18 May 2026
THE ROLLING STONES are all over the internet with their forthcoming album,
their 25th, named Foreign Tongues. But today we take a look back in the past.
Their 13th, baptized BLACK AND BLUE was one of their No. 1 albums in their
looooong career. It topped the US Charts on 18 May 1976, today 50 years ago.
It was the first with Ronnie Wood, after previous guitarist Mick Taylor left.
The record runs a stylistic gamut from hard rock and funk to reggae,
blues, soft rock and also reflects the popularity of disco at the time.
Rolling Stone Magazine magazine wrote at the time: “The Stones have problems.
Keith Richard has seemed to run out of melodic ideas and, like the majority of their
post-Exile on Main Street repertoire, the new numbers are based on loose riffs rather
than tight song structures.
Consequently, the music lacks energy. Like the Who or any rock band, the Stones are obsessed in their way with age and time, but unlike the rest, they’ve matured with confident gracefulness. For Soul Survivors, I guess, dying before you get old is simply not relevant.”
TUTV: One of my favorite summer albums.
Simple but sticky tunes. Cocktail music for
hot stuff days.
ALBUM
Back sleeve