Black and Blue - History

History

In December 1974, the Rolling Stones returned to Munich, Germany—the recording site of their previous release It's Only Rock 'n' Roll—and began the recording of their new album at Musicland Studios, with Mick Jagger and Keith Richard (as the Glimmer Twins) producing again. With a view to releasing it in time for the summer 1975 Tour of the Americas, the band broke for the holidays and returned in January in Rotterdam, Netherlands to continue working—all the while auditioning new guitarists as they recorded. Among the hopefuls were Steve Marriott, Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins, Peter Frampton, and Ronnie Wood (although only Mandel, Perkins and Wood's guitar work would appear on the finished album). With much work to follow, it was decided to delay the album for the following year and release the Made in the Shade compilation instead. "Cherry Oh Baby" (which was a cover version of Eric Donaldson's 1971 reggae song) would be the only song from the upcoming album sporadically played on the Tour of the Americas.

Following the conclusion of the tour, the band went to Montreux, Switzerland in October for some overdub work, returning to Musicland Studios in Munich in December to perform similar work. After some final touch-ups, Black and Blue was completed in New York City in February 1976.

In February 1976 the Stones flew to Sanibel Island Beach on Sanibel Island, Florida to be photographed by famed fashion photographer Hiro for the album cover art.

Stylistically, Black and Blue embraces funk with "Hot Stuff"; reggae with their cover of "Cherry Oh Baby"; and jazz with "Melody", featuring the talents of Billy Preston - a heavy contributor to the album. Musical and thematic styles were merged on the seven-minute "Memory Motel", with both Jagger and Richards contributing lead vocals to a love song embedded within a life-on-the-road tale.