D-Day! The Rolling Stones are back again with their 23rd album, Blue & Lonesome, a tribute to the blues music that has always inspired them. It’s a return to their roots and the music that got Mick Jagger swinging with his harmonica and inspired Keith Richards’ legendary riffs, with that raw passion still coming through. 

Blue & Lonesome is actually the first Rolling Stones album totally dedicated to the blues, in a career that spans over 50 years. It’s an obvious tribute as the group was instrumental in bringing this music back to the music scene in the 60s – indeed the group is named after the Muddy Waters song, ‘Rollin’ Stone’.

It’s been 11 years since their last studio album, and the legendary grandads of rock have revised their old classics to regale us. Recorded in London over just three days and with a hint of that live spirit, Blue & Lonesome brings together twelve blues covers – including Little Walter, Otis Rush, Willie Dixon – dating from 1955 to 1967.

The Stones are in their element, which is only highlighted by their guest singers: Eric Clapton, a close friend of the group from the early days, appears as a ‘guitar guest’ on the song Everybody Knows About My Good Thing and I Can’t Quit You Baby. You can hear the Rolling Stones themselves applaud him and it’s great to picture them as fans.

Finally, it’s the ultimate tribute to blues music. The iconic red lips and tongue, which has always been the group’s symbol are, for the very first time, blue. This logo has been projected on a number of London monuments including Marble Arch and Centre Point.

>> Blue & Lonesome – Polydor Records (international release).