Even before Hackney Diamonds hits the streets – on the 20th of this month – the overwhelming verdict of the world's media is that the Rolling Stones have just recorded their best album in many decades, produced by young Andrew Watt, 32 years old. The irony, for the group that has spent its life shaping rock music to its own bohemian rhythm, is that it turns out all they needed was a deadline.
That's not to say they haven't created the liveliest and most cohesive collection of songs to appear on a Stones record since Some Girls 45 years ago. Nor can we ignore the tangible infusion of energy and ideas provided by their new producer, Grammy-winning New Yorker Andrew Watt. But the other element was the ticking of the clock.
After years of meetings in the studio where nothing was ever finished, the Stones came together, fueled by the good taste of last year's Sixty tour. It was at Henson Studios in Los Angeles last December, and they produced one great song after another as if they were in 1965. “We had a lot of fun doing it,” recalls Mick Jagger. "After a short time we knew we were getting somewhere, and we were going fast, we did at least two songs a day, and sometimes we rehearsed the next one".
"When you're in a hurry, you don't have to stop. You know you have a lot of stuff, maybe not everything will make it into the album, but you see that a lot of good things are happening, that you're on a roll," comments the leader of the Stones. "We were very fast, I think we were only recording for three weeks".
From those sessions came not only the 12 songs of Hackney diamonds, but another 11. The Stones' studio sessions have always produced pieces of variable quality, but this time there is serious talk that the leftover material, although it's not over, it's so good that they have what Jagger calls a “good jump” on a possible sequel.
"It's strange, isn't it?" comments Keith Richards. “You work all your life to say 'no more deadlines!', but no, you need them, I would have called the damn album Deadline. Mick brought up Valentine's Day for some reason, and so we did."
“I have to take my hat off to Mick for that push. He said 'Come on, we have to make a record'. I said 'OK. We don't go with funnels, you have what you want to sing, let's be there'".
“Mick had a lot of material in store, it was a pleasure to put it together, as was working with Andrew Watt, he added the push and kept the thing going,” continues Keith. "Probably the most important thing is that there was a lot of energy, it was a blitzkrieg, you either got to the end or you didn't".
If we take a look at the album's credits, we see a group that collaborates and gets carried away by the flow of the studio, whether in , Ronnie Wood contributing bass on some songs, the novice Watt as bassist in others, or the delight of hearing the Glimmer Twins harmonizing together again: Keith sings under Mick on the effusive and irresistible title track Angry and the indulgent Dreamy skies, and Mick is the Keith's vocal shadow on the vulnerable and charming Tell me straight.
As these new collaborations describe, the "friendly" spirit is unmistakable. Of Dreamy Skies, Jagger explains how "I started playing it with just the slide guitar and Keith said 'What's that?' and I said 'Well, that's it so far.' 'You should go on,' he replied, so I did. Ronnie took over my slide part, and added a really nice part to it."
Recalling the Los Angeles sessions, Jagger recounts how he brought some of these songs “and Keith worked on it with me, improved the guitar parts that I had brought. Other songs we took from some of the previous sessions, but they were unfinished, such as Driving me too hard. We relived the riff and the idea, and then Keith and I finished it in the studio late in the day. It was very fun".
Wood points out that the carefree attitude even extended to the tracklist discussion. "I left the choice of songs in the hands of Mick and Keith, and I thought, 'Oh my God, here comes the argument', but there were very diplomatic solutions, they got on very well and they arrived to an agreement 'Okay, you can use this song if you use this one.'"
Another element of the adventure is the list of collaborators on the album, from Paul McCartney and Elton John to Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder. The band emphasizes that they were all there to do a specific job. "We didn't invite them because yes", points out Jagger, "they really fit in, they are the perfect musicians for each particular thing".
About McCartney's contribution, he adds: "I didn't know what song to suggest he play on, and when Andy said Do bite your head off I thought maybe it wasn't to Paul's taste". "But it turned out he played wonderfully", adds Keith with a laugh: "We were missing a bass player, guess what you're going to do, Paul". It's great fun playing with Paul, he's a survivor."
These cameos were done the old fashioned way, in person. Richards calls it "the only way to form a group". So it was with Gaga and Stevie's additions to the seven-minute gospel-soul celebration Sweet Sounds of Heaven “I was sitting on the floor humming,” says Wood. "We were improvising when Mick said, 'Sounds good, do you want to finish the job?' So they sang it together, it was wonderful." Richards intervenes: "He's a piece of work, he's very talented, and of course there's Stevie, needless to say. We've known each other since the early seventies, we spent a lot of time together on the road", he remarks. "It wasn't a prepared session, it grew on its own, and that's why I like the song so much. It wasn't planned for anyone to be there, but in Los Angeles these things happen."
Ronnie laughs: “I spoke to Elton on Zoom and he said 'I've got to play some songs, Ron!' and I said 'Well, get in line!' Andrew was already with him, because they are very good friends”. Elton plays piano on two songs, including the upbeat Live by the sword, one of two songs that also feature drum parts from the dead and mourned Charlie Watts, while Sword features bass from Bill Wyman.
"We asked Bill to come," explains Mick. "I told him, 'It's an old song with Charlie, not one of the ones we just did recently.' I think this song has a slightly different beat, because Bill and Charlie are the original rhythm section. I like the fact that Charlie is there, and we have some really good songs with him that we recorded in that period, so who knows, maybe we'll get some more out."
With prior approval from Watts himself, his old mate Steve Jordan has taken on the potentially unenviable role of succeeding the beloved drummer, who died in 2021. “After Charlie passed the baton to Steve, the ship went keep sailing," explains Wood. "We just kept the wind in our sails, we said 'Charlie wouldn't want us to stop,' and bang, we went on with a huge blast from Steve."
"Charlie is right there, behind us," says Richards. “Now I work for Ian Stewart [the original road manager] and Charlie Watts. Now both are my bosses and I have to move on."
The unlikely last chapter in the history of the Rolling Stones points to the possibility of extending on the road in 2024, after an album that they speak of with modest satisfaction. "I realized that we couldn't let it drift any longer, and we had to do it right and quickly, with someone who really focused on it, and that's what we've done," reflects Mick. "I celebrate that it happened, that's all I can say."
