A Box Set Expands on the Rolling Stones’ ‘Black and Blue’: Review
by Jeff Burger
Just a few months shy of a half century after its release, the Rolling Stones’ Black and Blue is back in a “super deluxe” edition that includes four CDs (or five vinyl LPs) and a Blu-ray disc. Also in the box is a replica of a concert poster and an oversized 100-page hardcover book dominated by eye-catching photos.
[Both editions are available in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here. The remixed single LP and single CD are available in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.]
Recorded shortly after the December 1974 departure of guitarist Mick Taylor, this 13th Stones studio album employs several musicians who were being considered to replace him, including Canned Heat’s Harvey Mandel, session musician Wayne Perkins and Faces and Jeff Beck Group alumnus Ron Wood, who ultimately got the job. The LP also prominently features keyboardists Nicky Hopkins and Billy Preston.
The record shot to #1 on Billboard’s chart upon its release in April 1976. However, it is probably not an LP that many people would mention today when asked to name the Stones’ best albums. That’s likely because most of its tracks sound more like riffs or jams than polished songs with strong melodies and hooks. Still, reggae- and funk-influenced numbers such as “Hot Stuff” and “Hand of Fate” have their strengths, and the album’s two ballads are outstanding exceptions to the predominant approach. Mick Jagger delivers one of his finest vocals on the soulful “Fool to Cry,” a Top 10 single, and he shines again on the wonderful “Memory Motel,” which features evocative lyrics about a lover and life on a rock and roll tour. Keith Richards shares lead vocals on that one.
The album receives a sonic boost in the “super deluxe” edition, where it benefits from a new mix by Steven Wilson. And the box is packed with other musical goodies, including a CD that features two outtakes from the Black and Blue sessions and four jams, three of which make excellent use of the late guitar wizard Jeff Beck.
The box devotes its final two CDs to 20 numbers culled from a six-night 1976 residency at the now-defunct Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London. Granted, at this point, there isn’t exactly a shortage of Rolling Stones concert material on CD, but the performances here are good. In addition to four numbers from Black and Blue (but alas, no “Memory Motel”), the song list includes several tracks from the superlative Exile on Main Street and such fan favorites as “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Street Fighting Man,” “Brown Sugar,” “It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll (But I Like It)” and “Honky Tonk Women.”
Related: In this archival interview, Billy Preston recalls touring with the Stones
You’ll find some of the best reasons to buy this box on its Blu-ray disc. It includes terrific-sounding versions of Wilson’s remixes of the original album and the Earls Court show (hi-res stereo, DTS-HD and Dolby Atmos, though not 5.1), as well as stereo copies of the two outtakes and four jams. There’s also video of a 1976 Paris performance whose 11 songs include three from Black and Blue, among them a fine reading of “Fool to Cry” with Jagger on piano. Not surprisingly, given that this video is about 50 years old, the images are not widescreen, but the sound and picture are excellent, as is the band.
Burger wrote one of the first interview-based profiles of Bruce Springsteen to be published in a national magazine. He has interviewed many other music-world luminaries as well, including Steve Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Wolfman Jack, Tom Waits, Foreigner’s Mick Jones, Billy Joel, Steve Forbert, Tommy James, the Righteous Brothers, Gordon Lightfoot, Deep Purple’s Tommy Bolin, and members of Steely Dan and the Marshall Tucker Band. He has also interviewed many other public figures, such as Suze Orman, Daymond John, James Carville, Donald Trump, Sir Richard Branson, F. Lee Bailey, and Cliff Robertson.
His books include Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters, all of which are published in the U.S. and Canada by Chicago Review Press. The books have been republished in numerous other countries.
Burger has been the editor of several periodicals, including Business Jet Traveler, from which he retired in 2024. During his 20 years at that
publication, it received more than 120 major editorial awards, including multiple wins for the world’s Best Consumer Travel Magazine in the annual Folio:Eddie competition.
Burger lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey. His wife, Madeleine Beresford, is a puppeteer and former preschool director and teacher. The couple have two grown children.
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationLive stuff is pretty good, but the songs were never the same after Mick Taylor left in 1974; woody is a great cat and a good player love all 33 shows I have seen since 75, but the 3 I saw with mick Taylor in 1972 can never be matched by anyone.
The album is horrible then and now. I bought it the day it came out, listened to it once and put it in a sleeve and never have played it again. 50 years on the shelf. Great sound horrible record for sure. Hand of Fate Crazy Mama Memory Motel good songs the rest are awful. Just my take. TGRARBITW!!!!