The Rolling Stones
Blue and Lonesome
(Interscope Records)
4.5/5
The Rolling Stones’ new covers album Blue and Lonesome challenges me to appreciate remakes in new ways. The album’s opener, “Just Your Fool” (which was originally recorded by Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra in 1953), has fresh New Orleans jazz undertones combined with good old-fashioned rock, a sound that is far too scarce in the music world today.
Mick Jagger’s vibrato on the harmonica is a thing of beauty throughout the album, and Keith Richards defies every law of science, as usual, holding up the rhythm section, dancing his swollen smoke-stained fingers over his six-string flawlessly and with fierce respect to the original tracks.
That respect is what sticks out most for me listening to this album; it takes me back to a small-time music hall, my eyes blood-red from cigarette smoke and whiskey, only to find that when the songs were done I was, in fact, sitting in my living room staring at a pile of dirty dishes.
With the exception of the title track—which isn’t bad by any means, but it sounds like the band couldn’t decide whether to rock, roll, or cry on it—this is flawless, timeless music. Blue and Lonesome gives hope to those who crave blues and rock music at its best. It’s intimate; I will listen to this album again and again, and it will give me something new to appreciate every time.