What began as a moment to follow up on It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll ended as the start of a monumental decline for The Rolling Stones. History has been kind to Black and Blue, which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary today. But what did the band learn from this recording period? A year at the coalface and losing Mick Taylor in the process, it seems as though 1974 to 1976 was a time when The Rolling Stones should have been reflecting. They did not, and it would lead to further complications for their output in the 1980s and, ultimately, their disbanding. Mick Jagger’s push for a pop sound began to rear its head here as he pursued reggae and funk music as a blend of their blues rock style. An admirable step to be fair to him. Innovation is the only route for a band which has hit its apex in blues-rock. But the alternatives offered by the band on Black and Blue are not just unconvincing, but set them on a course for complete disaster over a decade.
There’s a lot of volatility to The Rolling Stones as a group soon after Black and Blue was released. It’s an inverse moment of what happened with Bob Dylan when he released Oh Mercy in 1989. Some saw it as a sign that Dylan was back in form after a decade of miserable releases, though two cover albums followed it up, and fans were left, once more, deflated. The inverse comes from what was released after Black and Blue. Some Girls, released just two years later, is a sign of hope, but in fact is the last great album by the group. At the time of writing, that is, who knows whether the untitled album to follow up Hackney Diamonds has been announced yet. An extremely underwhelming eight-song album is what The Rolling Stones offered up with Black and Blue. Forty-nine years later, they rectified it with a special edition release which had tucked away a Jeff Beck guitar solo, and some striking, early renditions of songs dumbed down in the studio.
Part of that dressing down of all-time great songs comes from the band dealing with turmoil that would, inevitably, affect the musicianship. Taylor’s shock departure is not just a hole to be filled but a musical ally who had been with the group since its inception. They had already lost one member, Brian Jones, and adapted accordingly. But this is at the peak of the band’s powers, a time when they should have been leading the charge through a rock and roll boom they themselves ignited. Maybe all this turmoil is why Jagger looks so unfazed on the front cover. He may also be unfazed by the lacklustre quality of what the band put out on Black and Blue. How much of it is a reaction to losing Taylor, and how much of it is just being lost in the mix of new instrumental influences, is anyone’s guess. What it does mean, though, is that the band are, for the first time in their career, struggling.
It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll afforded Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards a seat in the production booth. They were up to the task there and, with steady guidance from Andy Johns (who had worked with the band on Exile on Main St.) as they learned the ropes of the production side of things. This fell to pieces with Black and Blue, a sound that’s focused more on being new than solid. Keith Harwood, who featured as the recording and mixing engineer for It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll appears on Black and Blue too. So too does Johns. It feels more like Jagger and Richards overstepping in the studio than it does a failing of two men who were prepared to understand The Rolling Stones’ sound. Maybe that’s the problem, though, nobody could quite nail the sound the band had wanted for Black and Blue.
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