Sticky Fingers

Sounding subdued, or at least more wary than most Stones albums, STICKY FINGERS' 1971 release betrayed the difficulties the band members were enduring. From Mick Jagger's breakup with the emotionally troubled Marianne Faithfull, to Keith Richards's concern about his newborn son Marlon, the band found themselves re-evaluating their lives, and this depth of emotion made its way into the album. Be it in the terrifyingly spare "Sister Morphine" and "Moonlight Mile", or the near-dangerous, electrified "Can't You Hear Me Knocking", the songs on STICKY FINGERS are anything but innocent. more...

The lineup on this album solidified with Mick Taylor in place as a second guitarist. Recorded partially in the legendary Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama, the Stones were flirting with the blues, but adding a Southern soul flavour. Much of STICKY FINGERS is this tasteful mixture of blues and soul. Added to the brew are the spicy horn arrangements of saxophonist Bobby Keys and trumpet player Jim Price. The use of horns in the Stones' repertoire seemed inevitable--when they kick in during "Brown Sugar" and "Bitch", it is as if Richards's guitar is rebirthed in brass. STICKY FINGERS proved that the endless summer of the 1960s was over, but that the Stones would rock just as hard in the following decade.