Ticket 2 Ride

This look back involves one studio album (Black and Blue) and the material from two three live albums recorded during tours, just before, and following, the release of Black and Blue (1976).

Usually, I pick a pair of studios albums to review, but Black and Blue is such a unique and transitional album that I’d look at material released from the tours that became the live albums Love You Live (1977) and Live at the El Mocambo (2022), [plus a bonus review at the end!].

Material from these two three live albums was recorded on the 1975–1976 tours of America and Europe, and the performances at the El Mocambo, Toronto in March 1977.

New album, finding a guitarist

Mick Taylor had quit the band as sessions started for a new album. The Stones auditioned guitarists to fill that spot, using sessions that became Black and Blue for that purpose. Steve Marriott, Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins, Robert A. Johnson, Ronnie Wood, Jeff Beck and Rory Gallagher were names in the mix.

Session work on what would become Black and Blue started in December 1974 in Munich at the same time Taylor announced he was leaving. Several songs were in the works. They reconvened in Rotterdam, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, with several guitarists coming in to work on songs and gauge the compatibility. Overdubs and further finishes were applied in sessions at Montreux, Switzerland.

The Stones toured in summer 1975 with Ronnie Wood along as a hired gun, essentially Taylor’s replacement as a second guitar. The style of playing had changed when Taylor joined the band, and it changed again after he left. A versatile guitarist, Wood is not like Taylor, and the song structure changed as well, with more rhythmic interplay and fills, rather than setting up a dedicated solo, as they often did for Taylor. That would become more apparent starting on Some Girls.

There are eight songs on Black and Blue, with one clocking in at seven minutes. The album is fully produced by Jagger and Richards, and engineered by Keith Harwood, Glyn Johns and Phil McDonald.

Seven of the eight songs are credited to Jagger/Richards, although two of those songs are also attached to other people. “Hey Negrita” carries the notation, “inspiration from Ronnie Wood”, meaning thanks for the help but you don’t get a co-writing credit. “Melody” carries that same notation, except it’s for keyboard player Billy Preston, who felt the music ripped off his song “Do You Love Me?”, which he co-wrote with Bruce Fisher. I’ve never understood why Jagger/Richards would do this to their own players. The older song, “Cherry Oh Baby” is credited to Eric Donaldson.

Black and Blue is a crisp, sounding recording, noticeable from the opening chords. There is great separation of instruments and vocals, not the muddy mix that hurt It’s Only Rock and Roll.

Black and Blue is an album that embraces funk, reggae and blues-rock, the styles vary greatly. “Cherry Oh Baby”, the reggae cover is a nod to the growing fascination with the Island sound. While it’s very interesting that the Stones would feature a song with this groove, they could have found a different and better reggae example, maybe one with some social or political grit.

“Hand of Fate” and “Crazy Mama” are riff songs, the bread and butter of the Stones. The guitar work is superb, especially Perkins’ three solos on “Hand of Fate.” These could just been throwaways, the songs are pretty standard from the Stones assembly line. “Crazy Mama” is now a grittier version of itself with the new Steven Wilson mix.

“Hey Negrita” and “Hot Stuff” are heavy funk grove songs with greater bass lines and Charlie Watts beats. Harvey Mandel plays the funky guitar on “Hot Stuff” and Ronnie Wood came up with the riff on “Hey Negrita.” The 2025 mix of “Hot Stuff” makes this an even better song, sharpening the already sizzling performance. Unfortunately, the new mix of “Hey Negrita” finds a below average guitar solo that was buried in the original mix.

“Melody” is a soulful, bluesy, Dr. John kind of song. Thanks to Billy Preston for writing it. Preston plays piano and organ and provides harmony vocals. It’s a bouncy groove that lets the band really get down.

“Fool to Cry” is one of their better ballads. It sometimes is dismissed as a sentimental song, but musically it’s well-crafted and played. “Memory Motel” is a boozy, set of memories from the road with Jagger and Richards sharing vocals and both play pianos. The guitars are handled by Perkins and Mandel. The new mix brings forward the organ and other instrumental flourishes.

The album art and marketing take a low road in emphasizing roughing up women. Leaving women battered, bruised and tied-up was certainly what male rockstars felt free to project, and did, but the Black and Blue campaign was met with criticism and protest. It was a cavalier attitude that was popular in hard rock and would get worse before it improved.

Even the Stones came to dismiss the album as a disappointment, it served them well by reloading the band with not only a new, yet familiar, guitarist in Wood, but it also reset the songwriting and sound going forward.

In 2025, Black and Blue Super Deluxe Edition was released, featuring 4CDs and 1 Blu-Ray disc, and a new Steven Wilson mix of the album, unreleased outtakes, and a live recording from their 1976 Earls Court show. The Blu-Ray also includes a previously unreleased live TV recording from Paris and Dolby Atmos mixes. A 100-page hardcover book is included.

The outtakes includes an unreleased song, a cover of “Shame, Shame, Shame” and jams with Jeff Beck, Harvey Mandel and Robert A. Johnson. Two discs feature a 1976 concert at Earls Court, in which the band played four songs from Black and Blue.

Although by no means does Black and Blue rank with the classic albums before it, on its own, I am quite fond of the songs on it as well as the style of the songwriting, Some Girls would definitely take the band on a very different path.

Taking it on the road

With Wood aboard, the Stones toured the UK and then the U.S., a European set of shows in 1976 and then a 1977 Toronto visit to perform at the El Mocambo, a small club as the Cockroaches, the Stones’ alter ego.

