The Rolling Stones are going back to their roots with a new studio album

In December this year, The Rolling Stones will be releasing an album of the blues greats that originally got them going.

The band got together for three days last December to record “Blue & Lonesome,” their new album of American blues covers, music that takes them back to the days when they first got into music together. Mick Jagger, along with Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood recorded the new album at London’s British Grove Studios. The studios are close to where the band started performing back in 1962 at local venues in London, performing music inspired by the American blues.

Excited that #BlueAndLonesome will be released on Dec 2! Spotted this on the drive to the desert today. See you tomorrow #StonesDesertTrip pic.twitter.com/fvdYR5ZnTN

— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) October 7, 2016

Blues is the heart and soul of The Rolling Stones

According to a statement released by the band, their passion for blues music has remained the heart and soul of The Rolling Stones. The way they approached the new album was by playing the music spontaneously in the studio, with no overdubs. Among the songs on the new album are music the band played in its early days, including that of artists like Little Walter, Eddie Taylor, Howlin’ Wolf  and Willie Dixon. In the past they have played specific blues sets at their concerts, including in their repertoire songs like “Love in Vain” by Robert Johnson and “Little Red Rooster,” by Dixon.

American blues were the inspiration of many British rock bands back in the 1960s and early 1970s and Fleetwood Mac, along with Cream and Led Zeppelin were all influenced by the music. In fact, Eric Clapton, the renowned Cream guitarist and singer, has joined the band on two of the new album’s 12 tracks.

"Blue & Lonesome" out on December 2

On the album, to be released on December 2, the tracks are listed as "Just Your Fool", "Commit A Crime", "Blue and Lonesome", "All Of Your Love", "I Gotta Go", "Everybody Knows About My Good Thing", "Ride 'Em On Down", "Hate To See You Go", "Hoo Doo Blues", "Little Rain", "Just Like I Treat You" and "I Can't Quit You Baby". 

It has been more than a decade since the Stones released their last studio album, the 2005 “A Bigger Bang,” but they haven’t sat on their laurels, touring the world and putting on concerts, including a free, outdoor gig in Cuba during March this year.

According to a statement by the album’s co-producer, Don Was, “Blue & Lonesome” is a testament to the band’s love for making music, stressing that blues is the fountainhead of everything The Rolling Stones do.



The band released a video snippet for fans on Twitter of them performing a tune in a studio, clearly showing the artwork for the album’s cover, with a blue version of their iconic tongue-and-lips logo, included below.

The Rolling Stones return to the blues with Blue & Lonesome, their first studio album in over a decade #RollingStones #BlueAndLonesome pic.twitter.com/e1eDM5TOfo

— The Rolling Stones (@RollingStones) October 6, 2016

A brief intro into one of the tunes is also included in the video below.



Photo by SolarScott / CC BY 2.0