Foreign Tongues

The Rolling Stones Defy Time

Ok, so the Stones have always been the most durable of rock bands, best attributable to their inception as a band who loved the blues. The blues are the most durable American music, more so than jazz, pop or whatever iteration of rock and roll comes along. Country is a close second, and as time went by, the Stones embraced country music, largely due to Gram Parson’s influence and friendship with Keith Richards. Jagger would sometimes sing it in an affected faux twang, which Keith reportedly hated, but that was just Jagger being his usual flamboyant showman self. And the two sides of the Stones coin, Mick and Keith, have also kept the band spinning, with their dual magnetic forces sometimes attracting and sometimes repelling. This tension is what keeps the Stones so vibrant and wondrous, the music often teetering on the edge of collapse, a scrupulously devised highwire act, woven together with fragility and an organic indestructability. Jagger as the ultimate showman, the attention seeker, bringing the focus in, captivating the audience while Keith quietly chunks out perfect riffs to propel the songs, the Stone’s heartbeat, soul brother of Ronnie, who weaves his guitar magically with Keith’s, further solidifying the sound that is The Stones. Bill Wyman left, Charlie died, but their places are more than ably filled by Darrell Jones and Steve Jordan, so that the sound is still unmistakably Stones.

So, there’s durable, and then there’s these guys who in their 80’s come out with a new album that, if not matches their best, rivals it. Foreign Tongues leaps out of the speakers on every song with aliveness, electricity, shambling magic, dance grooves, blistering rockers and social commentary to boot, propelled by Jagger’s ageless voice and Keith and Ronnie’s guitars.

Out of the gate comes “Rough and Twisted,” blistering blues, raw and with Jagger’s great harmonica, sounding like an outtake from Blue and Lonesome. Jagger authentically singing the lyrics of a forlorn fellow dragged around through back alleys and bad situations by a woman whose promises all decay in real time.

“In the Stars” is the obvious single, with a patently Stonesy guitar riff from Keith, a killer chorus and driving verses from Jagger. “Jealous Lover” is all slinky dance groove and gorgeous guitar weaving, with Jagger sliding up into falsetto ala “Emotional Rescue,” but it works better here, echoing Curtis Mayfield or Al Green. “Mr. Charm” roars out again, presenting a persona of some ultimate seducer. Keith’s riffing and melding with Ronnie makes for the raw, careening Stones groove we’ve always loved. “Divine Intervention” goes back to Chuck Berry, taking off from it with a great melodic chorus from Jagger, where he slides his voice up high to wonderful effect. The world might fall apart, but Mick’ll keep dancing.

“Ringing Hollow” is the Stones in acoustic country mode, and on my first few hearings, it didn’t click, but then sunk in, like vintage Stones. The lyrics point a finger at America’s current chaos and decline, from an affectionate standpoint, observing the place from where the English bands learned of the blues, the music the early Stones loved and promoted. These are the core songs of the album, and while I wouldn’t say the songs fall off from here, they have to follow six absolute knock-outs. “Hit Me in the Head” is punky, Some Girls-y. The Amy Winehouse cover, “You Know I’m No Good,” is a great cover, great Amy song, lead harmonic from Jagger doing the horn parts. “Back in Your Life” is a ballad with Jagger in a sentimental mood, great guitar soloing by Ronnie Wood and Jagger’s sung/spoken outro. “Some of Us,” Keith’s song on the album, grounds it all, we’re back to the common-folk heart, the rough scrabble humanity he’s always carried around, God bless him, reminding the world that “some of us are on our knees.”

Steve Jordan honors Charlie Watts, propelling the band with booming drums. Darryl Jones is a truly great bass player. Producer Andrew Wyatt, who was also at the helm for Hackney Diamonds, certainly deserves credit as a sixth member, the George Martin of the record, for both shaping the songs beautifully and letting the Stones be raw when they wanted.

I know the reach of this Muddy Water Substack is limited, but if any word could go through the jungle drums or smoke signals of the internet to reach somebody who knows somebody who knows anybody… I have a request.

Make the next album a semi-acoustic affair, like Beggar’s Banquet, roots, folk, country and blues, as we see done here in the masterful acoustic version of Chuck Berry’s “Beautiful Delilah.” Imagine it - a return to Robert Johnson, to the grit and the dirt, the percussion of strummed guitars, stomped feet, open G tuning, slides on strings and Jagger’s magnificent harmonica. Drinking to the salt of the earth, wrapping up this creative streak most beautifully.

Such is my humble request.