Love You Live is the first live Stones album since Get Your Ya-Yas Out. This new collection features more of the hits and is less blues heavy, more the commercial side of the Stones. The reviews initially were average, although I think the album has aged pretty well. Since then, other albums from concerts recorded on the tours have been released including the full El Mocambo concert. Only four songs from the El Mocambo were featured on this album, all are covers.

What these concerts show is how successfully Jagger and associates have become mass market rock showmen, incorporating new and old songs for an ever-expanding fan base. Musically, they were using these tours to integrate Woody into the band and re-shape their core sound. In the 1970s, the Stones certainly lived up to their reputation on stage as the “greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world.”

Love You Live

This live package is geared toward the commercial market, strategic picks of hits and a few audience favorites.

“Intro: Excerpt from Fanfare for the Common Man” (Aaron Copland) – 1:24
“Honky Tonk Women” – 3:19 (5 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
“If You Can’t Rock Me”/”Get Off of My Cloud” – 5:00 (27 May 1976: Earls Court, London)
“Happy” – 2:55 (5 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
“Hot Stuff” – 4:35 (6 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
“Star Star” – 4:10 (6 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)

“Tumbling Dice” – 4:00 (7 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
“Fingerprint File” – 5:17 (17 June 1975: Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto)
“You Gotta Move” (Fred McDowell/Rev. Gary Davis) – 4:19 (5 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – 7:42 (7 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)

“Mannish Boy” (Ellas McDaniel/McKinley Morganfield/Mel London) – 6:28 (5 March 1977: El Mocambo, Toronto)
“Crackin’ Up” (Ellas McDaniel) – 5:40 (5 March 1977: El Mocambo, Toronto)
“Little Red Rooster” (Willie Dixon) – 4:39 (4 March 1977: El Mocambo, Toronto)
“Around and Around” (Chuck Berry) – 4:09 (5 March 1977: El Mocambo, Toronto)

“It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)” – 4:31 (17 June 1975: Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto)
“Brown Sugar” – 3:11 (6 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” – 4:03 (6 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
“Sympathy for the Devil” – 7:51 (9 July 1975: Inglewood Forum, Los Angeles)

Additional personnel:

Ian Stewart – piano
Billy Preston – piano, organ, clavinet, backing vocals
Ollie Brown – percussion, backing vocals on “You Gotta Move”

It’s interesting that there were no horns on this tour, particularly Bobby Keys’ sax. No backup singers other than Preston and Brown.

Live at the El Mocambo

Recorded in 1977, but the full concert not released until 2022. The El Mocambo set included five songs from Black and Blue. The Stones sound tighter and less sloppy than live albums that followed. At first, I wasn’t crazy about the number of blues covers on the album, but they are played with skill and seriousness. They are a blues band they will remind everyone.

If you want the Stones at the early-1970s, with a couple of 1960s tunes, this is a solid live recording. A few less classics, but numerous deeper cuts.

“Honky Tonk Women” 3:36

“All Down the Line” 4:12

“Hand of Fate” 4:27

“Route 66″ Bobby Troup 3:13

“Fool to Cry” 4:57

“Crazy Mama” 4:59

“Mannish Boy”
Morganfield/London/Diddley 6:02

“Crackin’ Up” Bo Diddley 4:14

“Dance Little Sister” 4:52

“Around and Around” Chuck Berry 3:53

“Tumbling Dice” 4:56

“Hot Stuff” 5:28

“Star Star” 4:24

“Let’s Spend the Night Together” 3:48

“Worried Life Blues” Maceo Merriweather 5:26

“Little Red Rooster” Willie Dixon 4:50

“It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It)” 4:55

“Rip This Joint” 2:11

“Brown Sugar” 3:24

“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” 5:26

“Melody” 4:42

“Luxury” 5:11

“Worried About You”

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Bonus – Live Friday (Live 1975)

Recorded at the Forum in Inglewood, CA on July 13, 1975. Released in 2012, with the same touring musicians (including Ron Wood) as concerts above, but also including a horn section for their five Forum shows:

Bobby Keys – saxophone
Steve Madaio – trumpet
Trevor Lawrence – saxophone

This concert was part of the Tour of the Americas ‘75. The tour was in support of Made in the Shade, a greatest hits collection.

Five nights at The Forum, supported by the Eagles, Rufus, and The Gap Band. The setlist here is a bit longer and includes Stones songs in place of the blues covers and two Billy Preston solo tunes. Also missing are any songs from the forthcoming Black and Blue.

“Honky Tonk Women” 5:29

“All Down the Line” 4:05

“If You Can’t Rock Me / Get Off of My Cloud” 7:26

“Star Star” 4:45

“Gimme Shelter” 6:12

“Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” Whitfield/Holland 4:25

“You Gotta Move” McDowell/Davis
4:32

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” 15:23

“Happy” 3:59

“Tumbling Dice” 5:23

Band Intros 1:20

“It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It)” 6:04

“Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” 5:02

“Fingerprint File” 9:23

“Angie” 5:18

“Wild Horses” 7:25

“That’s Life” (with Billy Preston) Billy Preston 3:17

“Outa-Space” (with Billy Preston)
Billy PrestonJoe Greene
4:04

“Brown Sugar” 4:15

“Midnight Rambler” 15:15

“Rip This Joint” 2:06

“Street Fighting Man” 4:05

“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” 6:57

“Sympathy for the Devil”

Final thoughts…

I like Black and Blue every bit as much as I did when it was released. Live at the El Mocambo is a small audience crowd concert that feels very intimate. Live Friday 1975 might be my all-time favorite Rolling Stone live album. It’s not fancy and or polished like their live albums that followed. I like the selection of songs, although a few more from the 1960s would have been great too.

Until the next edition of Rewind.