Keith Richards: We’ll do a new Stones album (and tour) after my solo LP

This thing everyone has thankfully wiped from their memory banks?

 

I don't care if it's originals or covers or who produces it but RECORD IT LIVE. The band in the studio playing together after they've worked through the demos. A Bigger Bang, Bridges' were recorded piecemeal with ProTools and any soul the songs had was lost in the process. Write the songs. Rough out the demos. Give Chuck Levell a say in the arrangements and then record THE ROLLING STONES playing them. Record 15-16 songs. Release 11-12 on a 45 minute album.

 

Keith's solo albums are always better IMO than the Stones album that comes out afterwards. I wish he would save his gems for the Stones -- if Talk is Cheap had been a Stones record it would have surged their recording career again much like Some Girls did in the late 70's, and reinvented them a bit as a more rootsy version of themselves. If they do an album like that now, it would make a fitting swan song.

 

Any other wishes, Sir?
Make it louder than A Bigger (and louder) Bang perhaps?

 

That was kind of the point with Talk Is Cheap, though- it was intended as a Keith solo record from the get go: "If Mick can do solo sh-t then so can I." No question, though, if TIC had been a Stones album it would have been one of their best.

If the Stones do do another studio album...well, I don't think we really can have any preconceived notions about what it'll sound like. I'd hate like hell to see it be like A Bigger Bang- where the thing is basically a loud, bloated hyperdigital sounding Mick and Keith show. I know if I were in the producer's chair, I'd want to record the damn album as analog as possible, with the whole band- Mick, Keith, Charlie, Ronnie, Darryl and Chuck- playing in the same room at the same time...and if Taylor and Wyman were inclined to sit in, fine. A rootsy, bluesy album would be nice- as a matter of fact I'd probably start off by suggesting to them that they take a day or two and run through some of their favourite old blues tunes as a kick off, then get down to the nitty gritty. But I know better than to expect Beggars Banquet, Part II at this late date...

 

"I've got my own album to do"

 

Cancel everything.

 

Dylan and Young do not have the same amount of cash and crowds as Stones do.

 

I’ve joked before that Steven Tyler must have told Jimmy Crespo not to play any blazing long leads because Joe might get jealous.

Since we do not seem to hear any long lead solos anymore I think that may be the case for Ronnie Wood too. We wouldn’t want Keith to get jealous now would we.

 

1) Keep it up to 45 min
2) Good rockers, classic Stones (no 'Rain Fall Down'!)
3) Include at least 30% of this album into their subsequent tours!

 

Amen. And while we're at it, just keep 'em coming, keep the valves greased and keep hitting it. You never know what you'll find...

 

Well sure - nostalgia sells more than integrity.

 

The only difference this time is that Mick hasn't released an album within a year of Keith's solo album (at least we don't think he is currently working on one). "Primitive Cool" came out about a year before "Talk Is Cheap," and "Wandering Spirit" came out four months after "Main Offender." If "Crosseyed Heart" gets a lot of great reviews and attention, Mick just might be inspired to really focus on his contributions to the theoretical new Stones album that people are talking about. IMHO, "Wandering Spirit" was a much better (Stones) record than "Voodoo Lounge." It is the one Mick solo album that had a number of songs that seemed tailored made for the Rolling Stones. I remember reading somewhere in the last couple of years where Mick said he already has a bunch of new songs that the Stones could use. If Mick still feels any kind of creative rivalry with Keith, we could reap the benefits of it!

 

I'm sure if you took all of the re-recorded elements from the bonus tracks on the deluxe editions over the last few years, you'd have an albums worth of material...

 

See now, that's the thing in my mind. Those bonus tracks have been some of the best "new" stuff from the Stones since the days of Tattoo You when they would would raid the cupboard for extras worth finalizing. That's really not a bad approach versus starting from scratch.

 

The last 3 records were better than the 3 before them, imho.

 

I don't care how many tracks it has--just keep it to 45 minutes.

 

I was in the studio some when the Stones were cutting Bridges to Babylon and they were recording as a four piece, jamming out the songs, no distractions, with Jagger on harmonica. I know the album consisted of material that Mick and Keith intended as solo material, but it was cut as a band. The Dust Brothers sort of stuff happened after they cut the basic tracks. so that wasn't the "problem." They were however doing a lot of takes, like Glyn Johns complains about. Apparently Bigger Bang was different, as Ronnie wasn't there for the basic tracks and overdubbed his bits later.

 

The incentive and decision to record a new album will not be based on what can be made on album sales versus the cost of recording or what could be made by touring.
These guys are worth a fortune and can afford anything. They will record a new album because they have a desire to create something new as well as not wanting to be seen as merely an oldies act. A new album is a certainty in my opinion.

 

I hope you're right, but if there is one thing I've learned in 40+ years, it's that money matters to the Rolling Stones.

 

The touring money will certainly subsidise the studio time they need to record an album.
Mick will crack the whip to make sure Ronnie and Keith don't stuff around too much and waste time and money in the studio.

 

A month from now will mark the 10th anniversary of A Bigger Bang, so I hope you're right. Since the last album, I've seen them four times in London alone!

2006 - Twickenham
2007 - O2 Arena
2012 - O2 Arena
2013 - Hyde Park

Twickenham was my daughter's first Stones show. She had just started high school, and I watched in wonder as she sprang over a row of chairs at the B Stage to retrieve a pick that had been thrown by Ronnie. Since that time, she finished high school, graduated from college and now works in public relations in New York. It's been a long time.

 

No, this came out in 2011. Mick and Dave Stewart have been in the studio since then. And btw, I love this record. 'Miracle Worker' was the first good Mick Jagger song since 'Don't Stop'.