Black and Blue

For other uses, see Black and Blue (disambiguation).
Black and Blue
Studio album by The Rolling Stones
Released 23 April 1976
Recorded 7–15 December 1974,
22 January – 9 February 1975,
25 March – 4 April 1975, (overdub work[1] 19–30 October 1975, 3–16 December 1975, 18 January – February 1976)
Genre Rock, hard rock, funk rock, reggae
Length 41:24
Language English
Label Rolling Stones
Producer The Glimmer Twins
The Rolling Stones chronology
It's Only Rock 'n Roll
(1974)		 Black and Blue
(1976)		 Some Girls
(1978)
Singles from Black and Blue
  1. "Fool to Cry"
    Released: 26 April 1976
  2. "Hot Stuff"
    Released: 1976

Black and Blue is the 13th British and 15th American studio album by the band The Rolling Stones, released in 1976.

It was the band's first studio album released with Ronnie Wood as the replacement for Mick Taylor. Wood had played twelve-string acoustic guitar on the track "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" from the It's Only Rock 'n Roll album and appears on half of the Black and Blue album tracks (mostly backing vocals) with Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel playing guitar on the remaining titles. Keith Richards would later comment "Rehearsing guitar players, that's what that one was about".[2]

The album showed the band incorporating its traditional rock and roll style with heavy influences from reggae and funk music. Though recorded at a transitional moment for the band, the release has received mixed to positive retrospective reviews from publications such as Allmusic, with critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine stating that the album's "being longer on grooves and jams than songs" ended up being "what's good about it".[3]

History

In December 1974, the Rolling Stones returned to Munich, Germany —where they had recorded their previous album It's Only Rock 'n' Roll— and began the recording of their new album at Musicland Studios, with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (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 Rory Gallagher, Steve Marriott, Jeff Beck, 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 1975 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 fashion photographer Hiro for the album cover art.[4]

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.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Robert ChristgauA–[5]
MusicHound3/5[6]
NME7/10[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]

Released in April 1976 – with "Fool to Cry", a worldwide Top 10 hit, as its lead single – Black and Blue reached number 2 in the UK and spent an interrupted four-week spell at number 1 in the US, going platinum there. Critical view was polarised: Lester Bangs wrote in Creem that "the heat's off, because it's all over, they really don't matter anymore or stand for anything" and "This is the first meaningless Rolling Stones album, and thank God";[9] but in the 1976 Creem Consumer Guide Robert Christgau rated the album an A–.[10]

While all the album's songs except "Cherry Oh Baby" were officially credited to Jagger/Richards as authors, the credit for "Hey Negrita" specifies "Inspiration by Ron Wood" and "Melody" lists "Inspiration by Billy Preston". Bill Wyman would later release a version of "Melody" with his Rhythm Kings, crediting Preston as author.

The album was promoted with a controversial billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood that depicted the model Anita Russell, bound by Jagger[11] under the phrase "I'm Black and Blue from the Rolling Stones – and I love it!" The billboard was removed after protests by the feminist group Women Against Violence Against Women, although it earned the band widespread press coverage.[12]

Two extra tracks recorded in the Rotterdam sessions were later released on 1981's Tattoo You: "Slave" and "Worried About You".[13]

In 1994, Black and Blue was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, again in 2009 by Universal Music, and once more in 2011 by Universal Music Enterprises in a Japanese only SHM-SACD version.

Track listing

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted.

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Hot Stuff"   5:20
2. "Hand of Fate"   4:28
3. "Cherry Oh Baby" (Eric Donaldson) 3:57
4. "Memory Motel"   7:07
Side two
No. Title Length
5. "Hey Negrita" (inspiration by Ron Wood) 4:59
6. "Melody" (inspiration by Billy Preston) 5:47
7. "Fool to Cry"   5:03
8. "Crazy Mama"   4:34

Personnel

The Rolling Stones
Additional personnel

Charts

Chart performance

Album
Year Chart Position
1976 UK Top 60 Albums[14] 2
1976 French Albums Chart[15] 1
1976 Dutch Albums Chart[16] 1
1976 Billboard 200[17] 1
Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1976 "Fool to Cry" UK Top 50 Singles[18] 6
1976 "Fool to Cry" The Billboard Hot 100[19] 10
1976 "Hot Stuff" The Billboard Hot 100 49
1976 "Hot Stuff" Black Singles 84
1976 "Hot Stuff" Club Play Singles 11

Certifications

Country Provider Certification
(sales thresholds)
United States RIAA Platinum
France SNEP Gold
United Kingdom BPI Gold

Preceded by
Presence by Led Zeppelin
Wings at the Speed of Sound by Wings		 Billboard Top LPs number-one album
15–28 May 1976
5–18 June 1976 		Succeeded by
Wings at the Speed of Sound by Wings
Wings at the Speed of Sound by Wings

References

  1. ↑ Overdub work 1975 and 1976
  2. ↑ Hector, James (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of The Rolling Stones. London, UK: Omnibus Press. p. 101. ISBN 0-7119-4303-6.
  3. 1 2 link
  4. ↑ "Led Zeppelin Crashed Here – The Rock and Roll Landmarks of North America" by Chris Epting, pg. 109
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert (14 June 1976). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  6. ↑ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 952. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  7. ↑ "The Rolling Stones – Black and Blue CD". CD Universe/Muze. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "The Rolling Stones: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived version retrieved 15 November 2014.
  9. ↑ Creem Vol. 8 Number 2 July 1976 "State of the Art: Bland on Bland"
  10. ↑ McPherson, Ian. "Black and Blue". Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  11. ↑ "Anita Russell: Stones"
  12. ↑ Child, Lee. (1977). "Really Socking It to Women". Time (7 February 1977).
  13. ↑ "Slave" and "Worried About You" recorded during sessions in January–February 1975
  14. ↑ UK Album Chart 1976(Link redirected to OCC website)
  15. ↑ French #1 albums of the 70s
  16. ↑ Dutch Albums Chart 1976
  17. ↑ The Rolling Stones Albums on Billboard
  18. ↑ Uk Top 40 Hit Database Rolling Stones
  19. ↑ Rolling Stones Singles on Billboard
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