The Rolling Stones after six decades: "We've got to keep going. When you've got it, flaunt it, you know?"
You don't expect birth announcements from a 60-year-old band. But last month in London, The Rolling Stones revealed they'd made a new record. "Hackney Diamonds" (to be released October 20) is the Stones' first album of original music in 18 years.
At Electric Lady Studios in New York, where the band worked on the new record, "Sunday Morning" caught up with Keith Richards.
Mason asked, "Is it like getting on a bike, when you guys go into the studio?"
"Pretty much, but you're not sure if the tires are pumped up!" Richards laughed.
Over in London, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood joined us, to discuss how "Hackney Diamonds" came about.
According to Richards, "My recollection is that Mick said, 'What we need to do is, let's make an album. Let's blitz it.' Basically that was the impetus."
"We used to have to have a record ready to go out on tour, so there was a deadline," said Jagger. "So, then we more or less did what we said we planned to do."
"It was really unusual!" Richards laughed.
"Yeah, really unusual! I think I said to Keith, 'It's going to be finished by Valentine's Day.' And Keith looked at me like [what???]."
Mason asked, "How quickly do you know in a recording studio when you have something?"
"You've got to give it a minute," Jagger replied. "You can't be dismissive if you don't get it in the first one minute. But you kind of get to know in 10 minutes, I'd say."
That quickly? "It doesn't take long to know if something's really there and whether it's worth chasing," Richards said.
"It's a bit like a painting you construct," said Wood. "You do that first layout, and then you give it a breath – you know, go away."
"Because you're a painter," said Jagger.
"Let him have his analogy," added Richards. "Most people aren't Van Gogh."
"Van Gogh away, please!" Wood laughed.
The album's lead single, "Angry," started with a lyric from Jagger: "I was just playing the guitar in the Caribbean on my own and just came up with the idea. And then I took it to the next level with Keith," he said.
"Mick and I, we kind of kick each other up the ass," Richards said. "'Oh, I like that.' 'I don't like that.' Whatever it is, it's a sort of chemistry."
To hear "Angry," from the album "Hackney Diamonds," click on the video player below:
But the band's chemistry was rocked when drummer and founding member Charlie Watts died in 2021.
Mason asked, "Did you feel the need to put an album out?"
"I think maybe because of Charlie's demise that we felt that, if the Stones were going to continue, then we better make a mark of what the Stones are now," Jagger said.
"Was it hard for you to look back and not see Charlie there?"
"Yeah, of course, it's hard," Jagger said. "I mean, it's all my life. Ever since I was 19 or whatever, it's always been Charlie."
"On some level it had to be emotional not to have Charlie."
"Of course it's emotional," Jagger said. "But you have to get past that in life, you know? I love Charlie … but I still want to carry on making music."
Last year, the Stones toured with new drummer Steve Jordan. But Watts plays on two tracks on "Hackney Diamonds," including one with the Stones' original bassist, Bill Wyman, who left the band in 1993.
Did Wyman have to be coaxed to come back? "No, not at all," said Jagger. "I phoned him and I said, 'Are you still playing the bass even?' I was a bit worried! He said, 'What do you mean? I play every day! I'm making an album.' I said, 'Great, Bill. Come and do this track. Because Charlie's on it and I'd like it to be reunited, the original rhythm section. Would be a cool idea.'"
"It All Over Now," the Stones' first Top 10 hit in America in 1964:
When those original Rolling Stones first formed in London in 1962, they never imagined it would last. Richards said, "I remember when we had the first hit record, we kind of looked at each other with like dismay: 'Well, we got about two years, boys, and then you got find a job!'"
Six decades later, they're still one of the biggest touring acts in the world, grossing $179 million last year alone.
"We just are pioneers, in that no one has done 60 years of rock 'n' roll, ever," said Wood – at 76, the youngest Stone.
He has a side gig as a painter, a passion he pursues when he's not playing guitar. "That's what keeps me going," he said. "And then I go, 'Wow,' you know, 'we're gonna play music next,' and it just, one runs into the other."
His two artistic passions merge on tour when he makes these set lists after every show. It's a kind of memoir: "That was when that happened, you know, and that's where we played."
Speaking of memoirs, Mason asked Jagger if he'd ever considered writing one. "Oh, yeah, I've considered it," he replied. And I've been offered a lot of money. And I've seen people do it. And it takes like, two years. They're living two years in their past."
"And that doesn't appeal to you?" Mason asked.
"That does not appeal to me," he replied. "So, someone else will just have to remember it for me!"
Both Jagger and Richards have landmark birthdays this year – the big eight-zero. Richards' is in December.
How does that feel? "I asked Mick, because he's six months older than me. And he says it's not that different," Richards laughed.
Jagger became an octogenarian back in July. "It's a bit overblown," he said. "It's not all it's cracked up to be, being 80. There's not really options here. You're either going to get there or not."
"You've gotten there in pretty good shape," Mason said.
"Well, thank you, that's very kind!"
Wood said of Jagger, "He's singing the best he's ever sang, I think, now. That's another reason we've got to keep going. When you've got it, flaunt it, you know?"
Mason asked Richards, "So, why do you think you guys have endured?"
"I think we, basically, we love each other and we love our music," he said. "And when you're doing it, you don't really think about it. But I think with Charlie going, I've realized more and more how special that is. I mean, there's something about the Stones and there's something about us all that sort of says, 'No, we stick together!' And then you can't just drop it, you know? You got to follow it right down to the end, down the tunnel."
"As you said, it's bigger than all of you."
"Yeah, it is. Damn thing!" he laughed.
To hear "Sweet Sounds of Heaven," from the album "Hackney Diamonds," click on the video player below:
For more info:
- rollingstones.com
- "Hackney Diamonds" will be released on October 20.
- Electric Lady Studios, New York
Story produced by Mikaela Bufano. Editor: Ed Givnish.
See also:
- Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on the blues ("Sunday Morning")
- Keith Richards on the Rolling Stones and a solo reunion ("Sunday Morning")
- Keith Richards riffs on his "Life" ("Sunday Morning")