaging of albums not quite worth returning to gives them a second chance to impress. It happened with Oceanside Countryside from Neil Young and it now happens for Black and Blue, a competent but forgettable release from The Rolling Stones. The Super Deluxe Edition offered Shame, Shame, Shame as a note of interest to listeners who may well have been blown away by its quality. It sounds better than anything featured on the album, and as a result, there’s the hope of hearing more great material from the archives. That’s why we all head into these archival releases. Now is the time for the greats to purge their vault of material, throw out whatever is in there with a quick bit of polish, and see what lands. Black and Blue and its super deluxe edition is a welcome look back on an album that was a consequence of the pop-oriented times. Few made it through the decade unscathed.
But the supplements and extra material featured here is a great indicator of what could have been a shining moment for the band. In the right mood, Black and Blue is serviceable rock and roll. Nothing more, nothing less. The extra songs attached to this remastering will be enough for even the most passive fans of The Rolling Stones. It’s as straightforward a package as you could want from the band. Here are the leftover songs and a bulk drop of a live album from Earls Court in London, England. A performance ripped from just a year after the end of their best-ever period as artists, and you can hear the strengths of The Rolling Stones on stage still here. High pitches from Jagger on I Love Ladies give the song, a simple lyrical affair with some unmoving instrumentals, a bit of credibility. More an impressive technical skill than a song to truly move a listener. The same cannot be said for Shame Shame Shame, a song that eclipses every other track.
The rest of those extra songs are instrumental jams. Well worth hearing, as they provide plenty of context for the songs preceding them, particularly the Chuck Berry Style Jam, inevitably led by Keith Richards. This Earl’s Court show is magnificent, though. A nicely polished piece of stage work from the band whose contemporary material, like Hand of Fate, sounds very strong. It’s given a treatment that some classics from the band are still yet to receive. A capable, instrumentally rich on-stage experience which gives new life to the song, an extra layer of depth which brings out a freshness, a volatility which defines the band even now. It’s a solid live set that, even with Jagger slurring half the words and receiving very little in the way of applause for confirming they’re in their hometown, is a great listen.
Songs like Ain’t Too Proud to Beg and You Gotta Move are excellent early setlist choices while the latter stages is stuffed full of hits. Even It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It) is a solid draw for this, followed by the all-time great run of Brown Sugar, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man, and Sympathy for the Devil. Never a good sign when a deluxe edition’s best moments are songs not featured on the album, but Black and Blue was never going to contend with the likes of Tumbling Dice and Midnight Rambler. That live album gives the songs an honest chance of doing so, though, that much is clear from the super deluxe edition afforded to one of the lesser, but still listenable albums in The Rolling Stones’ discography.
